Saturday, February 18, 2023

When Spiritualism Came Into Vogue

Behold, I shew you a mystery; 
We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 
O death, where is thy sting? 
O grave, where is thy victory?
1 Corinthians 15:51-51,55
 
"But sometime toward the middle of the 19th Century, spiritualism came into prominence.

I believe that one of the noteworthy cultural markers was Charles Dickens’ 1843, “A Christmas Carol.”
 
Another driver of spiritualism was the American Civil War, which brought death on an unprecedented scale. Often, the bodies could not be identified (a problem that got much worse in the Great War) or could not be shipped home but had to be buried
nearby, which prevented closure for their loved ones, and added to an interest in trying to communicate with the dead. 
 
Today, spiritualism is everywhere. Even Christians, who ought to know better, seem to prefer the idea that a disembodied consciousness continues on after death to the Bible doctrine of unconscious sleep until the Resurrection Morning, when we are given new life in glorified, incorruptible bodies."
David Read/Fulcrum7