We hereby continue the methodical study of "The Gospel According to Spiritism" by Allan Kardec, the third of the works of the Kardecian Pentateuch. The first edition was published in April, 1864. The answers to the questions suggested for discussion are at the end of the text below.
Questions for discussion
A. The episode of the expulsion of the traders out of the temple has a deeper meaning. What is it?
B. Is mediumship a privilege of a few people?
C. Can we consider the practice of mediumship a profession?
D. Why cannot the mediums charge for their services?
Reading text
345. Spiritism teaches its followers: Force no conscience. Force no one to leave his belief in order to accept yours. Do not reproach those that do not think like you. Accept those who come to you and leave quiet those that repel you. (Chapter XXV, section 11.)
346. Remember Christ's words. Once heaven was taken by violence, today it is taken by gentleness. (Chapter XXV, section 11.)
347. "Give back health to the sick, raise the dead, heal the lepers, and cast out demons. Give free what you have received for free." With this recommendation, Christ ordered that no one is to charge for what he did not pay for. However, what they received was the ability to heal the sick and cast out evil spirits. (Chapter XXVI sections 1 and 2.)
348. God gave them this ability free for the relief of those who suffer and as a means of spreading faith. Jesus advised them not to make Him an object of trade, speculation, or a way of living. (Chapter XXVI, section 2.)
349. A prayer is an act of charity. It is an outburst of the heart. Charging someone to address God in his name, is acting in the same manner as a paid intermediate. Thus, a prayer becomes a formula, the length of which is proportional to the sum being paid. God does not sell the benefits He gives us. How can someone charge for prayers for others? (Chapter XXVI, section 4.)
350. God's righteousness is like the sun: it is there for all of us, poor and rich. If we consider it immoral to trade the favors of an earthly ruler, how can we consider it lawful to trade the graces granted by the sovereign of the Universe? (Chapter XXVI, section 4.)
351. "Then they came to Jerusalem, and Jesus entered the temple and began to cast out buyers and sellers. He turned over the tables of the moneychangers and the benches of those who sold doves, and did not allow anyone to take any utensil through the temple. At the same time, He taught them by saying: Is it not written that my house shall be called a house of prayer by all nations? However, you have made it a den of thieves!" Jesus drove the merchants from the temple. Thus, He condemned the trading of holy things in any form. God does not sell His blessing, His pardon, or the entrance to the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, man has no right to set a price for them. (Chapter XXVI sections 5 and 6.)
352. Today's mediums have also received a gift from God: they have become intermediates of the Spirits with the purpose to instruct men and to show them the path of goodness and lead them to faith. They are not allowed to sell words that do not belong to them since they are not the result of their conceptions, research, or personal work. (Chapter XXVI, section 7.)
353. God wants His light to reach all of us. He does not want the poorest deprived of it so they cannot say, "I have no faith because I could not afford to pay for it. I did not have the consolation to receive encouragement and testimonies of affection of those who I mourn, because I am poor." This is the reason why mediumship is not a privilege of a few and is found everywhere. To have someone pay for it would deviate it from its divine purpose. (Chapter XXVI, section 7.)
354. Those who are acquainted with the conditions required for the good Spirits to communicate with us can never accept that the Higher Spirits are available for the first one who appears in a session and evokes them. Common sense rejects such an idea. Is it not profane to evoke, in change of money, the beings we respect, or are dear to us? It is beyond doubt that manifestations can be obtained like this too, but who can guarantee their honesty? (Chapter XXVI, section 8.)
Answers to the proposed questions
A. The episode of the expulsion of the traders out of the temple has a deeper meaning. What is it?
This episode shows us that God does not allow the trading of holy things in any form. He does not sell His blessing, His pardon, or the entrance to the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, man has no right to stipulate a price for them. The same understanding is applied to the work of the mediums and the benefits that the spiritual benefactors perform through them. (The Gospel According to Spiritism, Chapter XXVI, sections 5 and 6.)
B. Is mediumship a privilege of a few people?
No. God wants His light to reach all of us. This is the reason why mediumship is not a privilege of a few of us and is found everywhere. (Ibid, Chapter XXVI, section 7).
C. Can we consider the practice of mediumship a profession?
No. Mediumship, when honest and responsible, cannot and shall never become a profession, because it would discredit itself morally, and a medium would be regarded as a fortuneteller. There are other facts to consider. Mediumship is essentially a transitory, fleeting, and changeable ability, and nobody can say how long it is going to last. Therefore, for the one who makes a living out of it, it would be an uncertain source of income with a constant risk of failure at the exact moment when most needed. Mediumship is not an art, not a talent, and that is enough to prove that its practice cannot be considered a profession.
Furthermore, mediumship does not exist without the assistance of the Spirits. If they are absent, there is no mediumship. The ability can subsist, but its practice is null. This is why there is not one medium in this world that can guarantee the accomplishment of any spiritual phenomena at a given time. For someone to explore mediumship is like disposing of something which he does not own. To say the contrary is to deceive the one who pays. (Ibid, Chapter XXVI sections 7 and 10).
D. Why cannot the mediums charge for their services?
Mediums cannot charge because, like the Apostles, they also received a gift from God: they have become intermediates of the Spirits with the purpose to instruct men and to show them the path of goodness and lead them to faith. They are not allowed to sell words that do not belong to them since they are not the result of their conceptions, research, or personal work.
God wants His light to reach all of us. He does not want the poorest deprived of it so they cannot say, "I have no faith because I could not afford to pay for it. I did not have the consolation to receive encouragement and testimonies of affection of those who I mourn, because I am poor." This is the reason why mediumship is not a privilege of a few and is found everywhere. To have someone pay for it would deviate it from its divine purpose. Ibid, Chapter XXVI, sections 7 and 8.)
