eged
manifestations from the spirit world." As the result of his
observations, he wrote:

"Whatever may be the origin or the cause of the 'rappings,' the
ladies in whose presence they occur do not make them. We tested
this thoroughly and to our entire satisfaction."--_Id., pp.
160, 161._

It was no mere sleight of hand that launched this cult upon the world as
the last days came. Beyond all the physical manifestations, the
religious idea in Spiritualism has leavened the religious thought of
millions. No one can deny that the basic idea is the one that the
serpent promulgated in Eden, "Ye shall not surely die."

Mrs. Emma Hardinge Britten, another of the Fox sisters, says of the
discovery of 1848:

"On the night of the thirty-first of March, 1848, we found
beyond a shadow of a doubt or peradventure, that death had no
power over the spirit.... In a word, we found our so-called
dead were all living."--_"Nineteenth Century Miracles"
(Manchester, England), p. 554._

[Illustration: THE SALEM WITCHCRAFT

One of the historical settings of Spiritualism. A poor woman accused by
her neighbors of practicing witchcraft.]

Now the Scriptures teach plainly what these agencies in Spiritualism are
not, and what they are.

What They Are Not

They are not the spirits of the dead communicating messages to the
living.

In one of the earliest written portions of Holy Scripture, the Lord
declared plainly that the dead have no knowledge of the living:

"He passeth: Thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away. His
sons come to honor, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but
he perceiveth it not of them." Job 14:20, 21.

The dead have no part in any communications with the living on earth:

"Neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done
under the sun." Eccl. 9:6

What They Are

Already we have told what they are in quoting the warnings of prophecy
concerning the special deceptions of Satan in the last days.

"The working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders." 2
Thess. 2:9.

"Seducing spirits." 1 Tim. 4:1.

And as they were shown to the prophet John in a vision of the very end,
he declared:

"They are the spirits of devils, working miracles." Rev. 16:14.

These are the agencies through which come the supernatural
manifestations of Spiritualism. It is a terrible deception that leads
men and women to seek to satan