The Occult Life of Jesus of Nazareth : Alexander Smyth 1899 [ Progressive Thinker ]

Description

Well preserved copy of classic channeled Spiritualist text by The Occult Life of Jesus of Nazareth and the Hull-Covert Debate by medium Alexander Smyth

 

Smyth, Alexander. The Occult Life Of Jesus of Nazareth. The Progressive Thinker Publishing House. Chicago, Illinois. 1899. Revised and corrected edition.

 

First published in 1864 under the title, Jesus of Nazareth; or, A True History OF The Man Called Jesus Christ, The Occult Life of Jesus of Nazareth and the Hull-Covert Debate is a purportedly channeled text by Spiritualist medium Alexander Smyth claimed to contain the true story of the life, teachings, and betrayal of Jesus Christ as told to Smyth by the spirits of Judas and Saul of Tarsus, later the apostle Paul. In Smyth’s retelling, Jesus and John the Baptist were childhood friends, and Judas was the slave or “bondman” of Saul, tasked with betraying Jesus on his orders before being killed by Saul himself. Saul then faked his conversion experience on the road to Damascus and set up the martyrdom of St Stephen to take over the early church and replace the true teachings of Jesus with those picked by the Sanhedrin, explaining that this is the origin of Jesus’ apparently contradictory statements in the gospels. Smyth further states that the spirits of Saul and Judas have watched over him his whole life so that he could share the story of their misdeeds and the truth of Jesus’ ministry. (Smyth was also a correspondent of “Poughkeepsie Seer” Andrew Jackson Davis and references their exchange in the May 12 and 19th 1860 issues of Davis’ “Herald of Progress” newspaper).

This edition of The Occult Life of Jesus is bound with the separate Hull-Covert Debate text, summarizing the popular debate between Spiritualist proponent Moses Hull and Elder W.R. Covert, a devout Christian and noted anti-Spiritualist. Among other exploits, Covert was sued for $10,000 in 1895 for denouncing a Spiritualist medium as a fraud, one of the first such cases to make it to court.

325 + 106pp + 16 ads. Decorated blue cloth boards with title gilt to front and spine. Some soiling and rubbing to faces. Spine rubbed with losses. Minor bruises to board edges. Corners bumped. Text block toned. Pages clean. Illustrated with several portraits. Very good.

 

If you liked this book, you might also enjoy this first edition copy of The History of Spiritualism by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle owned by a noted early 20th century female painter. Similarly, you might also enjoy this rare 19th century English language Himmelsbrief.