Spiritualism: Truth and Error Compared
This article is part of a series examining what various religious movements teach on seven foundational doctrines, compared with what the Bible actually says. Source material for cult positions is drawn from Keith L. Brooks and Irvine Robertson, "The Spirit of Truth and the Spirit of Error" (Moody Press, 1985).
Spiritualism defines itself as "the science, philosophy, and religion of continuous life, based upon the demonstrated fact of communication, by means of mediumship, with those who live in the spirit world." It emerged as an organized movement in the mid-nineteenth century and has maintained a consistent rejection of the Trinity, the atoning death of Christ, and the biblical doctrine of judgment. The Bible, by contrast, explicitly forbids all communication with the dead (Deuteronomy 18:10–12; Isaiah 8:19–20) and warns that such practices open the door to demonic deception rather than genuine contact with departed souls.
1. God
What the Bible Teaches
Scripture presents God as the personal Creator who is distinct from His creation. "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth" (Genesis 1:1). He is the only God: "He is God; there is none else beside him" (Deuteronomy 4:35). God is a Spirit (John 4:24), yet He is personal — He speaks, loves, judges, and acts in history. The Trinity — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — is revealed throughout Scripture (Matthew 28:19; Isaiah 48:16).
What Spiritualism Teaches
"Infinite intelligence pervades and controls the universe, is without shape or form, and is impersonal, omnipresent, and omnipotent." Spiritualism teaches that "the spark of divinity dwells in all" ("What Spiritualism Is and Does," Spiritualist Manual, 1940). The doctrine of the Trinity "seems to have no adherents in advanced circles of the spirit world. The divinity of Christ as co-equal with the Father is universally denied."
2. Jesus Christ
What the Bible Teaches
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God" (John 1:1). Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary (Matthew 1:18). "God was manifest in the flesh" (1 Timothy 3:16). He was declared the Son of God by His bodily resurrection from the dead (Romans 1:4). He is the unique Savior: "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).
What Spiritualism Teaches
"Christ himself was nothing more than a medium of high order." "The teaching of spirits supersedes and is an advance upon the teachings of Christianity" (Spiritual Telegraph, No. 37). "Jesus Christ was not divine. He is now an advanced spirit in the sixth sphere. He never claimed to be God manifest in the flesh and does not at present" (Weisse, Demonology or Spiritualism, p. 141). "His identification with the Father was the oneness of mediumship. He was a medium or 'mediator'" (Colville, Universal Spiritualism, p. 234). "Jesus Christ was indeed the Son of God, as also are we sons of God" (Many Mansions, p. 107). "The miraculous conception of Christ is merely a fabulous tale" (Weisse, Spiritualism, p. 141). "Spiritualism sees in the death of Jesus an illustration of the martyr spirit, of that unselfish and heroic devotion to humanity which ever characterized the life of Jesus, but no special atoning value in his sufferings and death" (The A.B.C. of Spiritualism, Q. 19). "Spiritualism accepts him as one of many Saviour Christs, who at different times have come into the world to lighten its darkness and show by precept and example the way of life to men. It recognizes him as a world Saviour but not as 'the only name' given under heaven by which men can be saved" (The A.B.C. of Spiritualism, Q. 17).
3. Holy Spirit
What the Bible Teaches
Jesus promised the Comforter, "the Spirit of truth," who would testify of Him, convict the world of sin, guide believers into all truth, and teach all things (John 15:26; 16:8, 13; 14:26). The Holy Spirit is a distinct person of the Godhead who indwells every true believer (Romans 8:9, 11).
What Spiritualism Teaches
Spiritualism denies the personality of the Holy Spirit entirely. "The Holy Spirit from God is the spirit of some holy person who has once been in the flesh" (Hastings, p. 91).
4. Sin
What the Bible Teaches
"There is none righteous, no, not one" (Romans 3:10). "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). Sin is real, universal, and deadly: "The wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us" (1 John 1:8).
What Spiritualism Teaches
"Man never had a fall." "Whatever is, is right. Evil does not exist. Evil is good. No matter what man's path may be, good or bad, it is the path of divine ordination and destiny" (Childs, Whatever Is, Is Right). "A lie is the truth intrinsically; it holds a lawful place in creation; it is a necessity" (Andre, The True Light, p. 162). "We believe in intelligent and ignorant spirits. No being is naturally bad — evil always originates in ignorance." "Death is not a violent result of sin. It was neither friend nor enemy. It is a part of the divine purpose" (SM, 1940).
5. Redemption
What the Bible Teaches
"We have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins" (Ephesians 1:7). "Without shedding of blood is no remission" (Hebrews 9:22). Christ "offered one sacrifice for sins forever" (Hebrews 10:12). He "washed us from our sins in his own blood" (Revelation 1:5).
What Spiritualism Teaches
"There is no atoning value in the death of Jesus Christ" (Childs, Whatever Is, Is Right). "Salvation by vicarious atonement is a wicked and soul-destroying delusion" (Ethics of Spiritualism, p. 99). Spiritualism instead teaches "the continuity of life and the eternal progression of man toward perfection in the spirit realm. That every soul will progress through the ages to heights sublime and glorious, where God is Love and Love is God" ("What Spiritualism Is and Does," SM, 1940).
6. Salvation
What the Bible Teaches
"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved" (Acts 16:31). Salvation is by grace through faith alone, not by works (Ephesians 2:8–9). "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life" (John 3:36).
What Spiritualism Teaches
"We affirm the moral responsibility of the individual, and that he makes his own happiness or unhappiness as he obeys or disobeys Nature's physical and spiritual laws." "Man becomes a spirit after death, doing both evil and good, but he may be saved as he progresses from one spirit level to the next. We affirm that the doorway to reformation is never closed against any human soul, here or hereafter" (Declaration of Principles, Nos. 7 and 8). "Leaving the physical body does not change the condition of the spirit, which is the actual personality. It must learn to desire and to progress to higher and better conditions, just as we do on earth" (SM, p. 182). "Each must work out his own salvation; each has an equal opportunity to do this when he shall have atoned for the wrongs and overcome the temptations and allurements to the sense gratification of earth life" (SM, p. 184).
7. Retribution
What the Bible Teaches
"It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment" (Hebrews 9:27). The wicked "shall awake . . . to shame, and everlasting contempt" (Daniel 12:2). The Lord Jesus will take "vengeance on them that know not God . . . who shall be punished with everlasting destruction" (2 Thessalonians 1:7–10). Hell is a real place of unquenchable fire (Mark 9:45).
What Spiritualism Teaches
"Hell does not exist and never will." "All spirit people of wisdom, knowledge, and love know there is no hell and no devil." "No resurrection — no judgment." "When you believe in spiritual manifestations, you will feel far happier than you do now. You will not fear the threats of damnation and hell . . . such doctrine is wrong" (Doyle, The New Revelation, 1918, p. 68). "We do not believe in such places as Purgatory and Hell. Communicating spirits have merely graduated from this form of life into another. That life can be heaven or hell-like, just as each spirit chooses to make it; the same applies to our life here" (SM, p. 183).
All Bible quotations are from the King James Version. Cult citations are taken directly from the source documents as reproduced in Brooks and Robertson.