Essays In Occultism Spiritism And Demonology PDF Download

Before entering upon any disquisition or explanation of miracles or phenomena of the occult sciences, it is well to bear in mind that the wonders and miracles recorded in the lives of the saints and in the annals of ecclesiastical history are not in the same class with, nor so faith-compelling as are the miracles of the New Testament, which serve to confirm our faith in the divinity of Jesus Christ and in the holiness and perpetuity of the religion He established. Apart from the fact that these testamentary signs and miracles are recorded in books written under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, and confirmed by the voice of the Church, it must be remembered that they are included in the deposit of faith and may only be denied under penalty of incurring the guilt of heresy and committing an act of manifest impiety. All other miracles, no matter how well authenticated, rest upon what is termed legal evidence, and the Church leaves us free to accept or reject them. This is not saying that, if a miracle is substantiated and approved by rightly constituted ecclesiastical authority and we refuse to credit it, we are not incurring a note of rashness and mental arrogance. But let us bear in mind this truth. We must believe with the Apostles and the Fathers that the Holy Spirit is the soul of the Church and that, while the Third Person of the Adorable Trinity dwells in and animates the Church, miracles will, for all time, occur as manifestations of the in-dwelling of the Holy Ghost in the Kingdom on earth of Jesus Christ, and as testimonies of God's love for his children. Let me predicate however that, without faith in God, miracles, signs, wonders and certain "psychic phenomena" are impossible of solution, and that, without belief in the inspiration of the Bible, they are difficult to explain.