The Great Controversy The Great Controversy | Page 557

on every hand? Multitudes eagerly accept teachings that leave them
at liberty to obey the promptings of the carnal heart. The reins of
self-control are laid upon the neck of lust, the powers of mind and soul
are made subject to the animal propensities, and Satan exultingly sweeps
into his net thousands who profess to be followers of Christ.
But none need be deceived by the lying claims of spiritualism.
God has given the world sufficient light to enable them to discover the
snare. As already shown, the theory which forms the very foundation
of spiritualism is at war with the plainest statements of Scripture. The
Bible declares that the dead know not anything, that their thoughts have
perished; they have no part in anything that is done under the sun; they
know nothing of the joys or sorrows of those who were dearest to them
on earth.
Furthermore, God has expressly forbidden all pretended communication
with departed spirits. In the days of the Hebrews there was a class
of people who claimed, as do the spiritualists of today, to hold
communication with the dead. But the “familiar spirits,” as these
visitants from other worlds were called, are declared by the Bible to
be “the spirits of devils.” (Compare Numbers 25:1-3; Psalm 106:28; 1
Corinthians 10:20; Revelation 16:14.) The work of dealing with familiar
spirits was pronounced an abomination to the Lord, and was solemnly
forbidden under penalty of death. Leviticus 19:31; 20:27. The very
name of witchcraft is now held in contempt. The claim that men can
hold intercourse with evil spirits is regarded as a fable of the Dark Ages.
But spiritualism, which numbers its converts by hundreds of thousands,
yea, by millions, which has made its way into scientific circles, which
has invaded churches, and has found favor in legislative bodies, and even
in the courts of kings—this mammoth deception is but a revival, in a new
disguise, of the witchcraft condemned and prohibited of old.
If there were no other evidence of the real character of spiritualism,
it should be enough for the Christian that the

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