In any case it seems necessary
to
distinguish between the sense of con-
tact with departed friends or with
" guides," and the assurance that the
messages have necessarily any high
value because they come through
this unusual channel.
It is perhaps of some importance
to notice that there is general agree
ment in the communications that
time has not the same rigid character
as a " time series " in the life that
lies beyond death. This is in any
case probable on other grounds, but
it is of interest as indicating a pos-
sible reason why the communicators
are frequently confused or mistaken
as to exact indications of time.
This may not be a failure in their
own apprehension of the real signifi-
cance of events so much as in their
power of conveying that apprehen-
sion in a form which can be adapted
to the mentality of the medium and
to the understanding of those to
whom the message is directed.
It is often urged as of great sig-
nificance that Spiritualism in many
respects re affirms the highest con
victions of religious people, and that
it has brought many to a new assur-
ance of the truth of teaching which
had ceased to have any meaning to
them.
This is a point of some difficulty,
since assurance seems to come along
different and even conflicting lines.
We cannot ignore the fact that at
least one considerable Spiritualist
organisation is definately anti-Christ-
ian in character. This divergence of |
testimony is explained by Spiritual-
ists as due to the continuance of
spirits, at least for a period, within
the system of beliefs which they
have held in this life.
It is held that even though the
whole development of the person-
ality is being raised from level to
level, the attitudes to truth and good
ness taken up in this life persist in
the next, and that this somewhat
divergent testimony to the truth' of
Christianity must be explained in
this way.
We should add that whatever be
value of this supposed confirma-
tion of the truth of religion, Spirit-
ualism does not seem to have added
anything except perhaps a practical
emphasis to our understanding of
those truths.
Many alleged communications
seem, indeed, to fall below the high-
est Christian standards of under-
standing and spiritual insight, and
indeed below the level of spiritual
insight and mental capacity shown
by the communicators while still in
this life.
While there is insistence upon the
supremacy of love comparable with
the New Testament assertion that
"God is Love" the accounts some-
times given of the mediatorial work
of Christ frequently fall very far
below the full teaching of the Christ-
ian Gospel, seeming to depend
rather upon some power of working
a miracle of materialisation (in the
organisation is definately anti-Christ-
Resurrection appearances) than upon
a radical and final acceptance of the |