| Year 15 | Number 84 | 2007 | May 15th, 2007 |
| "Unshakable
faith is only that which can face reason face to
face in every Humankind epoch." Allan Kardec |
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"Certain thoughts are prayers. There are moments when, whatever be the attitude of the body, the soul is on its knees."
Victor Hugo
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| ° EDITORIAL
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| ° THE CODIFICATION
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| THE
GOSPEL
ACCORDING
TO SPIRITISM - CHAPTER XII - DO NOT LET YOUR LEFT HAND KNOW WHAT YOUR
RIGHT HAND IS DOING - Instructions from the Spirits - Material Charity
and Moral Charity |
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| CHRISTIANITY AND SPIRITUALISM by Leon Denis | |||
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| SPIRITISTS, YOU HAVE A TREASURE IN YOUR HANDS, SHARE IT! |
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| ADAM AND EVE | |||
| ° EDITORIAL |
Dear Readers,
On April 18, 1857 the first edition of The Spirit´s Book was published in France. That day is considered the birth of the Spiritist Doctrine. So, last April 18 was the 150th anniversary of the Spiritst Doctrine, an event that was commemorated in several countries, a commemoration that mostly consisted of semminars, congresses and the publishing of new books and new editions of some classical ones.
As editors of The Spiritist Messenger we would also like to commemorate the date with an important spiritist teaching and so we chose a text from the Codification that deals with the most important lesson that we must learn, that is, how to be charitable. It´s a lesson for all of us, one that once we have learnt it deeply in our heart will pave the path we have to follow in order to reach perfection.
Much peace,
The GEAE Editors
| ° THE CODIFICATION |
9. "Love one another and do unto others what we wish they would do unto us. All that is religion and moral is contained in these two precepts. If they were observed in this world then everyone would be happy and there would be no more hate or resentment. I go even further: there would be no more poverty because all the poor people would be fed from the superfluity of the rich. Neither would poor women be seen dragging wretched children along the dark and sombre streets where I lived during my last incarnation.
Those among you who are rich, think on this a while! Help to the best of your abilities all those who are less fortunate. Give, in order that one day God may recompense the good you have done; and so, on leaving your terrestrial body behind, you may encounter a host of grateful Spirits who will receive you at the threshold to a happier world. Oh! If you could but know the joy felt when, on reaching the world beyond, I found those whom I had been given to serve!..
Therefore, love your neighbours; love them as you would love yourself, because you now know that by repelling even one wretched person it is always possible that perhaps you are sending away a brother, father or friends from other times. If this happens to be the case, imagine your despair when you recognise them again on reaching the spiritual world!
I wish you to understand exactly what moral charity really is. It is something that all can practise, that costs nothing materially speaking, but which is most difficult to exercise. Moral charity then comprises the giving of support to all our fellow creatures and is least done in this inferior world where you now find yourselves incarnated. Believe me, there is great merit in keeping quiet while another, perhaps less intelligent, is speaking. This is but one kind of moral charity. To play deaf when mocking words escape the lips of one accustomed to deride, or to ignore the disdainful smiles of those who are receiving you, when they quite wrongly suppose themselves to be far above you, constitutes merit.
However, in actual fact it will quite often be found that in the spiritual world, the only real life, these same persons are far below us. The merit to be gained in these situations is not due to humility, but to charity, in as much as to ignore bad behaviour is a moral charity.
Nevertheless, this kind of charity must not be allowed to interfere with the other kind already mentioned. Therefore, be specially careful never to despise your fellow beings. Remember everything I have told you, and that if you repel a poor or needy person you may perhaps be repelling a Spirit who was once dear to you, who temporarily finds him or herself in an inferior position to you. I have found here one of the destitute from Earth whom happily I had been able to help several times and from whom, in my turn, I must now implore help.
I remind you that Jesus said we are all brothers and sisters. Always think of this before repelling a beggar or even someone with a contagious disease, like leprosy. Goodbye; think of those who suffer and pray for them". - SISTER ROSALIE (Paris, 1860).
10. "My dear friends, there are many amongst you whom I have heard saying: How can I practise charity if I am frequently without the necessities of life?
Friends, there are thousands of ways of practising charity. You may do this by means of thought, words and actions. With thought by praying for the unfortunate who have been abandoned,for those who die without even finding conditions to enable them to see the light A prayer from your heart will alleviate their suffering. Through words, by giving good advice to your daily companions, to those who are desperate and to all for whom privations have caused embitterment which has led them to blaspheme against God, by saying to them: "I was like you; I too suffered and felt myself wretched, but I believed in Spiritism and now I am happy." To those who are old and who say to you: "It is useless, now I am at the end of my journey. I will die as I have lived," you must say to them: "God shows equal justice to all; remember the workers of the last hour." To the children who are already corrupted by the companions who surround them, who go through life ready to succumb to evil temptations, you must say: "God is looking at you, my children," and never get tired of repeating these gentle words to them. One day they will germinate in these childlike minds, and instead of being vagabonds they will then become men and women. This too is charity.
Others amongst you may say: "Pooh! We are so numerous here on Earth that God cannot possibly see each one of us." Listen carefully, my friends. When you are on the top of a mountain do you not see the millions of grains of sand which cover it? Well then, that is how God sees you. He allows you your free-will, just as He permits the grains of sand to move with the winds which disperse them. Except for one thing, in His infinite mercy, God has put a vigilant spark in the bottom of your hearts which is called your conscience. Listen to it because it will give good advice. Sometimes you manage to numb it bysetting the spirit of evil against it. Then it is silent. But you can be sure that as soon as you begin to have even a shadow of remorse, your poor rejected conscience will again make itself heard. So listen to it, ask it questions, and frequently you will find yourself consoled by the counsel you have received.
My friends, to every new regiment the general always offers a banner. To you I offer this maxim of Christ as your watchword: "Love one another." Observe this precept, let everyone unite under this flag, and you will have happiness and consolation". - A Protecting Spirit (Lyon, 1860).
| ° ELECTRONIC BOOKS |
CHRISTIANITY AND SPIRITUALISM
The History of the Gospels
The Secret Doctrine of Christianity
Intercourse with the Spirits of the Dead
The New Revelation
Vitam Impendere Vero
By
LÉON DENIS
Author of
"Après La Mort, "Dans L'Invisible," ETC.
Translated from the French by
HELEN DRAPER SPEAKMAN
LONDON
PHILIP WELLBY
6 Henrietta Street Covent Garden
1904
This book is out of print indefinitely
1st Electronic Edition by
the
Advanced
Study Group of Spiritism
(GEAE)
2006
THE DECADENCE OF CHRISTIANITY - Second Part
We have seen the consequences, in our country at
least,3
of Catholic education. But if it is imcomplete and full of errors, are
we to prefer to it lay education? Lay education produces effects
opposed to those we have indicated. It gives to man a spirit of
independence, it frees him from religious and governmental
guardiamship, but at the same time it weakens in him moral discipline,
without which no society can be strong. This teaching is not, as its
detractors have said of it, without principles; but it has not been
able to put anything in the place of the Christian ideal.
The primary, or infant instruction, is too hasty, and too soon abandoned. It is not completed by the indispensable element of moral teaching. It leaves the child, and consequently, the man, ignorant of the most essential things - the great laws of life.
When, at twelve or fourteen years of age, the child leaves the primary school, furnished with his certificate of study, and is thrown into the great social battle, he is wanting in that solid foundation, and knowledge of truth and of duty, which is the great support, the best weapon in the struggle for existence.
All that has been taught him of the duties of man (not too much at best) has been told him at an age when he coul not appreciate its value. It will most likely fade away, leaving no traces behind.
But, it will be said, if the primary instruction is insufficient, and ill-assimilated, later on, in the higher and classical education, the young man will surely find and ample store of principles, of the ideas essential to him in his pursuit of a high end. Well, this again is an illusion. I quote the opinion of the celebrated writer, Francisque Sarcy, who declared, in one of his articles in the "Petit Journal (March 7, 1894). "From my classical studies, from my passage through the philosophy classes, there has remained with me no precise idea on the destinies of mankind." This reminds us of the well-known remark of a gook judge in such matters: Classical philosophy is but the history of the contradictions of the human mind."
Materialism and positivism reign almost exclusively in the upper political spheres, peopled by intelligences moulded by higher education. The influence of these theories must react on political and social life.
If one goes to the bottom of the subject, one is obliged to admit that lay education is impregnated with scepticism, and inspired by the negative philosophies. Hence weakness as a moral agent.
It is true that we hear much of altruism; but altruism is but an empty word, a baseless theory. It is a seed sown on rocky soil, and destined to perish; for it is not enough to sow, we must also prepare the ground. You cannot move to altruistic sentiments men penetrated by the idea that the struggle for the needs and interests of life is the supreme law of existence, men convinced that all hopes, all generous impulses, are destined to end in nothing.
Materialism, that vigorous and inevitable reaction against dogma and superstition, has penetrated all strata of society. Among cultivated people, it is decorated with the name of Positivism, but the results are the same.
Materialism has had its day of triumph. At one time, its theories over-ruled science. But although strong to destroy, it can build up nothing, therefore, those who answer to its call, sooner or later abandon it.
If materialistic ideas have spread from the highest political regions down to the lowest social depths; in the dominions of science, on the other hand, they have lost very much of their influence. The experiments of modern psychology have shown superabundantly that all is not merely matter or force, as Buchner, Carl Vogt, Jules Soury, and others affirmed; it is proved that life is not a property of the body vanishing with it. 4 After the experiments of Dr Luys, de Baraduc, de Roches, Meyers, Richet, etc., Carl Vogt would no longer dare to say that "the brain secretes thought as the liver secretes bile." The secretions of the human body can be weighed, but who has ever weighed thought? Even the theory of atoms has fallen into discredit. The atom, the essential basis of the universe, the materialists tell us, is now considered by chemists as a pure abstraction. As Berthelot says in his "Origins of Chemistry," page 320: "The ether of the physicists and the atom of the chemists are vanishing, to give place to higher conceptions, which tend to explain everything by the phenomena of movement."
W. Oswald, Professor of Physics at the University of Leipsic, in his article entitled, "The Defeat of Atomism," ("Revue Générale des Sciences" of Nov. 1895), expresses himself in these words, on the subject of atoms and the mechanical theory of the universe, which theory embraces celestial mechanics and the phenomena of organic life: "It is a very imperfect invention. The attempt has not even the value of an auxiliary hypothesis. It is an error pure and simple." Oswald believes, with Newton, that there must exist "higher principles" than those yet known. We see from these opinions of these competent men that the materialists have built up the edifice of science on the most narrow possible bais.
Materialism embraces only one side of truth. Without doubt matter is grand if considered in the majestic unity of its laws. But even if we could know it in its essence, matter is not everything. It represents only the lower aspects of the world and of life.
Materialism bases its conclusions wholly on the testimony of the senses, but our senses are limited and insufficient; often they mislead us. It is not with the physical senses, or with instruments of precision, or retorts, that we discover the higher laws and causes. Reason alone can teach the supreme reason of things.
Materialists hoped to penetrate all the secrets of nature by an attentive study of physical forms. They were like the miner who works his vein underground, and who, at every step, discovers treasures and new riches; as, to give them their due, has indeed been the case of the positive scientists also. But as a miner advances, he loses sight of the light of day, of the splendid dominions of life, to go ever deeper into the regions of night, of silence and of death. It is thus that materialism proceeds. Much as science has done for man, we may yet wonder that she has not given him a real knowledge of himself, or of the laws of his destiny. We feel vaguely that she might have done so if instead of confining herself to the study of matter, she had been willing to explore, sincerely and assiduously, the dominions of life itself. Under pressure of the negative doctrines, science has lost herself in analysis, in fragmentary study of physical nature. But the dust of science is not science, and the dust of truth is not truth. Mankind, weary of metaphysical conceptions and tehological solutions, had turned ist eyes and hopes towards science. It asked the secret of existence, a belief, a new faith, to take the place of that of the crumbling Churches. It asked for the solution of those problems of life which dominate, surround and envelop us in their depths. To these repeated calls, science remained deaf. If, in some cases, a solution was suggested, it was the idea of nothingness. From that came the disappointment and irritation of certain thinkers, and the accusations so freely made; but the accusations must be made excldusively against the materialistic and positive schools. Science, as a whole, when she has thrown off her shackles, will attain her goal by higher and more enlightened conceptions.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
It has always greatly surprised us to find, among the men of liberty who direct the destinies of the Republic, many who think or call themselves, materialists and atheists. How is it that they do not understand that materialism, founded on blind fatality and consecrating the right of might, cannot make free men? The democracy of '89 and '84 had other views. According to materialistic theories, man is but a machine governed by instincts.
Well, for a machine, there can neither be liberty nor responsibility, nor moral laws; for moral law is a law of the spirit. Without moral law, what becomes of the idea of duty? It disappears, and with it all established order. A society can only live and develop by having for a foundation the idea of duty, namely, virtue and justice. These are the sole possible bases for social order. That is why society has never been able to reconcile itself to atheism; for, just as superstition and idolatry lead us to despotism, so atheism and materialism must logically end in the depreciation of the social forces, often in anarchy and nihilism.
With such theories circulating among the masses, materialism has become a real social peril. It has rendered man"s load of misery harder to bear, his outlook on life more; it has diminished human energy, and driven the unhappy to misery and despair.
How can we therefore wonder if marriages become more rare, if infanticides, suicides, and madness multiply rapidly? It is a sign of our times that young people of both sexes, almost children, rush to suicide from the most futile motives. According to statistics, the number of self-inflicted deaths has increased three hundred per cent, during the last fifty years. The crimes committed by quite young men are frequent. The army of vice and of assassination is increasing at a fearful rate.
With the materialistic theories, moral responsibility disappears. Man is not free, we are told by Buchner and his disciples; he is the slave of his surroundings. Crime is explained by avatism and heredity. It is a natural phenomenon, the necessary effect of a cause which is the result of a blind fatality. Therefore, there is neither good nor evil. Thus the gravest faults are excused, consciences are lulled to sleep, and all idea of moral sanction or of justice is ruined. For, truly, if crime is a fatality, if it is involuntary, it is not guilty, or shameful. If passion is irresistible, why try to conquer it? Such views, propagated in all classes, have as a natural consequence the direct excitement of the worst appetites, and the development of sensuality and selfish instincts. In the wealthy classes, many have but one object; to suppress the duties and painful struggles of life, to make of existence a perpetual festival, a kind of intoxication from which the awakening may be terrible.
They deny free-will and the survival of the soul; they deny God, duty, and justice, all the principles on which human society reposes, without taking thought as to what must be the result of these negations.
A literature inspired by this disgust for life has arisen and spread in all directions, a literature which is a menace to all generous impulses and enthusiasms, and carries us straight to the blackest pessimism.
A well-known journalist, Edmond Lepelletier, wrote thus on the subject of the ship-wreck of the Utopia:-
"All the advantages of existence belong to those who are the best armed for triumph in the vital struggle, and the best armed is the most pitiless, the most selfish, the least accessible to sentiments of humanity or even of justice. It is this necessity for struggle, and this inevitable victory by force, in spite of right, of justice, of humanity itself, which secures the vigour of societies and the salvation of civilisations."
"What is good?" 5 asks Frederick Nietsche, "Power. What is bad? Weakness. What is happiness? The feeling that power is growing, that resistance is overcome. Not contentment, but more power, not peace above all, but war, not virtue, but valour. Perish the weak and the failures. And let us help them to disappear. What is more hurtful than any vice? It is pity for the poor and the feeble."
Such is the tone of materialistic writers and philosophers in the public press. Can they really know what responsibilities they incur? Do they dream of the harvest which such seed will produce? Do they not see that in vulgarising such iniquitous and despairing doctrines, they place in the hands of the unhappy the torch of the incendiary and the weapons of death?
Ah! these doctrines may appear inoffensive to the rich and happy, but what application will those who suffer, and with whom fate has dealt hardly, make of them?
The examples of Vaillant and Emile Henry show us.
Vaillant declared before the Jury of the Seine, in January 1894, that it was the reading of materialistic works that suggested to him the idea of his crime.
Emily Henry held forth in the same strain; "Scientific studies initiated me into the forces of nature; I am a materialist and an atheist."
Oh! materialists, with your inexorable laws of atavism and heredity, you have distilled a subtle poison into the name of GOD, you have told them that earthly joys are the only ones, that all appetites are legitimate, and that life is but the shadow of a moment. And the people have believed you!
Woe be to those who have stilled the voice of conscience, and killed the pure and disinterested ideal, and taught the people that all is matter and death the end.
Woe to those who will not admit that every human creature has a right to existence, and to the light, and even more, to spiritual life; to those who have given and example of immorality, of silfishness and of sensuality.
Against this society which offers to man neither protection, consolation, nor moral aid, a furious storm is preparing. It is not withou danger that the human soul is compressed, that the moral evolution of the world is interfered with, that thought is enclosed in the iron circle of scepticism. A day will come when this thought will recoil with violence, and the foundations of society will be shaken by fearful convulsions.
But lift up thy head, oh man, and hope once more. A new ray of light will descend from space and illumine thy path. All that thou hast been taught hithertois incomplete and sterile.
What matters apparent death, if life is immortal, if the being is imperishable in its essence, if death itself is but a phase of its elevation?
We must not only see the material evolution. That is only one side of things. The destruction of organisms, prove nothing. They are but passing structures; the body is but a clothing. The reality is the psychic being, the spirit which animates these material forms. The spirit remains entire beyond the tomb, with all the qualities acquired and merits accumulated, ready for renewed ascencions. It is clothed in that subtle envelope, the fluidic body, from which it is inseparable, which existed before birth, and now exists in each one of us, and will survive us at death. The existence of this subtle body is demonstrated daily by experiments of separation of the double, of the exteriorisation of sensibility, by the apparitions of phantoms of the living during sleep, as well as of those of the dead.
On other points, the materialistic theories are not more happy. They tell us that all that characterises the human mind, aptitudes, faculties, virtues and vices, is explained by the law of heredity and the influence of surroundings. Look about you, you will see that fact gives the lie to those assertions. Yes, the influence of material conditions is poweful, and bows certain spirits under its yoke. But how many others, by will, courage, and perseverance, have raised themselves from the most obscure positions, from the inferior ranks to the heights of genius. How many thinkers, learned men, philosophers, born in poverty, have by their own efforts, attained to the front rank. Is it necessary to name them? Let us remember that Copernicus was the son of a baker; Kepler, whose father was a public-house keeper, was himself a waiter in his youth; Alembert, a foundling, picked up one winter's night on the steps of a church, was brought up by the wife of a glazier; Newton and Laplace were the sons of poor peasants; Humphrey Davy, the servant of a druggist; Franklin, a printer's apprentice. All these, and thousands of others were able to overcome the most unfavourable conditions, triumph over the greatest obstacles, and conquer a lasting reputation.
It is therefore neither birth nor conditions that give talent. An illustrious father may have most commonplace children. Two brothers may resemble each other physically, eat the same food, receive the same education, and have neither the same aptitude nor the same talents.
We clearly see that intelligence, genius, virtue, are therefore not the results of material conditions, but of a power higher than these conditions, and which often dominates and governs them.
The will can sometimes assert itself, and overcome the resistance of the flesh amid the most cruel torutures. Do we not see this in the case of those who have suffered and died for a great cause, all those martyrs who have given their lives for the truth? We see Giordano Bruno, preferring torture to retraction; Campanella, who was subjected seven times to torture, and seven times repeated his bitter satires against the inquisitores; Joan of Arc, who died at the stake; Socrates, who saved philosophy and drank the hemlock rather than deny his doctrine. There were Pierre Ramus, Arnauld de Brescia, John Huss, Jerome of Prague, Savonarolo.
In all these great martyrs, we see the triumph of mind over matter. The body, torn by suffering, complains and groans, but the soul asserts its authority and subdues the revolt of the flesh.
This show us of what immense use is that great faculty, the will, the constant and elightened use of which can raise man so high. Will is the weapon which he must be taught to use, to sharpen without ceasing. Those who by their sophistries try to diminish, or weaken it, commit a fatar error.
Is it not a bitter thought that the two doctrines which are the widest spread among us, Catholicism on the one hand, materialism on the other, both concur to annihilate or at least to dwarf the powers hidden in the human being; reason, will, liberty, the powers by which man can accomplish such great things, and create for himself a marvellous future.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Humanity is swayed between two errors, one which affirms and one which denies; one says to man, "Believe without understanding," and the other cries to him, "Die without hope."
On one side, idolatry, for He is but an idol, this God who desires more and yet more blood spilt in His name; who rears himself as an obstacle between man and science; who combats progress and liberty; a sombre divinity, to worship whom one must first veil the face of the Christ, and trample under foot reason and conscience.
Un the presente day, there is no moral renovation possible except outside of the dogmatism of the Churches. What our society needs is a religious conception in harmony with the universe and with science, and which shall satisfy human reason. A dogmatic restoration would be fruitless. The people would not be deceived by it. Dogma to them is the Church. And the Church by allying herself to all forms of oppression, has become, as has been well said by J. Jaurés: "one of the forms of exploitation of humanity." Its affirmations have today lost all credit with the masses. The people, today, want the truth, the whole truth.
It is true that Christianity contains germs and principles, long obscure and misunderstood, which require only a new impulse to bring them out, as long-buried seed appears at length on the surface, and grows and bears fruit. Christianity, more than any other religion, brought to the world active love for all who suffer, devotion to humanity carried to the extreme of sacrifice, and the idea of fraternity in life and in death, that appeared in history under the image of the Crucified One, the Christ dying for all men. It is this great idea which has been falsified and distorted by the Church and needs a new impetus from without. This will be role of modern spiritualism.
The new revelation, the teachings of spirits, the proofs they give of survival, of the immortality of the soul and of eternal justice, enable us to distinguish that which is living from that which is dead in Christianity. If men of good faith were willing to convince themselves of the power of these teachings and accept their fruits, they would find in them a renewal of exhausted life and dying ideals. This ideal proclaimed by the Invisible is not different from that of the founders of Christianity. It aims always at realising on earth the "reign of God and His justice," at purifying the human soul of its vices and errors, to raise it after its falls, and by giving it a knowledge of the higher laws and its true destinies, to develop in it that spirit of wisdom and of love without which there is neither social peace nor elevation. Christianity, to be born again and become resplendent, must revivify itself at the spring which quenched the thrist of the first Christians. It must free itself from all that is supernatural and miraculous in character, and become once more simple, clear, and rational, without thereby ceasing to be a bond between man, the invisible world and God. Without this bond, there is no strong belief, no high philosophy, no living religion. Religion must throw off its worn-out forms, and take inspiration from modern discoveries, the laws of nature and the promptings of reason. She must familiarise the human mind with that law of destiny which multiplies its existences, placing it alternately in the two worlds, the material and the fluidic, and permits it thus to complete and develop itself, and to earn its own happiness. She must make it understand that a close fellowship unites all the members of the two humanities, that of earth and that of space; those who live in the flesh and those who aspire by a new birth to continue to work for their own progress and that of their neighbours. She must show it, above all, that law of sovereign justice by virtue of which each one reaps, throughout the ages, all that he has sown of good and of evil. These ideas, these laws, properly understood, will form a new basis of education, a principle of betterment, a religious bond between men. For the bond of solidarity which unites them reaches back through the past, extends to the future, and embraces all centuries and unites all worlds. Members of one great family, united throughout their existences in the vast field of their destinies, starting from the same point to arrive at the same heights, all men are brothers and must help each other, support each other on their journey through the ages towards an ideal of wisdom, knowledge, and virtue.
But, you will object, that will no longer be "our" religion. Doubtless, the new spiritualism is not a religion; but it appears in the world holding a torch in its had and its light shines afar and puts life into all religions. Modern Spiritualism is a belief founded on facts, on tangible realities, a belief which develops and progresses with mankind and can unite all beings, elevating them towards a higher and always higher conception of God, of destiny, and of duty. By it each of us will learn to commune with the supreme Author of all things, the Father of all, who is your God and our God, and of whom, since the beginning of time, all the minds that think and the hearts that love, have been in search.
When humanity is delivered from the superstitions and phantoms of the past, then you will see bursting into blossom the germs of love and of good sown by the Divine hand, and you will know the true religion, which raises itself above all differing beliefs, and anathematises none of them.
↑ ³France
↑ 4 See "Après la Mort," by same author, chap. VIII.
↑ 5 "Anti-Christ," by F. Nietsche.
The primary, or infant instruction, is too hasty, and too soon abandoned. It is not completed by the indispensable element of moral teaching. It leaves the child, and consequently, the man, ignorant of the most essential things - the great laws of life.
When, at twelve or fourteen years of age, the child leaves the primary school, furnished with his certificate of study, and is thrown into the great social battle, he is wanting in that solid foundation, and knowledge of truth and of duty, which is the great support, the best weapon in the struggle for existence.
All that has been taught him of the duties of man (not too much at best) has been told him at an age when he coul not appreciate its value. It will most likely fade away, leaving no traces behind.
But, it will be said, if the primary instruction is insufficient, and ill-assimilated, later on, in the higher and classical education, the young man will surely find and ample store of principles, of the ideas essential to him in his pursuit of a high end. Well, this again is an illusion. I quote the opinion of the celebrated writer, Francisque Sarcy, who declared, in one of his articles in the "Petit Journal (March 7, 1894). "From my classical studies, from my passage through the philosophy classes, there has remained with me no precise idea on the destinies of mankind." This reminds us of the well-known remark of a gook judge in such matters: Classical philosophy is but the history of the contradictions of the human mind."
Materialism and positivism reign almost exclusively in the upper political spheres, peopled by intelligences moulded by higher education. The influence of these theories must react on political and social life.
If one goes to the bottom of the subject, one is obliged to admit that lay education is impregnated with scepticism, and inspired by the negative philosophies. Hence weakness as a moral agent.
It is true that we hear much of altruism; but altruism is but an empty word, a baseless theory. It is a seed sown on rocky soil, and destined to perish; for it is not enough to sow, we must also prepare the ground. You cannot move to altruistic sentiments men penetrated by the idea that the struggle for the needs and interests of life is the supreme law of existence, men convinced that all hopes, all generous impulses, are destined to end in nothing.
Materialism, that vigorous and inevitable reaction against dogma and superstition, has penetrated all strata of society. Among cultivated people, it is decorated with the name of Positivism, but the results are the same.
Materialism has had its day of triumph. At one time, its theories over-ruled science. But although strong to destroy, it can build up nothing, therefore, those who answer to its call, sooner or later abandon it.
If materialistic ideas have spread from the highest political regions down to the lowest social depths; in the dominions of science, on the other hand, they have lost very much of their influence. The experiments of modern psychology have shown superabundantly that all is not merely matter or force, as Buchner, Carl Vogt, Jules Soury, and others affirmed; it is proved that life is not a property of the body vanishing with it. 4 After the experiments of Dr Luys, de Baraduc, de Roches, Meyers, Richet, etc., Carl Vogt would no longer dare to say that "the brain secretes thought as the liver secretes bile." The secretions of the human body can be weighed, but who has ever weighed thought? Even the theory of atoms has fallen into discredit. The atom, the essential basis of the universe, the materialists tell us, is now considered by chemists as a pure abstraction. As Berthelot says in his "Origins of Chemistry," page 320: "The ether of the physicists and the atom of the chemists are vanishing, to give place to higher conceptions, which tend to explain everything by the phenomena of movement."
W. Oswald, Professor of Physics at the University of Leipsic, in his article entitled, "The Defeat of Atomism," ("Revue Générale des Sciences" of Nov. 1895), expresses himself in these words, on the subject of atoms and the mechanical theory of the universe, which theory embraces celestial mechanics and the phenomena of organic life: "It is a very imperfect invention. The attempt has not even the value of an auxiliary hypothesis. It is an error pure and simple." Oswald believes, with Newton, that there must exist "higher principles" than those yet known. We see from these opinions of these competent men that the materialists have built up the edifice of science on the most narrow possible bais.
Materialism embraces only one side of truth. Without doubt matter is grand if considered in the majestic unity of its laws. But even if we could know it in its essence, matter is not everything. It represents only the lower aspects of the world and of life.
Materialism bases its conclusions wholly on the testimony of the senses, but our senses are limited and insufficient; often they mislead us. It is not with the physical senses, or with instruments of precision, or retorts, that we discover the higher laws and causes. Reason alone can teach the supreme reason of things.
Materialists hoped to penetrate all the secrets of nature by an attentive study of physical forms. They were like the miner who works his vein underground, and who, at every step, discovers treasures and new riches; as, to give them their due, has indeed been the case of the positive scientists also. But as a miner advances, he loses sight of the light of day, of the splendid dominions of life, to go ever deeper into the regions of night, of silence and of death. It is thus that materialism proceeds. Much as science has done for man, we may yet wonder that she has not given him a real knowledge of himself, or of the laws of his destiny. We feel vaguely that she might have done so if instead of confining herself to the study of matter, she had been willing to explore, sincerely and assiduously, the dominions of life itself. Under pressure of the negative doctrines, science has lost herself in analysis, in fragmentary study of physical nature. But the dust of science is not science, and the dust of truth is not truth. Mankind, weary of metaphysical conceptions and tehological solutions, had turned ist eyes and hopes towards science. It asked the secret of existence, a belief, a new faith, to take the place of that of the crumbling Churches. It asked for the solution of those problems of life which dominate, surround and envelop us in their depths. To these repeated calls, science remained deaf. If, in some cases, a solution was suggested, it was the idea of nothingness. From that came the disappointment and irritation of certain thinkers, and the accusations so freely made; but the accusations must be made excldusively against the materialistic and positive schools. Science, as a whole, when she has thrown off her shackles, will attain her goal by higher and more enlightened conceptions.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
It has always greatly surprised us to find, among the men of liberty who direct the destinies of the Republic, many who think or call themselves, materialists and atheists. How is it that they do not understand that materialism, founded on blind fatality and consecrating the right of might, cannot make free men? The democracy of '89 and '84 had other views. According to materialistic theories, man is but a machine governed by instincts.
Well, for a machine, there can neither be liberty nor responsibility, nor moral laws; for moral law is a law of the spirit. Without moral law, what becomes of the idea of duty? It disappears, and with it all established order. A society can only live and develop by having for a foundation the idea of duty, namely, virtue and justice. These are the sole possible bases for social order. That is why society has never been able to reconcile itself to atheism; for, just as superstition and idolatry lead us to despotism, so atheism and materialism must logically end in the depreciation of the social forces, often in anarchy and nihilism.
With such theories circulating among the masses, materialism has become a real social peril. It has rendered man"s load of misery harder to bear, his outlook on life more; it has diminished human energy, and driven the unhappy to misery and despair.
How can we therefore wonder if marriages become more rare, if infanticides, suicides, and madness multiply rapidly? It is a sign of our times that young people of both sexes, almost children, rush to suicide from the most futile motives. According to statistics, the number of self-inflicted deaths has increased three hundred per cent, during the last fifty years. The crimes committed by quite young men are frequent. The army of vice and of assassination is increasing at a fearful rate.
With the materialistic theories, moral responsibility disappears. Man is not free, we are told by Buchner and his disciples; he is the slave of his surroundings. Crime is explained by avatism and heredity. It is a natural phenomenon, the necessary effect of a cause which is the result of a blind fatality. Therefore, there is neither good nor evil. Thus the gravest faults are excused, consciences are lulled to sleep, and all idea of moral sanction or of justice is ruined. For, truly, if crime is a fatality, if it is involuntary, it is not guilty, or shameful. If passion is irresistible, why try to conquer it? Such views, propagated in all classes, have as a natural consequence the direct excitement of the worst appetites, and the development of sensuality and selfish instincts. In the wealthy classes, many have but one object; to suppress the duties and painful struggles of life, to make of existence a perpetual festival, a kind of intoxication from which the awakening may be terrible.
They deny free-will and the survival of the soul; they deny God, duty, and justice, all the principles on which human society reposes, without taking thought as to what must be the result of these negations.
A literature inspired by this disgust for life has arisen and spread in all directions, a literature which is a menace to all generous impulses and enthusiasms, and carries us straight to the blackest pessimism.
A well-known journalist, Edmond Lepelletier, wrote thus on the subject of the ship-wreck of the Utopia:-
"All the advantages of existence belong to those who are the best armed for triumph in the vital struggle, and the best armed is the most pitiless, the most selfish, the least accessible to sentiments of humanity or even of justice. It is this necessity for struggle, and this inevitable victory by force, in spite of right, of justice, of humanity itself, which secures the vigour of societies and the salvation of civilisations."
"What is good?" 5 asks Frederick Nietsche, "Power. What is bad? Weakness. What is happiness? The feeling that power is growing, that resistance is overcome. Not contentment, but more power, not peace above all, but war, not virtue, but valour. Perish the weak and the failures. And let us help them to disappear. What is more hurtful than any vice? It is pity for the poor and the feeble."
Such is the tone of materialistic writers and philosophers in the public press. Can they really know what responsibilities they incur? Do they dream of the harvest which such seed will produce? Do they not see that in vulgarising such iniquitous and despairing doctrines, they place in the hands of the unhappy the torch of the incendiary and the weapons of death?
Ah! these doctrines may appear inoffensive to the rich and happy, but what application will those who suffer, and with whom fate has dealt hardly, make of them?
The examples of Vaillant and Emile Henry show us.
Vaillant declared before the Jury of the Seine, in January 1894, that it was the reading of materialistic works that suggested to him the idea of his crime.
Emily Henry held forth in the same strain; "Scientific studies initiated me into the forces of nature; I am a materialist and an atheist."
Oh! materialists, with your inexorable laws of atavism and heredity, you have distilled a subtle poison into the name of GOD, you have told them that earthly joys are the only ones, that all appetites are legitimate, and that life is but the shadow of a moment. And the people have believed you!
Woe be to those who have stilled the voice of conscience, and killed the pure and disinterested ideal, and taught the people that all is matter and death the end.
Woe to those who will not admit that every human creature has a right to existence, and to the light, and even more, to spiritual life; to those who have given and example of immorality, of silfishness and of sensuality.
Against this society which offers to man neither protection, consolation, nor moral aid, a furious storm is preparing. It is not withou danger that the human soul is compressed, that the moral evolution of the world is interfered with, that thought is enclosed in the iron circle of scepticism. A day will come when this thought will recoil with violence, and the foundations of society will be shaken by fearful convulsions.
But lift up thy head, oh man, and hope once more. A new ray of light will descend from space and illumine thy path. All that thou hast been taught hithertois incomplete and sterile.
What matters apparent death, if life is immortal, if the being is imperishable in its essence, if death itself is but a phase of its elevation?
We must not only see the material evolution. That is only one side of things. The destruction of organisms, prove nothing. They are but passing structures; the body is but a clothing. The reality is the psychic being, the spirit which animates these material forms. The spirit remains entire beyond the tomb, with all the qualities acquired and merits accumulated, ready for renewed ascencions. It is clothed in that subtle envelope, the fluidic body, from which it is inseparable, which existed before birth, and now exists in each one of us, and will survive us at death. The existence of this subtle body is demonstrated daily by experiments of separation of the double, of the exteriorisation of sensibility, by the apparitions of phantoms of the living during sleep, as well as of those of the dead.
On other points, the materialistic theories are not more happy. They tell us that all that characterises the human mind, aptitudes, faculties, virtues and vices, is explained by the law of heredity and the influence of surroundings. Look about you, you will see that fact gives the lie to those assertions. Yes, the influence of material conditions is poweful, and bows certain spirits under its yoke. But how many others, by will, courage, and perseverance, have raised themselves from the most obscure positions, from the inferior ranks to the heights of genius. How many thinkers, learned men, philosophers, born in poverty, have by their own efforts, attained to the front rank. Is it necessary to name them? Let us remember that Copernicus was the son of a baker; Kepler, whose father was a public-house keeper, was himself a waiter in his youth; Alembert, a foundling, picked up one winter's night on the steps of a church, was brought up by the wife of a glazier; Newton and Laplace were the sons of poor peasants; Humphrey Davy, the servant of a druggist; Franklin, a printer's apprentice. All these, and thousands of others were able to overcome the most unfavourable conditions, triumph over the greatest obstacles, and conquer a lasting reputation.
It is therefore neither birth nor conditions that give talent. An illustrious father may have most commonplace children. Two brothers may resemble each other physically, eat the same food, receive the same education, and have neither the same aptitude nor the same talents.
We clearly see that intelligence, genius, virtue, are therefore not the results of material conditions, but of a power higher than these conditions, and which often dominates and governs them.
The will can sometimes assert itself, and overcome the resistance of the flesh amid the most cruel torutures. Do we not see this in the case of those who have suffered and died for a great cause, all those martyrs who have given their lives for the truth? We see Giordano Bruno, preferring torture to retraction; Campanella, who was subjected seven times to torture, and seven times repeated his bitter satires against the inquisitores; Joan of Arc, who died at the stake; Socrates, who saved philosophy and drank the hemlock rather than deny his doctrine. There were Pierre Ramus, Arnauld de Brescia, John Huss, Jerome of Prague, Savonarolo.
In all these great martyrs, we see the triumph of mind over matter. The body, torn by suffering, complains and groans, but the soul asserts its authority and subdues the revolt of the flesh.
This show us of what immense use is that great faculty, the will, the constant and elightened use of which can raise man so high. Will is the weapon which he must be taught to use, to sharpen without ceasing. Those who by their sophistries try to diminish, or weaken it, commit a fatar error.
Is it not a bitter thought that the two doctrines which are the widest spread among us, Catholicism on the one hand, materialism on the other, both concur to annihilate or at least to dwarf the powers hidden in the human being; reason, will, liberty, the powers by which man can accomplish such great things, and create for himself a marvellous future.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Humanity is swayed between two errors, one which affirms and one which denies; one says to man, "Believe without understanding," and the other cries to him, "Die without hope."
On one side, idolatry, for He is but an idol, this God who desires more and yet more blood spilt in His name; who rears himself as an obstacle between man and science; who combats progress and liberty; a sombre divinity, to worship whom one must first veil the face of the Christ, and trample under foot reason and conscience.
Un the presente day, there is no moral renovation possible except outside of the dogmatism of the Churches. What our society needs is a religious conception in harmony with the universe and with science, and which shall satisfy human reason. A dogmatic restoration would be fruitless. The people would not be deceived by it. Dogma to them is the Church. And the Church by allying herself to all forms of oppression, has become, as has been well said by J. Jaurés: "one of the forms of exploitation of humanity." Its affirmations have today lost all credit with the masses. The people, today, want the truth, the whole truth.
It is true that Christianity contains germs and principles, long obscure and misunderstood, which require only a new impulse to bring them out, as long-buried seed appears at length on the surface, and grows and bears fruit. Christianity, more than any other religion, brought to the world active love for all who suffer, devotion to humanity carried to the extreme of sacrifice, and the idea of fraternity in life and in death, that appeared in history under the image of the Crucified One, the Christ dying for all men. It is this great idea which has been falsified and distorted by the Church and needs a new impetus from without. This will be role of modern spiritualism.
The new revelation, the teachings of spirits, the proofs they give of survival, of the immortality of the soul and of eternal justice, enable us to distinguish that which is living from that which is dead in Christianity. If men of good faith were willing to convince themselves of the power of these teachings and accept their fruits, they would find in them a renewal of exhausted life and dying ideals. This ideal proclaimed by the Invisible is not different from that of the founders of Christianity. It aims always at realising on earth the "reign of God and His justice," at purifying the human soul of its vices and errors, to raise it after its falls, and by giving it a knowledge of the higher laws and its true destinies, to develop in it that spirit of wisdom and of love without which there is neither social peace nor elevation. Christianity, to be born again and become resplendent, must revivify itself at the spring which quenched the thrist of the first Christians. It must free itself from all that is supernatural and miraculous in character, and become once more simple, clear, and rational, without thereby ceasing to be a bond between man, the invisible world and God. Without this bond, there is no strong belief, no high philosophy, no living religion. Religion must throw off its worn-out forms, and take inspiration from modern discoveries, the laws of nature and the promptings of reason. She must familiarise the human mind with that law of destiny which multiplies its existences, placing it alternately in the two worlds, the material and the fluidic, and permits it thus to complete and develop itself, and to earn its own happiness. She must make it understand that a close fellowship unites all the members of the two humanities, that of earth and that of space; those who live in the flesh and those who aspire by a new birth to continue to work for their own progress and that of their neighbours. She must show it, above all, that law of sovereign justice by virtue of which each one reaps, throughout the ages, all that he has sown of good and of evil. These ideas, these laws, properly understood, will form a new basis of education, a principle of betterment, a religious bond between men. For the bond of solidarity which unites them reaches back through the past, extends to the future, and embraces all centuries and unites all worlds. Members of one great family, united throughout their existences in the vast field of their destinies, starting from the same point to arrive at the same heights, all men are brothers and must help each other, support each other on their journey through the ages towards an ideal of wisdom, knowledge, and virtue.
But, you will object, that will no longer be "our" religion. Doubtless, the new spiritualism is not a religion; but it appears in the world holding a torch in its had and its light shines afar and puts life into all religions. Modern Spiritualism is a belief founded on facts, on tangible realities, a belief which develops and progresses with mankind and can unite all beings, elevating them towards a higher and always higher conception of God, of destiny, and of duty. By it each of us will learn to commune with the supreme Author of all things, the Father of all, who is your God and our God, and of whom, since the beginning of time, all the minds that think and the hearts that love, have been in search.
When humanity is delivered from the superstitions and phantoms of the past, then you will see bursting into blossom the germs of love and of good sown by the Divine hand, and you will know the true religion, which raises itself above all differing beliefs, and anathematises none of them.
↑ ³France
↑ 4 See "Après la Mort," by same author, chap. VIII.
↑ 5 "Anti-Christ," by F. Nietsche.
Next: CHAPTER IX - THE NEW REVELATION, SPIRITUALISM AND SCIENCE
| ° SPIRIT
MESSAGES |
SPIRITISTS, YOU HAVE A TREASURE IN YOUR HANDS, SHARE IT!
Let’s first of all analyze the bilical Book of Genesis, starting with Cain’s speech, after being reprehended by the Lord regarding the fratricide committed by him.
For what reason would Cain fear to be killed far from Eden if, aside from himself, only Adam and Eve inhabited Earth? Considering what Cain said, the only possible explanation to support the hypothesis of Adam and Eve being the first couple is to suppose that they had other children and, for an unknown reason, these children had previously moved to distant regions where Cain was heading to. By the way, such hypothesis is used by brethren of other beliefs trying to justify literal interpretations of the Bible. In my point of view, the fact that the Genesis makes no mention about Adam and Eve’s other children makes this argument weak. If those supposed children were pleasant to God or, on the contrary, if they were unpleasant, the reason for them to move far from Eden had to be written in the biblical text, which is definitely not the case.
The lack of acknowledgment of Adam and Eve’s other children in the biblical text could be justified by the fact that they were brothers who begun other races, therefore, not important for the Jewish tradition. However, a carefull reading of the Bible contests this explanation. Even if the tradition had omitted the destiny of Adam and Eve’s other children, it would not put meaningless words into the Lord’s mouth. When Cain showed concern of being killed by “whoever finds” him, proving not to know who he would find in his way, the Lord assured him that he would not be killed by any one “who found him”. Based on Cain’s speech and the Lord’s answer, it is obvious that Cain could find somebody who he was not acquainted with at the distant lands to where he was going. This conclusion discards the hypothesis that this unfamiliar person could be his brother.
Aside from this argument, the text also brings interesting information which adds to that interpretation. It says that Cain built a city to live with his wife and son. If he was to live only with his wife and child, a house would suffice. If Cain built a city, it was because there would have been a lot of people living in that region and, being the most evolved amongst them, he became the leader who organized everyone in a civilized way.
In The Spirit’s Book, we can read:
In accordance with the teaching of the spirits, the perception of time in the spiritual world is different from ours, as incarnated beings. Current archaeological researches confirm that civilization flourished approximately at that time. Therefore, if we understand Adam and Eve as mythical characters, they can truthfully represent the arrival of the first civilizations in our planet.
What we can read in Genesis – The Miracles and the Predictions According to Spiritism, Chapter XI, item 38, which deals with the Adamic race, points to the same conclusion:
Hence, one can observe that Kardec interprets Adam as an allegory, which represents the arrival in our orb of a colony of spirits who came from a more evolved world. They improved upon the construction of cities, the culture of land, the production of metals and the progress in arts and sciences, conquests that, in sum, define what we understand as civilization.
Starting on item 43 of the same chapter of Genesis, Kardec deals with the “Doctrine of the Fallen Angels and the Loss of Paradise”
Kardec’s explanation is clear and it does not require further explanations.
Analyzing the Myth of the Lost Paradise, one can notice that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil has an evident meaning. How would one know what is right or wrong without having moral conscience? The message behind the myth can thus be interpreted as follows:
Those souls that inhabited humans in Eden lived in ingenuousness. By not having moral conscience yet, that is, not being able to distinguish between right and wrong, they were not responsible for their acts, not being, therefore, submitted to expiations. When those souls proved the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, that is, when their conscience achieved moral level and they became spirits, they were banished from the Eden of ingenuousness and they became responsible for their acts, hence submitting themselves to the Law of Causality.
This interpretation of the myth of Adam and Eve is consistent with the Spiritist Codification. As it is mentioned before at Genesis, item 38, one can understand that the colony of spirits represented by the myth would be responsible for the advent of the so called Civilization.
Carlos Torres Pastorino confirms such interpretation in his book The Wisdom of the Gospel and his are the closing remarks of this brief study about Adam and Eve. In his comments about the genealogy of Jesus, as per described at the Gospel of Lucas, the scholar says:
↑ the name "hominal kingdom" in Spiritism refers to an evolution stage where the soul has moral conscience, continuous thinking and well developped reasoning, the stage where humankind presently is. The term "human kingdom" is inadequate because it suggests that only humans as we know (those living on Earth) are in that stage, what is not true since there are inumerous other inhabited worlds where other living beings morphologically different from humans belong to the hominal kingdom too.
Bibliography
Kardec, Allan. Genesis, The Miracles and the Predictions according to Spiritism. 1st Ed. Spiritist Alliance for Books, 2003.
_____, ____. The Spirit’s Book. 6th Ed. FEB, Rio de Janeiro, 1996.
Pastorino, Carlos Torres. A Sabedoria do Evangelho (The Wisdom of the Golspel). Vol. I. Sabedoria, 1967.
The Holy Bible. New International Version®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society.
Back to Content
Spirit communication received by Yvonne Limoges
The Spiritist Society of Florida, U.S.A.
The Spiritist Society of Florida, U.S.A.
Just
as has been said by the superior spirits and Kardec, the gift of
mediumship is for each medium’s own moral betterment first, and
then for helping others. The same applies to the knowledge obtained by
the Spiritist Doctrine, for we are responsible for all the good we
could have done, but did not do.
The time has
come for the knowledge that has been hidden and kept behind closed
doors, to see the light of day! Do not become closed societies.
Spiritists, you each have a moral duty to help others (your families,
friends, acquaintances, etc.) and to share your spiritual knowledge!
God and the superior spirits are with you in helping you to spread “The Good News, the Way, and the Word” as in the times of Jesus. Be not like some of the apostles who denied knowing Him and His Teachings!
As the famous Spiritist from Spain, Miguel Vives said, “Spiritists, you have a treasure in your hands!”
But, it is a treasure to share with your brothers and sisters on this
planet, because that is performing a supreme charity. It is through
this very process that eventually the entire planet will change,
evolve, and transform into one of regeneration.
This does not
mean you bring it up at inappropriate times to make yourself look
ridiculous. There is a time and a place for everything. It is to share
with those, using your commonsense, who you believe would be amenable
to its teachings. You can test the waters, so to speak, by starting
slowly with the basics (belief in a Just and Loving God, belief in a
soul, reincarnation, the existence of a spiritual and material world,
etc.) Besides, many people have had so-called psychic experiences but
are afraid to speak of them. Also, do not allow newcomers to sway you
from Spiritism’s proper practice. Explain the rules clearly and
firmly. You and your spiritual guides are in control. If one has a
fairly thorough knowledge of the Doctrine and is practicing it properly
and sincerely, than you are prepared. You cannot wait for perfection
from yourselves, for you are all imperfect humans!
Those who you
tell about the Doctrine will either accept it (in part or wholly), or
not. Some will listen and think about it, and never be convinced.
Others will have found the answers to the questions they have been
seeking all their life. There will also be those who seek you out.
Either way, when each one of them returns to the spirit world, as we
all do, the knowledge that you gave them, this spiritual gift, will
ease their transition and better prepare them for life in the spirit
world; for the knowledge you gave them will be brought to their
attention upon their return. You will have done them the greatest
charity by helping them to take the first step in their spiritual
transformation, for spiritual knowledge is never forgotten.
Have faith in
God, Spiritists, not in imperfect humanity! You are never alone. The
good spirits help guide lost souls to your Spiritist Groups. There are
no coincidences! Each person who comes will take what he or she needs,
and what they can spiritually digest, according to their level of
comprehension. Some will say they are coming and never show up. Some
come and will never return, some will return occasionally, and some
will be complete converts. Either way, who are we to judge any of them?
Spiritists, your only solemn duty is to practice the Doctrine to the
best of your ability and spread the Word as you are able, whatever
happens afterwards, is between each individual and God.
Jesus preached
to those who would listen and did not worry about what happened to the
spiritual seeds He spread. He Knew that was in God Hand’s and in
the individual’s freewill to accept or reject His teachings, each
according to their understanding. He fulfilled His Sacred Duty and so
started change in the world!
Workers of the
Last Hour, your time is here! Have you spoken of what you believe to
your own individual family? Are you teaching your own children your
Spiritist beliefs? Have you spoken of your beliefs to your relatives,
best friends, and acquaintances? Believe us when we say that the people
who are close to you, are beside you for good reasons. When you have
the chance to profess your belief, do you refrain for fear of ridicule?
You can help many; so do not lose out on wonderful opportunities.
My children, God
is with you, do not doubt it! God wants all His children to have the
spiritual knowledge that will answer their questions as to why they
suffer and why they have so many sorrows. Those who spread spiritual
knowledge with sincerity and pureness of heart have much spiritual
protection, and spirit guides eager for those in their care to learn
from you will second your efforts! They continue teaching what you have
started, when the person’s spirit returns to them during sleep.
In ages past,
there have been individual prophets to bring the Word of God to His
children. Now, with the world at so many levels of spirituality and so
diverse, the Creator depends on each of His Spiritual Workers’
help to do this important work. So Spiritists, with your faith ever so
strong in God Almighty, do your moral duty, and leave the rest in
God’s Very Capable Hands!
Back
to
Content
| ° ARTICLES |
Is the story of Adam and Eve real?
Let’s first of all analyze the bilical Book of Genesis, starting with Cain’s speech, after being reprehended by the Lord regarding the fratricide committed by him.
4,
14. ... and whoever finds me will kill me. 15. ... Then the Lord put a
mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him. 16. Cain ...
lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden. 17. Cain lay with his wife.
She... gave birth to Enoc. Cain was then building a city...
For what reason would Cain fear to be killed far from Eden if, aside from himself, only Adam and Eve inhabited Earth? Considering what Cain said, the only possible explanation to support the hypothesis of Adam and Eve being the first couple is to suppose that they had other children and, for an unknown reason, these children had previously moved to distant regions where Cain was heading to. By the way, such hypothesis is used by brethren of other beliefs trying to justify literal interpretations of the Bible. In my point of view, the fact that the Genesis makes no mention about Adam and Eve’s other children makes this argument weak. If those supposed children were pleasant to God or, on the contrary, if they were unpleasant, the reason for them to move far from Eden had to be written in the biblical text, which is definitely not the case.
The lack of acknowledgment of Adam and Eve’s other children in the biblical text could be justified by the fact that they were brothers who begun other races, therefore, not important for the Jewish tradition. However, a carefull reading of the Bible contests this explanation. Even if the tradition had omitted the destiny of Adam and Eve’s other children, it would not put meaningless words into the Lord’s mouth. When Cain showed concern of being killed by “whoever finds” him, proving not to know who he would find in his way, the Lord assured him that he would not be killed by any one “who found him”. Based on Cain’s speech and the Lord’s answer, it is obvious that Cain could find somebody who he was not acquainted with at the distant lands to where he was going. This conclusion discards the hypothesis that this unfamiliar person could be his brother.
Aside from this argument, the text also brings interesting information which adds to that interpretation. It says that Cain built a city to live with his wife and son. If he was to live only with his wife and child, a house would suffice. If Cain built a city, it was because there would have been a lot of people living in that region and, being the most evolved amongst them, he became the leader who organized everyone in a civilized way.
The Adamic Race and the Advent of Civilization
In The Spirit’s Book, we can read:
50. Did the human race begin with one man only?
“No; he whom you call Adam was neither the first nor the only man who peopled the earth.”
51. Is it possible to know at what period Adam lived?
“About the period which you assign to him; that is to say, about 4000 years before Christ.”
“No; he whom you call Adam was neither the first nor the only man who peopled the earth.”
51. Is it possible to know at what period Adam lived?
“About the period which you assign to him; that is to say, about 4000 years before Christ.”
In accordance with the teaching of the spirits, the perception of time in the spiritual world is different from ours, as incarnated beings. Current archaeological researches confirm that civilization flourished approximately at that time. Therefore, if we understand Adam and Eve as mythical characters, they can truthfully represent the arrival of the first civilizations in our planet.
What we can read in Genesis – The Miracles and the Predictions According to Spiritism, Chapter XI, item 38, which deals with the Adamic race, points to the same conclusion:
“38.
–The Adamic race, according to the teaching of the spirits, is
due to one of these great immigrations, where one of these great
colonies of spirits came from another sphere, which has given birth to
the race symbolized in the person of Adam, and for this reason named
Adamic. When they arrived, the Earth had been peopled from time
immemorial, as America had been when Europeans reached its
shores.”
“The Adamic race, more advanced than those which had preceded it upon the Earth, is indeed the most intelligent. It is that race which has pushed all other races forward. Genesis shows us it from its debut to be industrious, apt in all the arts and sciences, without having passed through an intellectual infancy…”
“The Adamic race, more advanced than those which had preceded it upon the Earth, is indeed the most intelligent. It is that race which has pushed all other races forward. Genesis shows us it from its debut to be industrious, apt in all the arts and sciences, without having passed through an intellectual infancy…”
Hence, one can observe that Kardec interprets Adam as an allegory, which represents the arrival in our orb of a colony of spirits who came from a more evolved world. They improved upon the construction of cities, the culture of land, the production of metals and the progress in arts and sciences, conquests that, in sum, define what we understand as civilization.
Starting on item 43 of the same chapter of Genesis, Kardec deals with the “Doctrine of the Fallen Angels and the Loss of Paradise”
“...At
the time then when a world has reached one of its transformation crises
which mark the stages of its ascent in the hierarchy, changes of a
marked character take place among its incarnated and disincarnated
inhabitants, causing extensive emigrations and immigrations (no. 34 and
35). Those who, notwithstanding their intelligence and knowledge, have
continued in evil their revolt against God and his laws would be
henceforth obstacles in the path of further moral progress, a permanent
source of trouble, disturbing the tranquility and well-being of the
virtuous. For this reason are they sent forth into less advanced worlds
– worlds in which they can utilize their intelligence and the
results of their acquired knowledge in furthering the advancement of
those among whom they are called to live, at the same time expiating in
a series of laborious existences, by hard work, their past faults and
their willful obstinacy.”
Kardec’s explanation is clear and it does not require further explanations.
Analyzing the Myth of the Lost Paradise, one can notice that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil has an evident meaning. How would one know what is right or wrong without having moral conscience? The message behind the myth can thus be interpreted as follows:
Those souls that inhabited humans in Eden lived in ingenuousness. By not having moral conscience yet, that is, not being able to distinguish between right and wrong, they were not responsible for their acts, not being, therefore, submitted to expiations. When those souls proved the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, that is, when their conscience achieved moral level and they became spirits, they were banished from the Eden of ingenuousness and they became responsible for their acts, hence submitting themselves to the Law of Causality.
This interpretation of the myth of Adam and Eve is consistent with the Spiritist Codification. As it is mentioned before at Genesis, item 38, one can understand that the colony of spirits represented by the myth would be responsible for the advent of the so called Civilization.
Carlos Torres Pastorino confirms such interpretation in his book The Wisdom of the Gospel and his are the closing remarks of this brief study about Adam and Eve. In his comments about the genealogy of Jesus, as per described at the Gospel of Lucas, the scholar says:
“Let’s
move on to Lucas. He gives us 76 generations from Adam to Heli. Let us
remind ourselves that the word Adam (from the Hebrew ADAM) simply means
the common noun MAN. It is not a proper noun.
Therefore, Lucas says that, as soon as the creature leaves the animal kingdom for the hominal kingdom, reaching the human phase (adamic), …”
Therefore, Lucas says that, as soon as the creature leaves the animal kingdom for the hominal kingdom, reaching the human phase (adamic), …”
↑ the name "hominal kingdom" in Spiritism refers to an evolution stage where the soul has moral conscience, continuous thinking and well developped reasoning, the stage where humankind presently is. The term "human kingdom" is inadequate because it suggests that only humans as we know (those living on Earth) are in that stage, what is not true since there are inumerous other inhabited worlds where other living beings morphologically different from humans belong to the hominal kingdom too.
Bibliography
Kardec, Allan. Genesis, The Miracles and the Predictions according to Spiritism. 1st Ed. Spiritist Alliance for Books, 2003.
_____, ____. The Spirit’s Book. 6th Ed. FEB, Rio de Janeiro, 1996.
Pastorino, Carlos Torres. A Sabedoria do Evangelho (The Wisdom of the Golspel). Vol. I. Sabedoria, 1967.
The Holy Bible. New International Version®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society.
(This
article was originally published in the Revista Internacional de
Espiritismo - Spiritism International Magazine - October 2004)
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