The Revue
Spirite of
1862
Part 1
We begin in this issue the study of the Revue Spirite
corresponding to the year of 1862. The condensed
text of the mentioned volume will hereby be presented in
sixteen parts, based on the translation of Julio Abreu
Filho and published by EDICEL.
Issues for discussion
A. Who are the Angels?
B. What insoluble problems arise from the belief that
the soul is created at the moment the body is formed?
C. Do Spirits use respectable names to deceive us?
Text for reading
1. Kardec opens the January 1862 edition with an essay
on the doctrine of fallen Angels, stating that according
to the Spiritist Doctrine and also according to many
theologians, Angels are not privileged creatures, exempt
from work imposed upon others, but Spirits who became
almost perfect by their own efforts and merits. (Pages 1
and 2)
2. If we do not accept reincarnation, then we will have
to accept that the soul is created at the moment the
body is formed, but based on this belief several
problems with no solution arise, such as how to explain
different aptitudes and instincts, the fate of the
children killed in the tender age, the existence of
people who are mentally retarded. All this is naturally
explained, if we accept that the soul has lived before
and that, in incarnating, it brings with it what it
previously acquired. (P.3)
3. The idea of rebellious Angels, fallen Angels and
the lost paradise is found in almost all religions and
in the tradition of almost all peoples. It must,
therefore, be based on some truth. Well, the Spirits
who, by misusing their incarnations, are expelled from
the Earth and sent to lower worlds, what are they there
but fallen Angels? (Editor’s Note: This is what happened
in our world with the so-called Adamic race, as seen in
Chapter XI of The Genesis, by Allan Kardec). (P.
7)
4. A fact seems to support the theory which attributes a
pre-existence to the early inhabitants of the race
symbolized in the figure of Adam: their intellectual
development, far superior to that of the present savage
races, and their aptitude for very advanced works of
art. (Editor’s Note: Let us remember that Cain built a
city in honor of his son).
(P. 8)
5. The Spirits cast out of a planet, once settled in the
world of exile, do not suddenly free themselves of their
pride and low instincts that caused them to be expelled,
and for a long time maintain the tendencies of their
origin, a remnant of the old leaven. The same must have
happened to Spirits of the Adamic race, exiled on Earth.
Now, cannot we not clearly see here the original sin?
(P. 10)
6. Stating that the amount of Spiritist messages
received did not allow them to be included in the
Revue Spirite, Kardec lists and analyzes the various
systems that could be used in its dissemination: 1st
- Local periodicals; 2nd – Local publications
non-periodical; 3rd - Individual publications
of the mediums. (Pages 12 to 14)
7. Following, the Encoder informs that the drawbacks
noted therein in the described systems would be
completely bypassed by the central and collective
publication which the Messrs. Didier & Cie. would
undertake under the title of "Library of the Invisible
World", which would contain a series of volumes to be
sold separately. (Pages 14 and 15)
8. Not for personal profit with such publications,
Kardec says that, in his case, the intention was to
apply the rights that would favor him into the free
distribution of his works to the people who cannot
acquire them. (P. 15)
9. Discussing the control of the Spiritist teaching, the
Encoder reminds us that proud Spirits can at times avail
themselves of respected names to preach their utopias.
How, then, can we control the authenticity of true
Spiritist communications, since signatures are not
always a guarantee? (Pages 15 and 16)
10. In case of a discrepancy, he says, the best
criterion is the concordance of the teachings given by
different Spirits and transmitted by different mediums
and strangers to one another. If there is a means of
arriving at the truth it is certainly by the agreement
as well as by the rationality of communications. This is
what contributed to the credit of the Doctrine set forth
in The Book of Spirits. (P. 16)
11. In view of the above criteria, the Spiritist Society
of Paris decided to submit to the groups, which keep
contact with them, the controversial issues. Here are
the first: 1st - What system regarding the
origin and formation of the Earth is true? Is it the one
of the gradual condensation of cosmic matter? Or is it
the one about the inlaying of four satellites of an old
planet that disappeared? 2nd - Is there the
soul of the Earth? 3rd - Where is the place
where the human soul can be found? 4th - Is
the Milky Way the home of the Higher Spirits? 5th
- Is it true that no human Spirit can communicate with
men, only God? 6th - What to think of the
theory of rebellious Angels, fallen Angels and of the
lost paradise, exposed by Kardec in the Revue?
(Pages 17 to 20) (Continues on next issue).
Answers to the issues
A. Who are the Angels?
Kardec says that - according to the Spiritist Doctrine
and according to many theologians - Angels are not
beings of a privileged creation, exempt from work
imposed on others, but Spirits come to perfection by
their own efforts and merits. (Revue Spirite of
1862, pages 1 and 2).
B. What insoluble problems arise from the belief that
the soul is created at the moment the body is formed?
There are several such problems: the diversity of
abilities and instincts, the fate of the children who
died at an early age, the existence of persons who are
mentally retarded, facts that are naturally explained if
we admit that the soul has lived before and that, by
embodying, it brings with it what it acquired earlier.
(Ibid, p.3).
C. Do Spirits use respectable names to deceive us?
Yes. The Encoder of Spiritism says that proud Spirits
can at times use respected names to preach their
utopias. How, then, can we control the authenticity of
true Spiritist communications? The best criterion - says
Kardec - is the conformity of the teachings given by
different Spirits and transmitted by diverse mediums who
do not know each other. If there is a means of arriving
at the truth it is certainly by agreement as well as by
the rationality of communications. (Ibid, pages 15 and
16).