The Phantom World; or, The philosophy of spirits, apparitions, &c, &c.Calmet, Augustin
Religion
The Phantom World; or, The philosophy of spirits, apparitions, &c, &c.
Calmet, Augustin
Apparitions; Demonology; Spirits
The second is, the vision or apparition of those prevaricators who
commit even within the temple the greatest abominations, the most
contrary to the majesty of God, the sanctity of the spot, and the law
of the Lord. After all these things, the same angel brings back
Ezekiel into Chaldaea; but it was not until after God had showed him
the vengeance he intended to exercise upon the Israelites.
It will, perhaps, be said that all this passed only in a vision; that
Ezekiel thought that he was transported to Jerusalem and afterwards
brought back again to Babylon; and that what he saw in the temple he
saw only by revelation. I reply, that the text of this prophet
indicates a real removal, and that he was transported by the hair of
his head between heaven and earth. He was brought back from Jerusalem
in the same way.
I do not deny that the thing might have passed in a vision, and that
Ezekiel might have seen in spirit what was passing in the temple of
Jerusalem. But I shall still deduce from it a consequence which is
favorable to my design, that is, the possibility of a living man being
carried through the air to a very great distance from the place he was
in, or at least that a living man can imagine strongly that he is
being carried from one place to another, although this transportation
may be only imaginary and in a dream or vision, as they pretend it
happens in the transportation of sorcerers to the witches' sabbath.
In short, there are true appearances of the living to others who are
also alive. How is this done? The thing is not difficult to explain in
following the recital of the prophet, who is transferred from Chaldaea
into Judea in his own body by the ministration of angels; but the
apparitions related in St. Augustine and in other authors are not of
the same kind: the two persons who see and converse with each other go
not from their places; and the one who appears knows nothing of what
is passing in regard to him to whom he appears, and to whom he
explains several things of which he did not even think at that moment.
In the third book of Kings, Obadiah, steward of king Ahab, having met
the prophet Elijah, who had for some time kept himself concealed,
tells him that king Ahab had him sought for everywhere, and that not
having been able to discover him anywhere, had gone himself to seek
him out. Elijah desired him to go and tell the king that Elijah had
appeared; but Obadiah replied, "See to what you expose me; for if I go
and announce to Ahab that I have spoken to you, the spirit of God will
transport you into some unknown place, and the king, not finding you,
will put me to death."
There again is an instance which proves the possibility of the
transportation of a living man to a very distant spot. The same
prophet, being on Mount Carmel, was seized by the Spirit of God, which
transported him thence to Jezreel in very little time, not through the
air, but by making him walk and run with a promptitude that was quite
extraordinary.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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