ON CONTRADICTIONS AND MYSTIFICATIONS.

On contradictions. — On Mystifications.

On contradictions.

The adversaries of Spiritism never fail to object that its followers are not in agreement among themselves; that they do not all share the same beliefs; in a word: that they contradict one another.

They argue: if the teaching is given to you by the Spirits, how is it that it does not present itself as identical? Only a serious and thorough study of the science can reduce these arguments to their just value.

Let us hasten to say at once that those contradictions, of which some people make great account, are, as a rule, more apparent than real; 4 that they almost always exist more on the surface than in the very depths of things and that, consequently, they are of no importance.

They proceed from two sources: from men and from the Spirits.

Contradictions of human origin have already been sufficiently explained in the chapter concerning the Systems, No. 36, to which we refer..

Everyone will understand that, in the beginning, when observations were still incomplete, divergent opinions arose concerning the causes and the consequences of Spiritist phenomena, opinions of which three quarters have already fallen before a more serious and more thorough study.

With few exceptions and setting aside certain persons who do not easily detach themselves from the ideas they have cherished or engendered, it may be said that today there is unity of views in the immense majority of Spiritists, at least as regards the general principles, save for small insignificant details.

To understand the cause and the value of contradictions of Spiritist origin, it is necessary to be identified with the nature of the invisible world and to have studied it in all its aspects.

At first sight, it will perhaps seem strange that the Spirits do not all think in the same manner, but this cannot surprise anyone who has become imbued with the fact that infinite are the degrees they have to traverse before reaching the top of the ladder.

To suppose them to have an equal appreciation of things would be to imagine them all at the same level; 4 to think that all must see with accuracy would be to admit that all have already arrived at perfection, which is not exact and cannot be, once it is considered that they are nothing more than Humanity stripped of the corporeal envelope.

Since Spirits of all categories can manifest, it follows that their communications bear the stamp of the ignorance or of the knowledge that is peculiar to them at the moment, that of the inferiority, or of the moral superiority they have attained.

To distinguish the true from the false, the good from the bad, is what the instructions we have given ought to lead to.

Let us not forget that, among the Spirits, there are, as among men, false sages and half-sages, the proud, the presumptuous and the systematic.

Since it is given only to perfect Spirits to know everything, for the others there are, just as for us, mysteries which they explain in their own manner, according to their ideas, and concerning which they may form opinions more or less exact, which they strive, carried away by self-love, to make prevail and which they like to reproduce in their communications.

The error lies in some of their interpreters having too lightly espoused opinions contrary to good sense and having made themselves the responsible publishers of them.

Thus, contradictions of Spiritist origin derive from no other cause than from the diversity, as regards intelligence, knowledge, judgment and morality, of certain Spirits who are not yet able to know everything and to understand everything. (See: The Spirits' Book — Introduction, § XIII; Conclusion, § IX.)

Of what use is the teaching of the Spirits, some will say, if it offers us no more certainty than human teaching? The answer is easy.

We do not accept with equal confidence the teaching of all men and, between two doctrines, we prefer the one whose author seems to us more enlightened, more capable, more judicious, less accessible to the passions. The same should be done with the Spirits.

If among them there are those who are not above Humanity, there are many who have surpassed it and these can give us teachings that we would seek in vain from the most learned men.

To distinguish them is what should be carefully attended to by whoever wishes to enlighten himself and it is to making this distinction that Spiritism leads.

Yet, even these teachings have a limit and, if it is not given to the Spirits to know everything, with all the more reason is this the case with regard to men.

There are things, therefore, about which it will be useless to question the Spirits, either because it is forbidden them to reveal them, or because they themselves are ignorant of them and concerning which they can only set forth their personal opinions.

Now, it is these personal opinions that proud Spirits present as absolute truths.

Above all, concerning what should remain hidden, such as the future and the principle of things, is what they most insist on, in order to insinuate that they are in possession of the secrets of God.

For this very reason, it is on these points that the most contradictions are observed.

(See the preceding chapter.)

Here are the answers the Spirits gave to questions put concerning the contradictions:

1st — In communicating in two different centers, can a Spirit give them, on the same point, contradictory answers?

“If in the two centers the opinions and the ideas differ, the answers may reach them disfigured, because they are under the influence of different columns of Spirits.

In that case, it is not the answer that is contradictory, but the manner in which it is given.” 2nd — It is conceivable that an answer may be altered; but, when the qualities of the medium exclude all idea of bad influence, how is it explained that superior Spirits use different and contradictory language on the same subject, toward perfectly serious persons? “Truly superior Spirits never contradict themselves and the language they use is always the same, with the same persons.

It may, however, differ, according to the persons and the places.

It must, nevertheless, be noted that the contradiction is sometimes only apparent; it lies more in the words than in the ideas; for whoever reflects will verify that the fundamental idea is the same.

Furthermore, the same Spirit may answer differently on the same question, according to the degree of advancement of those who evoke him, for it is not always fitting that all should receive the same answer, since not all are equally advanced.

It is exactly as if a child and a sage were to put the same question to you. Certainly, you would answer the one and the other in such a way that they might understand you and be satisfied. The answers, in that case, although different, would be fundamentally identical.” 3rd — With what aim do serious Spirits, with certain persons, seem to accept ideas and prejudices that they combat with others?

“We must make ourselves understood. If someone has a well-established conviction about a doctrine, even though false, it is necessary to remove that conviction from him, but little by little. That is why we often make use of his terms and appear to agree with his ideas: it is so that he may not be suddenly dazzled and may not cease to be instructed by us.

“Besides, it is not wise to attack prejudices abruptly. That is the best means of not being heard.

For this reason the Spirits often speak in the sense of the opinion of those who hear them: it is to bring them little by little to the truth.

They adapt their language to the persons, as you yourself will do, if you are a more or less skillful orator. Hence they do not speak to a Chinese, or to a Mohammedan, as they would speak to a Frenchman, or to a Christian. It is because they are certain that they would be repelled.

“One should not take as contradiction what is often nothing but part of the elaboration of the truth.

All the Spirits have their task assigned by God. They carry it out within the conditions they judge fitting for the good of those who receive their communications.” 4th — Contradictions, even apparent ones, may cast doubts into the Spirit of some persons. What means of verification can one have, to know the truth?

“To discern the truth from error, it is necessary that the answers be examined in depth and meditated upon at length and seriously.

It is a complete study to be made. For this, time is needed, as for studying all things.

“Study, compare, examine in depth. We incessantly tell you that the knowledge of the truth is obtained only at this price.

How would you wish to arrive at the truth, when you interpret everything according to your narrow ideas, which, nevertheless, you take for great ideas?

Not far off, however, is the day when the teaching of the Spirits will be everywhere uniform, both in the minutiae and in the principal points.

Their mission is to destroy error, but this cannot be effected save gradually.” 5th — There are persons who have neither the time, nor the necessary aptitude for a serious and thorough study and who accept without examination what is taught them. Will there not be for them the disadvantage of espousing errors?

“That they practice good and do not do evil is the essential thing.

For this, there are not two doctrines. Good is always good, whether done in the name of Allah, or in the name of Jehovah, seeing that there is but one God for the Universe.”

6th — How is it that Spirits, who seem developed in intelligence, can have evidently false ideas about certain things?

“It is that they have their doctrines. Those who are not advanced enough, and judge that they are, take their ideas for the truth itself. Just as among you.”

7th — What should one think of doctrines according to which only one Spirit could communicate and that this Spirit would be God or Jesus?

“The one who teaches this is a Spirit who wishes to dominate, wherefore he seeks to make it believed that he is the only one who communicates.

But, the unfortunate one who dares to take the name of God will harshly expiate his pride.

As for these doctrines, they refute themselves, because they are in contradiction with the best-verified facts. They do not merit serious examination, since they lack roots.

“Reason tells you that good proceeds from a good source and evil from a bad source; why would you want a good tree to give bad fruits? Have you ever gathered grapes from an apple tree?

The diversity of the communications is the most patent proof of the variety of the sources from which they proceed.

Besides, the Spirits who claim to be the only ones who can communicate forget to say why the others cannot do so.

The pretension they manifest is the negation of what Spiritism has that is most beautiful and most consoling: the relations of the visible world with the invisible world, of men with the beings who are dear to them and who would thus be for them irredeemably lost.

It is these relations that identify man with his future, that detach him from the material world. To suppress them is to plunge him back into doubt, which constitutes his torment; it is to nourish his egoism.

Examining carefully the doctrine of such Spirits, one will discover in it at every step unjustifiable contradictions, marks of their ignorance about the most evident things and, consequently, sure signs of their inferiority.” The Spirit of Truth.

8th — Of all the contradictions noted in the communications of the Spirits, one of the most striking is that which concerns reincarnation. If reincarnation is a necessity of spiritual life, how is it explained that not all the Spirits teach it?

“Do you not know that there are Spirits whose ideas are limited to the present, as is the case with many men on Earth?

They judge that the condition in which they find themselves must last forever: they see nothing beyond the circle of their perceptions and do not concern themselves with knowing whence they come, nor whither they go and, nevertheless, they must undergo the action of the law of necessity.

Reincarnation is, for them, a necessity of which they do not think, except when it comes to them.

They know that the Spirit progresses, but in what manner? They hold this as a problem.

Then, if you question them about it, they will speak to you of the seven heavens superimposed like stories. Some will even speak to you of the sphere of fire, of the sphere of the stars, then of the city of flowers, of that of the elect.” 9th — We conceive that little-advanced Spirits may fail to understand this question; but, how is it that Spirits of a notorious moral and intellectual inferiority speak spontaneously of their different existences and of the desire they have to reincarnate, to redeem the past? “Things take place in the world of the Spirits that are very difficult for you to understand.

Do you not have among you persons very ignorant on certain subjects and enlightened about others; persons who have more judgment than instruction and others who have more wit than judgment?

Do you not also know that some Spirits take pleasure in keeping men in ignorance, appearing to instruct them, and that they take advantage of the ease with which their words are believed? They can seduce those who do not descend to the bottom of things; but, when by reasoning they are driven to the wall, they do not long sustain the role.

“One must, besides, take into account the prudence that, in general, the Spirits use in the promulgation of the truth: a light too vivid and too sudden dazzles, it does not enlighten. They may, then, in certain cases, judge it fitting to spread it only gradually, according to the times, the places and the persons.

Moses did not teach all that the Christ taught and the Christ himself said many things, the understanding of which was reserved for future generations.

You speak of reincarnation and you are astonished that this principle was not taught in some countries. Remember, however, that in a country where the prejudice of color reigns supreme, where slavery has taken root in the customs, Spiritism would have been repelled merely for proclaiming reincarnation, for monstrous would seem, to the one who is master, the idea of becoming a slave and reciprocally.

Was it not better to have the general principle accepted first, in order later to draw the consequences from it? Oh! men! how short is your sight, to appreciate the designs of God! Know that nothing is done without his permission and without an aim that most often you cannot penetrate.

I have told you that unity will be made in the Spiritist belief; rest assured that it will be so; that the dissensions, already less profound, will be effaced little by little, as men become enlightened and that they will end by disappearing completely. Such is the will of God, against which error cannot prevail.” The Spirit of Truth.

10th — The erroneous doctrines, which certain Spirits may teach, do they not have the effect of retarding the progress of the true science?

“You wish to obtain everything without labor. Know, then, that there is no field where weeds do not grow, the extirpation of which falls to the husbandman.

These erroneous doctrines are a consequence of the inferiority of your world. If men were perfect, they would accept only what is true.

Errors are like false stones, which only an experienced eye can distinguish. You need, therefore, an apprenticeship, to distinguish the true from the false.

Well then! the false doctrines have the usefulness of exercising you in making the distinction between error and truth.” a — Do those who adopt error not retard their advancement?

“If they adopt error, it is that they are not advanced enough to understand the truth.”

While awaiting the making of unity, each one judges that he has the truth with him and maintains that the true is only what he knows, an illusion that the deceiving Spirits are not careless about fostering. This being so, on what can the impartial and disinterested man base himself, to form a judgment?

“No cloud obscures the purest light; the diamond without blemish is the one that has the most value; judge, then, the Spirits by the purity of their teachings.

Unity will be made on the side where evil has never been mixed with good; on that side men will join themselves, by the very force of things, for they will consider that there is the truth.

Note, moreover, that the fundamental principles are everywhere the same and must unite you in a common idea: the love of God and the practice of good.

Whatever, consequently, be the mode of progression imagined for the souls, the final objective is but one and but one the means of attaining it: to do good. Now, there are not two ways of doing it.

If capital dissensions arise, as regards the very principle of the Doctrine, you have a sure rule by which to appreciate them, this one: the best doctrine is the one that best satisfies the heart and reason and the one that contains the most elements for leading men to good. That one, I affirm it to you, is the one that will prevail.” The Spirit of Truth.

NOTE. The contradictions noted in Spiritist communications may derive from the following causes: from the ignorance of certain Spirits; 7 from the deception of inferior Spirits who, out of malice or wickedness, say the contrary of what was said elsewhere by the Spirit whose name they usurp; 8 from the will of the Spirit himself, who speaks according to the times, the places and the persons, and who may judge it fitting not to say everything to everyone; 9 from the insufficiency of human language, to express the things of the incorporeal world; 10 from the insufficiency of the means of communication, which do not always permit the Spirit to express his whole thought; 11 finally, from the interpretation that each one may give to a word or to an explanation, according to his ideas, his prejudices, or the point of view from which he considers the subject.

Only study, observation, experience and the exemption from all sentiment of self-love can teach one to distinguish these various shades. On mystifications.

If it is disagreeable to be deceived, it is even more so to be mystified. This is, moreover, one of the disadvantages from which we can most easily preserve ourselves.

From all the preceding instructions emerge the means of frustrating the schemes of the deceiving Spirits. For this reason, we will say little in this regard. On the subject, these were the answers the Spirits gave us:

1st — Mystifications constitute one of the most disagreeable pitfalls of practical Spiritism. Will there be a means of preserving ourselves from them?

“It seems to me that you can find the answer in all that has been taught you.

Certainly there is a simple means for it: that of asking of Spiritism only what it can give you.

Its aim is the moral improvement of Humanity; if you do not stray from that objective, you will never be deceived, for there are not two ways of understanding true morality, the one that every man of good sense can admit.

“The Spirits come to instruct you and guide you in the way of good and not in that of honors and riches, nor do they come to attend to your petty passions.

If nothing futile were ever asked of them, or that is outside their attributions, the deceivers would never find any ascendancy; whence you must conclude that he who is mystified is so only because he deserves it.

“The role of the Spirits does not consist in informing you about the things of this world, but in guiding you with security in what may be useful to you for the other world.

When they speak to you of what concerns that one, it is because they judge it necessary, but not because you ask it.

If you see in the Spirits the substitutes of soothsayers and sorcerers, then it is certain that you will be deceived.

“If men had nothing more to do than to address themselves to the Spirits to know everything, they would be deprived of free will and outside the path traced by God for Humanity.

Man must act by himself. God does not send the Spirits to smooth for him the material road of life, but to prepare for him that of the future.” a — But, there are persons who ask nothing and who are unworthily deceived by Spirits who come spontaneously, without being called.

“They ask nothing, but they take pleasure in listening, which amounts to the same thing.

If they received with reserve and distrust all that strays from the essential objective of Spiritism, the frivolous Spirits would not so easily take them for playthings.” 2nd — Why does God permit that sincere persons who accept Spiritism in good faith should be mystified? Might this not have the disadvantage of shaking their belief?

“If this shook their belief, it is that they did not have a very solid faith.

Those who would renounce Spiritism, for a simple disappointment, would prove that they had not understood it and had not attended to its serious part.

God permits mystifications, to test the perseverance of the true followers and to punish those who make of Spiritism an object of amusement.” The Spirit of Truth.

NOTE. The cunning of mystifying Spirits sometimes surpasses all that one can imagine.

The art with which they arrange their batteries and combine the means of persuading would be a curious thing, if they never went beyond simple jests; but mystifications may have disagreeable consequences for those who are not on guard.

We feel happy to have been able to open in time the eyes of many persons who deigned to ask our opinion and to have spared them ridiculous and compromising actions.

Among the means these Spirits employ, must be placed in the first rank, as being the most frequent, those whose aim is to tempt covetousness, such as the revelation of supposed hidden treasures, the announcement of inheritances, or other sources of riches.

Must, besides, be considered suspect, from the first sight, predictions with a determined date, as well as all precise indications relating to material interests.

The steps prescribed or advised by the Spirits should not be taken, when the aim is not eminently rational; 10 let no one ever allow himself to be dazzled by the names the Spirits take to give an appearance of veracity to their words; 11 distrust bold scientific theories and systems; finally, all that strays from the moral objective of the manifestations.

We would fill a most curious volume, were we to relate all the mystifications of which we have had knowledge.