The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1871-12-19

SpirifNS mnHdi. and 0nim0 mHRdi, seems
to be synonymous. In the former case,
the words are rendered rs indicated in
the latter, the expression is rendered SIM
ply spirit or SAINT Of jhc ,rorid. When
nature would orm q human body, she
draws the living principle from the uni
verse. This linz reaches celestial exist
enccs. The demons and departed spirits
can be called up"
Thus, reader, back to the old haunts
Of ancient hcathenism, to its very seat
and source, have | traced the origen Of
he phrase "SouI Of the Universe" You
now see whence it came, and what was
its meaning you see that it contained
the germ, at least, Illustrative Of the con-
trolling and moving power over material
objects, and Of the employing ofthe body
OF another, seen in our day. 1t proves
what said, in another paper, respecting
the magicians, Of whom James and JAM
brcs were Representatives together with the
witch Of Endor, Simon Magus, Elymas,
and the woman Of Phillippi. These ideas
and notions were the common property Of
ancient Spirituulism, as they now are Of
modern. They were heathenish then,
they are hcathcnish now. Jehovah set
his face against them in Moses day; who,
as educated in Egypt and in the myster-
les of Egyptian worship, was well nc
quaintcd with them,--and so did Jesus and
the apostles in their day, and so must we
in ours.
Now, ] don't say that this mentor of
modern hcathcnism borrowed his phrase
and notion from thisl illustrious proto-
types Of the ancient world, but this | do
say, that he is not, in his idea of divine
things, one whit a head Of them. Indeed,
from all that he has written, even IN
The Soul Of Things" he may yet sit at
the feet Of his masters in heather philoso-
ply and learn for sometime to come. So
much, then, for what light this sheds on
the nature of the Spiritualist's God.
But in the same tract, page 26, we
read, what may be regarded as expository
Of this Soul" or, Of his idea of it. "Our
Cod says he, "is Nature, Father,
Mother And We arc now prepared, if
We continue to expose the ism under re-
view, to appreciate rightly, the fulsome
boast Of Spiritists, that, ours is q new
religion, a new God, a new heaven, and
a gospel which is destined to make a new
earth Yes, just as new as the myster-
les Of paganism, as taught by "the magic
Of Ioroaster, and as practised by Assyri.
ans, Egyptians, Pcrsians, and, indeed, by
all ancient nations. And, ifthat system,
which whenever it was in vogue, sunk
those people into the deepest debths of
the grosscst supcrstitions and the most i'm
pure and p%olluting forms Of worship, if
that sis destined to make a new earth,
and a new heaven" God grant that the
renewal may be effected after | have
passed away from this present one.
But we find yet more light cast upon
the thcosophey of this wretched ism. We
shall yet succeed in dragging forth its
miserable gods to the apprehension of the
public. In that " Banner" of darkness,
called, .icsuitically, the banner Of Light.
Nov. 18th 1871, we find the following
conclusive passage. 80. (From the audi
ence), you say that Jesus was inspired by
the Spirit of truth. What do you mean
by the Esprit Of truth'--the Almighty I?
a. To me there is no Almighty. Truth
prevails yer everything, even in the low
est kingdom of life. 1t exhibits itself in
the chemistry of nature, in the philosophy
Of mind it is the God, the only Col
that the soul will ever know"
Thus when you hear one speak, as you
have of late, in pathetic strains, of ''the
Divine Father" of God" Of "the God
Of the universe and the like, yon will
understand that these expressions signify
no personal Deity. So far then, as we
are able to Judge, by the dim and decep-
tive simmer Of their writings, these
Spiritualists are pantheistic in their no.
tons of Deity. And, if my reasoning
be sound if Spiritualism be paganism ;
if it has come to us from the heather
world, and from heather philosophy and
magic especially, if it has taken for its
god 1.-The Soul Of the World" which is
but another name for the laws of nature,
then will it be natural for it to aver "that
God is matter and matter is Cod and
then We may say with Pascal at is no
matter whether there be any God at all"
But whether their conception of God,
so far as they have any, is that every
body is God and God is everybody, or
not, their view is essentially atheiStic.
Rejecting as | have shown, the Bible
and the God of the Bible, and Jesus as
the Savior and Redccmcr of men, what
God do they recognize. To talk about
"thc soul OF the universe" about truth
as exhibiting itself in the chemistry Of
nature, about "God is nature, father,
mother is mere nonsense. Any one
that has no other God than these has no
God. As an antiquatcd hercsy, this pan.
thcism has rottod and purified among
the worshippers Of cats and monkeys, and
holy bulls, and bits Of sticks and stones
on the banks of the Ganges for more thar
two thousand years, yet it is now hooked
up out of its dunghill, and hawked about
among Christian people, as a prime new
discovery Of modern philosophy, or as 9
new revelation Of spirits for getting rid
Of Almighty God" What, then, is il
but downright deception and hypocrisy
for such people, who believe in such no
tons as We have shown that Spiritualistl
believe in, to fix new meaning to words
entirely different from and contrary tc
to those III common use, as do Spiritual
lists, when they use the name God?
" 'Tis too uuch proved, that with devotion
yisage
And Pious action, they de- sugar o'er
Tho devil himself
For when the name God is used as 1
proper name in the English tongue, i
means ''the Supreme Being; Jehovah; thu
Eternal and Infinite Spirit, the Creator
and Sovereign Of the universe" So Web
- WI A.