Christian Spiritualism

[rosesaredeadvioletsaretoo]

I’m wanting to find out more about Christian Spiritualism and was wondering if anyone might have an recommendations for resources/books/courses/groups and so on?

I love the Hallow app. There is a free version but the paid version is totally worth it even if it is a little pricey. So many different things on there to listen to and learn from. People like Mark Wahlberg and Bear Grylls on there too… as well as various Fathers and Sisters.

Also try you tubing Father Mike Schmitz! He is amazing. He also does a great podcast called Bible in a Year.

Also make enquiries about groups at your local Catholic Church? They call it an RCIA group (the rite of Christian initiation in adults) where you can go to listen, learn and ask questions about Christianity. In my experience, these groups are great! No pressure to join the church unless you want to and a great way to engage with people on the subject in a non pressured environment.

You could look at the SNU website https://www.snu.org.uk/ there’s lots of resources there. Or go along to your local spiritualist church or open circle. - just google for Christian ones near you.

As a matter of interest why are you interested in spiritualism - just a word to the wise, if you’re searching for connections to someone specific who has passed please deal with your grief first. People can be quite vulnerable in that situation.

I’ve been to lots of spiritualist activities (spiritualism is in my family) tbh I’ve yet to experience anything beyond very good cold reading (I believe in a spirit world for what it’s worth, but never seen anything to convince me anyone has made contact with the dead)

Do you mean Christian spirituality or spiritualism? They are very different.

There's some strange folk about trying to make Christian spiritualism a thing...It isn't.

Potentially I’d argue it’s more in line with the work of Jesus than many Christian denominations. Continuation of spirit, healing, (sometimes) casting out demons.

Jesus healed people of demon possession.
He never pretended they were the spirits of the dead.
Deliverance ministry still happens in Christian churches (even in the UK).

I'm neither a Christian nor a spiritualist but I would have thought the two beliefs were somewhat at odds with each other. Are Christians supposed to be able to talk to the dead? I thought souls went to heaven where they lost their earthly identity (or something like that). Please excuse me if I'm talking absolute rubbish.

Attempting to communicate with the dead is an expressly forbidden activity biblically. I can’t imagine why any follower of Jesus thinks it’s ok. 🤔

@AgileGreenSeal yes I also thought it was totally against the teachings in the Bible and there are texts in the Bible that forbid it.

That's what I thought. I'm pretty sure all monotheistic religions forbid it too. Why are some posters trying to align the two things?

Don't look at RCIA - they won't be rude to you about spiritualism, but Catholics don't believe that communicating with the dead is a good thing (as most Christians don't, seeing as it's prohibited in Deuteronomy).

If you're interested in Christianity generally, you could try the Alpha Course. As I say, though, Christianity and spiritualism are generally at odds and you won't find a lot of Christians who give it the time of day.

I don’t think he said what they were did he? Daemons is more properly spirits. You could argue Jesus was a ghost and people were talking to him.

Matthew 17:3 Jesus spoke with Moses and Elijah- now it’s questionable whether Elijah was dead, but Moses certainly was- do what was Jesus doing?

Saul contacting Samuel didn’t go down well but that’s largely due to the Sourcery element I think. They were conjuring Spirits not just receiving messages, spiritualism is fairly passive IME.

Jesus brought someone back from the dead in order to prove his powers. Which is pretty much sorcery in my book.

Jesus generally was playing fast and loose with Deuteronomy 18:11

Because it’s an actual belief system which the OP has specifically asked about. Just because it doesn’t align with your own belief system doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist or isn’t right for the OP. The OP has asked for sources where they can find out more about something.

If an individual lost his identity in the afterlife how can the church have ever justified taking money to pray for/hold a mass for an individuals soul

Yes, of course I understand that such a belief system exists and that the OP is interested in it. I was simply asking a purely academic question. Namely, how can spiritualism align with Christianity when communicating with the dead is forbidden in the Bible. I believe it is also forbidden in the Quran, the Torah and the Guru Granth Sahib (Sikh scriptures). I was hoping that someone with knowledge of the subject might have an equally academic answer. Just to clarify, I don't have a belief system. I'm an agnostic.

But prohibited for whom. Deuteronomy 18 is aimed at the Levites. It’s a mechanism to keep them separate from other religions (particularly the Canaanites). I would argue that people who aren’t of the Jewish priest class aren’t impacted by those rules.

Sorry I was typing the “academic answer” as you were typing yours, setting out who Deuteronomy 18 was addressed to.

So communicating with the dead (or however one wishes to term it) is not strictly forbidden in the Bible? I've always been curious about Christian spiritualism and how the two can sit side by side. I'll read the passage you quote and hopefully get some answers.

Good point. But is praying for souls something prescribed in the Bible?

Most of modern Christianity is prescribed by the Bible tbh where it is it’s mainly that people are followers of Paul. There’s lots of different interpretations people can make. There has been quite a few alternations along the way. Mark had a whole new ending.

There are lots of things in the Bible that are prohibited: mixing wool and linen, homosexuality and also permitted, like slavery, that modern Christians ignore.
I'm Jewish and remember being very bored in Sunday school and finding the story of Saul and the Witch of Endor in the Old Testament and being electrified. I I'm a happy pagan today.
Saul and the Witch of Endor:
In the meantime Saul had removed the mediums and magicians from the land.....So Saul instructed his servants, “Find me a woman who is a medium, so that I may go to her and inquire of her.”

So it's absolutely fine to be a Christian Spiritualist, plenty were in the Victorian Era and early 20th Century, people like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Queen Victoria.
I think this is a very nice explanation
Beliefs

1. I believe in One God Who is Love.
2. I accept the Leadership of Jesus Christ
3. I believe that God manifests through the Illimitable Power of the Holy Spirit.
4. I believe in the survival of the Human Soul and its individuality after physical death.
5. I believe in the communion with God, with His angelic ministers, and the souls functioning in conditions other than the earth life.
6. I believe that all forms of life created by God intermingle, are interdependent and evolve until perfection is attained.
7. I believe in the perfect justice of the Divine Laws governing all life.
8. I believe that sins committed can only be rectified by the sinner himself or herself, through the redemptive power of Jesus Christ, by repentance and service to others.

No, He wasn’t “playing fast and loose” with Deuteronomy at all.

He raised Lazarus (and others) because HE is the Resurrection and the Life. He didn’t raise them as disembodied spirits of dead people. He restored them to life.

“You could argue Jesus was a ghost and people were talking to him.”

Not if you read the Bible, you couldn’t.

“While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate it in their presence.”
Luke 24:36-43

Great question.
I wouldn’t participate in such a practice.
Luke 16:19-31 tells us a great deal about the experiences of those who have just died.

“Most of modern Christianity is prescribed by the Bible…”

I think you mean proscribed in which case I don’t agree.

Unless of course, one’s modern “Christian” practice is unbiblical.