Prescott journal. [volume] (Prescott, Wis.) 1861-1871, 1870-06-16


The church believes in the ministry of an
.els-lias ever held to it but angels are not
men Moreover. these angels are not sub
icct to our call. No medium can summon
Them. They come not with raps, tips and
/ knocks. They are Gods servants they go
| and come at his bidding. challenge my
opponent to produce a single clear and UNI
! mistakable instance IN the bible where fe-
/ parted human spirit ia called an angel. or
! where departed human spirit has had inter-
course with a mere mortal. He cited the case
! of the angel in resela, ion. said LIST. The
J ook of revelation is entirely subjective
series of mental pictures. Consequently. this
angel was not an actual appearance. 81 =
| This angel does not say that he is one OF the
prophets. as my opponent has falsely stated,
| nor will The grammatical construction oil The
verse authorize any such idea. he says"
am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren
| the prophets. and Of them that keep the say.
| jpgs of this book" :" Aud"-what "And'
| the fsllo1 serra,at. There is evidently sOms-
thing understood after the words "and." |
| apply the missing words, and the verse viii
| read as follows: &" j am thy fellow servant,
| and (ihe fellow seryant) Of thy brethren the
prophet, and 1.-THE fellow seryantl OF them
| that keep the sayings of this book. The
Greek renders any other rendering simply i'm
possible. g. am the fellow servant of thee,
| and Of thy brethren, &c. All the reply my
opponent made to this was, that the Greek
was very unreliable =
| NV opponent cited the case Of Moses d
Elias l said that il the vision for SO it is
called) was objective. it proved nothing for
spiritualism. because II ses and Elias appear
ed to Christ as their God. The glory which
overpowered the disciples was the glory OF
| Christ's divinity, and it was to that, and not
to his humanity, that Moses aud Elias appear
cd. and it was this same glory, which Saul
and his companions saw on the road to Da-
mascus. Ny opponent challenged me TO pro-
duce passage Of scripture. proving Christ's
divinity. | read one in Acts. "a For he took
not on him the nature OF angels. but he
took on him the seed OF Abraham" This
plainly implies previous existence and crea-
tive power AS Mr.. Jameson said nothing
in reply. / conclude he was satisfied.
He cited the case OF Saul and Samuel. /
argued that this was clear case Of electro
psychology. or clariyoyance. The woman
was en-rapport with Saul She saw what he
wanted TO see-an old man with a mantle -
Saul saw nothing. This is evident from the
fact that he twice asked her what she saw,
and then from her descriptions" an Old man
with a mantle, he " perceiudS," that is he
supposed that Samuel was present. Query,
do spirits retain all the signs OF age. after
dea,h, SO that Samuel WAS still an old man
with mantle or did the woman get this
from Saul's mind And if seeing spirits is
proof OF the Immortality of men. is not see.
ing mantles, proof of the immortality of wool
en- goods ? My opponent replied that it is
distinctly said that e muel said unto Saul
| said that throughout the bible, natural Phe-
nomena are spoken of as they appear, not MS
they actually are. Tie sun is spoken of as
moving. the ear h as being square. DC. The
same phenomena which are nov attributed 10
spirit influence. occurred aneiently, and were
then also attributed TO The spirits Conse-
quently, this o-called spirit int recourse was
forbidden for what it was supposed by the
people to be, and was constantly spoken Of
as SUCH OF this character was the appear
ance of Samuel The historian writes as
though Samuel Actually spoke. whereas. it
was the wondn who spoke, and the prophet
was not there at all just as nowadays. it is
the medium who speaks, pretending that
some spirit is speaking through her. My OPP
p0nent asked Why God did not explain all
these natural phenomena ? | reply why didn't
God teach his grandmother how To make
iohnnyeake Man isn't an idiot that he
must leeds have everything told him from tho
skies There are some truths he never could
have learned without special revelation, and
lLose truths are revealed. Th4rc are other
truths which he can barn for himself and
God W isely lea es man to dig .htn out for
himself.
Ny opponent has utterly failed to sustain
the oft repeated boa-t of spiritsls, tl!at tie
bible sust aims spritualism. There is not a
shadow of authority in the scripture for hu.
man spirit Intercourse : aud they CAN only
make out even the appearance of a case, by
confounding ang, Is and nlen together.
He frequently alluded to the rapid rogress
Of Spiriiism, as an argument IN It's favor.
replied that It Was strong argument against
it, because truth ever advances slowly, while
error does not. The one has to Contend against
the passions aud prejudices OF the human
heart. while the other has all these in its f..
vor. He retoried that this argument was
against Professionalism, which IN few hun
bred years, had gained millions of converts.
| replied that Professionalism was as old as the
christian system itself, for IT was sirply the
discarding of human traditions and in.crpre-
tations, and an acceptance Of tic cord as au-
thority-the distinguishing feature of primi-
live christianity. Luther. under God, SIM
ply re-inaugurated the old order Of things.
/ invited my opponent To give US a practi-
cal demonstration of the truth OF spiritism. by
introducing a spirit, or lifting a table. lie
SAID that Kenan had read the same argument
against christianity, and had proposed com
mission of Saudnts in Paris. before whom a
miracle should be performed, If miracle CIV.
cr had been performed. / showed how
this argument was not applicable TO Christi.
anity, but rras applicable TO spiritism. The
spirit and genius of one age cainot 6e tri'd
by the spirit and genius of another age. As
it was in tho formation OF the material world.
So it is in huiHan history, and the moral de-
velOpment of our race. Each age is peculiar
TO itself. and cannot be recalled. The age of
miracles had its peculiar conditions, which
demanded miracles. God acceJed To the de-
mand, and gave them Those conditions have
passed away, and with them the necessity
Consequently We have miracles no more. This
b:ing 90 it is Just as absurd for Mr. Renan
to require that we shall sustain our SYSTEM by
the reproduction of miracles. as il would he
for him 10 demand that geologists should
prove their theory of the coal formal ions. by
reproducing the carbonierous period But.
il the entire church were non claiming 10 be
working miracles. think the proposition of
Mr.. Renan, would be tminently reasonable
and proper. And inasmuch as spiritists are
now claiming to be working W hat are equiva-
lent to the miracles OF the past, think it is
quite pertinent for me to ask my opponent to
give us practical demon ration of the truth
of spir tisD.
repeatedly asked my opponent 70 point
ont the good that has been accomplished by
spriiism. The system has now been in exis-
trnce twenty years and with the millions of
sp;ritualists they claim, and all the advan-
tages of this age of railroads, telegraphs,
schools steamboats,, &c. they ccftainly ought