The correct interpretation of the Gospel is a major challenge for all sincere students of Christianity. The known limitations of the text make its study an intricate task, despite the fact that the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were read and studied by the Western world for almost two thousand years.

Allan Kardec showed great care and perspicacity in order to avoid that the studies of Jesus' messages in the light of the Spiritist thought suffer from the limitations arising from traditions, which is inherent in the debates in which literality or excessive attachment to dogmas predominate. In “The Gospel According to Spiritism”, especially in the chapters “Moral Estranha” (Strange Moral) and “Nao vim destruir a Lei” (I didn't come to destroy the Law), it is possible to understand Allan Kardec's study strategy to overcome the difficulties intrinsic in this study.

The Codifier, for example, misses the Old Testament, probably because he realized that only the Gospel already held the essence of higher thought and that the bulky and contradictory Old Testament text would not have much to add to what Jesus established. In relation to the Apocalypse, also in vogue nowadays, we also found something similar, that is, it is not a study that was highlighted by Allan Kardec, probably for reasons similar to those that made the Master of Lyon not to prioritize the text of the Old Testament.

Even so, the Spiritist movement did not pass unscathed to the controversies centered on the Gospel and the figure of Jesus of Nazareth properly considered. Mediumistic messages about the Gospel, for example, often mutually divergent, fostered fragmentations of the Spiritist movement due to significantly different interpretations and even doctrinal priorities.

How to study the Gospel?

In our current Spiritist movement, there has been a growing trend of Bible study in a manner very similar to the type of study developed by Catholic priests and Protestant pastors, in which literalness and religious tradition, including the Jewish tradition, have received strong emphasis. Some confreres even mention the spiritual benefactor Emmanuel, as a reference for this type of approach and / or strategy for an evangelical study. However, it would be interesting to note that Emmanuel discusses the verses, in his so-called “message books”, in a very particular way, seeking to deepen nuances of the Spiritist-Christian thought, through philosophical-religious reflections of great moral depth, without becoming attached in no way, to excessive literality or traditions.

The Gospel contemplates actions, experiences, healings and preaching and / or teachings as so. Within the sermons, two types of oral presentations deserve to be highlighted: The aphorisms and the parables, being that among the parables, it is noticed the existence of some simpler, direct and short and others more elaborate and long.

If we analyze the purely textual issue, we realize that in the longer parables, the probability of Jesus' original thinking being partially or totally lost due to possible translation errors, interpolations or adulterations should, in principle, be less. This would occur not only because of the greater number of terms and / or expressions, but also because of the consistency of the narrative line. In fact, a translation, accent or punctuation error, in theory, should have a greater interpretive impact on a catchphrase than on a longer text that represents a narrative.

Anyway, usually, parables have been studied predominantly acting alone. In fact, it is common in the Spiritist movement that a given parable is the subject of a lecture and that the respective exposition is fundamentally focused on the interpretation of this evangelical text specifically.

However, if in addition to this didactic strategy, the joint study of the parables was developed, it is possible that a broader understanding of the Gospel in the light of the Spiritist Doctrine would be achieved. Indeed, if two or more parables were analyzed together, we could have a much greater security to decode the thought of Jesus, that is, we would be more aware of the fundamental concepts that the Master wished to emphasize in his didactic proposals.

In fact, if we select around 12 to 14 of Jesus' most elaborate and long parables, we will be impressed by the corroboration of a significant number of them and the repeated emphasis that the Master of Nazareth emphasized in some fundamental concepts / teachings. It is interesting to realize that such concepts are not always noticed and much less emphasized in Christian preaching, and even in the Spiritist preaching, which is strange if we notice how repeated some proposals are.

The present proposal for a joint study of Jesus' parables would be a kind of study strategy similar to the so-called “Universal Concordance Control of Spirit Education” (CCUEE), or simply “Universality of Spirit Education” (UEE), a method that Allan Kardec used and proposed that we, Spiritists, use to evaluate the credibility of the content of mediumistic messages. Consequently, the present study method could be called “Control of the Concordance of the Teaching of Parables” (Controle da Concordancia do Ensino das Parabolas (CCEP).

Therefore, we would seek to read and understand the Parables, trying to infer the fundamental concepts of each one, aiming to evaluate corroborations with other concepts obtained from other parables (and, eventually, disagreements, which could suggest interpolations or adulterations to which the text may have been submitted to), and, mainly, if there would be a systematic repetition of some of these main concepts at least in some of them.

For this purpose, and only for didactic and preliminary purposes, we will then try to highlight some inferences from each of the selected Parables. Let us see:

1) Parable of the Prodigal Son:

- God is Father and is mercy, which indirectly denotes that eternal Hell does not exist.

- Do not compare yourself with your neighbor, mainly to promote yourself, and do not compete with your brother, especially when it is to devalue him.

- Law of Progress (need for modification for the better, taking advantage of experiences, which is not only expected but stimulated / promoted by Divine Providence).

2) Parable of the Lost Sheep:

- God is Father and is mercy, which indirectly denotes that eternal Hell does not exist.

- It is necessary to assist the needy (which is highlighted in other passages, such as: "Every time you did this to one of these little ones, you did it to me")

- Law of Progress (need for modification for the better, taking advantage of experiences, which is not only expected but stimulated / promoted by Divine Providence).

3) Parable of the Talents:

- Labor Law (need for effort and experience to acquire knowledge and personal growth)

- Law of Cause and Effect (operation of MERIT within the Divine Law, which is evident in the passage “according to his capacity.” See the Gospel passage: “To each according to his works”).

- Need for Courage (this is a virtue that has been little highlighted in preaching, but it would be fundamental for the immortal Spirit to be willing and effectively face the various situations that promote its intellectual-moral development).

- Tie in the reward (the one who received two talents produced two more talents and the one who received five talents produced five more talents, being equally celebrated), which, indirectly, refers to an interpretation generated in the “Parable of the Prodigal Son”, indicated in the following.

- Do not compare yourself with your neighbor, mainly to promote yourself, and do not compete with your brother, especially when it is to devalue him.

4) Parable of the Sower

- Labor Law (good productivity is what differentiates the good soil from more problematic soils)

- Law of Cause and Effect (operation of MERIT within the Divine Law)

- Need for Vigilance (Dangers and precautions necessary to manage free will in physical life - that is, in reincarnation -, which is evident in the description of the stony and thorny soils, which has already shown a predisposition to production, but which do not reach productivity).

- Tie in the reward (the soils that produced 30, 60 and 100 for one were also considered “good soils”).

5) Parable of the Publican and the Pharisee

- God is Father and is mercy, which indirectly denotes that eternal Hell does not exist.

- Importance of Faith in God, awareness of immortality and effectiveness of prayer.

- Do not compare yourself with your neighbor, mainly to promote yourself, and do not compete with your brother, especially when it is to devalue him (see the evangelical passage of “the speck and the plan”).

- Law of Progress (need for self-knowledge, aiming at self-improvement - see “the speck and the plan”).

6) Parable of the Wheat and Tares

- Time as an important divine gift / opportunity (it would be a divine “talent”, using the “Parable of Talents” as a reference).

- Law of Progress (progress requires time and, usually, the evolution of uses and customs may not be the most appropriate in some sectors of human experience. However, this type of limitation is natural and must be understood within this educational process).

- Highlight for the need for the coexistence of Spirits with differentiated evolution, as an educational process for both groups (the most evolved are examples / references for the least evolved and the least advanced are tests of patience, dedication and lucidity for the most suitable).

7) Parable of the Good Samaritan

- Need for solidarity through material charity.

- Importance of eliminating prejudices

- Partnership in the execution of the good (need to learn to work in a team, that is, to help those who help)

- Need for compassion.

8) Parable of the Unforgiving Lender

- God is Father and is mercy, which indirectly denotes that eternal Hell does not exist.

- Eternal Hell does not exist (the indebted one would be tied UNTIL paying the debt, denoting that there would always be the possibility of payment, that is, the debt settlement)

- Need for forgiveness.

- Need for Gratitude.

- Do not compare yourself with your neighbor, mainly to promote yourself, and do not compete with your brother, especially when it is to devalue him.

- Need for self-criticism (see the passage of the “speck and the plan”and the “Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector”).

9) Parable of the Rich and Lazarus

- Need for solidarity through material charity.

- Existence of the Spiritual World.

- Existence of vibratory barriers in the spiritual world.

- Permanence of family values ​​in the spiritual world (concern for loved ones).

- Mediumship as a source of information about the spiritual world.

- Religious traditions as a source of spiritual knowledge and a generator of spiritual responsibility.

- Discussion of the little educational effectiveness of the isolated mediumistic phenomenon, without a philosophical-religious analysis of that respective phenomenon.

10) Parable of the Last Minute Workers

- Need for a better use of available time.

- Do not compare yourself with your neighbor, mainly to promote yourself, and do not compete with your brother, especially when it is to devalue him.

- Interesting discussion about the comparison of kindness versus the set of good deeds (the one who has a larger number of kind actions will not necessarily be the most kind, although one cannot be kind without doing kindness).

11) Parable of the Unjust Steward

- Need to generate a “chain of sympathy” (concept discussed by Emmanuel and Andre Luiz. A slight correlation could be made between the “chain of sympathy” and the so-called “intersection”).

- Law of Progress (If we cannot fully take advantage of evolutionary opportunities, partial use is already a reasonable achievement).

12 and 13) Parable of the Inconvenient Friend / Parable of the Wicked Judge

- The intrinsic and unique value of the good practiced, even if that good is done in a very imperfect way.

It is interesting to note how some teachings are shown and reaffirmed in several Parables, such as God as a merciful Father and the need for personal improvement, characterizing the Law of Progress. It is also possible to notice that Jesus harshly rejects the comparisons / disputes in which we place ourselves in relation to our brothers in order to highlight our qualities. On the other hand, Jesus recommends an active action of solidarity, with emphasis on material charity, as well as a permanent Spirit of compassion, not only as a feeling, but also as an effective action. It is possible to notice that Jesus kind of equates the rewards for productivity in the good, allowing to infer that the Law of God notes the context of difficulty or ease in which a certain production in the good was made as well as the evolutionary level in which the Spirit was at the beginning of this task at good. It is possible to notice this sense of proportion of the production in the well expected by the Greater Spirituality in relation to the level of prior preparation of the Spirit who developed the respective task, which indirectly suggests the Law of Progress.

There is a subject that is of great importance in some Parables that would be taking advantage of the different evolutionary opportunities, such as material resources and time itself, and the intrinsic value of the good practiced, even by a Spirit that clearly still has moral deficiencies.

A theme such as the functioning of the spiritual world can be inferred in the “Parable of the Rich and Lazarus”, but it is not an issue repeated in several texts, at least, in a more direct way.

The present study strategy could be expanded further, encompassing other parables and Christ's own aphorisms. We believe that this type of approach would be a safer alternative doctrinally and would follow, in a more coherent way, the way of studying of our Codifier, Allan Kardec.