THE BIBLE- AND MODERN CULTS
SPIRITISM AND THE BIBLE Spiritism Reeds no Bible. It makes its beliefs to order to su it th e individual. Rev. A. C. Wyckoff has said of it: “H ere is Spiritism ’s opportunity. It deals in ju st th e commodity th a t many people want. , I t has for sale, by its professional mediums, ju s t th e belief for which hum anity most longs. I t has no custom-made belief, it is a belief strictly made to order. J u st w hat you w ant to believe it will sell you for the price of a sitting. Do you w ant to be lieve in th e survival of your son? It answers: “Thy son liveth.” Do you want, to believe, whatever his life on ea rth may have been, th a t he is happy? I t answers: “He is happy.” This brings to our atten tion a curious fact. While Spiritism , in its theory, h as those who are no t happy in th e other world, in all of Its long history these unhappy ones have never happened to be th e sons of any fath er or m other who ever went to a medium to learn about th e ir fate and paid for th e belief th a t they should be found happy. This is one thing about Spiritism ; you get w hat you pay for every time. It is in its many satis factory affirmations th a t we find the secret of much of its popularity. It has a g reat advantage over historic Chris tian ity in thi's respect. It can make beliefs to order. EDDYISM AND THE BIBLE One of the strong talk ing points of Christian Science is th e large place it gives to th e Bible. The Bible and Science and H ealth are th e only ordained pastor of every Christian Science Church. Upon th is point Mrs, Eddy speaks w ith no uncertain sound. She says:
“ Divine Science derives its sanction from th e Bible (p. 146). Christian Science, understood, coincides w ith th e Scriptures, and sustains logically and dem onstratively every point it presents. Otherwise it. would not be Science (p. 358 ). He th a t decries th is Science does it presumptuously, in th e face of Bible history and in defiance of th e direct command of Jesus, ‘Go ye into all the world, and preach th e gospel’ (p. 342). “ I have found nothing in ancient or modern systems on which to found my own, except th e teachings and demon stration s of our g reat Master and the lives of prophets and apostles. The Bible has been my only authority. I have had no other guide in the ‘straigh t and narrow way’ of T ru th (p. 126).” These statem en ts are calculated to allay any shadow of doubt as to the S criptural loyalty of th is new system of religion; and they are used w ith great effect as talk ing points by its prose- lyters. Before, however, they are taken too seriously they need to be investi gated a little. W hat Mrs. Eddy says about th e Scriptural sanction for her system does no t apply a t all to th e Eng lish tran slation of th e Bible, or any other tran slatio n in existence. Fo r th e tran slation s of th e Bible contradict her system from th e first verse in Genesis to th e la st of Revelation. This self- evident fact Mrs. Eddy th u s explains: “The tran slato rs of th is record of scientific creation en tertained a false sense of being. They believed in the existence of m atter, its propagation and power. F rom th a t standpoint of error, they could no t apprehend th e n atu re and operation of Spirit. Hence the seeming contradictions in th a t Scrip-
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