Research source

THE HEAVEN AND HELL OF SPIRITUALISM CONTRASTED WITH THE HEAVEN AND HELL OF SCRIPTURE 141

Date of account: Published 1855
Source: Experimental Investigation of the Spirit Manifestations Demonstrating the existence of spirits and their communion with mortals. Doctrine of the spirit world respecting heaven, hell, morality, and God. Also, the influence of Scripture on the morals of Christians.
Reference: Experimental Investigation of the Spirit Manifestations Demonstrating the existence of spirits and their communion with mortals. Doctrine of the spirit world respecting heaven, hell, morality, and God. Also, the influence of Scripture on the morals of Christians. · selected passage 44
Rights: public_domain
Language: English
Record updated: 2026-08-24

Record summary

THE first fruit of my attention to the phenomena of table turning, was the following letter

Published source text

Read the available text below. Archive transcriptions may contain OCR errors; later context is labelled separately. A recorded claim is not a finding that it happened.

Source passage

Source text · mention only

122. THE first fruit of my attention to the phenomena of table turning, was the following letter. I trust I shall not be considered as self-complacent, when I allege it to be an exemplification of _wise ignorance_, which is about equivalent to folly. The wisest man who speaks in ignorance, speaks foolishly to the ears of those who perceive his ignorance. The great mass of men of science appear in this light to spiritualists when they argue against Spiritualism. Men who are only _nominally_ Know Nothings have proved a formidable party in politics; unfortunately, Spiritualism has, in its most active opponents, _real_ Know Nothings, who will not admit any fact of a spiritual origin, unless such as they have been educated to believe.

Historical context

Contextual commentary · mention only

This comes from historical psychical research. Methods, witness handling and standards of evidence differ from present-day research and should be assessed from the cited passage and edition.

Modern context

Contextual commentary · mention only

The passage can support a history of claims and recurring descriptions. It does not establish a paranormal mechanism, and competing psychological, social and physical explanations remain relevant.

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