To Believe or Not to Believe: A Procedure for Testing Spirit Communications
A paper delivered at the Second International Conference on Paranormal Research, Fort Collins, Colorado, 1989
James A. Scarborough, Ph.D., Professor of Physics, retired, Delta State University, Cleveland, MS, 38733
INTRODUCTION
At the present time there is a flood of "channeled" material coming into print.* Therefore, a method is needed whereby one might decide upon the relative reliability of communications thought to be from spirit sources. This problem of discernment, "the ability to distinguish between spirits" (1 Cor 12:10, NIV), is an old one. Even prophets and apostles faced this same question, although the evidence pointing to the source and validity of their spirit communications was frequently much better than what is available to us today. Even so, there were occasions when they were unsure about the source and nature of the spirit influences upon them. A sample case involves Paul, the Apostle, who wrote detailed advice to the Corinthians regarding marriage (1 Cor 7). In chapter seven of his first letter, he remarks once that a certain admonition was from the Lord (verse 10), but points out five other times that much of the advice was from Paul himself (verses 8,12,25,26,29). Curiously, Paul was not certain whether he was inspired, although he suspected that he might have been: ". . . and I think also that I have the Spirit of God" (verse 40).
In this paper, we will follow Paul's advice to test all spirit communications and believe only those which pass scrutiny (1 Thess 5:21). This paper presents a procedure for judging the credibility of such messages. This determination more resembles a jury trial than a mathematically rigorous test. As a starting point, we assume that spirits exist and can communicate in various ways. It is self-evident that fraud, hoax, or other human deceptions must first be ruled out. We will proceed stepwise, applying such criteria as are available at each step.
STEP 1: Determine if communication is in fact from a spirit.
The first step is to determine if the communication is in fact from a spirit or entity other than the human instrument. If the determination is in the negative, then we disregard the alleged communication and proceed no further with these tests. If the result is positive, then we proceed to Step 2.
Materialization
The materialization, or partial materialization, of an entity to the degree that an audible voice emanates from the air, or that a mechanical effect is noted (e.g., a pencil writes of its own accord with no human agent touching it), will be taken as prima facia evidence that the communication is from a spirit. (The point mentioned above, that fraud or hoax must first be ruled out, need not be belabored). If the answer is YES, go to Step 2. If the answer is NO, then we continue the testing.
Deep-Trance Medium
The term "deep-trance" means that the person appears unconscious, comatose, or sound asleep, and has no awareness upon awakening of anything that transpired during the experience. In this case, the medium's own spirit presumably has little or no control over his body, but another voice may speak by using the medium's own voice box. Such spirit manifestations were well known in Biblical times (see this website: "Texts that Demonstrate Spirit Communication among Jews and Christians"). Evidence is required that the speaker is not, in fact, the medium in an altered state of consciousness (including the fraudulent or self-deceived states). There are several varieties of such evidence, as in the following.
Languages and other Capabilities
The voice may speak in a translatable foreign language, a language unknown to the medium. (Preferably, the language is also unknown to any of the audience so that the possibility of thought transference can be ruled out). The communication shall not be limited to simple popular phrases that could have been buried in the medium's subconscious via movies, television, books, and so on. If the language is untranslatable (e.g., an alleged dead language, or "tongues of angels"), then it does not qualify as satisfying this criterion.
Demonstration of capabilities beyond those of the medium is the issue here. Some judgment must be applied. An example of a negative result, or at the very least an inconclusive result, would be a "past life reading" or some other unverifiable message, since the possibility exists that the medium is remembering events that happened in a previous incarnation. Further, it is becoming clear from modern evidence that we must also consider that the medium is in an out-of-body state, so that the information can presumably come from his own spirit rather than another one. Detailed discussions of these possibilities are beyond the space and time limitations of this brief presentation.
A positive result could be obtained, for example, if the medium (while still in trance) reads a prescribed page of an unfamiliar book with eyes closed, or without opening the book, or if the medium plays the organ or piano with great skill (assuming the medium is not an organist or pianist), or if the medium is trance has perfect hearing and vision, while when not in trance hearing and vision are certifiably impaired. (It is apparent that we immediately touch upon the field of multiple personality disorder and the attendant psychological controversy). If the judgment here is YES, go to Step 2. If NO, then these requirements might simply be beyond the skill of the spirit, even if it is in fact a real spirit, and the test is inconclusive.
Knowledge Beyond that of the Medium
Minor facts, such as personal data about a person present, could be acceptable evidence, but the question of fraud then applies if the medium has access to any information about the subject of the message. In addition, there is the possibility of thought transference that would also have to be ruled out. Especially valuable would be previously unknown, but verifiable, facts about a person present or about the spirit itself. In particular, facts unknown to historians, or at variance with historical beliefs, but which could be verified, would be positive indicators here.
It is not rare that an alleged spirit identifies itself as a well-known historical person. In that case, it would be indicative of the reliability of the message if the spirit could demonstrate its identity in some way. For instance, it would be fair to expect Einstein, Marconi, or Tesla, to be able to relate several of his equations, and to give cogent explanations of his work, even though the medium has no mathematical skills. Beethoven, Liszt, or Mozart could dictate a few bars of music through a medium who doesn't read music. Gabriel, Michael, or Raphael could be expected to recall their materializations in Biblical times, and to give details which could be checked against scriptural, and other, recollections. Yeats, Shelley, or Shakespeare could produce a few quatrains. This last case would be less definitive than the previous examples, however, since the medium can speak English, whereas in the earlier examples he could not "speak" mathematical or musical notation.
Vague, general homilies and flattering statements are fairly common through mediums, and these should be viewed as warning flags. Even a more ordinary departed spirit could give street addresses, telephone numbers, or social security numbers used during life, verifiable dates of birth and death, names and locations of surviving friends and some personal experiences they had shared, which could be compared against the memories of those friends for verification. Verifications such as these have been given, for example, by spirits in the electronic experiments of George Meek (MetaScience Foundation, Franklin, NC), the experiences of Johannes Greber (see references).
However, the possibility seems real that a person who had normal intelligence as a human might, in certain situations, find himself with limited memory and mental capabilities after physical death, in which case he might not satisfy these criteria, but still be an actual spirit.
If the alleged spirit passes the above tests, then it qualifies as a real spirit. This is not to say that certain inspirations, automatic writing, part-trance channeling, and so on, are not from spirits. On the contrary, some of them might be. However, it is to say that the messages so obtained are not necessarily from spirit sources.
STEP 2: Determine if the spirit is good or bad.
Biblical Tests
STEP 3: Discernment of transcribed spirit messages.
Independent Corroboration
Content of the Message
Internal Contradictions
Inner Voice
Results of the Message
Character of the Medium
Specific Predictions
CONCLUSION
REFERENCES
*See Brooks Alexander, Spirit Channeling: Evaluating the Latest Fad in New Age Spiritism (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1988); and John Ankerberg and John Weldon, The Facts on Channeling (Chattanooga, TN: John Ankerberg Evangelistic Association, 1988). Note that these texts appeared just a year before the writing and presentation of this paper in 1989.
[work in progress]