DIVINE OR NATURAL LAW.

Characteristics of natural law.

— 2. Origin and knowledge of natural law. — 3. Good and evil. — 4. Division of natural law.

Characteristics of natural law.

What should be understood by natural law?

“Natural law is the law of God.

It is the only true law for man’s happiness. It shows him what he must do or refrain from doing, and he is unhappy only when he departs from it.”

Is the law of God eternal?

“Eternal and immutable as God Himself.”

Could God, in a certain epoch, have prescribed to men what in another epoch He forbade them?

“God does not err. It is men who are obliged to modify their laws, because these are imperfect. The laws of God, those are perfect.

The harmony that reigns in the material universe, as in the moral universe, is founded upon laws established by God from all eternity.”

What do the divine laws comprehend within their scope? Do they concern anything other than moral conduct alone?

“All the laws of Nature are divine laws, for God is the author of all things.

The learned man studies the laws of matter; the man of good studies and practices the laws of the soul.”

a — Is it given to man to penetrate deeply into both?

“It is, but a single existence does not suffice him for that.”

Indeed, what are a few years for the acquisition of all that the being needs in order to be considered perfect, even if one takes into account only the distance that lies between the savage and the civilized man? The longest existence one can imagine would be insufficient for so much. With all the more reason will it be so when short, as it is for the greater part of men.

Among the divine laws, some govern the movement and the relations of inert matter: the physical laws, the study of which belongs to the domain of Science.

The others relate especially to man considered in himself and in his relations with God and with his fellows. They contain the rules of the life of the body, as well as those of the life of the soul: these are the moral laws.

Are the divine laws the same for all worlds?

“Reason tells us that they must be appropriate to the nature of each world and suited to the degree of progress of the beings that inhabit them.”

Origin and knowledge of natural law.

Has God granted to all men the means of knowing His law?

“All can know it, but not all comprehend it.

The men of good and those who resolve to investigate it are the ones who comprehend it best.

All, however, will comprehend it one day, for it is inevitable that progress be accomplished.”

The justice of man’s diverse incarnations is a consequence of this principle, for, in each new existence, his intelligence is found more developed and he comprehends better what is good and what is evil.

If in a single existence everything were to be brought to completion for him, what would be the lot of so many millions of beings who die every day in the brutishness of savagery, or in the darkness of ignorance, without it having depended on them to instruct themselves?

Before uniting with the body, does the soul comprehend the law of God better than after being incarnated?

“It comprehends it according to the degree of perfection it has attained, and it retains the intuition of it when united with the body.

The evil instincts, however, ordinarily cause man to forget it.”

Where is the law of God written?

“In the conscience.”

a — Since man carries the law of God in his conscience, what need was there for it to be revealed to him?

“He had forgotten and despised it. God then willed that it be recalled to him.”

Did God entrust to certain men the mission of revealing His law?

“Undoubtedly. In all ages there have been men who had this mission. They are superior Spirits, who incarnate for the purpose of making Humanity progress.”

Have those who claimed to instruct men in the law of God not sometimes erred, leading them astray through false principles?

“Certainly those who were not inspired by God, and who, out of ambition, took upon themselves a charge that had not been committed to them, have given cause for men to be led astray.

Nevertheless, since they were, after all, men of genius, even among the errors they taught, great truths are often found.”

What is the character of the true prophet?

“The true prophet is a man of good, inspired by God.

You can recognize him by his words and by his acts.

It is impossible that God should make use of the mouth of the liar to teach the truth.”

What is the most perfect type that God has offered to man, to serve him as guide and model?

“Behold Jesus.”

For man, Jesus constitutes the type of moral perfection to which Humanity may aspire on Earth. God offers him to us as the most perfect model, and the doctrine he taught is the purest expression of the law of the Lord, because, being the purest of all who have appeared on Earth, the Divine Spirit animated him.

As for those who, claiming to instruct man in the law of God, have led him astray by teaching him false principles, this happened because they let themselves be dominated by sentiments too earthly, and because they confounded the laws that govern the conditions of the life of the soul with those that rule the life of the body.

Many have presented as divine laws mere human laws instituted to serve the passions and to dominate men.

Were the divine and natural laws revealed only by Jesus? Before his appearance, did men have knowledge of these laws only through intuition?

“Have we not already said that they are written everywhere? From the most remote centuries, all those who meditated upon wisdom have been able to comprehend them and teach them. By the teachings, even incomplete, that they spread, they prepared the ground to receive the seed.

The divine laws being written in the book of nature, it was possible for man to know them, as soon as he willed to seek them. That is why the precepts they enshrine have, in all ages, been proclaimed by men of good; and that is also why elements of them are found, though incomplete or adulterated by ignorance, in the moral doctrine of all peoples that have emerged from barbarism.”

Since Jesus taught the true laws of God, what is the usefulness of the teaching that the Spirits give? Do they have anything more to teach us?

“Jesus often employed, in his language, allegories and parables, because he spoke in conformity with the times and the places. It is now necessary that the truth become intelligible to everyone.

It is very necessary that those laws be explained and developed, so few are those who comprehend them, and fewer still those who practice them.

Our mission consists in opening the eyes and the ears of all, confounding the proud and unmasking the hypocrites: those who put on the mantle of virtue and religion in order to hide their vileness.

The teaching of the Spirits must be clear and without ambiguity, so that no one may plead ignorance and so that all may judge and appreciate it with reason.

We are charged with preparing the reign of good that Jesus announced.

Hence the necessity that it be possible for no one to interpret the law of God according to his passions, nor to falsify the meaning of a law that is wholly of love and charity.”

Why was the truth not always placed within the reach of everyone?

“It is important that each thing come in its time. The truth is like the light: man must accustom himself to it, little by little; otherwise, he is dazzled.

“Never did God permit man to receive communications as complete and instructive as those given to him today. There were, as you know, in antiquity some individuals possessing what they themselves considered a sacred science, of which they made a mystery to those who, in their eyes, were held to be profane. From what you know of the laws that govern these phenomena, you should comprehend that those individuals received only some scattered truths, within an ambiguous and, in most cases, emblematic whole.

Nevertheless, for the studious man, there is no ancient system of philosophy, no tradition, no religion, that is contemptible, for in everything there are germs of great truths which, though they may appear contradictory among themselves, dispersed as they are amid baseless accessories, present themselves to you as easily coordinated, thanks to the explanation that Spiritism gives of an immensity of things that until now seemed to you without any reason and whose reality is today irrefutably demonstrated. Do not despise, therefore, the objects of study that these materials offer. They are rich in such objects and can contribute greatly to your instruction.” Good and evil.

What definition can be given of morality?

“Morality is the rule of conducting oneself well, that is, of distinguishing good from evil.

It is founded upon the observance of the law of God.

Man conducts himself well when he does everything for the good of all, because then he fulfills the law of God.”

How can good be distinguished from evil?

“Good is all that conforms to the law of God; evil, all that is contrary to it.

Thus, to do good is to act in accordance with the law of God. To do evil is to infringe it.”

Has man the means of distinguishing for himself what is good from what is evil?

“Yes, when he believes in God and wishes to know it.

God gave him the intelligence to distinguish one from the other.”

Being subject to error, can man not deceive himself in the appraisal of good and evil, and believe that he practices good when in reality he practices evil?

“Jesus said: See what you would wish that others should do to you or not do to you. Everything is summed up in that. You will not deceive yourselves.”

The rule of good and evil, which could be called reciprocity or solidarity, is inapplicable to man’s personal conduct toward himself. Will he find, in natural law, the rule of that conduct and a sure guide?

“When you eat to excess, you find that it does you harm. Well then, it is God who gives you the measure of what you need. When you exceed that measure, you are punished. In everything it is so.

Natural law traces for man the limit of his needs. If he goes beyond that limit, he is punished by suffering.

If he always heeded the voice that says to him — enough, he would avoid the greater part of the ills whose blame he casts upon Nature.”

Why is evil in the nature of things? I speak of moral evil. Could God not have created Humanity in better conditions?

“We have already told you: the Spirits were created simple and ignorant .

God lets man choose the path. So much the worse for him, if he takes the wrong path: the longer will be his pilgrimage.

If there were no mountains, man would not comprehend that one can ascend and descend; if there were no rocks, he would not comprehend that there are hard bodies.

It is necessary that the Spirit gain experience; it is necessary, therefore, that he know good and evil. This is why he unites with the body.”

From the different social positions arise needs that are not identical for all men. Does it not seem that one may infer from this that natural law does not constitute a uniform rule?

“Those different positions are in the nature of things and conform to the law of progress. This does not invalidate the unity of natural law, which applies to everything.”

The conditions of man’s existence change according to the times and the places, from which result different needs and social positions appropriate to those needs. Since it is in the order of things, such diversity conforms to the law of God, a law that does not cease to be one as to its principle. To reason it falls to distinguish real needs from factitious or conventional ones.

Are good and evil absolute for all men?

“The law of God is the same for all; but evil depends principally on the will one has to practice it.

Good is always good and evil always evil, whatever may be man’s position. There is a difference only as to the degree of responsibility.”

Is the savage guilty who, yielding to his instinct, feeds on human flesh?

“I said that evil depends on the will. Well then! Man is the more guilty, the better he knows what he does.”

Circumstances give relative gravity to good and evil.

Often man commits faults which, even though they be a consequence of the position in which society has placed him, become no less reprehensible. But his responsibility is proportioned to the means he has of comprehending good and evil.

Thus, more guilty, in the eyes of God, is the instructed man who practices a simple injustice, than the ignorant savage who gives himself over to his instincts.

It sometimes seems that evil is a consequence of the force of things. Such, for example, is the necessity in which man finds himself, in some cases, of destroying, even his fellow man. Can one say that there is, then, infraction of the law of God?

“Though necessary, evil does not cease to be evil.

This necessity disappears, however, as the soul purifies itself, passing from one existence to another.

Then man is more guilty when he practices it, because he comprehends it better.”

Does it not frequently happen that the evil man practices results from the position in which other men place him? Who, in that case, are the guilty?

“The evil falls back upon whoever was its cause.

In those conditions, he who is led to practice evil by the position in which his fellows place him is less guilty than those who, acting thus, occasioned it.

For each one will be punished, not only for the evil he has done, but also for the evil to which he has given rise.”

He who does not practice evil, but who profits from the evil practiced by another, is he as guilty as the latter?

“It is as if he had practiced it. To profit from evil is to participate in it.

Perhaps he would not have been capable of practicing it; but since, finding it done, he takes advantage of it, he thereby approves it; he would have practiced it, had he been able, or had he dared.”

Is desiring evil as reprehensible as doing it?

“That depends. There is virtue in voluntarily resisting the evil one desires to practice, above all when there is the possibility of satisfying that desire.

If one merely does not practice it for lack of opportunity, he who desires it is guilty.”

To please God and to assure his future position, will it suffice that man not practice evil?

“No; he must do good to the limit of his strength, for he will answer for every evil that has resulted from his not having practiced good.”

(see James 4.17.)

Is there anyone who, by his position, has no possibility of doing good?

“There is no one who cannot do good.

Only the egoist never finds occasion to practice it.

It suffices to be in relations with other men for there to be occasion to do good, 4 and there is no day of existence that does not offer, to whoever is not blinded by egoism, opportunity to practice it.

For doing good consists, for man, not only in being charitable, but in being useful, as far as possible, every time his assistance comes to be necessary.”

For certain men, does not the milieu in which they find themselves placed represent the primary cause of many vices and crimes?

“Yes, but even there is a trial that the Spirit chose, when in liberty, led by the desire to expose himself to temptation in order to have the merit of resistance.”

When man finds himself, in a certain way, immersed in the atmosphere of vice, does evil not become for him an almost irresistible enticement?

“Enticement, yes; irresistible, no; 2 for, even within the atmosphere of vice, you sometimes come upon great virtues. They are Spirits who had the strength to resist and who, at the same time, received the mission of exerting a good influence upon their fellows.”

Is the merit of the good one practices subordinate to determined conditions? In other words: is the merit that results from the practice of good of different degrees?

“The merit of good lies in the difficulty of practicing it.

There is no merit in doing it without effort and when it costs nothing.

God holds in higher esteem the poor man who shares with another his only piece of bread, than the rich man who gives only of what is left over to him, said Jesus, regarding the widow’s mite.” Division of natural law.

Is the law of God contained wholly in the precept of love of neighbor, taught by Jesus?

“Certainly that precept encloses all the duties of men toward one another. It is necessary, however, that the application it admits be shown to them, otherwise they will fail to fulfill it, as they do at present.

Moreover, natural law embraces all the circumstances of life, and that precept comprehends only a part of the law.

Men need precise rules; general and very vague precepts leave a great number of doors open to interpretation.”

What do you think of the division of natural law into ten parts, comprising the laws of adoration, labor, reproduction, conservation, destruction, society, progress, equality, liberty, and, finally, that of justice, love, and charity?

“This division of the law of God into ten parts is that of Moses and of a nature to embrace all the circumstances of life, which is essential. You may, then, adopt it, without its having, for that, anything absolute, just as none of the other systems of classification has, all of which depend on the prism through which whatever it may be is considered.

The last law is the most important, being the one that enables man to advance most in the spiritual life, since it sums up all the others.”