First, we will present a brief summary in which we compare the spirits’ views from channeled literature with Bible teaching. Then we will quote the spirits in more detail to further document their beliefs.

The spirits teach that God is ultimately an impersonal force (an "it"), like electricity or a "personalized" universal energy that constitutes everything. God is "infinite power," "all life," "universal consciousness," etc. The consensus of "most channeled material" is that "God is all that is" and that "the universe is a multi-dimensional living Being," i.e.. God.1 Thus "Seth" teaches, "There is no personal God... in Christian terms."2

But the Bible teaches that God is a personal, holy, and loving Being who created the universe distinct from Himself (Genesis 1:1; John 3:16).

The spirits teach that Jesus is an evolved spirit or a man just like us. Jesus was the person who highly emulated the Christ spirit which is also part of us all. The spirits say that Jesus has died and has now evolved to a higher state of existence just like other people have. Thus, one spirit confesses that Jesus was only a representative of the impersonal divine force living in all men (the Christ spirit) and that Christians who believe in the biblical Jesus "worship a dead Christ."3

But the Bible teaches that Christians worship a living Christ, that Jesus is the Christ, and that He is fully Man and fully God in one Person. He is the only unique Son of God (Luke 2:11; John 1:1; Romans 1:4; Philippians 2:1-9; Titus 2:13).

The spirits teach that man in his true nature is perfect and one essence with God. "White Eagle" says to all men, "You too are part of God."4 Another spirit teaches it is a "vicious abomination" to teach men that they are evil or sinful.5

On the other hand, the Bible teaches that man is a created being and not part of God (Genesis 1:27). Man sinned by disobeying God, resulting in his being separated from God’s fellowship (Genesis 3:3-8).

The spirits teach that sin is merely "mistakes," "an illusion," or ignorance of one’s own deity, and that sin in a biblical sense is nothing God is concerned with. As one spirit teaches, it is "talk of sin and guilt" that is the true evil, even though it "may be camouflaged by the use of religious buzz words such as ‘Jesus loves you’ or ‘praise the Lord.’... If the minister or priest happens to be one who loves to rant and rave about sin and guilt, the forces he draws in will be dark and ugly."6

But the Bible teaches that sin and guilt are real. Sin is disobedience to God’s law (1 John 3:4; 5:17), which, apart from repentance and faith in Christ, will result in God’s judgment (John 3:16,36; Matthew 25:46).

The spirits teach that "salvation" involves realizing that one is already part of God. Each man must accomplish this for himself by practicing various occult techniques. According to the universal teachings of the spirits, salvation does not occur by the atoning death of Christ—which one spirit characteristically claims is "a tragic distortion of the real nature of God’s love."7 The spirits speaking through medium Carl Japikse teach that the Christian view of the atonement is a great social and spiritual evil. Being "born again" for salvation is a "hysterical belief" and an "escape from responsibility."8 Believing in Jesus "does not serve the plan of God."9 Accepting Christ as one’s Savior at a religious gathering is like "a circus sideshow."10 Thus, man’s "struggle is not between salvation and damnation," and Christians who believe so are "ignorant fanatics" who prefer "spiritual darkness."11

But the Bible teaches that salvation involves receiving the gift of forgiveness of sins from a loving God. Salvation has been provided for man by God’s grace and is received by man through faith in Christ’s death for us (Ephesians 1:7; 2:8,9).

The spirits teach that at death there is no final judgment. It is merely transition into the wonderful spirit world. "All ‘spirit teaching’ [agrees].... There is no hell, no punishment."12

But the Bible emphasizes again and again that death brings judgment and entrance either into an eternal heaven or hell (Matthew 25:46; Hebrews 9:27).

The spirits teach there is no devil. As one spirit argues, "There is no devil.... It is utterly absurd to believe [in] a ‘prince of darkness.’"13

But the Bible teaches that Satan and his demons are real as Jesus Himself taught (Matthew 4:1-10; 8:16; 17:18).

Now we will cite the words of some of the most popular spirits in America concerning their religious teachings. This is necessary because so many millions of people today believe that these spirits offer teachings that are consistent with the Bible and Christian faith. As you read the words of the spirits carefully, ask yourself some questions. Are these teachings good or evil? Are they true or false? Are they what we would expect from lying spirits or truly good spirits?

1. "Ramtha"—the spirit speaking through medium J. Z. Knight in Douglas Mahr’s, Ramtha, Voyage to the New World, Ballantine, 1987; citations are listed by pages.

2. "Jesus"—the spirit who worked through medium Helen Schucman in A Course in Miracles, 1977; citations are listed by volume and page.

3. "Seth"—the spirit speaking through Jane Roberts and written down by her husband in Seth Speaks, Prentice Hall, 1972; citations are listed by pages.

4. "Lilly" and other spirits channeled through medium Ruth Montgomery. (Note: Some of the following statements are Montgomery’s, although they reflect the teachings of the spirits, which she has adopted as her own beliefs.)

5. Various spirits who allegedly knew Jesus on earth, written through medium Kahlil Gibran in Jesus, the Son of Man (New York, A. A. Knopf, 1959); citations are listed by pages.

6. A spirit calling itself "The Christ" claims to be the biblical Jesus who, after 2000 years in the spirit world, has now "acquired new ideas and experiences" and thus he castigates Christians who believe in biblical salvation; further, he endorses occultism, teaches all men will become God, and encourages his listeners to reject Christian teachings and accept spirit contact.14

Now consider again the content of what you have just read. Do the spirits endorse the occult when God forbids it (Deuteronomy 18:9-12)? Do these spirits deny there is a devil when Jesus taught that Satan was a real, personal being (Matthew 4:1-10)? Why do you think the spirits claim men are not sinners when all men know in their hearts they are? Why do the spirits teach that God is impersonal when God has revealed Himself in the Bible as a personal Being? Why do the spirits teach man to be selfish when such behavior is universally condemned? Why do the spirits deny that Christ died to forgive men’s sins when Christ Himself taught this was the very reason He came (Matthew 20:28)? Why do the spirits claim Jesus was simply a man when all the evidence proves He was God-Incarnate, the only begotten Son of God as He Himself taught (John 3:16; 5:18; 10:30; 14:6)? Why do the spirits say men are God, when all men know they are not God? Why do the spirits deny the existence of evil, when its reality is obvious to all?

Do people intuitively sense the spirits are not who they claim to be? Many do. Modern channeler J. Z. Knight who channels "Ramtha" went through a period where she felt Ramtha might be a demon but was eventually persuaded to trust him (Holistic Life Magazine, Summer 1985, p. 30). When unbiblical revelations began coming from Edgar Cayce’s unconscious trance sessions, the famous medium openly wondered if "the devil might be tempting me to do his work by operating through me when I was conceited enough to think God had given me special power" and "if ever the devil was going to play a trick on me, this would be it" (Thomas Sugrue, Stranger in the Earth, 1971, p. 210). The famous psychic Uri Geller and parapsychologist Andrija Puharich, M.D., were also uneasy over their spirit contacts. They felt something was "funny" or "wrong" and suspected they were being "played with," wondering whether or not the entities themselves were unstable (Puharich, Uri, 1975, pp. 173, 188-89).

Gurdjieffian J. G. Bennett discusses the latihan experience in the religion of Subud. This experience has a number of similarities to spirit possession and some people seem to sense something evil:

In the latihan, we are gradually pervaded and permeated with the life force that flows into us from our own awakened soul.... The latihan itself lasts for half an hour or more.... Some trainees are convinced that there is indeed a force, but an evil one. Others are simply afraid.... Indeed, the sense of being alone in the presence of a great Power is the strongest and clearest element of the whole experience. It is that Power that gives new life to the soul, and not ourselves, not anything that we do (Bennett, Concerning Subud, 1959, pp. 95, 103-07).

The point is this: The religious teachings of the spirits are exactly what one might expect from demons. The irony is that the very theory that is most probably true, that Satan and demons do exist, is the one most rarely considered by those involved in these very practices.