"And he said unto her, What form is he of? And she said, An old man cometh up and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground, and bowed himself." I Samuel 28:14

This spiritualistic séance has been cited as evidence for life after death. But here are points to the contrary:

1. Wizards had been sentenced to death and banned from the land (see on 1 Samuel 28:3; Leviticus 20:27; see also: Leviticus 19:31; 20:6; Deuteronomy 18:11; 2 Kings 21:6; 23:24; 2 Chronicles 33:6; Isaiah 8:19; 19:3).

2. God had left Saul and would not communicate with him (1 Samuel 28:6,15). Why should He now communicate through his deceased prophet, Samuel?

3. Samuel, the deceased prophet of God, was supposedly "brought up." Other expressions: "ascending out of the earth," "Cometh up," and "Bring … up." Is this where the righteous dead are-down in the earth? Not according to those who believe in the immortal soul.

4. "Samuel" is described as "an old man covered with a mantle." Is this the way immortal souls appear? And where did the soul get the body?-They're supposed to be disembodied. Was there a resurrection? Did God obey the beck and call of the witch, and raise up Samuel? If not, can Satan raise the dead?

5. The apparition of Samuel told Saul, "Tomorrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me." Saul committed suicide on the battlefield the next day. Where did God's deceased prophet Samuel dwell, if the wicked Saul was to go to the same place?

6. The record never says that Saul saw Samuel. He received his information as second hand from the witch, and only concluded it was Samuel from her description. The truth is that the devil deceived the dissolute old woman, and she deceived Saul. It was nothing more than a devil-generated séance.

7. The enormity of Saul's sin is revealed in these words, "So Saul died … for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to inquire of it; And inquired not of the Lord: therefore he slew him." I Chronicles 10:13,14