The Gospel according to Spiritualism (Translated) E-Book

Allan Kardec

• Herausgeber: David De Angelis
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021

Beschreibung

In this book, Allan Kardec deals with a problem of great importance, especially taking into account the past and present relations between the Church and Spiritism. The Gospel according to Spiritism contains the explanation of the moral maxims of Christ, their concordance with Spiritism and their application to different cases of life.

All the communications have been made by very high spirits, and texts due to different authors agree and integrate each other in an admirable way. It is the true interpretation of the life of Christ, his miracles, acts and parables, with an explanation and commentary of high spiritual entities, in a presentation that corrects errors and false interpretations to offer only and above all the truth.

The name of Allan Kardec is famous in the world as the first codifier and therefore, practically, as the founder of the spiritualist doctrine, or rather, as he wanted to define it, of the spiritualist philosophy. It was his merit to have collected and coordinated in several volumes of great interest all the theories and principles enunciated, through various mediums, in numerous spiritist communications. At that time, spiritualism was in its infancy, and Kardec's works shed light on this new world that was opening up to man on Earth.

After The Book of Spirits and The Book of Mediums, which are the foundations of spiritualism, appeared The Gospel according to Spiritism. Famous and spread all over the world, it will fully satisfy the demands and expectations of the numerous devotees and enthusiasts. Since it was written, the work has lost nothing of its topicality and validity, proving that the truth is always the same and its inspiring principles never change.

Leseprobe

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO SPIRITUALISM

Allan Kardec

Translation and 2021 edition by David De Angelis

All rights reserved

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction

1. I have not come to abolish the law

2. My Kingdom is not of this world

3. In my Father's house are many mansions

4. No one will be able to see the Kingdom of God unless he is born again.

5. Blessed are the afflicted

6. Christ the Comforter

7. Blessed are the poor in spirit

8. Blessed are the pure in heart

9. Blessed are those who are meek and peaceful

10. Blessed are the merciful

11. You shall love your neighbor as yourself

12. Love your enemies

13. Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth

14. Honor your father and mother

15. Without charity there is no salvation

16. You cannot serve God and riches

17. Be perfect

18. Many are called, but few are chosen

19. Faith moves mountains

20. The workers of the last hour

21. False Christians and false prophets will arise

22. Let not man divide that which God hath joined together

23. Strange morals

24. Do not put a lamp under a bushel.

25. Seek and ye shall find

26. Freely ye have received, freely give

27. Ask and you shall receive

28. Collection of Spiritist Prayers

a) GENERAL PRAYERS

b) PRAYER FOR HIMSELF

c) PRAYERS FOR OTHERS

d) PRAYERS FOR THOSE WHO ARE NO LONGER ON EARTH

e) PRAYERS FOR THE SICK AND THE OBSESSED - For the sick

Preface

The Spirits of the Lord, who are the virtues of the heavens, like an immense army that moves as soon as it has been ordered to do so, spread over the whole surface of the earth. Like stars descending from heaven, they come to light the way and open the eyes of those who cannot see.

Verily, I say unto you, the time has come when all things must be restored to their true meaning, to dispel the darkness, to confound the proud, and to glorify the righteous.

The great voices of heaven resound like trumpet blasts and the choirs of angels gather. Men, we invite you to the divine concert. Let your hands grasp the zither; let your voices unite and vibrate from one end of the universe to the other in a sacred hymn.

Brothers we love: we are close to you. Love ye also one another, and, doing the will of the Father which is in heaven, say from the bottom of your heart, "Lord! Lord!" and you will be able to enter the kingdom of heaven[1]

THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH

[1. This instruction, transmitted by means of the mediumship, sums up at the same time the true character of Spiritism and the aim of this work; for this reason it is placed here as a preface.

Introduction

1) PURPOSE OF THIS WORK

The matters contained in the Gospels may be divided into five parts: the ordinary acts of Christ's life, the miracles, the predictions, the words which served to the foundation of the dogmas of the Church, and the moral teaching. While the first four parts have been the subject of controversy, the last has always remained incensurable. Unbelief itself bows before this divine code; this is the ground on which all cults can meet, the banner under which all can take refuge, whatever their beliefs, for it has never been the subject of religious dispute. On the other hand, by discussing it, the sects would have condemned themselves by them, for most of them have given more importance to the mystical part than to the moral part, the latter demanding reform of itself. For men, particularly, it is a rule of conduct involving all the circumstances of private and public life, the principle of all social intercourse founded on the strictest justice; it is finally, and above all, the infallible way of happiness to come, a flap of the veil lifted over the future life. And it is this part which constitutes the exclusive object of this work.

The whole world admires the morality of the Gospel; everyone proclaims its sublimity and necessity, but many do so only by relying on what they have heard, or by adhering to some of the maxims that have become proverbial; few know it thoroughly, fewer still are those who understand it and know how to deduce its consequences. The reason for this is largely to be found in the difficulties of reading the Gospel, which is incomprehensible to most people. The allegorical form, the deliberate mysticism of the language, mean that most people read it out of a discharge of conscience and out of duty, just as they read prayers without understanding them, and therefore without fruit. The moral precepts, scattered here and there, confused in the mass of the other tales, slip away without one being aware of them; it thus becomes impossible to grasp the whole and make them the object of special reading and meditation.

It is true that treatises of evangelical morality have been written, but their adaptation into a modern literary style takes away that primitive ingenuity which made them both fascinating and authentic. The same happens with the separate maxims, reduced to their simplest proverbial expression: they become only aphorisms which, because of the elimination of the concomitant facts and circumstances in which they were pronounced, lose much of their value.

To obviate this inconvenience, we have assembled in this work the articles which may constitute, speaking with propriety, a universal code of ethics, without distinction of cult. In the quotations we have retained all that was necessary to follow the development of the thought, pruning only what was extraneous to the subject. Moreover, we have respected the original translation of Sacy [1]

and its division into verses. But instead of adhering to an impossible chronological order, which, moreover, is of no real advantage to our subject, we have methodically grouped and classified the maxims according to their nature, so that they may, as far as possible, be deduced from each other. The reference to the order numbers of the chapters and verses will enable us, if we think it expedient, to have recourse to the common classification.

It was only a material work, which, in itself, would have been of secondary utility; the essential thing was to bring it within the reach of all, by the explanation of the obscure passages, and by the development of all the consequences arising from them, for the purpose of adaptation to the different situations of life. And this is what we have endeavoured to do, with the help of the good spirits who assist us.

Many points in the Gospel, the Bible, and, in general, in the sacred authors, are unintelligible; some of them, lacking the key to their true meaning, appear even to be irrational; and this key is to be found, in its entirety, in Spiritism, as those who have studied it seriously have been able to convince themselves, and as we shall see more clearly hereafter. Spiritism was already present everywhere in antiquity, and in all the ages of mankind; traces of it are to be found everywhere in writings, in beliefs, and in monuments; and this is the reason why, besides opening up new horizons for the future, it throws no less vivid light on the mysteries of the past.

We have added, in addition to each precept, instructions selected from those which spirits have dictated in different countries, and through different mediums. If these instructions had had a single origin, they might have been influenced by a personal bias or by that of their environment; it is the diversity of their origins that proves that spirits offer the same teachings everywhere, and that, in this respect, no one is privileged[2]

This work is made available to all: all can deduce from it

the means of conforming their conduct to the morals of Christ. Spiritists will find in it, moreover, the rules which are of special concern to them. Thanks to the communications now permanently established between the living and the invisible world, the law of the Gospel, taught by spirits themselves to all nations, will no longer be a dead letter; each one will understand it, and will always be urged by the counsels of his spirit-guides to put it constantly into practice. The instructions of the spirits are truly the voices of heaven descending to enlighten men and to invite them to the practice of the Gospel[3]

2. AUTHORITY OF SPIRITUAL DOCTRINE Universal control of the teachings of spirits

If the doctrine of spiritism were a purely human conception, it would have no other guarantee than the intellect of the man who conceived it; no one in this world could reasonably pretend to possess the absolute truth. If the spirits who had revealed it had manifested themselves to a single man, nothing could guarantee its origin; for it would be necessary to take the word of those who asserted that they had received their teaching. Even admitting absolute sincerity on his part, he could at the most convince the people of his milieu; he might have sectarian followers, but he could never succeed in convincing everybody.

As regards mediums, we have refrained from naming them; for the most part, it is at their own request that they have not been named, and it was therefore not convenient to make any exception. Besides, the name of the mediums would not have added any value to the work of spirits; it would, therefore, have been only a satisfaction of self-love, which the really serious mediums do not care for. They realise that, their role being purely passive, the value of their communications depends in no way on their personal merit, and that it would be puerile to take any reason for glory in a work of intelligence to which only a mechanical collaboration has been given.

God has wished the new revelation to reach men by a more rapid and more certain route; that is why He has appointed spirits to carry it from one pole to another, manifesting themselves everywhere, without giving to any one the exclusive privilege of hearing their words. A man may be deceived, may deceive himself: but when millions of persons see and hear the same thing, the same cannot happen; there is a guarantee for each and for all. On the other hand, you can make one man disappear, but you cannot make the masses disappear; you can burn books, but you cannot burn spirits,[4]

Besides, even if all the books were burned, the source of doctrine would not wither away, for the reason that the source is nothing on earth, but springs up everywhere, and all may draw upon it. Even if there were not enough men to spread it, there would always be spirits, who reach everyone, and whom no one can reach.

In reality, therefore, it is the spirits who spread these doctrines, with the aid of the innumerable mediums whom they arouse in every place. If there had been but one interpreter, however favoured he might have been, Spiritism would scarcely have been known; this single interpreter, to whatever class he belonged, would himself have been the object of the prevention of many; not all nations would have accepted him, while the fact that spirits, manifesting themselves everywhere, to all sects and all parties, are accepted by all. Spiritism has no nationality; it is outside of all individual cults; it is not imposed by any class of society; for every one may receive instructions from his relatives and friends in the other world. It was necessary that such should be its condition in order that it might invite all men to brotherhood; if it had not placed itself on neutral ground it would have maintained dissensions, instead of appeasing them.

It is this unity of the teaching of spirits that constitutes the strength of Spiritism, and that is the reason why it has spread so rapidly. While the voice of a single man, even with the aid of the press, would have taken centuries to reach the ears of all, thousands of voices are being heard simultaneously in all parts of the earth, proclaiming the same principles, and communicating them to the most ignorant as well as to the most learned, so that no one may be deprived of them. This is an advantage which has not been enjoyed by any of the doctrines that have hitherto appeared. If, therefore, Spiritism be a truth, it fears neither the ill-will of men, nor moral revolutions, nor the physical upheavals of the globe; for none of these obstacles can reach spirits.

But this is not the only advantage which arises from so exceptional a situation; Spiritism derives from it a most powerful guarantee against the schisms which may be aroused as much by the ambitions of certain spirits as by the contradictions of others. Contradictions which are undoubtedly a stumbling-block, but which carry in themselves the remedy as well as the evil.

It is known that spirits, owing to the differences in their capacities, are far from possessing the whole truth individually; that it is not given to all to penetrate certain mysteries; that their knowledge is proportioned to their purity; that low spirits know no more than men, and less than some men; that there are among them, as among men, presumptuous and false know-it-alls who believe themselves to know what they do not know; that there are systematists who take their ideas for truth; and, finally, that spirits of the highest order, those who have attained to complete dematerialisation, are the only ones who have abandoned terrestrial ideas and prejudices. But it is known that spirits of the highest order, those who have attained to complete dematerialisation, are the only ones who have abandoned terrestrial ideas and prejudices. It follows, therefore, that, as regards all that is beyond the scope of purely moral teaching, the revelations which may be obtained by any one are of an individual character, and lack the seal of authenticity; that they must be regarded as the personal opinions of one spirit or another, and that it would be imprudent to accept and promulgate them as absolute truths.

The first check, undoubtedly, is that of reason, to which all that comes from spirits must be submitted without exception; every theory which is in manifest contradiction to common sense, to rigorous logic, and to the positive data known to man, must be rejected, whatever may be the respectable name under which it is signed. But this control, in many cases, is insufficient, because of the lack of knowledge of some and the tendency of many to consider their personal judgment as the sole arbiter of truth. In such cases, what do men do who know that they cannot have absolute confidence in themselves? They rely on the opinion of the majority and allow themselves to be guided by it. The same thing must be done in regard to the teachings of spirits, who, moreover, themselves furnish us with the means of doing so.

Concordance in the teachings of spirits is, therefore, the surest check, but it is not sufficient, for it must take place under certain conditions. The least valid of all is that which may arise when a medium himself questions several spirits about a doubtful point; it is evident that, if he is under the dominion of an obsession, or if he has to do with a deceiving spirit, the latter may impart to him the same teachings under different names. Nor is any sufficient guarantee to be found in the conformity which may be obtained from the various mediums of a single centre, for they may all be under the same influence.

The only serious guarantee of the teaching of spirits is that which arises from the concordance between the revelations made spontaneously, through a great number of mediums unrelated to each other, and in different countries.

It will be understood that we are not dealing here with communications relating to secondary interests, but with what concerns the very principles of doctrine. Experience proves that when a new principle has to be expressed, it is spontaneously taught at the same time, and in different places, and in the same manner, if not in form at least in substance. If, therefore, a spirit wished to formulate an extravagant system, based on his own ideas, and foreign to the truth, he would be isolated, and would fall before the unanimity of instructions given everywhere else; there have already been many examples of this. It is this unanimity which has brought down all the partial systems which arose at the origin of Spiritism, when each one explained the phenomena in his own way, before the laws governing the relations between the visible and invisible worlds were known.

This is the basis on which we base ourselves when we formulate a principle of doctrine. We do not declare it to be true because it corresponds to our ideas; we do not in any way set ourselves up as supreme arbiters of truth, and we do not say to anyone, "Believe this because we are the ones who tell you so." Our own opinion, in our eyes, is but a personal opinion which may be right or wrong, because we are no more infallible than others. Nor is it because we are taught a principle that it becomes truth for us, but it is only in so far as it has received the sanction of general conformity.

In our own situation, by receiving communications from about a thousand spiritist centres scattered over the most diverse parts of the globe, we are able to see the principles on which this concordance is founded; it is this possibility of observation that has guided us hitherto, and it is this that will guide us in the new fields that Spiritism is called upon to explore. It is thus that, by carefully studying the communications which reach us from different places, both in France and abroad, thanks to the very special nature of the revelations, we recognize that a tendency is manifested to set out on a new road, and that the time has come to take a step forward. Often such revelations, sometimes expressed in ambiguous words, have not been recognized by many of those who have obtained them; many others have believed that they alone possessed them. Taken in isolation they would be of no value to us: it is only their coincidence that constitutes their validity. Then, when the time has come to present them in full light by publicity, every one will remember that he has received instructions in the same direction. This is the general movement which we observe, which we study with the help of our spiritual guides, and which enables us to judge whether it is expedient for us to do a certain thing or to refrain from doing it.

This universal control is a guarantee of the future unity of Spiritism, and it is this which will annul all contradictory theories. It is here that, in the future, the criterion of truth will be sought. The success of the doctrine formulated in the "Book of Spirits" and in the "Book of Mediums" has been due to the fact that everyone has been able to receive directly from spirits the confirmation of what the two books contain. Had the spirits contradicted them in every place, these books would have followed the fate of all purely fantastic conceptions. The support of the press would not have saved them from shipwreck; but, deprived of that support, they have succeeded in making a rapid progress, because they have had the help of spirits whose good-will has rewarded them, and by a great margin, for the bad-will of men. The same will happen to all ideas emanating from spirits or from men who are unable to stand the test of this control, the power of which cannot be disputed by any one.

Suppose that certain spirits were pleased to dictate, in whatever capacity, a book to the contrary; suppose that malevolence, with hostile intentions, and with a view to discredit the doctrine, were also to excite apocryphal communications; what influence could such writings have if they were everywhere contradicted by spirits? Before launching a system in their name, their adherence should be secured. The distance between the system of a single individual and that of all is the distance from unity to infinity. What would be the value of all the arguments of the detractors, about the opinion of the masses, when millions of friendly voices from space, in all corners of the universe, and in the bosom of every family, were resolutely fighting them? In this respect has not experience already confirmed the theory? What has become of all those publications which were supposed to have annihilated Spiritism? Which of them has only succeeded in impeding its progress? The question has never before been considered from this point of view, which is undoubtedly one of the most serious: each one has reckoned with himself, but he has not reckoned with the spirits.

The principle of concordance is also a guarantee against the alterations which Spiritism may undergo as a result of sects wishing to take it over for their own advantage, and to modify it in their own way. Those who would attempt to make it deviate from its providential aim would not succeed, for the simple reason that spirits, by virtue of the universality of their teaching, would make any modification which departed from the truth fall.

From all this derives a basic truth, that whoever wanted to go against the current of established and sanctioned ideas could, yes, create a small local and momentary perturbation, but could never dominate the whole: as much in the present as, and less still, in the future.

It follows, moreover, that instructions given by spirits on points of doctrine not yet clarified cannot become law so long as they remain isolated; such instructions must therefore be accepted only with reservation, and regarded as informative.

It is necessary, therefore, to publish them with the greatest prudence; and, in the case where it is thought necessary to publish them, it is important to present them only as individual opinions, more or less probable, but which, in any case, need confirmation. It is such confirmation that one must wait before presenting a principle as an absolute truth, if one does not wish to be accused of frivolity or of inconsiderate credulity.

The higher spirits proceed in their revelations with a great wisdom; they only deal gradually with the greatest problems of doctrine, according as their intelligence is fitted to understand the truths of a higher order, and circumstances are favourable to the expression of a new idea. That is why they have not said everything from the beginning, and have not yet done so, to-day. They never yield to the impatience of those who are in too great a hurry and who wish to pluck the fruit before it is ripe. It would be superfluous, therefore, to wish to anticipate the time which Providence has assigned to everything; truly serious spirits would then refuse their concurrence. But light spirits, who care little for the truth, are always ready to answer everything, and this is the reason why, in regard to all premature problems, there are always contradictory answers.

The principles hitherto stated do not derive from a personal theory, but are the necessary consequence of the conditions under which spirits manifest themselves. It is only too evident that if a spirit says something on one side, while millions of spirits say the contrary elsewhere, it is not presumable that the truth will be on the side of those who are alone, or nearly so, in supporting their opinion.

To pretend to be right alone against all others would be as illogical on the part of a spirit as it could be on the part of men. Truly wise spirits, if they do not feel themselves sufficiently enlightened in regard to a question, never decide it absolutely; they only claim to treat it from their own point of view, and are the first to advise us to wait for its confirmation.

However great, beautiful, and just an idea may be, it is not possible for it to find agreement with all opinions from the beginning. The conflicts which follow are the inevitable consequence of the movement which arises; they are necessary in order to make the truth shine out more clearly, and it is useful that they should occur from the very beginning, in order that false ideas may be more rapidly discarded. The spiritists who have any apprehensions of this must be fully reassured. All isolated pretensions will necessarily fall before the great and powerful criterion of universal control.

It is not on the opinion of one man that conviction will be created, but on the unanimous voice of spirits; it will not be one man, or any other, who will establish spiritist orthodoxy. Nor will it be one spirit who comes to impose himself upon all. It will be the universality of the spirits who, by the command of God, come to communicate with one another over the whole earth; this is the essential character of spiritist doctrine, this is its force, this is its authority. God has willed that His law should be established on an unshakable basis, and has therefore not made it rest on the frail head of an individual.

In front of this powerful airplane that ignores the camarillae, the jealous rivalries, the sects, the nations, all oppositions, all ambitions, all pretensions to an individual supremacy will be shattered. We would crash out of ourselves if we wanted to substitute our personal ideas for its sovereign decrees. It is only this aeropagus that will direct all questions that create contention, that will silence all dissensions and give right or wrong to those who are entitled to it. In the face of the impotent agreement of all the voices of heaven, what can the opinion of a man or of a spirit possibly do? Less than the drop of water that is lost in the ocean, less than the voice of a child choked by the storm.

Universal opinion, here is the supreme judge, that which decides in the last instance: it is formed of all individual opinions, if one of them is true it has but a relative weight in the balance, if it is false it cannot prevail over all the others. In this immense concert individualities are obliterated, and this is a new checkmate for human pride.

This harmonious whole is already beginning to take shape; it will not be a century before it will shine forth in all its magnificence, and clear up all uncertainties; for, within that time, powerful voices will have received the mission of making themselves heard, in order to unite all men under the same banner, as soon as the field is sufficiently cultivated. In the meantime, he who hesitates between two opposing systems will be able to observe the direction in which the general opinion is being formed, which is a sure indication of the direction in which the majority of spirits pronounce themselves on the various points on which they communicate, and is no less certain as to which of the two systems will prevail.

3. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

In order to understand certain passages of the Gospel it is necessary to know the meaning of many words that are frequently used, and which characterize the state of customs in Jewish society at that time. These are words that no longer have their true meaning for us and are often misinterpreted, thus creating some uncertainty. A full understanding of their meaning will also explain the true value of certain maxims which, at first sight, may seem strange.

SAMARITANS. - After the schism of the ten tribes, Samaria became the capital of the dissident kingdom of Israel. Destroyed and rebuilt several times, it was, under the Romans, the capital of Samaria, one of the four divisions of Palestine. Herod, called the Great, embellished it with sumptuous monuments and, to flatter Augustus, gave it the name Augusta, in Greek Sebaste.

The Samaritans were almost always at war with the kings of Judah; a deep aversion, born with the separation, was perpetuated constantly between the two peoples who avoided any mutual relationship. The Samaritans, in order to exacerbate the schism and not to have to go to Jerusalem for the religious festivals, built their own temple and adopted some reforms. They admitted nothing but the Pentateuch, containing the law of Moses, and rejected all the books that were later annexed to it. Their sacred books were written in very ancient Hebrew characters. According to the orthodox Jews, they were heretics, and consequently anathema and persecuted. The antagonism between the two nations was, therefore, based solely on a difference of religious opinion, although their religion had the same origin: they were the Protestants of those days.

Even today there are Samaritans in some parts of the Levant, especially in Naplosa and Jaffa. They observe the law of Moses more strictly than the other Jews, and do not form ties except among themselves.

NAZZARENI. - This is the name which the ancient law gave to the Jews who took a vow of absolute purity, both for life and for a certain time: they pledged themselves to chastity, abstinence from liquor, and the preservation of their hair. Samson, Samuel and John the Baptist were Nazzarene.

Later the Jews gave this name to the early Christians, alluding to Jesus of Nazareth.

This was also the name of a heretical sect of the first centuries of the Christian era which, like the Ebionites, whose principles it adopted, united the practices of Mosaism with Christian dogmas. This sect disappeared in the fourth century.

PUBBLICANS. - This was the name given in ancient Rome to the contractors of public taxes, who were charged with the collection of taxes and revenues of all kinds, both in Rome itself and in all the other parts of the empire. They had the same duties as the general contractors and tax collectors of the ancient regime in France, and as those which still exist in some countries. The risks which they ran made their eyes shut upon the wealth which they amassed, and which often, and for many of them, was the result of scandalous exactions and profits. The name of publican was later given to all those who handled public money and to their agents and subordinates. Today this name has taken on a very bad meaning and designates unscrupulous financiers and businessmen: it is sometimes said: "Greedy as a publican; rich as a publican", to indicate wealth of dubious origin.

The taxes were what the Jews accepted with the greatest difficulty under Roman rule, and it was these that caused the greatest irritation among them; they gave rise to various rebellions, and became a religious question, because they were considered contrary to the law. A powerful party was formed, which affirmed the principle of rejecting taxes, at the head of which was a certain Judas, called the Galonite. The Jews, therefore, had a true horror of taxation, and consequently of all those who were charged with the collection of taxes; and it followed that they had an aversion to all publicans of all ranks, although among them might be found persons of the highest esteem; these also, on account of their offices, were despised, as were all who frequented them, and were regarded with equal reprobation. Class Jews would have believed that they were compromising themselves by maintaining friendly relations with them.

THE GABLETORS. [5]-These were the receivers of the lowest rank, charged chiefly with the collection of taxes at the entrance of towns. Their functions corresponded somewhat to those of the receivers of the taxes of consumption: they were united in their general reprobation of publicans. This is the reason why the term "publicans" is often found in the Gospel for corrupt people: this qualification did not at all imply ideas of debauchery and moral baseness, but was a derogatory term, synonymous with people not to be frequented, unworthy of the company of good people.

FARISEI. - (From the Hebrew Parasch, division, separation). Tradition formed an important part of Jewish theology; it was formed by successive interpretations of the meaning of the Scriptures, which became dogmas. It was the subject of interminable discussions among the scholars, which often concerned simple differences of word or form, of the kind of theological disputes and subtleties of medieval scholasticism. These disputes gave rise to various sects, each claiming a monopoly of truth, and, as is almost always the case, hating one another.

The most important of these sects was that of the Pharisees, headed by a Jewish doctor born in Babylon, Hiliel, the founder of a famous school which taught that only the Scriptures should be believed. This school dates back to 180 or 200 BC. The Pharisees were persecuted at various times, and particularly under Hyrcanus, sovereign pontiff and king of the Jews, Aristobulus, and Alexander, king of Syria. The latter, however, restored to them their honours and possessions, so that they regained their power, which they retained until the ruin of Jerusalem, in the year 70 of the Christian era, when their names disappeared in consequence of the dispersion of the Jews.

The Pharisees took an active part in religious controversies. They were slavish observers of the outward practices of worship and ceremonies, full of an ardent zeal for proselytism, and enemies of innovators; they displayed a great severity of principle; but under the appearance of a meticulous devotion, they concealed dissolute habits, great pride, and, above all, an excessive love of domination. Religion, to them, was rather a form of career, than the expression of a sincere faith. They had only the outward appearance and ostentation of virtue, but by this they exerted a great influence over the people, in whose eyes they passed for holy men.

They believed, or at least they said they believed, in Providence, in the immortality of the soul, in the eternity of punishment, and in the resurrection of the dead (see Chapter 4, No. 4). Jesus, who loved above all things simplicity and the qualities of the heart, who preferred the life-giving spirit of the law to the death-dealing letter, devoted himself throughout his mission to exposing their hypocrisy, and consequently had them as implacable enemies, which is why they allied themselves with the princes of the priests to incite the people against him and cause him to perish.

SCRIBI. - The name given at first to the secretaries of the king of Judea, and to certain officers of the Jewish army: afterwards this term was especially used to denote the doctors who taught the law of Moses and interpreted it to the people. They made common cause with the Pharisees, whose principles they shared, and whose antipathy to innovators they disliked; so Jesus united them in the same reproof.

SYNAGOGUE. - (From the Greek Synagogue, assembly, congregation). In Judea there was but one temple, that of Jerusalem, in which the great ceremonies of worship were celebrated. The Jews, every year, went there in pilgrimage for the principal feasts, at Easter, at the Dedication, at the Feast of Tabernacles. It was on these occasions that Jesus went there several times. The other cities had no temples but synagogues, buildings in which the Jews gathered on the Sabbath days for public prayers, under the direction of the Elders or Scribes or doctors of the faith. There were also readings from the sacred books, with explanations and comments: everyone could take part, and this is why Jesus, without being a priest, taught in the synagogues on the Sabbath days.

After the ruin of Jerusalem and the dispersion of the Jews, the synagogues, in the cities where they lived, served them as temples for the celebration of worship.

SADDUCEI. - This is a Jewish sect formed about the year 248 B.C., and named after Sadoc, its founder. The Sadducees believed neither in the immortality of the soul, nor in resurrection, nor in angels, good or bad. The Sadducees believed in God, but they hoped for nothing after death; they served him only for the purpose of receiving temporal rewards, for to this, according to them, Providence was limited. Therefore, for them, the mere satisfaction of the senses was the fundamental purpose of life. As for the Scriptures, they held to the text of the ancient law, admitting neither tradition nor any interpretation. They considered the performance of good works and the pure and simple execution of the dictates of the law as superior to the external practices of worship. They were, as we see, the materialists, theists, and sensualists of the time. This sect was few in number, but it numbered among its adherents prominent persons, and became a political party constantly opposed to the Pharisees.

ESSENI. - A Jewish sect founded about the year 150 B.C., in the time of the Maccabees. Its members dwelt in monasteries of a sort, formed among themselves a moral and religious association, distinguished themselves by gentleness of morals and austerity of virtue, taught the love of God and neighbour, the immortality of the soul, and believed in resurrection. They lived in celibacy, condemned servitude and war, shared their goods, and devoted themselves to agriculture. They were opposed to the sensual Sadducees and Pharisees, who were rigid in their outward practices, and in whom virtue was but an appearance, and took no part in the disputes which divided the two sects. Their way of life was similar to that of the first Christians, and the ethical principles they professed have led some to think that Jesus belonged to this sect before the beginning of his public mission. It is certain that he must have been acquainted with it, but nothing proves that he was affiliated with it, and what has been written about it is hypothetical [6]

THERAPEUTS. - (From the Greek therapeutai, from therapeuein, to serve, to cure; i.e., servants of God, or healers). Jewish sectarians contemporary with Christ, established chiefly at Alexandria, Egypt. They had close relations with the Essenes, whose principles they professed; like these, they consecrated themselves to the practice of all virtues. They fed themselves with extreme frugality, were devoted to celibacy, contemplation and solitary life, forming a true religious order. Philo, a Jewish Platonic philosopher from Alexandria, is the first to speak of the Healers and considers them a sect of Judaism. Eusebius, St. Jerome and other Fathers believe that they were Christians. Whether they were Jews or Christians, it remains evident that, like the Essenes, they formed the link between Judaism and Christianity.

4. SOCRATES AND PLATO PRECURSORS OF THE CHRISTIAN IDEA AND SPIRITUALISM

From the fact that Jesus had to know the sect of the Essenes, it would be wrong to conclude that he drew his doctrine from them, and that had he lived in another environment he would have professed other principles. Great ideas never appear suddenly: those that are based on truth are always prepared by precursors who partially open the way. Then, when the time has come, God sends a man with the mission of coordinating and completing the elements scattered by the precursors, and of forming a single system; thus the idea does not appear suddenly, and when it does appear it already finds spirits disposed to accept it. This was the case with the Christian idea, which was presented several centuries before Jesus and the Essenes, and of which Socrates and Plato were the principal precursors.

Socrates, like Christ, wrote nothing, or, at least, left nothing written: like him he died the death of criminals, the victim of fanaticism, for having accused common beliefs and accepted and placed true virtue above hypocrisy and the simulation of external forms: in word, for having fought religious prejudices. How Jesus was accused by the Pharisees of his day (for there are such in all ages) of corrupting youth by proclaiming the dogma of the oneness of God, the immortality of the soul, and the life to come. And again, as we know the doctrine of Jesus only from the writings of his disciples, we know that of Socrates only from the writings of his disciple Plato. We think it useful to summarize here the most fundamental points of the doctrine in order to show its agreement with the principles of Christianity.

To those who would consider this parallel as a profanation and claim that there can be no comparison between the doctrine of a pagan and that of Christ, we shall reply that the doctrine of Socrates was not pagan, since he had the purpose of fighting paganism: that the doctrine of Jesus, more complete and more purified than that of Socrates, can lose nothing in the comparison; that the greatness of the divine mission of Christ could not be diminished by it; and that besides, these are historical facts that cannot be kept saddled. Man has reached a point where the light of the torch shines alone from under the bushel; he is ripe to look at it with open eyes. Woe to those who dare not open their eyes. The time has come to consider things broadly and from above; no longer from the narrow and petty point of view of the interests of sects and castes.

Moreover, these quotations will prove that Socrates and Plato, if they presaged the Christian idea, have also intuited in their doctrine the fundamental principles of Spiritism.

Summary of the doctrines of Socrates and Plato:

Man is an embodied soul. Before his incarnation he already existed united to the primordial types, to the ideas of the true, the good and the beautiful [7] he separates himself from them by incarnating and, because he remembers his past, is more or less tormented by the desire to return to it.

It is not possible to state more clearly the difference and independence of the intelligent and the material principle; there is also the doctrine of the pre-existence of the soul, of the vague intuition which it retains of another world to which it aspires, of its survival in the body, of its abandonment of the spiritual world in order to incarnate itself, and of its return to this world after death; finally there is in germ the doctrine of fallen angels.

The soul becomes lost and disturbed when it makes use of the body to consider some object: it has dizziness as if it were intoxicated, since it applies itself to things which are, by their nature, subject to change, while, when it contemplates its own essence, it goes towards that which is pure, eternal, immortal, and being of the same nature remains united to it as much as it can: then its losses cease, since it is united to the immutable, and this is the state of the soul which is called wisdom.

Thus the man who considers things from below, from the earth, from the material point of view, is deluded: to judge them rightly one must look at them from above, that is, from the spiritual point of view. The true sage must somehow isolate the soul from the body in order to look with the eyes of the spirit. (See Chapter 2, No. 5).

III. So long as we have the body, and the soul is immersed in that corruption, we can never possess the object of our desires: the truth. For the body creates a thousand obstacles for us because of the necessity in which we find ourselves to care for it: moreover it fills us with desires, appetites, fears, a thousand chimeras and a thousand trifles, making it impossible in it to be wise even for a moment. But if, so long as the soul is united to the body, it is impossible to know anything with purity, it is clear that of two things only one can be accomplished: either never to know the truth or to know it only after death. We may hope that then, freed from the folly of the body, we shall converse with equally free men and know from ourselves the essence of things. This is why true philosophers prepare for death, which does not seem to them in any way fearful. (See: Allan Kardec, "Heaven and Hell": part I, Chap. II; part II, Chap.I).

This is the principle of the faculties of the soul obscured by the intrusion of the bodily organs, and of the expansion of these faculties after death. But here it is a question only of the elect souls, already purified: the same does not happen to impure souls.

The impure soul in this state is weighed down and carried away again by the horror of what is invisible and immaterial; it is then said to wander about monuments and tombs, near which dark phantoms have been seen, such as must be the images of souls who have left the body without being entirely pure, and who retain something of their material form, which enables the eye to discern them. They are not the souls of the good but of the bad, obliged to wander about in those places where they continue to serve the penalty of their first life, and where they continue to wander about until the desires, inherent in the material form which they have given themselves, lead them back into a body. Then they certainly resume the same habits which during their first life constituted their preferences.

Not only is the principle of reincarnation clearly stated here, but the state of souls who are still under the dominion of matter is also described, as Spiritism shows it in evocations. It is further stated that reincarnation in a material body is the consequence of the impurity of the soul, and that purified souls are freed from it. Spiritism says the same thing; only it adds that the soul, which, in its erraticity, has made good decisions and possesses acquired knowledge, on being reborn carries with it fewer defects, more virtues, and more intuitive ideas than it had in its former life. Thus each existence marks for it an intellectual and moral progress. ("Heaven and Hell," Part II; examples).

After our death, the "genie" (daimon, demon) that was assigned to us during our lives, leads us to the place where all those who must be led to Hades to be judged gather. The souls, after having stayed in Hades for the necessary time, are brought back to this life for many long periods.

It is the doctrine of Guardian Angels, or Protective Spirits, and of successive reincarnations after more or less long intervals of erraticity.

Demons fill the interval that separates heaven from earth: they constitute the link that unites the Great All to itself. The divinity never enters into direct communication with man, it is thanks to the mediation of the demons that the gods place themselves in relation with him, both when he is awake and in sleep.

The word daimon, from which the word demon is derived, did not in ancient times have the evil sense which it has at present; it did not denote merely malefic beings, but, in a general sense, all spirits, among whom a distinction was made between the higher spirits, called Gods, and the less elevated spirits, the demons proper, who communicated directly with men. Spiritism, too, asserts that spirits populate space, that God communicates with men only through pure spirits who are charged with the transmission of His will, and that these spirits manifest themselves to men in a state of vigilance or in sleep. If the word "demon" be substituted for the word "spirit," we have the Spiritist doctrine; if, on the other hand, the word "angel" be substituted for it, we have the Christian doctrine.

VII. The constant concern of the philosopher (as Socrates and Plato understood him) is to take the utmost care of the soul, not so much for this life, which is but a brief moment, as for the purposes of eternity. If the soul is immortal, is it not wise to live with eternity in mind?

Christianity and Spiritism teach the same thing.

VIII. If the soul is immaterial, it will, after this life, have to go to a world equally invisible and immaterial, just as the body, decomposing, returns to matter. It is very important, however, to distinguish the pure soul, truly immaterial, which is nourished, like God, by science and thought, from the soul which is more or less contaminated by material impurities, which prevent it from rising towards the divine, and detain it in the places of its earthly sojourn.

It is clear that Socrates and Plato perfectly understood the different degrees of dematerialisation of the soul: they insist on the difference of situation which results for it from its greater or lesser purity. What they were saying, Spiritism proves by the numerous examples it presents. ("Heaven and Hell", part II).

If death were the annulment of man, in all things, it would be a great advantage to the wicked, who, after death, would find themselves freed at the same time from body, soul, and vices. He who has adorned his soul with ornaments which are not foreign to it, but which are suitable to it, will be able to await quietly the hour of his departure for the other world.

In other words, it is as if to say that materialism, which proclaims nothingness after death, would be the cancellation of all further moral responsibility, and, in consequence, an incitement to evil; that the wicked have everything to gain from nothingness; that the man who has freed himself from his vices and enriched himself with virtues, is the only one who can safely await his awakening in the next life. Spiritualism shows us, by the examples which it daily places before our eyes, how distressing is to the wicked man the passage from one life to another, and his entrance into the future life. ("Heaven and Hell," Part II, Chapter I).

The body retains the precise traces of the care given it, and of the accidents to which it has been subjected; the same is true of the soul. When it has left the body, it bears the evident traces of its character, its affections, and the impressions which every action of life has left upon it. The greatest misfortune that can befall a man is to go to the other world with a soul laden with crimes. You see, Calliclate, that neither you, nor Polo, nor Gorgia, can prove that we should lead any other life than that which will be useful to us when we are down there. Among many various opinions, the only one that remains unshakable is that it is better to receive an injustice than not to commit it, and that first of all one must strive not to seem a good man, but to be one. (Socrates' colloquy in prison with his disciples) [8]

We find here another fundamental point, now confirmed by experience; the unpurified soul retains the tendencies, the character and the passions which it had on earth. This maxim: it is better to receive an injustice than not to commit it, is it not perfectly Christian? It is the same principle that Jesus expresses in this phrase: "If anyone slaps you, turn the other cheek." (Chapter 12, Nos. 7 and 8).

Of two things, only one is true: either death is total destruction, or it is the passing of a soul to another place [9]

If everything has to end, death will be like one of those rare nights we spend without any dream and without any consciousness of ourselves. But if death is but a change of stay, the passage to a place where all must find themselves, what happiness it will be to meet there those whom we have known! My greatest delight would be to examine closely the inhabitants of this sojourn, and to distinguish there, as here, those who are wise from those who think they are, and are not. But the time has come for us to part; I, to die, you, to live. (Socrates to his judges).

According to Socrates, the men who have lived on earth find themselves and recognize themselves after death. Spiritism makes us see them continue the relations they had in life, so that death is neither an interruption nor a cessation of life, but a transformation without interruption.

If Socrates and Plato had known the teachings which Christ gave five hundred years afterwards, and those which spirits now give, they would not have spoken differently. There is nothing surprising in this fact, if you consider that the great truths are eternal, and that the most advanced spirits must have known them before they came upon the earth to impart them. And when it is borne in mind that Socrates and Plato, and the great philosophers of their day, have been able to be, at a later period, among those who have assisted Christ in His divine mission, and who have been chosen precisely because they were in a position to understand, more than any others, the sublimity of His teachings, and who, at last, may belong to the pleiad of spirits appointed to come and teach men the same truths.

XII. We must never do injustice for injustice, nor harm anyone, whatever the wrong done to us. Few, however, are those who accept this principle, and those who do not agree with it must only despise one another.

Is not this, the very principle of charity, which teaches us not to return evil with evil, and to forgive our enemies?

XIII. A tree is recognized by its fruit. Each action must be judged according to its results; call it evil when it produces evil, call it good when it produces good.

This maxim: "The tree is known by its fruit", is repeated several times in the Gospel.

XIV. Wealth is a great danger. Every man who loves wealth loves neither himself nor what is his, but something even more foreign to him than what is his. (See Chapter 16).

Prayers and the most beautiful sacrifices please the Divinity less than a virtuous soul that strives to resemble it. It would be a serious matter if the gods were to regard our offerings with more favour than our souls; it would become a means by which the guilty could propitiate them. But this is not so: truly righteous and wise are only those who, by their words and actions, fulfil their obligations to gods and men. (See Chapter 10, Nos. 7 and 8).

XVI. I call that vulgar lover, who loves the body more than the soul, a vicious man. Love, which is everywhere in nature, invites us to exercise our intelligence: we recognize it even in the movement of the stars. It is love that embellishes nature with its precious carpets, adorns itself and establishes its dwelling where it finds flowers and perfumes. And it is always love that gives peace to men, calmness to the seas, that silences the winds and extinguishes pain in the are.

The love which must unite men by a brotherly bond is a consequence of this theory of Plato's about universal love as the law of nature. Socrates had said that "love is neither a god nor a mortal, but a great demon," that is, a great Spirit: these words were imputed to him as a crime.

XVII. Virtue cannot be taught: it is a gift of God to those who possess it.

It is in a way the Christian doctrine of grace; but if virtue is a gift of God, it becomes a favor, and one may wonder why it is not granted to all. On the other hand, if it be a gift, he who possesses it has no merit in it. Spiritism, in this respect, is more precise: it affirms that he who possesses virtue has acquired it by the efforts he has made during his successive existences, by being able to divest himself little by little of his imperfections. Grace is the power with which God favours all men of good will, in order to induce them to reject evil and to do good.

XVIII. We all have a natural tendency to feel much less our own faults than those of others.

Says the Gospel, "You see the straw in your neighbor's eye and do not see the beam in yours." (See Chapter 10, Nos. 9 and 10).

XIX. If physicians fail in the cure of most diseases it is that they cure the body but not the soul: if the whole is in a bad state, it is impossible for the part to be well.

Spiritism furnishes the key to the relations which exist between the soul and the body, and shows that a constant relation exists between the one and the other. It thus opens up a new path for science, showing it the true cause of certain affections, and offering it the means of combating them. When science takes into account the action of the spiritual element on the general economy, its cures will fail less often[10]

All men, beginning in childhood, do more evil than good.

These words of Socrates deal with the serious problem of the predominance of evil on earth, an insoluble problem if one is not aware of the plurality of the worlds and of the destiny of the earth, on which only a very small fraction of humanity lives. Only Spiritism gives the solution, which is developed in the following chapters 2, 3 and 5.

XXI. It is wisdom not to believe that you know what you do not know.

These words are addressed to those who criticize what they often know nothing about. Plato completes this thought of Socrates by saying, "Let us endeavor to make them, if it is possible, more discreet in their words; otherwise we care not for them, and occupy ourselves only with seeking the truth. Let us endeavor to instruct ourselves, but without insulting ourselves." This is the way in which spiritists should behave towards their contradictors, whether in good or bad faith. If Plato were to live again, he would find things almost as they were in his time, and could use the same language. Socrates, too, would find people ready to scoff at his belief in spirits, and to treat him as a fool; people who would do the same with his disciple Plato.

It is for having sustained these principles that Socrates was first mocked, then accused of impiety and condemned to drink hemlock: so true is it that the great new truths arouse against them the interests and prejudices on which they go to impact and cannot triumph without struggle and without raising martyrs.

[1] 1) In the Italian translation we have reproduced in its entirety the text of "The Holy Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ", of the "Edizioni Paoline" (6th edition, 580th edition), translated from the original Greek text by Sac. Prof. Fulvio Nardoni, which bears the imprimatur of November 6, 1946. (Editor's note).

[2] 2) We could, of course, have given on each subject a larger number of communications obtained in a great many other cities and spiritist centres than those we have mentioned; but we have had, first of all, to avoid the monotony of useless repetitions, and to limit our choice to those which, from their form and substance, fell more fully within the design of this work, reserving for further publication those which could not find a place here.

[3] 3) It is not necessary to point out here that the Author intends to speak only of precepts of a moral character: as regards other orders of precepts, the doctrine of A. K. is appropriately prudent, and warns spiritists against any instructions from spirits who are not evolved. See in this regard the "Book of Mediums", Part II, chapters 19 and 20, particularly at paragraph 228, and this same introduction at page 21: the "Book of Mediums" is published by Edizioni Mediterranee, Rome, 1972. (Editor's note).

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