Diabolic visions, however, have occurred at times, incited by fanatical
and visionary spirits who in their delirium called themselves the Holy
Spirit. But those spirits have now been gathered together by the Lord and
cast into a hell separate from the hells of others. There are also
phantasmal visions which are merely the illusions of an estranged mind.

All this makes clear that no one can be reformed by any visions other
than those in the Word.

134 r. The fact that no one is reformed by communication with the dead is
plain from the Lord's words about the rich man in hell and Lazarus in
Abraham's bosom.

For the rich man said, I ask you, father Abraham, to send Lazarus to my
father's house, for I have five brothers, to testify to them lest they
also come into this place of torment. Abraham said to him, They have
Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. But he said, No, father
Abraham, but if some one will go to them from the dead, they will repent.
He replied, If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, they will not be
persuaded either if one should arise from the dead (Lu 16:27-31).

Communication with the dead would have the same result as miracles (of
which just above), namely, that a man would be influenced and driven into
worship for a short time. But as this deprives a man of rationality and
at the same time shuts his evils in, as was said above, the captivation
or the inward bond is undone, and the imprisoned evils break out, with
blasphemy and profanation; this last occurs, however, only when spirits
introduce something dogmatic from religion, which is never done by a good
spirit, still less by an angel of heaven.