We continue the methodical study of the Pentateuch Kardec, which focuses on the five major works of the spiritual doctrine, in the order they were first published by Allan Kardec, the Encoder of Spiritualism.
The answers to the questions presented, founded in the 2th edition published by FEB, based on translation of Anna Blackwell, are at the end of the text below.
Questions for discussion
A. There is a period of childhood in other worlds?
B. Spirits enjoyed in the beginning of its formation, the fullness of his powers?
C. It is possible to win a Spirit in one lifetime all degrees of perfection?
D. Can a person in future incarnations fall below the point already made before?
E. Who is earlier: the Spirit of an adult or a child?
Text for reading
106. Even incarnated in another world, the intelligence of the Spirit is never lost. (L.E., 180)
107. Childhood is all part of a necessary transition. (L.E., 183)
108. The worlds are also subject to the law of progress. All began as ours, by a lower state, and the Earth itself will undergo a similar transformation, becoming an earthly paradise, when men do well. (L.E., 185)
109. When it comes to the state of pure spirit and no longer needs the embodiment, the sheath that surrounds the Spirit becomes so ethereal, which for us is like there. (L.E., 186)
110. In its first incarnation, the state of the soul is like the state of childhood in the bodily life, his intelligence just unfolds, and she rehearses for life. (L.E., 190)
111. The souls of our wildlife are in a state of relative infancy, they are already developed souls, endowed with passions. (L.E., 191)
112. Passions are a sign of development, but not of perfection. They are a sign of activity and self-consciousness, while the primitive soul intelligence and life are in a state of germ. (L.E., 191-A)
113. The man, in his new stocks may fall below what he had achieved in their social position, but not as a spirit, because the soul cannot degenerate. (L.E., 193 and 194)
114. The march of the spirits is ever progressive and retrograde. (L.E., 194-A)
115. The spirits are improved by suffering the tribulations of corporeal existence. Material life is thus a kind of sieve or debugger, by which all spirits must pass to reach perfection. This is how we reach in a more or less long time and second their efforts, the target for which they are addressed. (L.E., 196)
116. The Spirit is everything; the body is a garment that just rots. (L.E., 196-A)
117. The life span of the dead child at a young age can be, for his Spirit, the fullness of a life interrupted due before the end, and his death is often a trial or expiation for the parents. (L.E., 199)
118. It is reasonable to consider the earth as a childhood state of innocence, because to see the worst instincts of gifted children at an age where education has not been able to exercise their influence. This perversity early results from the inferiority of his Spirit. (L.E., 199-A)
Answers to questions
A. There is a period of childhood in other worlds?
Yes everywhere childhood is a necessary, but not in all globes, as dull as it is in our world. (The Spirit's Book question 183.)
B. Spirits enjoyed in the beginning of its formation, the fullness of his powers?
No, because that for the Spirit, as for man, there are also childhood. In its origin, the life of the Spirit is just instinctive. He hardly aware of himself and his actions. Intelligence only gradually develops. (Ibid., questions 189, 190, 191 and 191-A.)
C. It is possible to win a Spirit in one lifetime all degrees of perfection?
No, because what man thinks is perfect far from perfect. There are qualities which are unknown and incomprehensible. You may behave as perfect as your earthly nature, but this is not absolute perfection. It is the Spirit which is the case with the child, no matter how early it is, the youth must pass before reaching the age of maturity, and also with the sick that to be healed, must pass for convalescence. Moreover, the Spirit fulfills progress in science and morality. If only came forward in a sense, it is on the other, to reach the top of the scale. (Ibid., 192 questions, 192-A and 194-A.)
D. Can a person in future incarnations fall below the point already made before?
With regard to social position, yes as Spirit, not because it does not degenerate. The march of the spirits is progressive, never backward. They rise gradually descend in the hierarchy and not the category it ascended. In their different body stocks may fall as well as men, not spirits. Thus, the soul of a potentate on earth can later animate the humblest worker and vice versa, because the categories of men are often in inverse ratio to the high moral qualities. King Herod and Jesus, the carpenter. (Ibid., 193 and 194 questions.)
E. Who is earlier: the Spirit of an adult or a child?
It depends. Is that the earliest we've had more and larger sum of experience gained, especially if it has progressed. It is therefore quite possible that the spirit of a child is more advanced than that of his father. (Ibid., 197 questions, 197-A and 198.)
