Fifteen False Prophets and Testing the Spirits

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world. 

1 John 4:1-3

Jesus mentions false prophets in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 7:15-20). In this article I investigate 15 false prophets who should have tested the spirits.

John Dee (1527-1608) was the court astrologer for Elizabeth 1. He was heavily involved in the occult and was deceived by the ‘angel’ Madimi. This spirit encouraged Dee to ‘share’ his young wife with the medium who had summoned Madimi. If only Dee had studied Deuteronomy 18:9-13 and had challenged Madimi with 1 John 4:1-3.

Emmanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772) was an aristocratic Swedish occultist. In 1745 he received messages from spirits who were keen to recalibrate the Christian faith. For Swedenborg spirits can decide where they go after death. They can choose to go to heaven or to hell because God is benevolent and does not judge anyone. Swedenborg insisted that all angels were once living people. The saving work of Jesus Christ is completely ignored. The famous preacher John Wesley (1703-1791) was shocked by Swedenborg’s heresies. If only Swedenborg had tested the spirits…

William Blake (1757-1827) was a gifted painter and poet. He was very influenced by Swedenborg and he participated in séances at the home of the astrologer John Varley. After one séance an ‘angel’ told Blake that fleas were inhabited by the souls of bloodthirsty men! In a letter Blake admitted that his two famous poems ‘Jerusalem’ and ‘Milton’ were channelled to him via automatic writing. Why didn’t Blake challenge these spirits?

Joseph Smith (1805-1844) was deceived by the ‘angel’ Moroni. In 1823 he went to bed and prayed to know his standing before the Lord. Then the ‘angel’ Moroni revealed a new religion to him. Mormons deny the Trinity. Smith taught that God used to be a man on another planet. This man was very faithful so he was promoted to divine status and he has a wife who is a goddess. If only Smith had challenged Moroni with this crucial question: “Do you acknowledge that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh?”

Mary Baker Eddy (1821-1910) was the founder of Christian Science. She took part in séances as a medium and received ‘spirit communications’ from her deceased brother Albert. She engaged in automatic writing as spirit guides revealed Christian Science to her. Her heresy declares that sickness is an illusion. Why was Mary so foolish?

Helena Blavatsky (1831-1891) was a committed medium. She claimed to be in contact with ‘highly evolved’ spirit guides who revealed the new religion of Theosophy to her. One of them called himself ‘The Tibetan Master’. Blavatsky taught that karma and reincarnation are true. Why was Helena so gullible?

Aleister Crowley (1875-1947) was a black magician who founded the occult religion of Thelema. This heretical faith was dictated to him by the spirit guide Aiwass. Crowley loved sex magic in the spirit of ancient Baal worship. Crowley’s first commandment was: “Do what thou wilt.” Was Crowley serving Jesus or Satan?

Carl Jung (1875-1961) founded the school of analytic psychology. He  was deceived by at least two spirit guides, Philemon and Basilides as he engaged in séances. These spirit guides haunted Jung’s house and taught him a Gnostic faith. Evil is in God. He wrote “these conversations with the dead formed a kind of prelude to my theory of the unconscious.” Why did Jung trust in these spirit guides?.

Helen Schucman (1909-1981) was an American professor of medical psychology. A Course in Miracles was channelled to her from 1965-1972. She stated that ACIM was revealed to her by an invisible spirit being that introduced itself as ‘Jesus’. Some call this course the New Age Bible and it has been used in churches. This course informs us that Jesus didn’t die on the cross for our sins. We are all our own saviours. If only Helen had studied 1 John 4:1-3…

Ron Hubbard (1911-1986) was the founder of the Church of Scientology. He discovered ‘magick’ when he read Aleister Crowley’s books. Hubbard experimented with sex magic, aiming to conjure the supreme Thelemite goddess Babalon. Hollywood star Tom Cruise is a disciple of Hubbard. Was Hubbard deceived by lying spirits?

Sun Myung Moon (1920-2012) was the founder of the Unification Church (aka Moonies). He claimed that in 1935 ‘Jesus’ appeared to him and told him to finish the work of God’s kingdom on earth. Moon claimed to be the Messiah and his wife was the Holy Spirit. In 1982, 6000 couples were married in the church. 75% of these marriages failed. Why did Moon believe the lies of a spirit pretending to be Jesus?

Jane Roberts (1929–1984) was a psychic and a medium. She was deceived by a spirit being who called himself “Seth”. Seth proclaimed that we all create our own realities because we are gods. A very common message in New Age circles. Why didn’t Jane challenge Seth with 1 John 4:1-3?

Oscar Ichazo (1931-2020) was the founder of the Arica school of mystical knowledge and the Enneagram theory of ego fixations. Just before he died, he said that an “archangel” named Metatron revealed the nine points of the Enneagram to him. His colleague, Claudio Naranjo (1932-2019) explained to a live audience that the nine “enneatypes” were also revealed to him through automatic writing, a form of demonic communication. Why did Oscar and Claudio lack biblical discernment?

The 14^th Dalai Lama (born 1935) consults a spirit being, Dorje Drakden who is the protective spirit of Tibet. A medium puts on a huge, ceremonial head-dress, goes into a trance and then delivers important messages to the Dalai Lama from the unseen, spiritual realm. The Dalai Lama believes in karma and reincarnation. Is the Dalai Lama deceived or should we listen to and follow his teachings?

Neale Donald Walsch (born 1943) is an American ‘spiritual’ author of the best-selling Conversations with God  series of books. He found himself engaging in automatic writing. A spirit was dictating a New Age religion in which we are all saviours because we are all divine like Jesus. He even states that Hitler did a great deal of good in causing the deaths of millions of people, thereby setting them free from the curse of embodiment. Is Walsch telling us the truth about God?

Peter Hockley wrote a book Four Nights with the Devil. He came from a secular background. In 2002 he read Conversations with God and then a spirit, identifying as God, started revealing New Age teachings to him. Fortunately a Christian work colleague urged him to challenge the spirit with the 1 John 4:1-3 test. He was horrified when the spirit told him he was the devil! He is now a Christian evangelist.

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Mark Roques

Mark taught Philosophy and Religious Education at Prior Park College, Bath, for many years. As Director of RealityBites he has developed a rich range of resources for youth workers and teachers. He has spoken at conferences in the UK, Holland, South Korea, Spain, Australia and New Zealand.

Mark is a lively storyteller and the author of four books, including The Spy, the Rat and the Bed of Nails: Creative Ways of Talking about Christian Faith. His work is focused on storytelling and how this can help us to communicate the Christian faith. He has written many articles for the Baptist Times, RE Today, Youthscape, Direction magazine and the Christian Teachers Journal.

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