The Revue Spirite of 1861

Part 3

We continue in this issue the study of the Revue Spirite of 1861, a monthly newspaper focused on the divulgation of Spiritism, founded and directed by Allan Kardec. This study is based on the translation into the Portuguese language made by Julio Abreu Filho and published by EDICEL. The answers to the proposed issues are at the end of the text for reading.

Issues for discussion

A. How did Kardec understand the issue belief?

B. What is the mission of the Christian evangelical morality?

C. Regarding social issues, what is the role of faith?

Text for reading

37. Kardec declares: "Materialism states: There is nothing outside matter. Spiritualism says: There is something, but it does not prove it. Spiritism says: There is something, and proves it. And, aided by its lever, it explains what until now was not explained. This is what causes Spiritism to redirect so many unbelievers back to Spiritualism". (Page 76)

38. In the Spiritist Society of Paris, on November 30, 1860, Andre Chenier (Spirit) wrote: "Do not be anxious about what the world can write against Spiritism. It is not you that the unbelievers attack, but it is God Himself. But God is more powerful than they are. "St. Louis had previously said that such articles only harm those who write them; they do no harm to Spiritism, which they help to spread. (Pages 78 and 79)

39. In a letter to Mr. Deschanel, Kardec tells him that belief is obtained only through serious studies, carried out with no prevention, with no preconceived ideas and through numerous observations, made with patience and perseverance. (Page 80)

40. Contesting that Spiritism is a materialist doctrine, Kardec tells Mr. Deschanel that Spiritism has - as its essential basis - the existence of God, of the soul, its immortality, its future penalties and rewards. (Page 81)

41. Kardec comments on a letter from Dr. Riboli, who examined Garibaldi’s brain from the phrenological point of view. (Page 81)

42. In his study, Kardec says that Gall’s disciples form two schools: that of the materialists and that of the spiritualists. The former attribute the faculties to the organs, which is contested by the spiritualists. (Pages 82 and 83)

43. Explaining the case of the assassination of Mr. Poinsot, Saint Louis says that the Spirits have the mission to teach us to follow a life of goodness, and not to make our path smooth. Not to understand this is to be exposed to serious misunderstandings. (Pages 84 and 85)

44. The Revue brings a message from Mrs. Bertrand, who died in 1861 and was evoked eight days later. "I saw my body taken away, but I soon turned away", said his Spirit. "Spiritism dematerializes by anticipation and makes the passage from the terrestrial world to the spiritual world faster" (Pages 87 and 88)

45. The Spirit of Miss. Pauline M ... said that she felt a disturbance at the moment of death; she thought she was not dead, and it lasted for six weeks. (Page 91)

46. ​​In Mulhouse, a Spirit wrote: "Christ was Who began one of the purest and most sublime moral: the Christian evangelical morality, which is to renew the world, to reconnect men and make them all brothers; the morality that should make charity and love of the neighbor overflow from our hearts; which must create a common solidarity among all men; the morality that must change the Earth and make it an abode for Higher Spirits..." (Page 96)

47. Then the Spirit explained: "God is one and only, and Moses is the Spirit that God sent on a mission to make Himself known not only to the Hebrews, but also to pagan peoples". (Page 97)

48. Affirming that the Commandments given by Moses bring the germ of the purest Christian morality, the Spirit concluded: "It was Moses who opened the way; Jesus continued the work; Spiritism will end it". (Page 97)

49. Mentioning the social question, one Spirit said in Warsaw that the systems that rest only in material interests are unstable. They need to be based on personal detachment, but for this it is necessary to have faith. "Without faith - which gives the certainty of the compensations of the future life – detachment is a fake in the eyes of the selfish." (Page 99)

50. The same Spirit also said, "The harmony of the material world is the beautiful". And it remarked: "The harmony of the spiritual world is love, divine emanation that fills the spaces and leads the creature to its Creator". (Page 100)

51. The Revue copies the message of Adolphe, bishop of Alger, who talks about the mission of those who leave their homeland and family to evangelize ignorant and ferocious tribes. This he calls Spiritism and adds: "Do not fear this word. Above all, do not laugh, because it is the symbol of the Universal Law, which governs the living beings of Creation". (Pages 100 and 101)

52. Speaking about ingratitude, Socrates teaches: "Know that if the one you favor forgets the benefit, God will give you more consideration than if you had already been rewarded by the gratitude of the one you favored." (Page 103)

53. The Revue publishes the opinion of Louis Jourdan on "The Book of Spirits," in which the writer says that, considering all answers of the Book of Spirits, they constitute a Doctrine, a morality, perhaps a religion. (Page 109)

54. Next, Kardec comments on the French writer's opinion. (Pages 113 to 116) (Continued on next issue.)

Answers to the proposed issues

A. How did Kardec understand the issue belief?

Kardec said that belief is only obtained through serious studies, carried out with no prevention, no preconceived ideas and through numerous observations, made with patience and perseverance. Belief, therefore, is neither transferred nor taught: belief is acquired. (Revue Spirite, 1861, page 80).

B. What is the mission of the Christian evangelical morality?

According to a message conveyed at Mulhouse, Christian evangelical morality must renew the world, bring men closer together and make them all brothers, making the Earth an abode for Higher Spirits. (Revue Spirite, 1861, page 96).

C. Regarding social issues, what is the role of faith?

In a message transmitted in Warsaw, a Spirit said that systems resting solely on material interests are unstable. They need to be based on personal detachment, but for this it is necessary to have faith. Without faith, which gives the certainty of the compensations of the future life, detachment is false. The role of faith is therefore essential to the stability of systems that aim to solve social issues. (Revue Spirite, 1861, pages 99 and 100).