THE K I NG ' S BUS I NES S
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world’s redeemers.” But the sufferings of Blavatsky, a t the close of her career, were only the logical consequences of her life, and nothing like martyrdom. Mrs. Tingley has emphasized her claim to be the proper successor to Bla vatsky by asserting th a t they were close friends twelve hundred years before Christ, at a time when both were incar nated in Egypt! Later, she even claimed to be the reincarnation of Bla vatsky herself! She had recollection of having been a bosom friend long ago, and then she became suddenly conscious of being, not a one-time bosom friend, but a reincarnation of th a t twice con temporaneous person! Great magic, that! Verily, the evolution of a dis eased imagination, with promptings from deceiving spirits, and urged by un» bridled ambition, knows no consistency or reason! A reincarnation of one whom she de clares to have been greater than Jesus Christ (Blavatsky) and a reincarnation being an advance over the preceding state, there is no limit to the audacious blasphemy of this Point Loma pretender whom thousands follow, and whose in sane ravings are honored on the shelves of public libraries in this professedly Christian land, and whose exploits are heralded in contemporary literature! And these same people ridicule as myth, fable and superstition, the authentic, proven, tried, stable and consistent Christian Scriptures in the most essen tial doctrines and pervert them by pre sumptuous interpretations into most grotesque inconsistencies! But how can such people rationally interpret any thing? The amazing thing is th a t peo ple who boast of their superior educa tion fall into such a dirty puddle. Of the satellites of these leaders, it is not worth while to take detailed notice. They form a growing family. Each thinks to give the world its latest and best lessons in truth. They differ some in details, but, in the main, only reflect the teachings of the principal leaders.
After the death of the original pro jectors, two rivals set up claims to Bla- vatsky’s mantle: Anne Besant, in Eng land, and Catherine Tingley, in America. Each wanted to be president of the world-society. Neither would prefer the other in honor, in the Christian way, and a bitter fight ensued, the rancor of which continues to this day. Theoso- phists make extravagant professions of following the “selfless life,” yet the ugly contest between these two parties would disgrace a dirty political cam paign! So now there are two societies, and several little sects, or orders, of this universal brotherhood! Catherine Tingley was a spirit med ium when she took up Theosophy in self-exploitation. She writes with words of honey the most blasphemous teachings, along with numerous and presumptuous claims for herself. No megalomaniac puts forth more blas phemous claims. She dares to call her self, not only the greatest person and teacher in the world today, but the greatest of all time, the Lord Jesus not excepted! Insane people sometimes claim to be the Lord, but she does not stop there; for she claims to be better than He was—yet remains out of the asylum, and finds plenty of fools who are willing to follow her teachings! It is ju st as Jesus said it would be— teachers coming in their own names, pretending to be great ones, would at tract many who are too proud to follow Him who came in humility, exalting the Father instead of Himself. The brazen impudence of Catherine Tingley goes even beyond th a t of Simon Magus, the sorcerer, who “claimed to be some great one, even the power of God” ; 'for she claims to “wield powers” in the sense of controlling the invisi ble powers. She rates herself as the evolved perfection of great world- teachers, although conceding high hon ors to Blavatsky, saying she was “mar tyred, as was Christ, but on a cross of greater agony,” and is “one of the
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