Satan’s Lying Wonders
427
evil designs. We have no business with any such science. We should
be afraid of it. Never should the first principles of it be brought into
any institution
Neglect of prayer leads men to rely on their own strength, and
opens the door to temptation. In many cases the imagination is cap-
tivated by scientific research, and men are flattered through the con-
sciousness of their own powers. The sciences which treat of the human
mind are very much exalted. They are good in their place; but they are
seized upon by Satan as his powerful agents to deceive and destroy
souls. His arts are accepted as from Heaven, and he thus receives
the worship which suits him well. Through these sciences, virtue is
destroyed, and the foundations of Spiritualism are laid
Magic and Superstition
By burning their books on magic, the Ephesian converts showed
that the things in which they had once delighted they now abhorred. It
was by and through magic that they had especially offended God and
[331]
imperiled their souls; and it was against magic that they showed such
indignation. Thus they gave evidence of true conversion.
It is fondly supposed that heathen superstitions have disappeared
before the civilization of the twentieth century. But the word of God
and the stern testimony of facts declare that sorcery is practiced in this
age as verily as in the days of the old-time magicians. The ancient
system of magic is, in reality, the same as what is now known as
modern spiritualism. Satan is finding access to thousands of minds by
presenting himself under the guise of departed friends. The Scriptures
declare that “the dead know not anything.”
Ecclesiastes 9:5
. Their
thoughts, their love, their hatred, have perished. The dead do not
hold communion with the living. But true to his early cunning, Satan
employs this device in order to gain control of minds.
Through spiritualism many of the sick, the bereaved, the curious,
are communicating with evil spirits. All who venture to do this are
on dangerous ground. The word of truth declares how God regards
them. In ancient times He pronounced a stern judgment on a king
who had sent for counsel to a heathen oracle: “Is it not because there
590
Medical Ministry, 115, 116
591
The Signs of the Times , November 6, 1884