There Is Nothing New In Unbelief–Part Two

by Al Benson Jr.

Then, there was the article from the gentleman in Oklahoma. It had originally been published in the Civil War Times Illustrated  in August of 1976. It was authored by Peggy Robbins and was entitled The Lincoln’s and Spiritualism.  According to Robbins, spiritualism began to gain a foothold in this country in 1848.  Interesting coincidence–socialist revolution in Europe in 1848, spiritualism in the United States the same year. The shooting part of our revolution was not to come for another twelve years, but the spiritual part was already in progress. Unfortunately most Christians in the North were too busy sending their children off to the Unitarian public school system to be “educated” to notice.

Robbins reported that during 1862 Mrs. Lincoln was involved with a number of mediums, some of whom were just out and out fakes. Historians have disagreed as to whether Lincoln, himself,  believed in spiritualism, because, pragmatic politician that he was, he never gave any of those who inquired into his beliefs on this question a straight answer.  However, in 1861, he did listen to a “lengthy dissertation on spiritualism” by none other than Robert Dale Owen. You’ve all heard that name before, and his father’s name as well. This is the same Robert Dale Owen that gave professional South-hater Thaddeus Stevens quite a bit of input into the drafting of the 14th Amendment. A spiritualist seeking to influence the 14th Amendment–bet your “history” books never passed that bit of info along to you. Robbins’ article labeled Owen as a “distinguished author.” The only thing I have read about Mr. Owen being distinguished in was his penchant for socialism, and spiritualism. Socialist that he was, Owen seems to have had contact with the big wigs in Washington. That may tell you a little about the elite in Washington.and where they were coming from, even during the so-called “good old days.”

Robbins noted that “There is ample proof that the President did attend a number of seances, but it may be that he did so not as a believer but as a detached observer, there to look after his emotionally overwrought wife.” Robbins mentioned that Lincoln had curiosity about the supernatural because he was superstitious, and had long been subject to visions,dreams, premonitions etc.

One spiritualist the Lincolns received at the White House was a Lord Colchester. It seems that he was allowed to hold several seances on the premises. It also seems, however, that Lord Colchester’s  reputation was somewhat suspect, and a friend of the Lincoln’s Noah Brooks, rather bluntly suggested to him that he “get out of Dodge.”

During the latter part of 1862 Mrs. Lincoln attended several seances held by a Nettie Colburn.  In order to keep Mrs. Colburn close to Washington, Mrs. Lincoln managed to get her a position in the Interior Department.  Colburn held a seance in the White House in December of 1862.

Robbins also noted in her article that “famous psychic investigator A. Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes, termed this, the first of a number of meetings between medium Nettie Colburn and President Lincoln one of the most important events in the history of spiritualism.”

One seance held in the White House in April, 1863, was attended by Secretary of War Edwin Stanton and Secretary of the Navy Gideon Wells.  Some of these sessions were actually reported in the newspapers of that time, but interestingly enough,  Lincoln was never criticized for them.  Apostasy must love company.

If Lincoln were the stalwart “Christian” we have been led by so many books to believe he was, would he have allowed either his wife or himself to be drawn into such activities? One can most certainly sympathize with Mrs. Lincoln over the loss of her son. But surely, if her husband were a Christian,  he would have sought some sort of biblical counsel and comfort for his wife rather than allowing her to indulge in spiritualism  and then going along for the ride himself.  In truth, Mr. Lincoln was not a Christian, even his own wife admitted as much.. The book Lincoln’s Marxists deals with Lincoln’s religion, or lack thereof in some detail.

Most of this is not particularly “fun” material to have to pass along to people. However, it is further proof that this country, having abandoned its Reformation foundations, at least in the North, had turned almost completely to apostasy by the time the shooting part of the revolution got under way in 1861.  Apostasy was rampant, from the highest to the lowest stations in society.  The real question is–did we ever really turn from that apostasy? In spite of all the so-called “revivals” since the War Between the States, I think not. Until we turn from it and turn back to the God of the Holy Scriptures, we will continue to go down the tubes.

There Is Nothing New In Unbelief

by Al Benson Jr.

Several years ago, when Ronald Reagan was still in office the spin masters in the “news” media were all agog over stories about Nancy Reagan having consulted an astrologer.  The “news” media picked up that story and ran with it because there were probably some useful idiots in the media that thought Reagan was much more conservative than he really was and this sort of story was their chance to get their leftist licks in at him. So Nancy and her astrologer were headline news for a few days. Christians and conservatives weren’t happy with the revelations, but they should have known.  They goofed with Nixon and didn’t learn anything and mostly they still haven’t based upon what I see going on in the current Republican run for president. You almost wonder if those that direct their attentions would rather have Obama back than a genuine conservative, but I digress.

However, let us not be naive enough to think that Nancy Reagan’s consorting with an astrologer is anything new. Consorting with mediums, astrologers, spiritualists and witches is strictly forbidden in the Old Testament and that prohibition has not changed. It stands today. It stood in the 1800s, when spiritualism  started to become “fashionable” in this country. Spiritualism and these other related activities are the result of apostasy–the result of a people having been exposed to God’s truth and then ignoring or disbelieving it in favor of something more “contemporary.”

I recently did an article on Harriet Beecher Stowe’s adventures into spiritualism.  Several years ago, upon my return from a trip to eastern California and western Arizona, I found in my pile of mail, an article from a man in Oklahoma that dealt with Mary Todd Lincoln’s excursions into this same murky area. The article was informative and, after doing a little research, I found other sources that corroborated the article’s findings.

According to many sources (and there are more now than there were years ago) Mrs. Lincoln was emotionally unstable at times. When her son, Willie, died she struggled with that loss for several years and arrived at the point where she started visiting spiritualists in an effort to contact her dead son.

The book Abraham Lincoln–A Biography by Benjamin P. Thomas (Alfred A. Knopf, N.Y.) recorded a friend of the Lincoln’s writing the following: “Mrs. Lincoln told me she had been, the night before…out to Georgetown, to see a Mrs. Laury, a spiritualist and she had made wonderful revelations to her about her little son, Willie…Among other things she revealed that the cabinet were all enemies of the President, working for themselves, and that they would have to be dismissed and others called to his aid before he had success.” Very interesting, and not totally inaccurate. Makes you wonder where Mrs. Laury got her information.

Another reference, though a short one, referring to Mrs. Lincoln’s dabbling in spiritualism  is found in the book Who Was Who In The Civil War  by Stewart Sifakis.  This large book contains biographical sketches  of most prominent people in the country during the “late unpleasantness” both North and South. In the section on Mary Todd Lincoln it has noted: “The loss of the idolized Willie deeply disturbed her and she refused to enter the room in which he had died and been embalmed. She even held at least one seance in the White House to try to make contact with his departed soul.”

It reminds you of the verse in Ecclesiastes (chapter one, verse 9) which says: “The thing which hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.”

To be continued.

So Where Did Our Troubles Begin? Part Two

by Al Benson Jr.

Since all these rejections of the Reformed faith, which was the foundational cornerstone of the nation, only continued to grow and never diminish, it stands to reason that the problems the apostates brought in because of their unbelief had to affect the country.

During the late 1700s,  membership in the Congregational churches was comprised of 60% women, and by the early 1800s that figure had risen to 70%. Where were the men, who, according to Scripture, should have leadership rolls among God’s elect?  Because of unbelief they had apparently decided they were capable of building the republic without God’s help or guidance and so they stayed away from worship services in droves. Consequently, many ministers, seeing that their congregations were comprised of mainly women, began to tailor their sermons to them. which, in the eyes of many. made the churches to appear effeminate.

By the early 1800s, especially in Massachusetts, the Unitarians had become influential enough  that they were able to launch the nation’s first public school system as we know that system today. You have by now all heard of Horace Mann, the “father of the common schools.”  The “history” books belabor his “monumental” achievements in behalf of establishing public schools. They don’t bother to mention, however, that Mann was a Unitarian whose efforts to establish public education were driven by his hatred for church schools. By the time Mann appeared on the scene, many Christian assemblies were so thoroughly penetrated by apostasy that they eagerly went along with public education instead of opposing it as they should have.  Robert Owen, the socialist, was also in favor of public schools. He saw them as a vehicle for changing society, and who can honestly doubt that they have more than lived up to his expectations? So, from the beginning, the socialists recognized that it wasn’t about education. It was about indoctrination.

Logical thinking would require us to say that public education in this country was the fruit of apostasy. After the War Between the States, one of the first things the North did during what has euphemistically been called “reconstruction” was to shove public education down the throats of the Southern states. They brought Yankee schoolteachers down here to make sure it was done right and their textbooks were geared to show why the North was virtuous and the South was guilty of all manner of crimes against humanity. Unitarians had gained influential positions in both the abolitionist and “women’s rights” movements in the early 1800s. So had the spiritualists.

By the time the War Between the States was thrust upon us, the North had been so thoroughly “unitarianized”  that it was hardly recognizable in regard to the Christian faith it had repudiated.

All this time, the South was moving more and more toward the orthodox Christian faith and, indeed, might have been the springboard for national revival if given enough time. That could not be permitted to happen–hence the War.

Apostasy–rejection of the truth of Scripture and rejection of the Person and work of Christ Jesus, is the bottom-line reason for our national problems, both today and 150 years ago.  Our political and economic problems are merely symptoms of that apostasy.  If we continue to fail to recognize that fact, we will NEVER make any meaningful changes for the good of the country–and our current public education system will continue to make sure that we fail to recognize that fact.. That is part of its reason for being.

If we continue to think that all our troubles in this country started with FDR, or even in 1913, as bad a year as that was, our thinking is the result of an apostate reaction to Christianity that permeated this country long before we were born.  If you don’t believe me, I challenge you to do the homework like I had to.  Don’t take my word for it. Find out for yourselves, and then act, with prayer, on what you find.

So Where Did Our Troubles Begin?

by Al Benson Jr.

At their deepest point, our national woes, and they are many, are not just political, economic, or even educational, critical though all these areas are. Our deepest national problems are our theological problems. No country on the face of God’s earth has had more biblical truth than this country, yet no country has so lightly regarded that truth as we have for the last 150-180 years. We have become as apostate nation and will be judged for our apostasy. It is a mark of our apostasy and unbelief that we cannot see that our problems go far beyond just electing a few more “conservatives” to Congress or “reforming” our public school system or electing the right person to be president. None of these things will be anymore than a bandaid  on a hemorrhage. Some want to abolish the Federal Reserve System. While I agree that would be a bold step in the right direction it would ultimately not solve our national problems.

For most “political” people, God is out of the picture except as someone to pay lip service to in stump speech. They think they are going to straighten the country out themselves. Boy do I have news for them!  We all need to remember that without the Sovereign power of Almighty God not one of us could even draw the breath of life. That fact alone should humble us.

Let us consider that the Holy Scriptures contain accurate accounts of how the Lord judged apostate nations. In Second Chronicles 24:24 it is stated: “For the army of the Syrians came with a small company of men, and the Lord delivered a very great host (from Judah)  into their hand, because they had forsaken the Lord God of their fathers. So they executed judgment against Joash.” This occurred because of apostasy, as preceding chapters in Second Chronicles show. Will it be any different for this country?  Can we continue to elect some of the people to polit8cal offices that we have elected and not be held responsible?  Can we continue to believe the lies both political parties tell us and not be held responsible? Can we continue to believe the outright lies told by the “news” media and by our institutions of “learning” without at least trying to question some of this and not be held responsible? Our lack of discernment today is horrendous. We are ready to believe anyone who tells us he is a Christian politician and we never bother trying to check to see if the walk agrees with the talk. We just take their word and they get a pass. Our current “president” has informed us that he is a Bible-believing Christian. Do his actions portray that? Does any “Christian” president actively fill every available position in his government with socialists and Marxists? Yet many evangelical Christians support this man and will work for him when he runs for a second term. That is apostasy in action.

This country had a Reformation Christian heritage bequeathed to it by the Pilgrims, Puritans, and others and we walked away from that faith. We embraced Unitarianism, radical socialism, spiritualism, and a whole host of other anti-Christian “isms”. This conscious plunge into unbelief eventually resulted in the American revolution we call the War Between the States (and that revolution was NOT perpetrated by the South). That war was the culmination of this country’s revolt against Jesus Christ, and this country, to this day, has never recovered from the revolution, just as France has never recovered from the French Revolution.  Unfortunately, it is a sign of our spiritual and doctrinal unbelief, as well as our horrendous public school educations that we can’t see any further back than the early 1900s as the source of our problems.

We had notable problems with apostasy in this country as early as the 1750s.  Let that early date sink in a little.

With minor exceptions, American Unitarianism seemed to develop out of Massachusetts Congregational churches, which, before the mid-1700s, seemed to be growing tired of what they felt was a “strict Calvinism.” As the 1700s drew to a close, nearly all the Congregational ministers in Boston and more than half of those in eastern Massachusetts had walked away from their Calvinist faith, the faith that was their heritage and the country’s, and they had embraced Christ-denying Unitarianism.  Also present at the same time were Arianism (another denial of the Trinity)  and Arminianism, a denial of Reformed theology that manifested itself in pietism.  Should you ask what pietism is, it is a form of Christianity that promotes personal holiness (which is fine in itself)  but never applies God’s law or commandments to the society around it.  All these teachings were present in this country before our War for Independence from Great Britain.

To be continued.

Some Results of Unbelief

by Al Benson Jr.

The Holy Scriptures warn in many places against God’s elect having anything to do with fortune tellers, astrologers, and those who seek to communicate with the dead. Leviticus 19:31, 20:6, and Deuteronomy 18:11 record some of these warnings. Those who profess a belief in the Holy Scriptures and in the Christian faith are exhorted to avoid these activities as they would the plague.  Deuteronomy 18:12 says: “For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord:…”  The truth presented in Scripture is that all who seek to deal in these forbidden areas, those who seek to communicate with the dead, are, in reality, influenced by what they do come into contact with.  And what they come into contact with is not really deceased friends or relatives, it’s not dear old Uncle Harry from Hoboken, but is, in reality, something infinitely more demonic.

We hear much today about satanic activity and increased occult incidents, as though this were something that had suddenly sprung up in the last couple decades.  In truth, activities in these realms has been going on for thousands of years, else the Lord would not have issued the prohibitions He did in the Old Testament Scriptures. Does anyone remember King Saul and the Witch of Endor?

Even in this country such activities are not new.  Many well-known personalities in our own history have been caught up in these forbidden practices.  One of the most well-known during the 19th century was author Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of that infamous propaganda piece Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Harriet, along with her prominent brother, Henry Ward Beecher, were two of the children of Rev. Lyman Beecher, a mostly orthodox Calvinist preacher. He struggled with the concept of “free moral agency” and free will, a debate which still continues today, with many sincere people on both sides of the question. Although orthodox in most areas, Rev. Beecher’s struggle in this area was a costly problem for his family. In time just about all of his children departed from his mostly Reformed faith,. some to slide into outright apostasy. Henry Ward Beecher, for all his reputation as a preacher and orator of national importance, tossed aside sound biblical doctrines throughout his life as if he were discarding old, used overcoats. Finally, near the end of his days, he was, for all practical purposes, a Unitarian in spirit if not in name.

And then came Harriet Beecher Stowe’s departures into spiritualism. This initially started, according to Milton Rugoff, in his book The Beechers, in 1843, when Harriet visited her brother Henry and his wife. Henry started “mesmerizing” (hypnotizing) Harriet, an experience she described on page 267 of Rugoff’s book. According to Rugoff, Harriet was convinced that she ‘had been brought to the verge of the spirit land.’”  This particular session so frightened Henry Beecher’s wife that she would not even stay in the same room where it occurred.  Harriet later consorted with at least two other hypnotists and became intrigued with this concept as a way of communication with the spirit world–something she should have had nothing to do with according to biblical prohibitions.  She, like brother Henry, had departed from her father’s faith and the further away she got, the more bizarre her activities became.

By 1851 she was writing installments of Uncle Tom’s Cabin.. That propaganda piece (and that’s all it was) was so well touted that, within a few years,  Abraham Lincoln, when meeting Harriet personally, referred to her as “the little lady who started the big war.” Maybe he thought that was as good a way as any to get him off the hook. Even though Harriet’s work was propaganda, it did rouse strong feelings on both sides.

At this point, I have a question, which I don’t think anyone else has asked up until now.. My question is–if Harriet persisted in her experiments into the “spirit” world (and we know she was heavily into this in later years), then to just what extent did this kind of activity influence what she wrote in Uncle Tom’s Cabin? I believe it is worth raising the question as to what influences may have been present when Harriet wrote. Where did some of her ideas as expressed in the book, come from? Were they really hers? Or was there another source?  Harriet did write other books, but this was easily the most influential nationally.

Harriet’s son, Henry, (probably named for her brother) drowned in the Connecticut River on July 9, 1857. This threw Harriet into a depression that lasted for months. She was concerned about her son’s eternal destination, as she was unsure of his relationship with God when he died. To ease her feelings, Harriet resorted to spiritualism in an attempt to contact her dead son. According to Rugoff, other family members were into this sort of thing. Even he husband, Calvin Stowe, also had “visions” and said he also often saw his dead first wife. You have to wonder, if Harriet and her family had not abandoned sound biblical teaching they probably would not have gotten involved in all this to begin with. In an article written for a newspaper after her son’s death, Harriet sought to connect spiritualism with biblical miracles–another great error on her part.

For all his problems with election vs. free will, old Lyman Beecher would never have countenanced his children’s slide into apostasy. Yet his own theological struggles may well have helped to create the problem.

You may look at all this and say “interesting bit of history, but, so what?” Look at this country’s history from a Christian perspective.  Ask yourself, what has apostasy had to do with the decline of America in the last 150 or more years. The biblical answer is “much in every way.”

People such as Harriet Beecher Stowe and Henry Ward Beecher had a tremendous influence on the direction this country took during the middle-to-late 1800s. If these people, and many others we could name, were indeed traveling the road of apostasy, whether they realized it or not, then what kind of influence did they exert on the country as a whole?

Years ago, Rev. Ennio Cugini of the Clayville Church in Foster, Rhode Island, told me that all of America’s problems could, in one form or another, be traced back to the root cause of apostasy (a falling away from biblical faith and truth). At that time I did not fully grasp all that his statement implied.I must say that, at this point in time, I have to agree with him.  If our country was begun (from 1620 or shortly before in Virginia), with a Christian foundation. heritage, and history, and people have willingly departed from that,  can we honestly expect anything but tribulations and problems?  God said “This is the way, walk ye in it.” We have not done so. Do we expect a Sovereign God to bless disobedience?  If we do, then we are even dumber than the Communists give us credit for being.

Were this country to return to its biblical, Reformation roots in repentance, seeking God’s forgiveness and direction, we might have a chance. Nothing less will suffice. In the Bible we have the truth about our lost condition, so let us begin to give heed to that truth, that whatever actions we take may be undertaken with the undergirding  power and authority of God’s Word.