Ricardo Baesso de Oliveira:

"Spiritism is essentially evolutionist"

The co-author of the book Breve História de Todos Nós: Uma Síntese do Tema Espiritismo e Evolução (Brief History of All of Us: A Synthesis of Spiritism and Evolution) talks about his work
 

	About two years ago five fellow Spiritists set up a wroke group in the Spiritist Movement of the city of Juiz de Fora, in Brazil's Minas Gerais state. They began the systematic study of Spiritism and the theme of evolution. The result of the book was the publication of a book Breve Historia de Todos Nos: Uma Sintese do Tema Espiritismo e Evolucao (Brief
History of All of Us: A Synthesis of Spiritism and Evolution), which is the main theme of this interview with Ricardo Baesso de Oliveira. He is a doctor based in Juiz de Fora and one of the book's authors:

What is the book about? 

It is a summary of the theme Spiritism and Evolution. We looked into the latest studies about scientific evolutionism and established the links with Spritism, focusing mainly on the work of Allan Kardec and the books written through the mediumship of Chico Xavier in Brazil. We also studied some of the classics of Spiritism, such as Bozzano, Gabriel Delanne and Leon Denis, as well as Brazilian Spiritists Jorge Andrea and Hernani Guimaraes Andrade. 

Who are the other authors? 

They are members of the Spiritist Movement in the city, people who have studied the Teachings for many years. Carlos Eduardo Nogueres is a Chemistry teacher; David Sergio A. de Gouvea and Geraldo Marques are lecturers at the Engineering Faculty in the Juiz de Fora's Federal University; and Lyderson F. Viccini is a Genetics lecturer at the same university. And I am a medical doctor.

How did the idea of writing a book come up?

It all began with the realisation that incarnate Spirits have always played an important role, as authors, in the formation of Spiritism. Kardec codified the Teachings based on the messages sent from the Spiritual World, but he was the great figure that organised the work and set up its basic principles. He always underlined that. In the first chapter of Genesis he said that the Spiritist revelation was unique for being divine in its origin, as it comes from the Spirits, but it is formed through the work of men. Almost at the same time as Kardec, important Spiritist authors such as Leon Denis, Camille Flammarion and Gabriel Delanne were around, incarnated and taking forward the ideas of the codifier. There were many others after, including Bozzano, Carlos Imbassahy, Herculano Pires, Eliseu Rigonati, Hernani G. Andrade, Jorge Andrea and Herminio Miranda, not to mention the mediumship work of Chico Xavier, Yvonne Pereira, Divaldo Franco and others. But in the past few decades we have noticed that the role of incarnate authors has been somewhat devalued. I do not know exactly why, but Spiritist novels have gained amazing prominence in Spiritism, and the theory books, which should be the main focus of our scholars and researchers, have all but disappeared. We formed this group in order to give our contribution to the development of a very complex issue. We met regularly for 18 months, debated the issue and wrote our conclusions. The book now published is the result of all those meetings. 

Kardec lived in an era where creationism was the dominant theory. What was his assessment of evolutionism? 

Kardec was an evolutionist. And the Spirits who took part in the codification of Spiritism also defended evolutionism. In question 607a of The Spirits' Book they said that the intelligent principle is formed in the experiences suffered by nature's inferior beings. The problems we have observed in some items of the same book and the considerations about spontaneous generation do not invalidate the main approach of Allan Kardec. Spiritism is essentially evolutionist. The formation of the Spirit through many existences in the different kingdoms of nature is a core principle of the Spiritist Teachings. 

How do you conciliate the materialism of science with spiritual evolution? 

Some scientists are materialists, but many are not. A book was published recently -- Test of Faith, by Ruth Bancewicz -- in which the great names of modern science publicly admit their religious principles. I think we should say science is neutral when it comes to spiritual matters. We may not be able to prove that the Spirits exist, but the materialists are equally unable to prove that they do not exist. As for the scientific approach to evolution, it can be summed up in Neodarwinism, which says that random mutations were responsible for the modifications of living beings. It adds that the emergence of new species and natural selection justify the disappearance of all species that become extinct. 

What do the Spiritist authors say about that? 

Andre Luiz and Emmanuel had the opportunity to express their support to Neodarwinism. The difference between Spiritism and official science lies in the consideration that the evolution process was aided by the evolving intelligent principle and in the continuous work of the Building Spirits, who intervened in crucial points of earth's history. They directed the mutations that were needed. All that has taken place on earth was aimed at facilitating the development of the Spirit, said Alfred Russel Wallace.  

There are many doubts about the emergence of self-conscience, or, in other words, Homo Sapiens. How important were the spiritual factors in that transition from monkey to man? 

Self-conscience was the result of a long process of expansion of the possibilities of the spirit, which was created simple and ignorant, and yet containing the principles of perfection in its core -- the innate drive for improvement. We must also take into account the migration to earth of a great number of Spirits from a different galaxy, defined by Allan Kardec and the Adamic race. We believe they arrived here some 50,000 years ago and were responsible for the huge cultural leap that took place at that time. If not for the exiles of Capela, who were deported to our planet, I am convinced that we would still be in the Stone Age.
 

To buy the book, contact the Instituto de Difusão Espírita in Juiz de Fora on divulgacao.idejf@gmail.com.