The Gospel at Home
and its fruits

 
The commitment of Spiritism to the Gospel divulgation occurred as soon as the codification took place with Allan Kardec, who published The Gospel according to Spiritism in 1864, work considered by Herculano Pires as a bedside book, a daily mandatory reading, required for doctrinal meeting preparations, and also a book to be studied profoundly in order to understand the Spiritist Doctrine better.

In the preface he wrote for the edition of that book in 1973, published by Editora Três, Herculano said that a few months before the work has been published, Kardec’s friend spirits told him regarding the book: “This doctrinal book will have a significant influence because it explains questions of fundamental interest”. Not only the religious world will find the maxims it needs, but the nations will absorb great instructions in their daily lives.” And added: “With this work, the building starts to break free of the scaffoldings and we can already see the dome arising on the horizon”.

Herculano, with his peculiar clarity, added the following comment: “This communication, whose entire text can be read in Posthumous Work, revel to us the fundamental importance of The Gospel according to Spiritism in the Kardecist codification. While The Spirits’ Book presents the Spiritist Philosophy and The Medium’s Book covers the Spiritist Science, The Gospel offers the Spiritist Religion’s base and route (The Gospel according to Spiritism, Editora Três, pages 29 and 30).

Kardec presents the work in the first part of the introduction, which he wrote specially for the occasion. The Codifier said: “This work is for use of everyone. From it we may all discover the means by which we may apply Christ’s moral teachings to our daily lives and how best to go about it. This applies very specially to Spiritists.” And also: “The relationship between man and the invisible world has henceforth been established on a permanent basis. Thus, the law of the Gospel, which Spirits have taught to all nations, will no longer be a matter of dead words, because each person will be able to understand them. They will see themselves incessantly compelled to put them into practice according to the counseling of the Spiritual guides. These instructions coming from the Spirit are really the voices from Heaven that have come to enlighten mankind and invite him to put the Gospel into practice. (Introduction, part I). 

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Once in a while, the Spiritist Movement encourages, by specific campaigns, the practice of the Gospel at Home whose importance is recognized by many people in the Spiritist circle.

Indeed, many are the messages sent by the spiritual instructors informing us of how relevant this practice is. The prayer, the reading of the Gospel and the mature reflection about Jesus teachings, modifies the mental atmosphere in which we are immersed and attracts positive inspirations from our spiritual friends. Therefore, the moral improvement, considering our development delay, is significantly facilitated. Hates, antagonisms, divergences are gradually replaced with a better understanding of what life is and which our aims in this world are.

If such providence is generalized, it is possible to imagine the benefits provided, since the evangelization of the human creature concurs to the families’ harmony and, consequently, to the society’s fraternity.