Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1940-09-11
Discusses Beliefs Of
Sir Oliver Lodge
DefendsFuith in Both
Philosophy and
SpirituuIism
To the Editor OF The Star:

| In notices of the recent passing of Sir
Oliver Lodge, the writer's thereof, almost
without exception, appear to be more or
less puzzled as to how so highly special
cal scientist could have held so firm a
belief in the persistence of the human
personality after physical death, and
the possibility of communication be-
tween carnate and discarnate entities.
In other words, that he should have So
intellectually subscribed to the phi
losophy of spiritualism.
One editorial. after referring to the
late scientists presidency of both the
| Physical and Psychical Societies of Lon
don, says, 1T takes no great subtlety of
mind to understand how an honest man
might occupy either position, but how
to occupy both was feat that mySti-
fled Sir divers colleagues more COM
| pletely than his most difficult researches
into the behavior of the ion"
To the author of this particular edi-
torial and to ali others who, with the
deceased scientists colleagues may be
equally "mystified," an intelligent pc
rusal OF the writings of any of the fol-
| lowing authorities should prove enlight-
| ening: Prof. Henri Bergson, one of the
most brilliant of the modern French
intellectuals; Alfred Russell Wallace, CO.
propounder of the theory of evolution
with Charles Darwin; the astronomer,
Camille Flammarian; CeSare Lombroso,
the italian archeologist; Sir William
| CrookeS, inventor of the tube which bears
his name and makes possible X-ray dag
! noSis: Sir Conan Doyle, Sir William
! Barrett, Lord Rosebury, Baron Schrenck
Nothing, David Belasco Rev. Russell
| Conwell, D. D., noted preacher and lee
turer; our own Emerson and James,
Emanuel Swedenborg, one of the worlds
| most remarkable minds, and. not the
| least of these, Stanton Moses Robert
Dale Owen and DR.. Abbot, present sec
rotary Of the Smithsonian Institution.
1t is reasonable to assume that the
writer's of most of these notices are
members Of some orthodox religious
|
known, even the most primitive. are
based on the idea of survival; and with
many, not only the existence of spirits,
but their participation in mundane af-
fairs, Is accepted as commonplace. I
am confident that some of the most
| staid and conservative families of rural
| England definitely would resent any
| questioning Of the eyiStapna If thu cbo.+-
that. according to legend, stalk the
Swallowed halls Of the old manor houses
in the still watches OF the night, even
though the said families may all be
members OF the established church. 1t
would seem inconsistent that any con-
| scientious religionist should deny to an
| other belief in a tenet to which he
himself subscribes.
Why should Sir Oliver Lodges belief
in survival be questioned any more than
| that Of President Roosevelt or ex-Presi-
dent Hoover. one a stanch Episcopal
churchman, the other prominent mem
Der Of the Society of Friends?
The orthodox belief is grounded in an
abiding faith. To the more liberal think
er it is a philosophy based on what is
sincerely believed to be veridical evil
dence that physical death is but the
| gateway TO continued life.
I believe in the last ANALYSIS that the
| objection of established religion, where
| 1t exists is directed not so much at the
| spiritualiStiC belief in the continuity of
existence, but rather at the possibility
| OF spirit returns and its attendant phe-
nomena. Yet at burial services and
during pastoral visits in times of be-
| reavement, We are frequently told that
the spirit of the departed hovers near
to comfort and console.
Early ecclesiastical literature of all
ages and peoples is largely a record of
| psychic manifestations and contacts. In
our own Bible are many accounts of
| prophetic dreams and their successful
interpretations, record cases of demo-
niacal possession, references to chose
having familiar spirit" and of angelic
visitations there is no end. THE young
men who appeared before the tent of
Abraham, the angels that stood in the
fiery furnace with Shadrach and his
two companions, the naturalization of
Moses and Elias on the Mount of Trans
f1guration and the heavenly host that
proclaimed the glad tidings of great
joy to the watching shepherds on the
Judean hills.
In the very detailed account of the
visit of Saul to the cave of the Witch of
Endor Il Samuel, xviii, it is claimed
by some commentators that the spirit
there evoked was "deceiving phantom"
but the text reads: And he (SauD per-
ceived that it was Samuel" According
to Webster, to perceive means to gain
knowledge through the senses, and the
Old Testament account Of the happening
at no point questions it's verify. An
explanatory footnote in the Bible before
me reads: "The author of Eclasticus
tells expressly that Samuel, after his
death, prophesied and told the king of
MS end (Eccles., xlvi.20). We should
therefore conclude that it was the real
soul of Samuel clothed in visible form.
| Again, according to the Gospel of st.
John, Mary went early to the sepulchre"
and as she turned away from the empty
tomb, she saw man standing and she
thought it was the gardener" Which
would indicate that the figure must have
appeared very real, also that it was
| clothed.
We have, within comnarativnlv modern