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Principle of things. — Investigations of Science concerning the principle of things. — Infinity of space. — All the worlds of the Universe are peopled with living beings. — Formation of living beings on the Earth. — Adam. — Diversity of races on the Earth. (Questions

to 22 b.)

Was the Universe created, or does it exist from all eternity, like God? [Question 37.]

“Without doubt the Universe could not have made itself; and, if it existed, like God, from all eternity, it could not be the work of God.”

a.

How did God create the Universe? [Question 38.]

“To make use of a common expression: by His will.”

The Universe comprises the infinity of the worlds we see and of those we do not see, all the animate and inanimate beings, all the stars that move in space, as well as the fluids that fill it. Reason tells us that it is not possible for the Universe to have made itself and that, not being able to be the work of chance, it must be the work of God.

Is it given to man to know the principle of things? [Question 17.]

“No, God forbids it.”

a.

Will we be able to know the duration of the formation of the worlds: of the Earth, for example? [Question 42.]

“I can tell you nothing in this regard, because only the Creator knows it; and very mad would be he who claimed to know it, or to know the number of centuries of that formation.” The principle of things is a mystery that it is not given to man to penetrate in this life and that he seeks to know in vain. So much is this so that the origin of the worlds, the epoch, the manner, and the duration of their formation remain in the secrets of God.

Will man one day penetrate the mystery of the things that are hidden from him in this world? [Question 18.]

“Yes; when the veil is lifted for him.”

a.

Do the Spirits know the principle of things? [Question 239.]

“More or less, according to their elevation and purity. The inferior Spirits know no more than men.”

The veil that now conceals the principle of things from man will be lifted for him in a more refined existence; then he will understand everything: the past and the future will unfold before his eyes as he rises in spiritual perfection, and Nature will have no more secrets for him.

Can man not, through scientific investigations, penetrate some of the secrets of Nature? [Question 19.]

“Yes; but he cannot exceed the limits fixed by God.”

a. Why are the men who delve deeply into the natural sciences so frequently led to skepticism? [Question 147.]

“Pride! Always pride! The son who thinks he knows more than the father despises and disowns him; but pride will be confounded.”

b. Will pride be confounded in this world or in the other?

“In this world and in the other.”

Man, by means of his intelligence, may penetrate some mysteries of Nature, up to the limits fixed by God to the investigations of Science. The more it is granted to man to penetrate these mysteries, the greater must be his admiration for the power and wisdom of the Creator. But, whether through pride or through weakness, his own intelligence often makes him the plaything of illusion, and each day that passes shows him how many errors he took for truths and how many truths he repelled as errors.

Outside of scientific investigations, can man receive communications of a higher order concerning what escapes the testimony of his senses? [Question 20.]

“Yes, if He judges it useful, God can reveal to him that which Science cannot explain.”

Man’s vulgar science does not exceed the testimony of the senses; nevertheless, in certain circumstances it is given to him to receive communications of a higher order. It is through them that man acquires, within certain limits, the knowledge of his past and of his future destiny.

Is universal space infinite or limited? [Question 35.]

“Infinite. Suppose limits to it: what would there be beyond? This confounds your reason, I well know; nevertheless, reason tells you that it cannot be otherwise. The same holds for the infinite in all things. It is not in your small sphere that you will be able to understand it.”

Universal space is infinite, that is, without edges. Supposing a limit to space, however distant thought may conceive it, reason says that beyond that limit there is something and so, gradually, to infinity, because, even if that something were the absolute void, it would still be space.

Are all the globes that circulate in space inhabited? [Question 55.]

“Yes.”

a.

Are the other worlds inhabited by intelligent beings like man? [Question 55.]

“Yes, and the man of the Earth is far from being, as he supposes, the first in intelligence, goodness, and perfection. Nevertheless, there are men who think themselves very strong and claim that only this little globe has the privilege of sheltering rational beings. Pride and vanity! They believe that God created the Universe for them alone.”

God peopled the worlds with living beings, and all concur to the final objective of Providence.

To believe that living beings are limited to the single point we inhabit in the Universe would be to cast doubt on the wisdom of God, who made nothing useless; He must have given to each of these worlds a more serious destination than that of recreating our sight. Nothing, moreover, neither in the position, nor in the volume, nor in the constitution physical of the Earth can lead us to the supposition that it alone enjoys the privilege of being inhabited, to the exclusion of so many thousands of similar worlds.

Is the physical constitution of the different globes the same? [Question 56.]

“No; they do not resemble one another in any way.”

a.

The physical constitution of the worlds not being the same for all, must one conclude that the beings that inhabit them have different organizations? [Question 57.]

“Without doubt, just as among you the fish are made to live in the water and the birds in the air.”

b.

Could we obtain some data on the state of the different worlds? “Yes; nevertheless, you would not be able to verify them. Besides, of what use would they be to you? Occupy yourselves with your own world, for there you have much to do.” The physical constitution of the different globes is not identical. The conditions of existence of the beings that inhabit them must be appropriate to the milieu in which they are called to live. Thus also in our world we see beings destined to live in the water, in the air, and on the earth, differing greatly in structure and organization, inasmuch as the power of God is infinite and His Providence provides for all needs.

If we had never seen fish, we would not understand that some beings could live within the water. Thus it happens with other worlds, which probably contain elements that we do not know.

Has man always existed on the Earth? [Question 59.]

“No; but on other planets.”

a.

Can we know the epoch of the appearance of man and of the other beings living on the Earth? [Question 48.]

“No; all your calculations are chimerical.”

Man and the various animals did not always exist on the Earth, a fact demonstrated by Science and confirmed by revelation. The epoch of the appearance of living beings on the Earth is lost in the night of time and is unknown to us.

Was there a time when the Earth was not inhabited?

“Yes, when it was in fusion.”

a.

Whence did the living beings come to the Earth? [Question 44.]

“The Earth contained their germs, which awaited the favorable moment to develop.”

b.

Are there still beings that are born spontaneously? 78 [Question 46.]

“Yes, but the primitive germ already existed in a state of latency. You are every day witnesses of this phenomenon. Do the tissues of man and of animals not contain the germs of a multitude of worms that only await, in order to come forth, the putrid fermentation necessary to their existence? It is a little world that slumbers and that is being created.” In the beginning all was chaos. The Earth was uninhabited, the elements were confounded, and nothing of what lives could exist; but it already enclosed in its bosom the organic principle of all beings.

Little by little, each thing took the place that Nature assigned to it; the organic principles reunited as soon as the force that kept them apart ceased, forming the germs of all living beings. These germs remained in a state of latency and of inertia, like the chrysalis and the seeds of plants, until the moment propitious to the eclosion of each species; then the beings of each species reunited and multiplied (Note 2). [Question 43, 44.]

Was the human species found among the organic elements contained in the terrestrial globe? [Question 47.]

“Yes.”

a.

Did the human species begin with a single man? [Question 50.]

“No.”

b.

Then, is Adam an imaginary being?

“No, but he was not the first, nor the only one to people the Earth.” [Question 50.]

c.

Did many men appear at the same time on the Earth?

“It has already been told you that yes; and a long time before Adam appeared, who was already better.”

d.

Will we be able to know in what epoch Adam lived? [Question 51.]

“More or less in the one you assign to him: about 4,000 years before the Christ.” The human species was found among the organic elements contained in the terrestrial globe, and came in its time. It was this that led to its being said that man was formed from the slime of the earth.

Humanity did not begin with a single man. He whose tradition was preserved under the name of Adam was one of those who survived, in a certain region, some of the great cataclysms that at various epochs shook the surface of the globe; but he was neither the first nor the only one who peopled the Earth. The laws of Nature would oppose the progress of Humanity, ascertained long before the Christ, being able to realize itself in a few centuries, if man had been on the Earth only from the epoch assigned to the existence of Adam.

Whence come the physical and moral differences that distinguish the varieties of human races on the Earth? 79 [Question 52.]

“From the climate, the life, and the customs. The same occurs with two children of the same mother who, raised far from one another and in different ways, will in no way resemble each other as to the moral.”

a. Do these differences constitute distinct species? [Question

a.]

“Certainly not; all are of the same family. Do the multiple varieties of one same fruit prevent them from belonging to the same species?”

b. If the human species does not proceed from a single individual, must men, on that account, cease to consider themselves brothers? [Question 54.]

“All men are brothers in God, because they are animated by the spirit and tend toward the same end. You always want to take words literally.”

The variety of climates under which men were formed, the diversity of habits and of needs have produced in them differences physical and moral more or less pronounced. Such differences do not alter the distinctive character of the human species, nor prevent men from belonging to the same family and from being all brothers, all destined to the same end assigned to them by Providence.

The peoples have formed very divergent ideas about the Creation, according to the degree of their intelligences. Reason, supported by Science, recognized the improbability of certain theories. The one given by the Spirits confirms the opinion admitted long ago by the most enlightened men. Far from belittling the divine work, it shows it to us under an aspect more grandiose and more in conformity with the notions we have of the power and the majesty of God.

[77] T.N.: Not all the globes present conditions of habitability, at least those we know on the Earth and that are necessary for the presence of man on this planet. On the Moon, for example, we could not live. Since, however, the physical constitution of the different globes is not the same, and the conditions of existence of the beings that inhabit them being different, appropriate to the milieus in which they have to live, life is possible even in extreme temperatures and in the densest or most rarefied atmosphere. Moreover, in affirming that all the globes that circulate in space are inhabited, the Immortals may be referring, also, to the transitory worlds, true stations or points of repose for the wandering Spirits. [78] T.N.: Today Science no longer admits spontaneous generation, as it did in the nineteenth century, not even for the beings of the lowest orders of Creation, such as viruses and bacteria, for example. [79] P.N.: See “Explanatory note”, p. 551.