One of the major problems of The Universal Control of The Spirit Teachings is the belief that we need confirmation of thousands of Spirits saying the same thing about the same fact.

Many fellows, who submit certain revelations to The Universal Control of The Spirit Teachings almost massacre the medium, to the point of calling the Spirit, who dared to bring the message, a pseudo wise Spirit, even though he was not the first Spirit to deliver such a message, and many a times our companions ignore that the same message has been previously transmitted.

It seems that these fellows want to be greater than the master, as Kardec, referring to The Four Gospels, did not disqualify the author or the alleged Spirits that dictated the text, as has been done regarding two certain Spirits. Let us read the text from the article "The Gospels Explained," published by Kardec in the Spiritist Magazine in 1866: 

The author of this new work believed he had to follow another path; rather than proceed step by step he wanted to achieve the goal at a single stroke. He approached certain issues, which we do not think appropriate to address yet, and therefore we leave to him the responsibility as well as to the Spirits who commented them. According to our principle which rules the development of our opinion, we will not, until further notice, approve or disapprove his theories, leaving to time the care of confirming or contradicting them. It is therefore appropriate to consider these explanations as personal opinions of the Spirits who formulated them, opinions that may be true or false, and that in all cases need to be sanctioned by the Universal Control, and until a wider confirmation determines their approval, they cannot be considered part of the Spiritist Doctrine. (Kardec, 1993i, pages 190-191, emphasis added). 

It is true that Kardec addresses a specific point of view – the defense of a fluidic body for Christ. However, he does it in an elegant way, and there is no disdain or bitterness in his comments: 

We said that the book of Mr. Roustaing does not diverge from the principles contained in The Book of Spirits and The Book of Mediums. Our studies lead us, therefore, to the application and interpretation of certain facts. This is the reason, for example, why he considers that Christ, rather than a carnal body, had a fluidic body with all the materiality appearances, therefore considering Him an “agenere” *. This would not be understood in the eyes of man, therefore His spiritual nature was passed IN APPEARANCE (a word constantly repeated in all this work) through all the course of mankind. This is how we can explain His birth: Mary only showed an appearance of pregnancy. This issue, considered as an assumption and key stone is the base on which we find the explanation of all the extraordinary and miraculous facts of Jesus’ life.

No doubt here there is nothing impossible for those who are aware of the properties of the perispiritual wrap. Without expressing myself in favor or against this theory, I will say that it is at least hypothetical, and that, if one day it is recognized as wrong, the base being false, the building will collapse. We therefore expect a great number of comments that it will cause among the Spirits and which will contribute to clarify this matter. Without prejudging it, I say that serious objections have already been made regarding this theory, and in my opinion the facts can be perfectly well explained maintaining the bodily conditions of mankind.

These comments, subject to future confirmation, do not diminish this work, which, along with some dubious things from our point of view, also contains unquestionably good and true points, to be usefully studied by serious Spiritists. (Kardec, 1993i, pages 191-192, emphasis added).

*Translator’s Note:

They are of fluidic nature and appear and disappear in a second due to the disintegration of their fluidic-molecules. They are not born and do not die. We don’t know where they come from, how they do it and where they go. They stay for a very short time and if you try and touch them, there is only space. These singular beings are “ageneres”. (See The Genesis, Chapter XIV, item 36).

We note that Kardec was prudent, and he did not condemn, leaving it for the Spirits in the future to manifest themselves about this matter.  He went further, recommending its reading by serious Spiritists, and this surely amazes some colleagues.

In Genesis, in "The Vanishing of Jesus’ Body" we have some comments on the issue regarding the fluidic body, which we believe proceed, if not directly dictated to Kardec by the Spirits, or indirectly through inspiration.

Closing this article, Kardec says: 

If the essence of a book is its main part, the form must not be disregarded, and also contributes for its success. We are of the opinion that certain parts are developed at great length, and this is unprofitable for clarity. In our opinion, if limited to the strictly necessary, it would have been able to reduce the work into two or even into a single volume, and it would have gained in popularity. (Kardec, 1993i, page 192). 

So, in Kardec’s opinion, the work was prolix, but he never recommended that it should not be read; much less did he write any article objecting to any of its points.

We must recall that “The Book of Spirits is not a complete treatise of Spiritism. It just sets its basics and its fundamental points, which must be developed through study and observation”. (Kardec, 1993i, page 223, emphasis added).

If the Encoding (formed by The Book of Spirits - which unfolds into new publications - The Book of Mediums, The Gospel According to Spiritism, The Genesis, and Heaven and Hell – each one detailing each one of its four parts) is not a complete treatise of Spiritism, the conclusion, obviously, is that new things may arise out of immovable bases which are its basic principles, including: mediumship, influence of the Spirits in our lives, the Law of Progress, reincarnation, the spiritual world, plurality of inhabited worlds, etc.

We end with another statement by Kardec, published in the Spiritist Magazine in 1868: 

Therefore, the Doctrine shall not be fixed, except regarding the principles that, as time went by, have proven to be the truth; it only accepts the other principles, as it always did, as hypothetical examples until they are confirmed. If it is shown that the Doctrine is wrong regarding a certain point, it will change on this point. (Kardec, 1993j, page 377, emphasis added). 

But the way things are going, it seems, there is not the slightest possibility of adding anything else, since we are doing to the Spiritist Doctrine what the Christians did with the divine revelations, closing them in a book, the Bible, and in our case in these five mentioned books.

It is obvious that we cannot accept any novelty without first passing it through the sieve of the Universal Control of the Spirit Teachings, as Kardec states in the article "The Authority of the Spiritist Doctrine – Universal Control of the Spirit Teachings" (Kardec, 1993h, pages 99-105); because if we don’t do this, we will fall into a blind credulity, i.e., we cannot consider it definite while it is not accepted as reasonable by the majority. This not the case, mainly in Brazil – some accept it easily, others condemn it systematically, while there is no common sense on both sides.

Unless we were too hasty, we did not find the information that an established number of Mediums/Spirits is required to fulfill the conditions of the Universal Control of the Spirit Teachings. However, there are three control conditions: 

1^st control: The one of logic and reasoning;

2^nd control: The consistency of opinion of the majority of the Spirits;

3^rd control: Conformity regarding the contents of the messages and revelations received by the various Mediums, unknown to one another and from different places, and preferably that are not aware of what the other Mediums have said before.

We copy below a text from the article "My first initiation into Spiritism" in Posthumous Works (Obras Póstumas): 

However, I was not satisfied with this checking – the Spirits had recommended this. Circumstances had put me in contact with other Mediums and, whenever I could, I mentioned some of the questions that seemed difficult to be explained. This is how over ten mediums helped in this job. Comparing and merging the answers, coordinated, classified and often retouched in the silence of meditation, I prepared the first edition of The Book of Spirits, published on April 18, 1857”. (Kardec, 2006a, page 301, emphasis added). 

In The Book of Spirits – 1^st edition, dated April 18, 1857, published by IPECE – Instituto de Ensino e Pesquisa da Cultura Espírita (Institute of Education and Research of the Spiritist Culture), I found the following information:  

[...] We can consider that all the contents of the first edition of "The Book of Spirits" was obtained only with the participation of physical effects mediums, three teenagers with relevant mediumship: Julie, 12 years; Japhet, 15; and Caroline, 14 years old. This because the insertions added by Professor Rivail on the compiled texts were gradually corrected by almost a dozen mediums of intellectual effects. Thus, the texts were corrected or even deleted by a group of disembodied Spirits, which worked in the homes of Messrs. Roustan and Baudin, through Julie Caroline and Japhet. [...]. (Kardec, 2004, page 23). 

In the Spiritist Magazine of 1858, Kardec published an article entitled "The plurality of physical existences", from which we copy this paragraph: 

[...] We still have another objection: it is that nothing was taught only to us; it was taught in many other places, such as in France, and abroad in Germany, Netherlands, Russia, and so on, and this occurred even before The Book of Spirits was published. We also add that since we began to study Spiritism, we had communications received by over fifty mediums, in writing, verbally or through clairvoyants, and so on. Some were more or less enlightened, of a normal or limited intelligence, some completely illiterate, and entirely with no knowledge whatsoever about philosophical matters, and that, in no case were these Spirits denied about this issue; and the same occurs in all the circles we are aware of, where the same principle was professed. This argument is not without reply, we know it, therefore we shall not insist more than reasonable. (Kardec, page 295, emphasis added). 

From what we understand, Kardec sought to confirm the information on the plurality of lives in messages received by over fifty mediums. However, this is a not a new point, as it may be thought, since in April 1857, this principle was already contained in the first edition of The Book of Spirits. Probably since Kardec was not yet fully convinced of reincarnation, he decided to insist on this point.

Let us now see the Spiritist Magazine 1864, to see about new information. The first one is in the Article "About the Perfection of the Created Beings": 

The issue regarding animals asks for some developments. They have an intelligent principle, and this is undeniable. Of what nature is this principle? What relations do they have with man? Is it stationary in each species, or progressive passing from one species to another? What is the limit of progress for it? Does it develop alongside with man, or is it the same principle that is elaborated and experiments life in the lower species to receive later new faculties and go through human transformation?  So many questions remain with no answer until this day, and the veil that covers this mystery has not been raised by the Spirits, since it would have been premature to do so: man is not yet ripe to receive as much light. Several Spirits, and this is true, offered theories about it, but none had a very authentic character to be accepted as ultimate truth; until further notice, we can therefore only consider them as individual systems. Only the concordance can confirm them, because that is the only real control of the teaching of the Spirits. 

That is why we are far from accepting as irrefutable truths everything that we learn individually: a principle, whatever it may be, for us does not become authentic if not through the universality of teaching, that is, through the same instructions given regarding every point by mediums, who do not know each other and do not suffer the same influences, notably free of obsessions and assisted by the good and enlightened Spirits, and we must listen to those who prove their superiority through their good thoughts, the high importance of their teachings, never contradicting themselves, and never saying anything that the most rigorous logic cannot accept. This is how the several parts of the doctrine in The Book of the Spirits and in The Book of the Mediums were controlled. [...]. 

In general, there could not have been a great prudence regarding the new theories which can be deceiving. Also, how many of them, since the origin of Spiritism, were prematurely divulged and then had an ephemeral existence! And this will happen to all those that have an individual character and have not suffered the control agreement. In our position, receiving communications from almost a thousand reliable and serious Spiritist centers, spread over various parts of the globe, we are able to see the principles on which this agreement is established; it is this principle that guides us and will go on guiding us in what refers to the new areas that Spiritism is called to explore. This is why, for some time now, we notice the incoming communications from various places, from France and abroad, a tendency to enter a new path through revelations of a very special nature. These revelations, often made by veiled words went unnoticed by many of those who received them; many others believe that only they know their meaning; if taken separately, they would be of no value to us, but the coincidence of their repetition gives them a high degree of seriousness and this will be taken into consideration when the time comes to decide if they should or should not be published. (Kardec, 1993h, pages 68-69, emphasis added). 

(This article will be completed in the next issue).