Charity and its fundamental ingredient

In the interview conceded to Marcel Gonçalves, which constitutes one of the headlines of the present edition, our confrere Hugo Gonçalves, an example of goodness and dedication to the Spiritist Cause, clarifies with notable precision, under the light of the Spiritist Doctrine, what the word charity means and how we should exercise it. 

This word integrates, as we know, one phrase said by Kardec which ended up, with the time, being elevated as the authentic Spiritism watchword: “Outside charity there is no salvation”. 

To the ones who associate the word charity to alms or to a simple beneficence, such a watchword seems to be inappropriate and even absurd. But charity is not limited to that, as its concept is much more ample and goes beyond of giving something to someone. 

In a certain question of The Spirits’ Book, the immortals taught that, according to Jesus’ understanding, charity means benevolence to everyone, indulgence to someone else’s imperfections, the forgiveness of offenses. 

So, the act of helping someone inserts itself in what is called beneficence, which would be one of the features of the exercise of charity, denominated by many as being material charity. 

How should charity be exercised? 

Answering such a question, Hugo Gonçalves says that it should be exercised with love, since that without love, charity is fake and cannot, therefore, be considered. When, to the contrary, there is the exercise of love, charity is pure, true, is, thus, charity itself. 

Combining the words of the confrere to the Spirits’ teachings, we can imply that – if love is indispensable to charity – we can only classify as acts of charity the benevolence when pure, the indulgence when sincere and the forgiveness when unconditional.  

It is precisely with this meaning that we must understand Kardec’s phrase: “Outside charity there is no salvation”.