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 164
Rights: public_domain
Language: English
Record updated: 2026-08-24

Record summary

“My Dear Father:—I made a very brief communication to you through the medium of Mr

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

470. “_My Dear Father_:—I made a very brief communication to you through the medium of Mr. Gordon, which was my first successful effort to control the human organism. It has been long known to me that spirits could manifest themselves to mortals; and that they have always held communion with their brethren in the flesh, is not new to me. The law is as natural as gravitation, and like it, I presume, will endure forever. But so great has been, and still is, the superstition of the masses, and to such an extent has man’s mental vision been obscured by his so-called spiritual teachers, that, excepting a comparatively few instances, spirits have failed in their attempts to reveal themselves to the civilized portion of mankind. The conditions have, for the most part, been wanting, owing to the above causes, and which have grown out of man’s false notions respecting his natural and true relation with the unseen world.

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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