When we analyze Kardec’s personality, and try to learn his culture, deeply identified with the Gospel, we should not only aim at praising his memory. We must see him as someone who came to fulfill a promise of Jesus. We should assess his spiritual stature, not only for our own amazement, but in order to be conscious of our condition of beneficiaries of his work, this huge collection of clarifications which definitely marked a new step in human evolution.

We must think of Kardec in his day and age, in order to evaluate his timely progress at that point in time, in relation to the dominant thinking of that era. We would need to be able to travel though time, in order to really feel the mood of that era, with its customs and, mainly, its limitations. Only then we would be able to fairly observe the improvement of Kardec’s thinking as opposed to the one of his contemporaries, even to some of the modern thinkers in the social, political and religious areas today.

The Church, fresh out of the Inquisition in Portugal and by decree of the Regency in 1821, still held a lot of power. In the so-called catholic countries, there was no separation between Church and State. To have an idea of this power, remember that on the 9^th of October of 1861, in Spain, 300 spiritualistic works, legally imported from France during Barcelona’s act of faith were burned in a public square.

In 1864, the encyclical Quanta Cura condemned religious tolerance. And this effort to retain power was not restricted to the 19^th century, as in 1906 two of the Pope Pio X’s encyclicals, the Vehements nos and the Gravissimi Offici, condemned the separation of Church and State.

In Spain, in 1931, there was a secularization of civilian power, with the limitation of the powers of the Church. Unfortunately, in 1953, during Franco’s dictatorship, and in accordance with the Holy See, Catholicism was again declared the only religion of the Spanish nation. In Portugal, during Salazar’s dictatorship, in broad 20^th Century, the Portuguese Spiritualistic Federation was shut down and all its assets confiscated. In France, the mood was different, but not much. One should look at the prosecutions and attacks suffered by Kardec. 

The gap between religion and science became
increasingly wider 

However, despite the strong dominating pressure of the Church towards keeping their version of Catholicism throughout the 19^th Century, in some parts of Europe there was a slightly rebellious liberation from religious preaching, by many intellectuals who could no longer be convinced. The gap between Church and Science was becoming increasingly wider, breeding disillusions that led many clear thinking Spirits to take positions eminently materialistic, thus creating the environment for the dawn of Positivism, a doctrine that aims at overcoming the metaphysical and theological states and denied everything that was not physically measurable, and preparing the ground for the materialism of the 20^thCentury.

In the social area, the religious message only served to legitimize the selfishness undergone by the powerful, without any effort to soften the inhuman and dreadful situation of the working class, noticeably blue collar workers. It was then, that Karl Marx coined the phrase: “Religion is the opium of the people”. And it truly was, for it was easy to notice the huge gap between the simple, fraternal, loving and active message of Jesus and what was being offered as Christianity by a Church fully committed to the powers of that time.

Kardec does not bow down to the Church, and neither adheres to the destructive and dry materialism, like so many intellectuals of his time. His missionary vision allows him to disagree with what the Church offered as the truth and enables for a different religious proposition, to be experienced principally outside the temples. A religion to be experienced in a free environment, of reason and feeling, according to the teachings and examples of Jesus.

In the face of Kardec’s performance, it’d be hard to fit him into any areas of human knowledge. He reveals himself as a theologian when conversing with Superior Spirits about Jesus, showing independence and superiority of thinking in relation to his contemporaries, when he formulates the question: “What is God?” That being said in a time when great thinkers were attached to the idea of a human-like God, with human limitations, as far as form and attributes area concerned.   

Reincarnation, rejected until then, deserved
a clear and undeniable analysis 

The Encoder shows that his vision of God is of a cosmic one, and it is in perfect alignment with advances in Astronomy which, moving far ahead from religions, already showed those who had “eyes to see” that the known Universe was far greater than the God they were taught to believe.

However, his scientific conception of the cosmic greatness of God did not stop him from rescuing the figure of a fair, providing, loving and endlessly merciful Father, according to the teachings of Jesus, directly opposing this ominous creation of theologians: a Hell of endless punishment, within the Christian context. In this field, the Encoder also shows his condition of educator and scholar of penal studies, when with impeccable lucidity he investigates matters such as Heaven, Purgatory and Hell, mainly in his book “Heaven and Hell”. Nonetheless, it was clear that if the gates of hell were open, the gates of heaven would not open up by attending religious functions or one’s post-mortem legacy, but through the individual, conscious and not transferable effort of each Spirit, as Jesus adjudged: “… If someone wants to come after me, renounce yourself, take up on your own cross and follow me.” Reincarnation, which was then ridiculed and rejected, deserved a more throughout, deep and undeniable analysis, on the premise that the future, in which we live today, will bring victory to this concept that hasn’t yet been disputed. On the contrary, as time goes by, more academic works are being written to prove it.

It clearly shows the immortality of the soul, not only as a matter of faith, anchored on dogmas, but on scientific experimentation, through the rescue of the exercise of mediumship, a practice that was subject of studies in the academic area, first under the name of Metapsychics, and much later Parapsychology.

He revealed himself as a truly Christian sociologist when dialoguing with the Spirits about social issues, putting in evidence matters that would only be discussed by other religions decades later.

Labor, deemed as punishment by religion, is shown as ennobling opportunity to collaborate with God’s work. For the first time the relationship between capital and labor is dealt with within the religious realm, with severe warnings to those who, by abusing their power, impose excessive workloads to their so-called inferiors, for it was common throughout Europe at that time when working days exceeded 12 hours.

Kardec introduced concepts of religious
morals in an eminently social field 

For the first time in history, someone creates a favorable environment for the Superior Spirits to warn mankind, in the name of God, about the responsibility in the use of power: “All whom has the power of command is responsible for the excess of workload imposed to his subordinates, for doing so he violates God’s law.” Whilst most voices in religion remained silent, Kardec inquires the Spirits about the right that workers had to rest after spending their youth working: “What should the elder who needs to work to survive do?” The answer, which should be used as inspiration for many religious and sociological discourses, is: “The strong must work for the weak. If he lacks a family, society should play this role. This is the law of charity.” Only 31 years after the definitive issue of the “Book of Spirits”, the Encyclical Rerum Novarum, in 1891, the Catholic Church awakens for the issue.

Regarding slavery, still existing in Brazil, the United States and in Cuba, the religious powers remained silent and were kept from raising the flag of abolitionism for being committed to those who beneficiated from slave work. Against this ignominious domination of a human being over another, the Spirits manifested, speaking in the name of God, thanks to Kardec’s inquires which introduced concepts of religious morals to an eminently social field.

Nine years prior to the publication of the work “Subjection of Women”, by Stuart Mill, which is deemed as a propeller of women’s rights movements, Kardec publishes his dialogue with the Superior Spirits and his remarks, analyzing the equality of rights of men and women, whilst other Christian branches kept, and still do in their core, highly discriminatory positions, in which the woman is kept subordinate, despite the dignifying examples of Jesus. 

“The abolition of marriage would mean going
back to the early days of Mankind” 

Highlighted by Kardec over a century ago, and still our current vision, the common trend is that nobody marries anybody; people get married on their own account, and only they are responsible for keeping this established bond. It’s worth pointing out the position of the Encoder, who on the one hand clarifies, freeing the creature of the chains of priestly blessings, pretentiously given in the name of God, on the other hand, calls your attention to the commitments made before the altar of your own consciousness. The worth that Kardec attributes to marriage is evident when he comments on the subject: “The abolition of marriage would mean, therefore, to go back to the infancy of Mankind and would place man below even some animals that serve as examples of long-lasting unions.”

In a time when religions did not question the role of the family, for deeming it established according to the sacrament ministered in the name of God – although, in some cases, even against the will of the recipient – Kardec, foreseeing attitudes and future questionings, explores and argues with the Spirits the role of the institution of the family. He was given enlightening answers from the Spirits placing the family as the irreplaceable core of human education, a core which is formed not because of social evolution, but divine will. On that account, Spiritualism already had the answers to the harsh challenges that would come up in decades to come, when totalitarian regimes intended to establish a State-owned model of children education, and later still, through the promise of “free living”, carried out by the hippies and those who shared their ideas.

When vehemently opposing the death penalty – while many religious sectors kept silent or even acted in league with it – Kardec takes the ‘thou shall not kill’ out of the temples, bringing it up to a penal and social discussion, anticipating, in decades, campaigns that would arise much later.

The immense abyss between Science and Religion that was brought about by the studies of Copernicus and Galileo got even wider with the publication of the book “The Origin of Species”, by Charles Darwin. It was up to Kardec to play the historic role of building a lit up bridge between Science and Religion.  

Kardec’s thinking is an earthly foresight of the paths of Mankind 

When challenging Creationism, the evolution of the Spirit is put in evidence. It moves pari passu with the physical evolution demonstrated by Darwin, at the same time it redeems, in face of human consciousness, one of the basic attributes of a Perfect Being: Justice. Everything stems from the same source; we all come from the same place, endowed with the same evolutionary potential, as taught by the Spirits: “This is how everything is of service; all is entwined in Nature, from the tiniest atom to the Archangel, who also started off as an atom.” For knowing the immanent divine spark of all creation, Jesus lashed out the evolutionary challenge:    “Let your light shine out before men (…)”.

The text hereby was not intended to make a throughout analysis of Kardec’s works, or his competence as a philosopher, educator, sociologist or theologian. It was aimed at focusing only on the progress of his thinking in comparison to his contemporaries. Kardec transcends his time, seeing beyond interests, the culture and the social and religious environment in which he lived in.

If Prof. Hippolyte Léon Denizard Rivail had published his works without revealing his dialogues with the Spirits and its religious aspects, for sure France would have included him among its philosophers, as it had done with its great educators.

Some tome in this millennium, when religious rancidity and proud academicism become less prevalent, and no longer far away from the truths of the pure Gospel, Kardec will certainly be studied at universities and ‘discovered’ as a true genius of the 20^th Century, marveling Spirits who will already be incarnated in order to establish the educational guidelines of the new age. On this occasion, it will be hard to place Kardec in a specific area of human knowledge, for he was a master in the fields of sociology, law, education, philosophy and, mainly, theology.

The undisputable mark of Kardec’s condition as a great missionary is the fact that his thought was not tied up to a place or time. His vigorous thinking projects into the future, foreseeing the paths of Mankind. Spiritually speaking, it’s not foresight, it’s simply the remembrance of human issues that were studied and analyzed throughout, before reincarnating. Maintaining due proportions, it is the same phenomena that happened to Jesus who, transcending the knowledge, interests, aspirations - and even the culture of the time -, approached unusual subjects and left evolutionary teachings and guidelines for centuries to come.

References: 

The Book of Spirits::

1 - item 1

3 - item 684

4 - item 685 a

5 - item 695

6 - 696 (commentary)

7 - item 540  

New Testament:

2 - Mt, 16: 24

8 - Mt, 5: 16