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Hostility to Historic
Biblical Christianity
The fact that all
spiritistically inspired literature opposes biblical teaching confirms
the biblical view of spiritual warfare. Otherwise, why should godly
spirits oppose biblical teachings at all? Their own teachings prove that
what the Bible says of them is true (i.e., that they are not who they
claim).1
In our book Cult Watch
we stated in brief that the evidence demonstrates that these "loving"
spirits with their endless disguises—from "angels" to "aliens" to
"nature spirits"—fit the category of the demonic. It can be shown that
these spirits—despite their frequent use of religious words and claims
to spirituality—promote sin and immorality, and endorse occultism. Some
even promote criminal activity and such perverse rituals as necrophilia
(sex with corpses). They also pervert and distort biblical truth, reject
Christ and hate the God of the Bible, and purposely deceive those who
listen—sometimes with sadistic intent. If the above can be demonstrated
(as it can), what other conclusions may we arrive at other than that
these creatures are deceiving spirits? Why should we listen to them?
Consider the teachings of the
spirit entity "Emmanuel" as found in the text by Pat Rodegast entitled
Emmanuel’s Book. Morally, Emmanuel teaches the permissibility and
desirability of divorce ("incompatible" marriages); the possibility of
"open marriage" (adultery); the permissibility of abortion ("a useful
act" when done "with willingness to learn" for "nothing in your human
world is absolutely wrong"); and homosexuality and bisexuality as normal
behavior.2
Emmanuel also demeans
political leaders as ignorant and sick and teaches that the six million
Jews who perished in the Holocaust really chose to be murdered in order
to grow spiritually. Thus, Emmanuel says that Hitler and Stalin should
not be condemned too severely for they also are part of God.3
One book by a psychologist/channeler
having wide experience with channeling says that a common theme of
almost all modern channeling is that because men are literally creators
of their own experience, "There are no victims." All personal
experiences with evil are simply things we choose to create to "learn
certain experiential lessons."4 But
are these teachings logical? Are they the kinds of moral codes man
should live by? Are they good, ethical teachings in any sense? Can they
be considered socially constructive? Are these ideas what we would
expect from morally pure, divine, or highly evolved spiritual beings?
Or, on the other hand, are
they what we would expect from evil spiritual beings? The fact is that
such teachings are not the exception; they are merely representative of
hundreds of other spirits’ teachings as reflected in occult literature
today.5
The Destructive Power of the
Occult and the Testimony of Brilliant Thinkers
The personal damage to
people’s lives revealed throughout the history of the occult is powerful
evidence that occult practice links one to a world of evil spirits. This
may explain why some of the most energetic minds of the modern era have
accepted the reality of demons: They do leave evidence of both their
existence and their nature.
The astute Cambridge
professor C. S. Lewis said in regard to the existence of demons: "It
seems to me to explain a good many facts. It agrees with the plain sense
of Scripture, the tradition of Christendom, and the beliefs of most men
at most times. And it conflicts with nothing that any of the sciences
has shown to be true."6
Trial lawyer, philosopher,
and theologian Dr. John W. Montgomery holds eight earned degrees,
including two doctorates, and is the author of over a hundred books and
articles. He owns one of the largest personal occult libraries in the
country and is convinced "there is overwhelming extra-biblical data and
empirical confirmation" documenting scriptural claims for the existence
of a personal devil and demons.7
If even veteran psychic
researchers admit the following concerning our ignorance of the psychic
realm, certainly there is no reason to reject the idea of demons
outright: "In truth, even the most knowledgeable among us must admit
that when dealing with psychic aspects, we command no more than varying
degrees of ignorance."8
Is the skeptics’ position
really tenable? Dr. Montgomery argues that, in controversial areas
especially, special care must be taken to objectively assess the facts
of the matter, whether or not it is personally comforting: "We must
‘suspend disbelief,’ check out the evidence with the care demanded for
events in general, attempt to formulate explanatory constructs that best
‘fit the facts’ and at the same time be willing always to accept facts
even if our best attempts to explain them prove inadequate."9
Let’s offer a final
illustration of why we feel we cannot ignore the possibility of a real
devil and demons. It is a fact that all men everywhere believe that at
any given moment, an invisible world of living creatures hovers about us
(such as viruses and insects); indeed they even play an important role
in the outcome of affairs on our planet, such as crop harvests and
disease levels. Nevertheless, we rarely see them.
There are literally billions
of creatures about us that we never see—in the air, water, and soil. Yet
we know they exist, either by careful observation or the evidence of
their visits.
It is a little strange that
in a world where billions of creatures are not seen and yet believed in,
that men refuse to accept the existence of God, angels, and demons
merely because they have not yet seen them—when, in fact, their "tracks"
are virtually everywhere. Perhaps some people cannot see them because
they rule out their existence to begin with; hence, their "tracks" are
explained by recourse to other theories. But for those persons who
observe both nature and religion carefully, the "tracks" of the
invisibles are only too obvious.
Dave Hunt uses the analogy of
the subatomic particle called the neutrino as an illustration of the
closed-mindedness the skeptic has toward the spiritual world.10
The neutrino is a particle that has no physical properties (no mass), no
electrical charge, and is unaffected by gravitational or electromagnetic
fields. A neutrino traveling toward the earth would pass right through
it as if it simply did not exist. In fact, only one in ten billion
neutrinos passing through matter the equivalent of the earth’s diameter
would react with a neutron or proton!
Now, let us assume there are
intelligent "neutrino" beings. They would, of course, not be able to
detect our universe; to them it would simply not exist. A neutrino
entity could, at the very most, suspect our existence from certain
secondary effects. But he would undoubtedly be ridiculed by his fellow
colleagues and could never prove his suspicions since his neutrino
instruments would simply be incapable of detecting our universe.
If such beings existed, we
who live upon the earth might find it unendingly amusing that these
entities would refuse to admit our existence merely because they could
neither see us or detect us directly. Their philosophical and logical
"proofs" of our nonexistence would make good party fare. And if it were
possible that we could in some manner interact with their world (while
they could not affect ours), no doubt humans would have a very merry
time with any curious neutrino beings willing to investigate our effects
or "prove" our existence. To those neutrinos willing to dedicate their
lives to our research, it would undoubtedly be most profound, with many
disturbing implications.
The parallels here to the
materialist’s unwillingness to believe in a spirit world and the
parapsychologist’s eagerness to try and prove one exists is obvious.
Both are caught, as it were, in a "neutrino trap": The former’s
closed-mindedness prevents his realization of another dimension; the
latter’s curiosity and credulity permits unending manipulation. And note
carefully how little a neutrino being could ever really discover
about our world. All his time would be spent with the enticing and
fascinating secondary effects that, at best, would constitute the tip of
the iceberg. After all his painstaking investigation, after all the
theoretical constructs he could muster, he would remain infinitely
ignorant about the real makeup of our world. He would know nothing of
our physical constitution or abilities, our morality or civilization,
our social structure and laws, our penchant for cruelty or wars.
The psychic’s dilemma is also
obvious: He is the equivalent of a neutrino being poking and prodding a
foreign environment, with absolutely no genuine knowledge of its
inhabitant’s makeup and morality, or its world’s laws or dangers. A
neutrino being was never meant to exist on an earth world, and neither
is an earth being capable of exploring a neutrino world without courting
whatever unknown hazards might be present. But to say evil spirits
cannot exist, or that there is no evidence for them, is simply untenable
by the canons of biblical, cultural, and empirical data.
In conclusion, a person would
be hard-pressed to maintain that demons simply do not exist after
considering not only the divine authority of the Bible and the testimony
of Christ (who, as God, is an infallible authority), but also the
consensus of history and religion, the testimony of active and former
occultists, the phenomenon of spirit possession, the hostility to
biblical revelation displayed in spiritistic literature, and the
personal wreckage in the history of occultism.
In the end, one either trusts
the spirits and ignores the facts, or trusts the facts and ignores the
spirits.
Notes:
1
See the companion article: "The Teachings of the Spirits."
2
Pat Rodegast, Emanuel’s Book (Weston, CT: Friends Press, 1986),
pp. 132, 198-201, 227, 232, 205, 161.
3
Ibid., pp. xx, 145, 88, 151, 208, 223, 228.
4
Kathryn Ridall, Channeling (New York: Bantam, 1988), p. 58.
5
See the companion article: "The Teachings of the Spirits."
6
C. S. Lewis, Screwtape Letters (New York: Macmillan, 1971), p.
vii.
7
John Warwick Montgomery, "Commentary on Hysteria and Demons,
Depression and Oppression, Good and Evil" in John Warwick Montgomery,
ed., Demon Possession: A Medical Historical Anthropological and
Theological Symposium (Minneapolis, MN: Bethany, 1976), p. 232.
8
Martin Ebon, "Psychic Roulette," Psychic Magazine, Dec, 1975,
p. 58.
9
John Warwick Montgomery, Principalities and Powers
(Minneapolis, MN: Bethany, 1975), p. 146.
10
Dave Hunt, The Cult Explosion (Eugene, OR: Harvest House,
1980), pp. 15-16.
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