A Christian Church's Report on Spiritualism and Why They Did Not Want to Publish It

      

By Stephen William

A CHRISTIAN CHURCH’S REPORT ON SPIRITUALISM AND WHY THEY DID NOT WANT TO PUBLISH IT. By Stephen William,  UK based author of: ”Nostradamus His Prophecy Finally Explained.” Available on Amazon Kindle now.   In my article in January’s edition of Mystic Living Today entitled “ A Christian Minister Who Cannot Accept The Inevitable?” I mentioned that The Church of England ,the originator Church of the world-wide Anglican Communion (the American member Church is the Escopalian Church) had in the 1930s commissioned a report into whether Spiritualism was a reality. To the Church of England leaders great surprise ,the report’s compilers concluded by a majority of 9 to 3, that it was!  This was obviously a shock to the conventional hierarchy of the Church of England ,who probably were hoping the report would conclude that all spiritual communication was some form of conjuring trick and mediums were either frauds or severely deluded. Because this evidence contradicted traditional Biblical teaching prohibiting direct spiritual contact, the senior archbishops and bishops of The Church of England decided it should not be published in 1939 when they received it. This was despite the 12 people who compiled it were highly educated members of the Anglican Communion  including the then Bishop of Bath and Wells and Doctor William Brown, the best- known British psychiatrist of the time. Brown had previously publicly  exposed fraudulent mediums so was a highly credible clinical and scientific figure on this committee.  It therefore could be seen as strange that  these senior churchmen were not willing to publish a document that would confirm the existence of a spiritual realm and Afterlife . However, it did contradict as previously mentioned ,some Biblical teaching and Britian was also on course to fight a war of national survival against Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. Possibly it was thought that  having debate on people’s  deepest  spiritual understanding at such a time would be detrimental to any  national war effort? Or perhaps they just did not want to deal with any controversy? We will probably never know at this distance of time. But as mentioned in the previous issue of this magazine, somebody from within the Church of England ,possibly one of the Majority Report compilers contacted the leading newspapers in Britain and told them of the conclusions  of the report. Instantly many of these leading newspapers called on the Church of England  to publish the report. However, the Church “stuck to its guns” and refused to publish the Report . By now what was to become World War II had begun and public attention was diverted by the crisis of defending the country against the Nazi and Fascist enemies. Yet the Psychic News ,the leading British Spiritualist Magazine and Newspaper ,still campaigned to have the Majority Report published and even published a pamphlet calling on Doctor Cosmo Lang, the Archbishop of Canterbury and leader of the Church of England clergy to publish it. This was entitled “The Silence of Dr Lang”.  However the Church of England still refused to publish. The pamphlet published in 1943 demand the publication of The Majority Report which confirmed the reality of spiritual contact to Anglican Church researchers. The Psychic News However the Church of England still refused to publish the Majority Report and that remained the situation until the late 1960s when a copy of the Report was sent anonymously to the then editor of the Psychic News, A.W. Austen ! I will let Mr Austen’s own word’s describe what happened when he received this document. “ ; “For some years the reports were kept secret; then one morning there mysteriously appeared on my office desk what purported to be a typed copy of the Majority Report. I got in touch with a member of the Committee I knew was in favour of the report being published, though he was bound by his loyalty to the Church to keep its secrets. "I have a copy of the Majority Report, and I am going to print it," I told him. "There are one or two phrases that are obscure, because of the careless typing, but I would rather print a slightly inaccurate version than none at all. However, if in the interests of truth you will read what I have and correct it where necessary, then you will be rendering a service to everyone concerned." The purported copy was re-typed, a reporter was sent with it to the member concerned. What the reporter brought back was a carefully corrected typescript, with every comma marked in, missing lines written in the margins, and complete in every detail. The report was printed in its entirety in "Psychic News" and with the co-operation of the Press Association extracts from it appeared in newspapers all over the world. Still the Church preserved a stony silence. Copies of the paper containing the report were sent to all the bishops and the two Archbishops. No comment came except for a protest from the Archbishop of Canterbury. My printing of the report gave to the rank and file of the Church of England the guidance that had been denied them by the House of Bishops. To Christians all over the world it broke the news that a Committee of influential Churchmen, examining Spiritualism on behalf of the Church and at the request of the Archbishops had found that it was true and could be a valuable addition to the Christian ministry. A. W. AUSTEN.” As you can see a golden opportunity to OFFICIALLY  bring the reality of direct spiritual contact and therefore the reality of a spiritual dimension to existence to the wider world  was lost! I suspect that the Church’s inbuilt conservatism and one could say addiction to  tradition caused this. Perhaps there was fear that some of the ministers of religion of traditional churches within and beyond the Anglican Communion would be sidelined by mediumistic contact? If they had doubts about the results original Report , they could of course conduct a new investigation , but as mystics we know (and perhaps they did!) the results would be the same! So what were the passages in the report that may have disturbed these conventional ministers of religion?   The Psychic News in early 1970s published the Majority Report in full in this pamphlet as well as in the magazine. Yet it took until the 1980s for the Church of England to officially publish it.  I have selected some passages, with my commentary underneath to explain my opinion on why this may have prevented earlier publication.   “It is often urged as of great significance that Spiritualism in many respects re-affirms the highest convictions of religious people, and that it has brought many to a new assurance of the truth of teaching which had ceased to have any meaning to them This is a point of some difficulty, since assurance seems to come along different and even conflicting lines. We cannot ignore the fact that at least one considerable Spiritualist organisation is definitely anti-Christian in character. This divergence of testimony is explained by Spiritualists as due to the continuance of spirits, at least for a period, within the system of beliefs which they have held in this life. It is held that even though the whole development of the personality is being raised from level to level, the attitudes to truth and goodness taken up in this life persist in the next, and that this somewhat divergent testimony to the truth of Christianity must be explained in this way.” Spiritualist churches and meeting places are open to people of all religious backgrounds and it may have been seen to the Church of England at that time, to be diluting Christian belief. “We should add that whatever be the value of this supposed confirmation of the truth of religion, Spiritualism does not seem to have added anything except perhaps a practical emphasis to our understanding of those truths.” Traditional religions often expect a new prophet or great teacher to introduce a new doctrine to change their religious practice. Direct spiritual contact “just” proves a spiritual dimension to  existence and an Afterlife!? “Nevertheless, it is clearly true that the recognition of the nearness of our friends who have died, and of their progress in the spiritual life, and of their continuing concern for us, cannot do otherwise, for those who have experienced it, then add a new immediacy and richness to their belief in the Communion of Saints.” Mention of “progress” in the spiritual life would contrast with Biblical concepts of judgement and punishment. “There seems to be no reason at all why the Church should regard this vital and personal enrichment of one of her central doctrines with disfavour, so long as it does not distract Christians from their fundamental gladness that they may come, when they will, into the presence of their Lord and Master, Jesus Christ Himself, or weaken their sense that their fellowship is fellowship in Him.” As direct spiritual contact appears to open to everyone and not just of a Christian background , this could have put the Church’s central doctrine under scrutiny. “The view has been held with some degree of Church authority, that psychic phenomena are real but that they proceed from evil spirits. The possibility that spirits of a low order may seek to influence us in this way cannot be excluded as inherently illogical or absurd, but it would be extremely unlikely if there were not also the possibility of contact with good spirits.” The traditional Church belief that  direct spiritual contact of the deceased, is with evil spirits, would be difficult to discard ,due to various Old Testament teachings. However the next passage would seem to contradict this. “The belief in Angelic guardians or guides has been very general in Christianity.” Various Biblical characters were visited by angels etc. with messages. Yet they were obviously not considered evil. Biblical teaching therefore is unclear on how to identify good or evil spiritual contact.   But in any case the Christian life is grounded upon God, and its fundamental activities are prayer and worship, which issue in loving worship of mankind. A life so grounded has nothing to fear from evil influences or powers of any kind. As most compilers of the report quite rightly point out , a life grounded in in goodness has nothing to fear from evil influences. However traditional faith only churches have always taught direct spiritual contact in the post-Biblical era is wrong and evil. This is  mainly based on some very early verses in the Old Testament, which appear to be contradicted by the spiritual experiences of later well-known Old Testament and New Testament figures. Therefore hundreds of years church teaching could be seen to be inconsistent on spiritual contact.               The Church of England, for reasons of past controversy, has been altogether too cautious in its references to the departed. Anglican prayers for the departed do not satisfy people's needs, because the prayers are so careful in their language that it is not always evident that the departed are being prayed for, as contrasted with the living. This passage seems with its reference to the Church being “too  cautious in its references to the departed” appears to confirm many churches confusion over the Afterlife. The destination of the departed has different explanations within the Bible. Therefore an apparent clarification of the actual Afterlife would upset many deeply embedded beliefs on this subject. This would possibly mean  rejecting proof of the reality of a spiritual realm and overcoming growing disbelief of a spiritual dimension to existence by an increasing amount of society!   This is my opinion, is part of the reason why the Church of England did not officially publish the Majority Report until the 1980s . By that time nearly  50 years after the Report was compiled most of the committee who had produced it were dead or  extremely old ,so reasonable debate could not be held on the experiences they had could be held. Dr William Brown the Psychiatrist and Psychologist  for example had passed  in 1952 . By that time also , the controversy it may have caused in 1939 did not happen, because 50-year-old reports generally are not seen as relevant and such a delayed publication would appear to indicate to many people that the contents were regarded as misguided and incorrect by the Church. However, in my view this was a missed opportunity to bring an updated view of spirituality to both the  conventionally religious  and the sceptics of all spirituality. You can of course form your own view of this ,by reading the full Psychic News version of the report at the Campaign for Philosophical Freedom  https://www.cfpf.org.uk  Look for the section The Church of England and Spiritualism (1939). If you have trouble downloading,please email myself at stephenwhealing@gmail.com Psychic News have kindly allowed  me to distribute their format of the Majority Report free of charge to my readers. I send shall send it to you in Word format. Finally, it is not only the Churches of the Anglican Communion in the UK and countries around the world including the United States, who did not act on the Majority Report.  Other Christian churches and other Abrahamic religions who were made aware by the Psychic News publication and the eventual official publication of the Majority Report by the Church of England failed to do so also. As mystics we can guess why! We know the spiritual dimension is real and universal. That knowledge and experience of it ,rather than just “blind faith” would empower people to not fear death as the end of existence. Also not to fear people of other backgrounds to ourselves . Which is supposed to be the spiritual purpose of most religions, but  somehow  they have  lost their way over the centuries. Perhaps they need some spiritual and mystical refreshment !      © Stephen William International Copyright. My book which covers modern mysticism as well as Nostradamus’s, is available at only US $ 3.45 on Amazon Kindle or FREE TO READ if you are a Kindle Unlimited member. please follow this link https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B098LS5PM7/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_MBDF06G549ZKJ6XFKMCJ