Does spiritualism provide evidence for the existence of a soul?

What is spiritualism??? Communication between the spirit world and the living through messages from the departed spirits. This communication is usually achieved through a medium. Communication can be achieved through Ouija boards and séances.

How is spiritualism credible? Spiritualism can be seen as credible because some information received as a result of spiritualism has been accurate. This is despite being known to the medium – this could support the existence of a soul. E.G. Derek Acorah from most haunted TV who uses his psychic ability to gain information from departed spirits. Regression to past lives under hypnosis is another form of spiritualism and seems to be believable as the subject gains memories of a past life they could not possibly have gained through other means. Psycho kinesis is the ability to move objects with the power of the mind – this is another example of the paranormal as the spirits of the dead could affect/move physical objects in this world (However, this whole area has been rife with fraud).

Counter-arguments against spiritualism: Mediums could just have some form of telepathic access to the minds of the living. People who claim to have received messages from departed loved ones could have been influenced by wishful thinking. As there is no empirical evidence to prove the existence of a spiritual afterlife, it is not possible to communicate with such a presence.

If an afterlife existed, then in what form would the departed survive after death ? CHRISTIAN VIEW The general Christian view of life after death is that before judgement day the body and soul are separated and judgement is immediate. On judgement day Jesus will return to judge the living and the dead. Catholics bury dead bodies so that upon judgement day they can be raised and changed into a glorified spiritual body which rejoins the dead person’s soul.

If an afterlife existed, then in what form would the departed survive after death ? SCHOLARS Plato would argue that the soul is the only part of us that survives after death – it returns to the world of the forms where it originated from. Hick would argue that we undertake a bodily resurrection on another part of this world after death. Descartes argued that when an individual died, their soul is able to continue after death with God as the same individual, which existed in a physical form on Earth.

The Conclusion: It is hard to accept the concept of spiritualism as fact when there is little to no empirical evidence. It seems that people believe in an afterlife because they do not want to accept the fact that there might be nothing after we die. It is impossible to completely rule out a life after death because humanity is still unable to explain the paranormal events in this world.