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: 1^st - Local periodicals; 2^nd – Local publications non-periodical; 3^rd - 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: 1^st - 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? 2^nd - Is there the soul of the Earth? 3^rd - Where is the place where the human soul can be found? 4^th - Is the Milky Way the home of the Higher Spirits? 5^th - Is it true that no human Spirit can communicate with men, only God? 6^th - 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).