I.

The matters contained in the Gospels can be divided into five parts: the ordinary acts of the life of Christ; the miracles; the predictions; the words that the Church took as the foundation of its dogmas; and the moral teaching.

The first four have been the subject of controversies; the last, however, has remained constantly unassailable. Before this divine code, even incredulity bows down. It is ground on which all forms of worship can meet, a standard under which all may take their stand, whatever their beliefs may be, for it has never been the subject of the religious disputes, which always and everywhere have arisen from dogmatic questions. Besides, if they had discussed it, the sects would have found in it their own condemnation, since most of them cling more to the mystical part than to the moral part, which requires of each one the reform of himself.

For men, in particular, that code constitutes a rule of conduct that embraces all the circumstances of private life and of public life, the basic principle of all social relations founded on the most rigorous justice; 4 it is finally, and above all, the infallible guide to future happiness, the lifting of one corner of the veil that hides from us the future life. This part is the one that will be the exclusive object of this work.

Everyone admires the evangelical morality; all proclaim its sublimity and its necessity; many, however, pronounce themselves thus by faith, trusting in what they have heard said, or relying on certain maxims that have become proverbial. Few, nonetheless, know it thoroughly, and fewer still are those who understand it and know how to deduce its consequences.

The reason lies, in great part, in the difficulty presented by the understanding of the Gospel, which, for the greater number of its readers, is unintelligible. The allegorical form and the intentional mysticism of the language cause the majority to read it to ease their conscience and out of duty, as they read prayers, without understanding them, that is, without profit. The moral precepts, scattered here and there, interspersed in the mass of the narratives, pass unnoticed by them. It is then impossible to grasp them as a whole and to take them as the object of special reading and meditation.

It is true that treatises on evangelical morality have already been written; but the arrangement in modern literary style takes from it the primitive simplicity that at the same time constitutes its charm and its authenticity. The same may be said of the maxims set apart and reduced to their simplest proverbial expression. From that point on, they are no more than aphorisms, deprived of a part of their value and interest by the absence of the accessories and the circumstances in which they were enunciated.

To remedy these inconveniences, we have gathered, in this work, the articles that may compose, so to speak, a code of universal morality, without distinction of worship; 9 in the citations, we have kept what is useful to the development of the idea, setting aside only what is not connected with the subject. Moreover, we have scrupulously respected the translation of Sacy, [1] as well as the division into verses. Instead, however, of confining ourselves to a chronological order, impossible and without real advantage for the case, we have grouped and classified the maxims methodically, according to their respective natures, so that they flow from one another, as much as possible. The indication of the order numbers of the chapters and of the verses allows recourse to the common classification, when opportune.

This, however, would be a material work that, by itself alone, would have only secondary utility. The essential thing was to put it within the reach of all, by means of the explanation of the obscure passages and the unfolding of all the consequences, having in view the application of the teachings to all the conditions of life. This is what we have attempted to do, with the help of the good Spirits who assist us.

Many points of the Gospels, of the Bible, and of the sacred authors in general are unintelligible, some even seeming irrational, only for lack of the key that makes it possible to grasp their true meaning. This key is complete in Spiritism, as those who have studied it seriously have already been able to recognize, and as all, later, will recognize still better.

Spiritism presents itself to us everywhere in Antiquity and in the different epochs of Humanity. Everywhere its traces are discovered: in the writings, in the beliefs, and in the monuments. This is the reason why, at the same time that it opens new horizons for the future, it casts a no less vivid light upon the mysteries of the past.

As a complement to each precept, we have added some instructions chosen from among those that the Spirits dictated in various countries and through different mediums. If these had been drawn from a single source, they might perhaps have undergone a personal influence or that of the environment, whereas the diversity of origins proves that the Spirits give their teachings indistinctly and that no one in this respect enjoys any privilege. [2]

This work is for the use of all. From it all may draw the means to conform their conduct to the morality of Christ.

To Spiritists it offers applications that concern them in a special way. Thanks to the relations established, henceforth and permanently, between men and the invisible world, the evangelical law, which the Spirits themselves have taught to all nations, will no longer be a dead letter, because each one will understand it and will find himself incessantly compelled to put it into practice, on the counsel of his spiritual guides.

The instructions that come from the Spirits are truly the voices of Heaven that come to enlighten men and to invite them to the practice of the Gospel. [1] [La Sainte Bible contenant l'Ancien et le Nouveau Testament, by Isaac-Louis Le Maistre de Sacy is Catholic; the translator rendered it from the Vulgate into French, as did Father Figueiredo, whose version is present in this compilation.]

[2] We could no doubt have presented, on each subject, a greater number of communications obtained in a number of other cities and centers, besides those we cite. We had, however, to avoid the monotony of useless repetitions and to limit our choice to those that, both in substance and in form, fitted better into the plan of this work, reserving for subsequent publications those that could not find a place here.

As for the mediums, we have refrained from naming them. In the majority of cases, we have not designated them at their own request, and this being so, it was not fitting to make exceptions. Moreover, the names of the mediums would have added no value to the work of the Spirits. To mention them would then have been nothing more than to satisfy self-love, a thing to which truly serious mediums attach no importance. They understand that, since the role that falls to them is merely passive, the value of the communications in no way exalts their personal merit; and that it would be childish to take pride in a work of intelligence to which the contribution they render is only mechanical.