or to bring those who
have perverted views of God back to a right conception of the great Friend
of sinners, as he has revealed himself in his holy word.

2. _They Deny Jesus Christ._--Christ is revealed as the divine Son of the
Father; and to deny that he was or is any more than any other man is
surely to deny him; and the scripture says that "whosoever denieth the
Son, the same hath not the Father." 1 John 2:23. The following is what the
"spirits" began to teach in the earliest stages of Spiritualism concerning
Christ:--

"What is the meaning of the word Christ?--'Tis not, as generally
supposed, the Son of the Creator of all things. Any just and
perfect being is Christ. The crucifixion of Christ is nothing more
than the crucifixion of the spirit, which all have to contend with
before becoming perfect and righteous. The miraculous conception
of Christ is merely a fabulous tale."--_Spiritual Telegraph, No.
37._

How fully does this declaration that any good man is Christ open the way
for the fulfilment of the Saviour's prophecy that in the last days many
false Christs and false prophets shall arise, and shall deceive many. See
Matt. 24:24. A prospectus of the _Truth Seeker_ contained these words: "It
shall be the organ through which the christs of the last dispensation will
choose to speak."

A little later, July 19, 1862, there was published in the _Banner of
Light_ a lecture on Spiritualism by Mrs. C. L. V. Hatch, in which she
spoke of Christ as follows:--

"Of Jesus of Nazareth, personally, we have but little to say.
Certain it is, we find sufficient that is divine in his life and
teachings, without professing to believe in the fables of
theologians respecting his birth and parentage. We are content to
take the simple record as it stands, and to regard him as the son
of Joseph and Mary, endowed with such purity and harmony of
character as fitted him to be the Apostle and Revelator of the
highest wisdom ever taught to man. It is the fundamental article
in the creed of modern Christianity, that Jesus was divine in his
nature, and of miraculous origin and nativity. Now, no human being
of ordinary intelligence, unwarped by educational bias, would ever
profess to believe in such a monstrous figment, which only shows
the blindness of superstitious prejudice."

Here is something twenty-four years later. A seance reported in the
_