Is Spiritualism 'monotheist'?

While having a look around religion in general and Islam in particular, it seems that Google gives nothing on Islam. Whether due to ignorance or cowardice, who knows.
The introduction required that the searcher typed into Google 'Islam is'

To get to the point, I typed in 'spiritualism is' out of curiosity and to my astonishment the statement that 'Spiritualism is a MONOTHEIST religion.......' appears.
Spiritualism is 'monotheistc'? Since when?

This might account for some of the difficulties now surfacing in the movements (they are most certainly in the plural now) as were encountered by those 'orthodox' philosophies.

The Silver Birch Group did not dwell on this issue, wisely leaving it to individual understanding.

The transitory journey from enforced Christian teaching to evolutionary rationale undertaken by the early pioneers seems to have given scant attention to this facet of our history - as far as I'm aware.

Anyway, what is/ are the positions on this question, given our unfolding knowledge of LIfe?

Interesting topic is Spiritialism Monotheist.

We need to look at the standard definition of this concept.
In theology, monotheism (from Greek μόνος "only" and θεός "God") is the belief that only one God exists.[1]

Now that is what I believe Spiritualism is we acknowledeg in all versions of our principles a single source. Certainly all of our early works accept this concept.

Individually I have never seen anything to change my acceptance of this even with my unfolding knowledge albeit I believe I and all others have a spark of the divine Spirit within us.


Aletrnatively we can have the atheist survivalist position which has an implication, in one version, that it is all the work of intelligent cells (but who created the cells) or we could choose multiple Gods and Deities as followed in the Pagan pathway.

Can anyone point to any Spirit revelations indicating that there are multiples deities?

Jim

I have fairly limited experience of Spiritualism but I was attracted to Silver Birch's description of "the Great Spirit' as being the Law. He didn't say very much about this in the two books I have read but seemed to imply a very different concept of divinity from the ones we are familiar with.

The Great Spirit js beyond all human personality but attempts to convey the Great Spirit can be conveyed in language that is understandable to human beings with human limitations

and again:

The Great Spirit is not personal in the way that you understand personality. The Great Spirit is law, the Great Spirit is love, the Great Spirit is wisdom.

These quotations were taken from one of Tony Ortzen's compilations of Silver Birch's teachings.

One of my former colleagues was a great devotee of the Urantia Book which does mention multiple deities, I think. She herself is a trance medium but was always reluctant to discuss her personal beliefs in the church itself. I think she gravitated to the Spiritualist Church because of the availability of mediumship (like many, I think ),

My first teacher was a member of a somewhat obscure branch of Christianity. She is a wonderful medium.

So it seems that whatever we believe about the nature of the deity is merely part of our spiritual development. It is open. More important than that definition is how we live. Balance, love, wisdom, service - all those things seem fundamental.

People are probably never going to agree on the nature of the deity/deities, given our humanity, but they generally can agree on the need for love, service and wisdom.

Of course, there is room for battle in the exploration of that kind of meaning as well but let's not go there this morning

Sounds to me like Silver Birch is still trying to describe a single entity, of whatever sort.

Left Behind wrote:Sounds to me like Silver Birch is still trying to describe a single entity, of whatever sort.

I didn't get that impression . To me, it is more a concept than an entity but that is my understanding and we all perceive things differently.

He also said that it is difficult to explain these things to us with our limited human understanding and experience and also to the limitations of language.

That has resonance with my personal experience as a childhood Catholic who realised after a difficult decade more than 30 years ago that 'God' didn't need to be defined.

Some people do want that kind of definition, however, and that is quite all right too. I don't which is better but suspect it's just up to the individual. It is how we each live that is important.

The latter comment needs discussion in its own right. Once people believe in a particular ideology they quite often subscribe to all the destructive behaviours which might be associated with it.

Quiet wrote: It is how we each live that is important.

The latter comment needs discussion in its own right. Once people believe in a particular ideology they quite often subscribe to all the destructive behaviours which might be associated with it.

The two statements would still go together, Quiet.


Jim

For interest look at the difference between the UK's Fatherhood of God and the USA "We believe in infinite intelligence"

Taking the USA Version you get a very interesting difference in understanding. I wrote about this in a thread on here which can be found here
https://www.spiritualismlink.com/t10-the-triune-man-part-1
It came from a debate I had elsewhere with the President of the remnant of The Harmonial Philosophy Association in America

It was interesting that another interpretation of this was made from a differing views of Spirit with one proposition that Spiritualism defines Infinite Intelligence/God as a neutral impersonal power, a creative, intelligent force – Spirit – the source of the life force in all things. If this is so, and our source as humans is this neutral, impersonal power, then the core of our being – spirit – is also a neutral, impersonal, creative, intelligent life force. The soul then would be that part that, as we said earlier "is the agent immediately employed by the spirit in the reception of all sensations from the outer plane. AND the soul is the agent immediately employed by the spirit
in the expression of its thoughts, feelings and purposes on the outer plane." Like Andrew Jackson Davis said "It is a vehicle that is 'animated' by the spirit - and for a purpose - the spirits evolution."

Admin wrote:For interest look at the difference between the UK's Fatherhood of God and the USA "We believe in infinite intelligence"

Taking the USA Version you get a very interesting difference in understanding. I wrote about this in a thread on here which can be found here
https://www.spiritualismlink.com/t10-the-triune-man-part-1
It came from a debate I had elsewhere with the President of the remnant of The Harmonial Philosophy Association in America

It was interesting that another interpretation of this was made from a differing views of Spirit with one proposition that Spiritualism defines Infinite Intelligence/God as a neutral impersonal power, a creative, intelligent force – Spirit – the source of the life force in all things. If this is so, and our source as humans is this neutral, impersonal power, then the core of our being – spirit – is also a neutral, impersonal, creative, intelligent life force. The soul then would be that part that, as we said earlier "is the agent immediately employed by the spirit in the reception of all sensations from the outer plane. AND the soul is the agent immediately employed by the spirit
in the expression of its thoughts, feelings and purposes on the outer plane." Like Andrew Jackson Davis said "It is a vehicle that is 'animated' by the spirit - and for a purpose - the spirits evolution."

I can't say I see much evidence of infinite intelligence in America (or anywhere else for that matter lol)

lol Obi

obiwan wrote:

Admin wrote:For interest look at the difference between the UK's Fatherhood of God and the USA "We believe in infinite intelligence"

Taking the USA Version you get a very interesting difference in understanding. I wrote about this in a thread on here which can be found here
https://www.spiritualismlink.com/t10-the-triune-man-part-1
It came from a debate I had elsewhere with the President of the remnant of The Harmonial Philosophy Association in America

It was interesting that another interpretation of this was made from a differing views of Spirit with one proposition that Spiritualism defines Infinite Intelligence/God as a neutral impersonal power, a creative, intelligent force – Spirit – the source of the life force in all things. If this is so, and our source as humans is this neutral, impersonal power, then the core of our being – spirit – is also a neutral, impersonal, creative, intelligent life force. The soul then would be that part that, as we said earlier "is the agent immediately employed by the spirit in the reception of all sensations from the outer plane. AND the soul is the agent immediately employed by the spirit
in the expression of its thoughts, feelings and purposes on the outer plane." Like Andrew Jackson Davis said "It is a vehicle that is 'animated' by the spirit - and for a purpose - the spirits evolution."

I can't say I see much evidence of infinite intelligence in America (or anywhere else for that matter lol)

I sometimes wonder what's harder to believe, in most people's case: that they were made in the image of God?

Or that they represent a billion years of successful organic evolution?

Jim

Have you ever considered that the billion years of succesful evolution has caused that infinite intelligence to evolve as well. That the multiple information each spark of spirit creates, wherever it is incarnated, increases the creator.

I sometimes wonder if, in medieval times when life and Gods were cruel, was mankinds overt barbarism directly reflected in their Gods. Did the infinite intelligence, in some way, reflect the cruelty of mankind then.

I know many who will be horrified but the debate I had involved, on my side, a belief in the creator as a loving caring being. On the other side, Harmonial Philosophy, the creator was an impassive knowledge, above our cares but observing and learning.

In many ways, as mankind struggles with heartbreaking disasters, that appear to have no reason to happen, with unnacountacle horror like the very many ethnic cleansings,then this view could appear more realistic.

Jim

Grand debate Jim.
It would be wise to re-examine our views as we evolve, from time to time.

Spiritualism, according to SB, reflects 'an aspect of a Natural law' i.e. Life is deathless. This seems entirely true to me and yet look how this view has spread out in so many variations across our world. Some groups can only see this truth in their own interpretation whether Allah, Jesus, others see it in a book, or in nature or in the deep workings of our planet in its multitudinal myriad of interlocking systems.

Do we really know anything, or did we become persuaded, or indoctrinated, by rehearsed and repeated promotions of the vested interests of religion?

It appears true that nothing is forever, except some deep aspect of Life known by the word 'spirit'. But, if the theory is true, this cannot be so.

I can fully accept that we, individuals and groups, create our collective material environment by our own thinking, but our ability to do so is feeble and intangible in this place. Imaginary, even.
Yet conversations with folk who have 'moved on' insist that it is so and varies with the individual's ability to use Mind in that way.
So, if we can shape our situation, where does say, karmic consequence, pop up, or is it already built-in?

The more we experience Life, the less immediate Deity(ies) seem.
Like so many ephemereral concepts, do we create our own? The aspects of Deity are many and reach all levels of Life, indeed the Hindu tradition has personified those that it has identified and to a lesser extent Catholicism has created a Trinity for similar purposes.
Orthodox religion has continued unchanged since Christianity split from it around AD 589. A rare, bloodless event, by all accounts.

As an aside, I was very fortunate to have met a Greek Healer in Cyprus who worked in a most powerful way, by using the sound of voice.
His efforts went unrecognised by Church authorities and he lived in ecclesiastical opprobrium. I was 'dropped' when he discovered that I did not revere Jesus.

The point was that he showed to me the architectural alignment of the 'power' within the 'holy spot' of the Greek church. This must be connecterd in some way to the alignment of pyramids, but the power generated is extremely palpable as was the force generated during his healing.
This power appeared to result from architectural construction, but I'm sure it would also be attributed to a particular Deity. There are a few such older early church buildings in Scotland, built to the same spec, but clearly the all-important alignment wasn't known to those who built them.

Admin wrote:Have you ever considered that the billion years of succesful evolution has caused that infinite intelligence to evolve as well. That the multiple information each spark of spirit creates, wherever it is incarnated, increases the creator.

I sometimes wonder if, in medieval times when life and Gods were cruel, was mankinds overt barbarism directly reflected in their Gods. Did the infinite intelligence, in some way, reflect the cruelty of mankind then.

I know many who will be horrified but the debate I had involved, on my side, a belief in the creator as a loving caring being. On the other side, Harmonial Philosophy, the creator was an impassive knowledge, above our cares but observing and learning.

In many ways, as mankind struggles with heartbreaking disasters, that appear to have no reason to happen, with unnacountacle horror like the very many ethnic cleansings,then this view could appear more realistic.

Jim

Then again, have either mankind, or God, evolved or improved since medieval times?

What century has witnessed more ethnic (and class clensing, etc.) than the 20th?

NASC & SNU devolve from Unitarian And Universalisms so yes. Xtian spiritualism has roots in Early Shakerism camp meeting and primitive methodism so tebds towards trinitarianism. In UK Snu is momo. Gw & Corinthiaans are trinitarian. But get two spiritualists together and you`l likely find three opinion!

KatyKing wrote:NASC & SNU devolve from Unitarian And Universalisms so yes. Xtian spiritualism has roots in Early Shakerism camp meeting and primitive methodism so tebds towards trinitarianism. In UK Snu is momo. Gw & Corinthiaans are trinitarian. But get two spiritualists together and you`l likely find three opinion!

Ah. . . but then there are those of us who belief that Christian Spiritualism has its roots in 1st century spirit revelations.

Jim

Kety, I've heard about GW (Greater World): but not about the Corinthians.

Anyone here have any info about them?


Jim

Google 'Corinthian church and healing association'they possibly have more members than GW but a lower profil. Even non xtian spiritualists can join. Excellebt professional indemnity insurabce cover abd very competitively riced hence popular.

apologies for typos . using Kindle

KatyKing wrote:Google 'Corinthian church and healing association'they possibly have more members than GW but a lower profil. Even non xtian spiritualists can join. Excellebt professional indemnity insurabce cover abd very competitively riced hence popular.

Thanks, Katy: I'll check them out!

Jim

Just a thought and possibli wrong. If Xtian spiritualism was akin to 1st century praxis then wouldn`t it be monotheist? Seem to remember reading that trinitarianism is post 3d century. Circular debate really as no one surely gives a fig these days. I work SNU & Xtian venues and folk are equally nice. GW &SNU advertise in same mags along withother non affiliated groups. There`s far mre unites us all than seperates. It`s only the organizational elites and placeholders who are invested in maitaining differences IMHO.

I think you are quite right "Katy"

KatyKing wrote:Just a thought and possibli wrong. If Xtian spiritualism was akin to 1st century praxis then wouldn`t it be monotheist? Seem to remember reading that trinitarianism is post 3d century. Circular debate really as no one surely gives a fig these days. I work SNU & Xtian venues and folk are equally nice. GW &SNU advertise in same mags along withother non affiliated groups. There`s far mre unites us all than seperates. It`s only the organizational elites and placeholders who are invested in maitaining differences IMHO.

I don't see, and mainstream Christianity doesn't, any contrast between plain-vanilla monotheism ("one God") and trinitarianism ("one God, but 3 distinct persons within him"). And the Scriptures (first century) were saying this.

I support Spiritualists of all religious persuasions or none. It's just that I'm a Spiritualist, and a trinitarian Christian. And I interpret first century Christianity as being likewise.

Jim

More strength to ya Jim. It would be a happier world if more thougght the same. Time was and in my time too when spiritualists of whatever kidney were marginalised and in some cases persecuted for our beliefs. My dad lost work through being known as a spiritualist and knew Helen Duncan a medium who as you know was imprisoned under the witchcraft act. Thesedays most are indifferent but a quick trawl round the red neck end of xtian websites will find those who would have us burnt at the stake if they could. Apropos of nothing in particular I looked at macs profile last night as he could well have the potential to become my resident troll. 666 postings. No more no less.

KatyKing wrote:More strength to ya Jim. It would be a happier world if more thougght the same. Time was and in my time too when spiritualists of whatever kidney were marginalised and in some cases persecuted for our beliefs. My dad lost work through being known as a spiritualist and knew Helen Duncan a medium who as you know was imprisoned under the witchcraft act. Thesedays most are indifferent but a quick trawl round the red neck end of xtian websites will find those who would have us burnt at the stake if they could. Apropos of nothing in particular I looked at macs profile last night as he could well have the potential to become my resident troll. 666 postings. No more no less.

Ah. . . I always suspected that Mac had a diabolical side!

Jim