We continue today the methodical study of “Heaven and Hell, or Divine Justice According to Spiritism” by Allan Kardec. The first edition was published in August 1, 1865. This work is part of the Kardecian Pentateuch. The answers to the questions suggested for discussion are at the end of the text below.

 

Questions for discussion 

A. What are the fundamentals of Spiritism regarding future punishments?

B. According to the Doctrine, is repentance enough for man's regeneration and salvation?

C. The Penal Code of Future Life, according to the Doctrine, can it be summarized in three principles. What are they?

D. Who are the angels according the doctrine of the Church? 

Reading Text 

62. Presently, it is fully recognized by the spiritualist philosophers that the brain organs, corresponding to the different aptitudes, owe their development to the activity of the Spirit. This development is therefore and effect and not the cause. A man is not a musician because he has a tendency for music, but, if he does have it, it is because his Spirit tends to music. If the activity of the Spirit reacts on the brain, it should also react on other parts of the body. (First Part, Chapter VII, Paragraph second.)

63. The Spirit is thus the artist of his own body, which is modeled by him according to his needs and trends. Under these conditions, the body perfection of the early races ceases to be a product of distinct creations to be the result of spiritual work, which improves the material involucres as moral faculties increase. (First Part, Chapter VII, Paragraphs 3 and 4.)

64. As a natural consequence of this principle, the moral dispositions of the Spirit must modify the qualities of the blood, giving them more or less activity, causing a more or less abundant secretion of bile or other fluids. This is why, for example, the glutton salivates when he sees an appetizing dish. Surely, the dish cannot excite the organ of taste, since it has no contact with it. The sensation is in the Spirit and not in the body. (First Part, Chapter VII, Paragraphs 5 and 6.)

65. A weak and lazy Spirit will leave the body in a state of lethargy concerning his character, whereas, an active and full of energy Spirit, will give his blood, and nerves, completely opposite qualities. The action of the Spirit over the body is so obvious that often we see serious organic disorders occur after violent moral commotion. We may assume, therefore, at least in part, that temperament is determined by the nature of the Spirit, which is, thus, the cause and not the effect. (First Part, Chapter VII, Paragraphs 7 to 9). 

66. The Penal Code of Future Life is not a code of fantasy, because it is based on observation and experience, and can be summed up to 33 points, the knowledge of which is of the most importance to us all. (First Part, Chapter VII, The Penal Code of Future Life.)

67. All religions have had angels with different names, i.e., higher beings if compared to Humanity, intermediaries between God and men. Denying all spiritual existence outside organic life, materialism naturally classified the angels among fiction and allegories. (First Part, Chapter VIII, item 1.) 

Answers to the proposed questions

A. What are the fundamentals of Spiritism regarding future punishments?  

The Doctrine, in what refers to future penalties, does not base itself on a preconceived theory. It is not a system replacing another: for everything, it relies on observation, and this gives it full authority. No one ever imagined that the souls, after death, would be at such and such conditions. These souls are the same ones that left Earth and today come to us to initiate us in the mysteries of the afterlife, they describe to us their happy or unhappy situation, impressions, the alteration suffered due to the death of the body, completing, in a word, the teachings of Christ on this point. (Heaven and Hell, Part First, Chapter VII, Principles of the Spiritist Doctrine about Future Penalties.) 

B. According to the Doctrine, is repentance enough for man's regeneration and salvation?  

No. Although it is the first step in the regeneration, repentance is not enough by itself; atonement and reparation are necessary too. Repentance, atonement, and reparation are, therefore, the three conditions needed to erase the traces of a fault and its consequences. Repentance softens the bitterness of atonement, paving the way for the hope of rehabilitation; only the repair, however, can cancel the effect destroying its cause. (Ibid, First Part, Chapter VII, of the Penal Code of Future Life, items 16 and 17.) 

C. The Penal Code of Future Life, according to the Doctrine, can it be summarized in three principles. What are they? 

These are the three principles that summarize the Penal Code of Future Life:

1 - Suffering is inherent to imperfection.

2 - Every imperfection, as well as all fault from it originated, brings its own punishment in natural and inevitable consequences: so, the disease punishes the excesses, and boredom is born from idleness, without lack of a special condemnation for each fault or individual.

3 - Every man being able to free himself from the effect of his imperfections by means of his will, he can also cancel the consecutive evils and ensure his future happiness. To each according to his works, in Heaven and on Earth - that is the Law of Divine Justice. (Ibid, First Part, Chapter VII, item 33.) 

D. Who are the angels according the doctrine of the Church? 

According to the doctrine of the Church , the angels are purely spiritual beings , prior and superior to Mankind, creatures privileged and voted the supreme and eternal happiness since its formation, endowed, by their nature, with all the virtues and knowledge, nothing having done to acquire them.  They are, so to speak, in the foreground of Creation, in contrast to the latter where life is purely material.

The Fathers of the Church and theologians generally teach that angels fall into three major hierarchies or principalities, and each hierarchy is divided into three companies or choirs.

Those of the first and highest hierarchy are so called according to the roles they play in Heaven: they are the Seraphim, Cherubim, and Thrones.

The angels of the second hierarchy are given names consistent with the operations assigned to them in the General Government of the Universe: they are the Dominions, Virtues, and Powers.

The third hierarchy has the task of guiding societies and People: they are the Principalities, Archangels, and Guardian Angels. (Ibid, First Part, Chapter VIII, section 2.)