The Hawaiian gazette., 1912-02-27
BREACHES ON
= SPIRITUAL|SM
f.-.-
Bishop RestarICk Commences His
Series on Substitutes for
Christianity.

tFrom Mondays Aassttiscr. }

the Rt. Rev. Henry B0pd Restarick,
Bishop of Honolulu, preached on Spirit
ualism at st, Andrew q Cathedral last
night. The sermon was in the tone of
a man who knows whereof he speaks,
and paid the acknowledgment of the
church to the condition OF mind which
\ raised ''isms," but not by any means
to the isms themselves. "The centuries
of the Christian era," he said, fare
strewn with the wreck Of isms.
Next Sunday, Bishop Restarick
breaches on Theosophy and the follow
| ing sermon in the series win be on
Christian Science. In his sermon last
night he took his text from st. Mark
vi, 40, "They supposed it had been a
SPIRIT and spoke in part as follows:
"This is the attitude of fear and ig-
norance. If anything is. seen which is
mysterious it is the work of the spirit.
1t is how primitive people account for
mysterious forces Of nature. It is the
way. modern spiritualists account for
psychic phenomena.
| "Many people labor under the delu-
) sion that the setting forth of substi-
tutes for the Christian religion is a
special product of this enlightened age.
If they were to study the records of
history they would know that in every
generation there have been proposed by
bright people PHILOSOPHERS or systems
which the adherents felt sure would
take the place of the religion of Jesus
Christ. To imagine that any human
system would take the place of that
which Jesus Christ gave to men is as
, preposterous as for some little candle
, to feel its Importance SO much that II
!, would imagine in the consciousness of Its
own glare that it could take the place
of a great sun. Sometimes we hear
; Yes, but this ism or that has done A
: or B 30 much good. If that were taken
: as reason for the acceptance of
, system one might argue for Buddhism
J Mohammedanism, or Confuclanlsm
, The question is not whether an ardent
i acceptance of one ism has done one
. person good, it is whether this ism
came from human brain or the Son Of
God. 1t is not question, as many
seem to think, that there is in this ism
or that many things which are true
4 fVeTY sane p6IbOH Ctiu hhN pOhtS " ~
lin any system. The question Isl die
Jesus sneak with authority Are TIN
settlers forth of any systems ready t.
be put to death, be buried and ris
: againf 81.
"The centuries of Christianity ar
II strewn with the wrecks of isms. |
would take q volume to give merel
their names. But still they come. Sti
adherents are sanguine that the churc
y will soon disappear but still the churc
e survives every assault, still midst hu
"a man mperfections, it makes Chris
known to men.
n "Among the many substitutes pre-
It posed for the religion of Jesus Chris
l. is spiritualism but while it has deve
d oped philosophy it has become chief
1t known because of it's claim to pu
1t those living here in communication wit
lie those who have departed this life.
ir "In 1s4S the Fox sisters of Hyde'
re- vile, N. Y, originated what we ma
If call spiritualism, or better, call spiri
lie ism. At the house in which they live
unexplained rappings were heart
These raps, they said, were intelligibl
to them, that one meant No. thre
fYes' and SO on. The excitemer
e caused by these rappings was wild
spread. Similar rappings occurre
,o elsewhere, and there arose 'circles,' 6
" they were called, in many places. Late
ne different phases appeared. It was
a. time when great interest was shown
j. mesmerism, or as it is now called, hyl
notism, and claims were made tn;
those who lived in the trance state wei
"a mediums through whom the departe
~ communicated with the living.
/ So ak fnF m IN fn
Oe of all the phases of modern spiritism-
30 slate writing, bellringing, guitar-pla
10 ing, materializing--which bewildert
!. thousands and won many to belief
81 The agency of spirits. When Wi
id a young man in Iowa in 1879, 1t WI
ne confidently claimed by the spiritualis
d. with whom I lived that there were
ne 100000 spiritualists in the Unite
OF States out of 3S 900, 600, the populate
at that time, and that soon there woul
be no more churches, nothing hut spi
itualist circles. have known intimat
ly n large number of the best know
mediums, 80 / do not speaklas a pr
JUDGED outsider, not as one who hi
simply read about it, but as one wi
knows something from the inside"
~ Bishop Restarick then gave q nuI
Der Of Incidents from; his own know
he edge, illustrating the actual work
an mediums and how it was exposed al
he in general going into an uncomment
he ted description of -Ehfs neabstitute 4
IN, Christianity4R Hes then discussed Il
to phenomensg mtpe which gave rise
ys acceptance-sse &hiritnnIistic theorie
is treating them from the standpoint
dy both the orthodox ehurehman and Il
re- thinker who eau find no logic In b
" reasoning >GOnnicting with church do
* trine,.
se' He CONCLUDED by asking what spiri
%, ualism had ever doqezfor humhnit
ds where were its hospitals, orphanagt
settlement houses. philanthropic age
cies, schools Or eollegesf
10, "By exploiting. ttg. mysteries
W psychic phenomena yet so imperfect
.h UNDERSTOOD he said, "many ha'
10. been misled. Meanwhile the Church
~ Christ lives on. He is the light of 1
~ the world and as men 60 to Him thu
AN- A.