The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1911-02-17

iii veutionS - the tele-
graph. tAc.telephone,
&~ with wires and with
out-the masses find
1t difficult to believe
what the Bible
teaches respecting spirit phenomena Yet.
on the other hand. there Is a class grow
ingly large. which. under the name OF
spiritism and psychic phenomena are be-
ing carried away. deceived by wicked spir-
its who p~cTsonate the dead and who give.
through spirit mediums. clairvoyants. ETC..
various demonstrations Of intelligence and
Of acquaintance with human affairs. This
class. within the last ten years. has gath
cred to its number the names of some
prominent scientists, both IN America and
Great Britain. These arc telling the world
thet they are not spiritualists. but scien-
lists, and hat they ore scientifically dem
onstrating gradually. with more and more
Of satisfaction. that they are In touch
with superhunan i~ntelligences.
Giving these scientists and the spirit
mediums whom they use full credit for all
thai they claim in the way Of manifesto
ton n full credit for sincerity. Pastor
Russell holds that the Bible gives a bet
ter explanation of the p~henomena-o more
rational one and. IN his opinion. the only
satisfactory explanation Of the findings
Of s~piritualists and scientists along these
tines.
In heather lands magic and black art
are practised and to considerable extent
the demons are ~worshipped In China. for
instance. our ordinary f~recrackers are
manufactured and used in great quantities
in endeavor to I'D themselves OF intrud-
ing spirits. who harass their lives
even make some OF them insane through
obeession; many Of the insane Of civdlized
lands are likewise merely oosessed St.
PAUL tells US that the gods whom the
heather worship are emons and not gods
Il Corinthians x. H). Again he tells OF
doctrines of demons Il Timothy ". u.
All over h~eathendom these false doctrines
have been more or less established, taking
one form or another to suit the condi
lions and ~pretudices OF the people. And
who will say hat Christendom has not
had Its share of these doctrines Of de
mons? Who will say that some Of these
false doctrines did not get worked into all
of our creeds of the dark ages" both
Catholic and Protestant?
Jesuo Cast Out Demons
=. The Scriptures tell US that not only
Jesus cast out demons. but that as an
evidence of their authority and his au-
thority he gave this power to his Apostles
hen he sent them out to preach. Every
one Is familiar with the Bible narratives
respecting tneSe ueTlOIlS-cOubS VI =
very startling. For instance, our Lords
visit to the country of the Gadarenes.
where he was met by a crazed man.
obsessed OF evil spirits. Tho Master ad-
dressed, not the man, but the demons OF
whom a legion had taken possession
Grazing their victim by their various and
contradictory suggestions and commands.
A legion OF them were In him and they
requested that If they must come out they
be granted opportunity to go Into thu
herd of swine n~earby-so anxious wers
they for earthly. sensuous life. jesus
granted their request because swine
owning was forbidden TO the Jew undel
the Law. The effect OF the demoniaca
obsession Of the swine was to craze tn
herd until they ran violently down.a steel
place and were choked in the sea- Tn
object of the demons may have been a dc
sire to reside in and obsess the swine. or
pdnibly. by destroying the swine. t
arouse indignation against Jesus (Marl
v. 1-1D.
Another remarkable instance was tn
M when ST. Paul commanded the ev1
spirits to come out Of the obsessed VIC
man. who was a ~soothsayer or fortune
teller and ~prophesied that Paul and Sila
were servants of God. Although the mes
sage was an endorsement of them. s.
Paul realized hat an endorsement from
demoniac source was unworthy OF nj
Master and of his Gospel Acts xvi, l6-1s
Spirits today, including mediums. freel
) acknowledge that many OF the spiri'
!, which communicate through them al
wicked spirits and "seducing spirits.
1ust as St. Paul said Il Timothy 4: /
. But believing the spirits. that they reprt
5 sent dead human beings. the medium
naturally suppose some OF them goo'
The Bible alone tells that they are o
false, and that they are not human spil
its at all: that lead men are dead ar
know nothing and can communicate notl
ing, SO long as they are dead. and th'
i, they will remain dead until the resu
: rection morning. when the sleeping hos
! OF humanity will hear the voice of Il
n Son of Man.
Demons Once Holy Angels
d AT one time. said Pastor Russell. all Il
angels were holy. Satan being first to d
d fleet. Early in mans experience as
n sinner the holy angels were permitted
lave fellowship with him for a two-fc
. urpose:
d a. To give them the opportunity to
II ali in their power to lift up the fall
IS race. SO that. subsequently,. It might
1, seen that this was impossible and that I
n Plan devised by God is not only the be-
but the only plan Of salvation for ma
kind.
Cd Additionally. Goo wished to prove
,r test the holy angels in respect to tn
loyalty to him and the principles OF
government, as they never had been tie
Or ed previously. because everything v
~ harmonious and sinless.
m In ancient times the angels appeared
man assuming human bodies and clio