"The Vital Message" by Arthur Conan Doyle is an essay opinion piece written by the famed author. Doyle begins by criticizing religion. Particularly the Old Testament. He believes that most of the problems of this world are because of its literal interpretation. As a fan of spiritualism himself, the Christian way of looking at the world didn't appeal to him. He blames religious dogma as the reason that people are not only turning away from religion, but have caused the suspicious feeling that people have for spiritualism.