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PSYCHIC RESEARCH AND THE BEGINNING OF CHRISTIANITY*
by Horace Westwood, D.D.
The reality of psychic phenomena throws a flood of light upon much which hitherto has been inexplicable in connection with the origins of the Christian faith. Indeed, in the light of the evidence, it is my sober judgement that it is impossible completely to understand the beginnings of Christianity without taking into consideration the implications of the phenomena associated with the field of psychic research. This becomes increasingly apparent as we seek to answer the question, “How did Christianity really begin?”
Contemporary opinion, particularly in liberal religious circles, ascribes its original impetus to the ethical insights and spiritual genius of Jesus. Thus it is argued that the survival of his influence after his crucifixion was due to his moral stature and the profound character of his religious teachings. These created an energizing faith which gained in momentum with the passing of time.
Far be it for me either to deny his moral grandeur or his spiritual genius. On the contrary, as the years unfold the vision of their splendor grows. Yet two things cannot be successfully refuted: 1. Though his teachings may have been expressed with an unprecedented originality and though they reveal a tremendous driving power from what he was in himself, they were not new. For with few exceptions, practically every ethical utterance attributed to him can be duplicated in essence from the Hebrew prophets who preceded him and from the spiritual teachers of other faiths. 2. It was not the ethics of a dead Jesus which conquered the generations immediately following his crucifixion, but the conviction of a living presence who had demonstrated his triumph over death and the grave. So evident is this that one is justified in the conclusion that but for this conviction and the faith to which it gave impetus, the world might never have heard of Jesus and the memory of what he was and of what he said might have perished with the death of his immediate followers.
This possibility is either glossed over or rationalized away be modern apologists for the Christian faith. For they argue that it was the dynamic influence of his character and message which, after the tragedy of his crucifixion, provided the drive for the movement that bore his name. However, in their judgement, Jesus himself did not live save as the memory of an example which the succeeding centuries glorified.
As for the resurrection, there is little hesitation in expressing the opinion that this was pure delusion. The early disciples and followers were simply self-deceived. The influence of the Master was so profound and their affection for him so deep that they could not think of him as dead. Therefore, their feelings created the illusion of a living presence. Thus arose what is called the resurrection myth, the basis of which was emotion and not fact. Thus it is argued that when Paul wrote, “If Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and you faith is vain also,” he was indulging in fantasy grounded in the desire and “will to believe.”
Now, one may contend that the resurrection faith is wholly mythical, but one may not argue, and at the same time be true to history, that it was the teachings and influence of Jesus rather than this resurrection faith which gave the Christian movement its impetus and drive during the generations which followed his death. For the evidence in the New Testament indicates, beyond all possibility of successful refutation, that but for the conviction “Christ is risen”, the Christian movement would have been stillborn.
Moreover, if this faith is purely mythical and without any possible foundation in historic fact, then one is compelled to the admission that delusion may be valuable in the promotion of a cause. For it may be said with some justification, “Christianity has proved itself to be a good thing for mankind, despite the fact that it was founded upon belief in what never occurred.” In other words, modern apologists actually do say in effect (though they rarely will admit it) – “Credulity and superstition are of value insofar as they become vehicles for the preservation of truth, for with the process of time the truth will destroy the vehicle it has used as an instrument.” So may error be advocated on behalf of truth and we discover ourselves face to face with a dilemma of history from which there seems no escape.
However, if we really understand what was plainly the belief of the first generation Christian community concerning the resurrection, and if we examine this belief in the light of some of the data of modern psychic research, the dilemma ceases to exist. Moreover, we make the discovery that the earliest New Testament record of the alleged event bears witness to phenomena which have their counterpart in the annals of psychic investigation today.
Of course it may very well be argues that the primitive Christian community was mistaken in its interpretation of these phenomena. But this is another matter. The point I am making was that the belief of the community, in the light of modern psychic knowledge could have been built on objective phenomena capable of verification, rather than upon subjective delusion totally without any basis in fact.
However, before discussing this, it is necessary clearly to understand what was the nature of the early Christian belief. Contrary to the popular opinion which has prevailed throughout the centuries, it was not belief in the resurrection of the physical body of Jesus as recorded in the stories in the Gospels. For these stories were later rationalizations of what must have been the earlier accounts and beliefs. Of these earlier accounts we have only one existing record, and this is from the pen of St. Paul in the fifteenth chapter of his first letter to the Corinthians.
In this record there is no sepulcher, no open tomb with the stone rolled away, no angel presences who bear witness to the “risen” Lord. All we have is an account of various appearances.
“He was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: after that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.” (Verses 5-8)
Moreover, in this Pauline account which was the basis of his gospel, there are two things worthy of note.
What was it that was seen? Was it an individual and collective hallucination created by wishful thinking? That could have been the case. It could have been the fruit of subjective longing and experience, for the records of the psychiatrist provide abundant evidence of the strange tricks that the unconscious not only plays on individuals but on the mind of the crowd.
This, perhaps, would be the only possible answer a generation or two ago. But the annals of psychic investigation written during the last few decades indicate that it could have been more than subjective hallucination. For while the public mind as yet fight shy of and rejects the testimony, the evidence for the materialization of psychic entities is too abundant to be lightly dismissed. Moreover, such materializations, to my certain knowledge, have not only been produced under the laboratory conditions in which fraud was out of the question, but have been objectively verified by the camera and other recording instruments.
However, it must not be concluded from this that these materializations are actually manifestations of the personalities they claim to be. In the scientific sense all that can be demonstrated is that they are objective and not illusory. But when we add to this the verifiable fact of personal behavior patterns, the possibilities that open before the mind are far-reaching indeed. When also, in connection with this, we consider the actual dictaphone recordings of voices produced by psychic means. These possibilities widen even more.
Of course, as I indicated in the last chapter, the proof of identity rests on moral grounds, the ultimate proof of which is beyond scientific demonstration. It can never be proved, except on such moral grounds, that Jesus conquered death. The most that could be proved scientifically would be that a psychic entity who “appeared to be” Jesus was manifest. However, in the light of modern psychic research, it is well within the bounds of probability that the resurrection faith owed its origin to those types of phenomena for which, in my judgement, the evidence is indisputable. As I have said, the interpretation of these phenomena on the part of the primitive Christian community could have been mistaken. But in any case such interpretations would have rested on a basis of objective fact.
It is these considerations which led to the observations voiced in the beginning of this chapter:
“The reality of psychic phenomena throws a flood of light upon much which hitherto has been inexplicable in connection with the origins of the Christian faith.”
Indeed, the conviction deepens that the beginnings of Christianity were associated with manifestations of psychic phenomena on an unprecedented scale, and to ignore this possibility is to refuse the use of the one key that would unlock doors for the understanding of the New Testament which, otherwise, might remain closed. For even after making allowance for the legendary elements unmistakably present in the New Testament, and even after giving full weight to the colorations in the interest of dogma and belief, there may be a greater degree of credibility in the record of much that has been denied than we have been willing to admit. For both the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles contain accounts of many happenings which the researcher recognizes as possessing elements corresponding to his observations in the psychic field.
As one example among many, it is worthwhile calling attention to the account of the Day of Pentecost given in the second chapter of Acts. The tongues of fire are very common phenomena in psychic sittings. Many times I have seen floating lights in connection with the Ada sittings, of which the phrase “tongues of fire” is quite descriptive. On occasion in the darkened room, they were so vivid that they illuminated objects almost immediate to them. As to their significance, apparently they had none. They simply seem to be associated with certain psychic conditions. The reference (Verse 2) to “a mighty rushing wind” could easily be an exaggeration of what is also a common phenomenon. Those of us who co-operated in the Ada sittings often noted strong currents of cool air that swept through the room, despite closed windows and doors. These, too, were without any seeming significance. However, I am certain that the consequent and temporary changes in temperature would have been registered if we had taken the precaution to provide the proper recording instruments. As to speaking “with other tongues” I have had no direct experience.
Yet despite my lack of personal experience with this type of phenomena, I twice witnessed something similar during the period I was experimenting with Anna. On two occasions, under circumstances beyond all question, I saw a young sensitive write “automatically” and with great rapidity in what purported to be Chinese. It was my privilege to have it verified as such. However, beyond this verification, the writing was without significance. Unfortunately, though I had it in my possession for a time, I lost the original paper on which it was written and I have never been in the position to witness a repetition of the two occasions.
However, in the literature of psychical research, there are many examples of “speaking with other tongues.”
Professor Neville Whymant, an English linguist and Oriental Scholar of Oxford University, the author of Psychic Adventures in New York published in 1931, relates the account of a remarkable sitting with a direct voice medium, at which he heard voices speaking in different languages. One, he recognized as pure Italian. Another, he recognized as ancient Chinese belonging to the period of the classics of over 2,400 years ago as edited by Confucious, and as such, like Sanskrit, a dead language. In response to questions asked by Whymant in the same language, with regard to certain obscure passages in the writings of Confucious, these obscurities were clarified. Thus true readings for certain passages that had puzzled students for twenty-four centuries were obtained. The medium was a man with no education beyond that of an ordinary mechanic, and no one present at the sitting except Whymant knew a word of Chinese. At subsequent sittings with this same medium, Whymant claims to have recognized no less than sixteen different tongues. He himself, is a master of some thirty living and dead languages.
It is readily admitted that such phenomena may not have the slightest moral or spiritual value and that they may be completely meaningless in relation to religious truth. However, it is easy to understand the effect they might have had upon the minds of those early believers who, according to the record, had spent many days of expectant waiting in “an upper room.” Phenomena, completely trivial in themselves, perhaps occurred. Yet they served as “signs” of the presence of “power beyond themselves made manifest” and doubtless these signs brought assurance to their hearts.
One further note, just as psychic research throws light upon much recorded in the New Testament, so also it is not without its bearing upon much recorded in the Old Testament. The limits of this small volume permit neither illustration nor discussion. Attention is called to it for the simple reason that the same principle applied to Christian beginnings is also applicable here, for there are many phenomena described in the Old Testament. Which have their counterpart in the records of modern psychic investigation.
In stating this, no claim is made for their religious worth. However, since similar phenomena seem to be associated with the story of religion in every age and clime, they should not be ignored. For the question will not be silenced as to the reason for this association. Furthermore, while it may be true that “an evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign,” it may well be contended that any study of religion, which refuses to take into consideration these phenomena, must, of necessity, be incomplete.
Only a revival of faith in what has been termed the “sovereignty of the sole” can remedy the situation. Moreover, there can be no abiding confidence in the supremacy of things spiritual, apart from it. But, by the same token, there can be neither, without the basic conviction of immortality. So long as man believes himself to be solely a creature of time, he will be “time bound” and dominated by thing which are seen and temporal.
For these reasons, one welcomes any evidence that throws light upon the problem of survival beyond death. And because I am utterly persuaded that one of the fruits of psychic research is that it provides a basis of natural fact for faith in this possibility, I see grounds for hope in relation to the present worldwide dilemma. Indeed, it is quite possible that man may yet build “a society of immortals living in Time” This hope compelled the revolution that shook the ancient world with the birth of Christianity. It can happen again and give to a weary earth a new birth.
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