Bristol news. [volume] (Bristol, Va. & Tenn.) 1867-189?, 1871-05-19
VOL. VI.


/ He contended that angels or spirits
had visited the earth, and that angels
/ were immortal human beings, engaged
in carrying out the plans of the Al
| mighty. They had thrown off their
! chrysalis state and had entered on an
| intermediate state, or in other words,
/ had gone into Paradise, where they
| were to remain till time shall be no
( more. No one went directly
TO HEAVEN OR TO HE'LL.
but the good went to paradise. where
I they became guardian angels, while
/ the wicked went into a state of utter
! darkness. He then went on to give
/ evidence that angels had appeared un-
/ TO men and quoted the 18th chapter of
Genesis, where the angels are describ-
! ed as appearing before Abraham. lie
next referred to the passage in which
/ the angels appeared to Lot and warn
! ed him TO leave the Cities Of the Plain.
After alluding to the appearance of an
angel to Joshua before Jericho, and al
30 to Mamoah and his wife, as related
in the 18Th chapter of Judges, where
1.-THE ANGEL OF THE LORD
said unto Manoah: Though thou de-
tain me | Will nos eat OF thy bread /;
and if thou wilt offer a burnt Offering,
thou must offer it unto the Lord. ~
This showed that ManOah had talked
to the angel. and that the angel had
replied to him. He next quoted from
the 18th chapter Of Samuel, relative
to
TIE WITCH OF ENDOR
bringing uD Samuel, the prophet, et
the command of King saul, and pass
ell ou To the prophetic times, quoting
from the 2nd chapter OF Ezekiel, in re-
gard to the appearance of the six men
at the call of the prophet, and then
read from Daniel. Sth chapter and 18th
verse, Then | heard one saint speak
ing, etc." and from Daniel, 9th chap
ter, 2lst verse, "Gea, while l was
speaking i'm prayer, even the man Ga
briel, whom | had
SEEN IN THE VISION
at the beginning, being caused to fly
swiftly, touched me a.out the time of
the evening oblation." He then read
from the first of ZachaTiah, as follows:
These - are they whom the LOId hath
sent to walk to and fro through the
earth" He closed by saying these
proofs from the Old Testament that
angels visited the earth would be suf-
ficient at the present state of the con-
trOvcrsy, and retired amid applause.
The Negative.
Rev. Mr.. Graves then came forward
and expressed his qualification at hav-
ing the opportunity of addressing so
large and so intelligent ali audience,
composed of members of the various
Christian denominations of the city.
He was also gtatiiied at having the OPP
portUnity of discussing so important a
subject with one whom he had learned
to love. He was sorry TO see he had
taken up SO dangerous a doctrine as
that the spirits of departed persons
had appeared TO and conversed with
men, and that our friends after death
are transmitted iEto angels, and are
around us at all times. II such a theo-
ry should prevail, he Mr.. Graves !
cOntended that it would set aside the
Word of God. 1t was to
CONTRADICT SUCH A DOCTRINE
that he appeared before them that
night, and he did not believe that his
brother Watson saw the evil that
might arise from advocating such a
doctrine, and if il were generally be-
licvcd it would strike at the very eXiS-
tcnCc of the Word of God, the final
Court of Appeal. He then went on
to contend that angels had never COM
municated with men except by the
command of and through Christ, and
it was Christ's voice that was heard in
the Garden of Eden. He spoke TO
Adam, to Cain when lac called for his
brother AbeI's blood. to Noah, and to
Abraham. Christ came 10 the earth
with angels. who were in the flesh
created for the occasion, which was
DESTROYED when there was no further
use for it, This was the case when the
THREE MEN APPEARED UNTO ABRA-
HAM
They came rs men, not as phantOms.
Jacob wrcstled with Christ in the flesh,
and the angels who appeared TO Abra-
ham. Isaac and Jacob, and the three
WORTHLESS who walked in the fiery fur
mace with one who was like unto the
Son of Man were all in the flesh. Then
again Christ appeared on Mount sinai,
and delivered to Moses the law writ
of stone. lie was at that Time in the
flesh, and
NOT A PHANTOM.
He commanded the angels to instruct
the prophets, which ST. Paul had up
held so that il had been called The dis
pensatiOn of the angels. Angels were
created before man, and no mortal
man could say that angels had been
created since that limc. The speaker
then said that the name OF angel was
simply the came of The Office, that OF
messenger, and they were distinct
order of iuteiligCncps and were created
with
SPIRITUAL BODIES,
and numbered ten thousand times ten
thousand. They were not men, and
men could never become angels. This
distinction, they were well aware, was
kept up all through the word of God.
Angels could never sing of the redemp
tion of man, but they sang praises to
Him who llvrth for ever. He Mr..
Graves never taught his child To say
" want to he an angel" but he had
taught him to sing 81 want to be a
saint" Applause He contended
as i'm the grave there was no work or
labor, or device. 1t was a place of
rest, and yet his brother Watson had
argued that
THE PROPHET SAMUEL
had been brought out of the grave at
the command of Saul. Yet he had
this, in the face of this passage of
Scripture: Blessed are the dead who
die in the Lord they rest from their
labors.n etc. The woman referred to
as having brought up Samuel, was
described as having familiar spirit.
which, in the original creek, meant
that she spoke from her arm-pits, or
from a bottle. and might be described
as a ventriloquist. She was called the
Witch of EndOr, and i'm modern tunes
would be called a spiritual medium.
T Laughter She was believed to nave
CONTROL OVER A FAMILIAR SPIRIT.
But The Scriptures told them that Saul
aid not see Samuel or the spirit OF sam
mel for the woman had to describe IL
4 nra al