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 132
Rights: public_domain
Language: English
Record updated: 2026-08-24

Record summary

“A brief abstract of one of these will give a general idea of their character: Dr

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

293. “A brief abstract of one of these will give a general idea of their character: Dr. Bell had frequently remarked to his ‘spiritual’ friends, that if any medium could reproduce the essential particulars of a final interview which had occurred between himself and a deceased brother in 1826, he should be almost compelled to admit that it came from his spirit; because he was sure that he (Dr. Bell) never had communicated it to any living being. Hence, as it never had been known to but two persons, and was of so peculiar, well-marked a character, as not to be capable of being confounded by generalities, he should hardly be able otherwise to explain it. A few weeks afterward what purported to be the spirit of that brother narrated the essential particulars of that interview, the place where, down to the well-recollected fact _that he was adjusting the stirrups of his saddle_, preparatory to a distant journey, when it was held! Pretty early, however, in his investigations, Dr. Bell began to find that, however correct his spiritual conferees were, in most of their responses, the moment a question was put involving a response the truth of which was unknown to him, uniform failure occurred.

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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