Reply of the Spiritist Society of Paris to religious questions.

— A letter addressed from Tonnay-Charente (Charente-Inférieure) to Mr. Allan Kardec was communicated, containing answers dictated to a medium of that city, on questions of the most delicate of the dogmas of the Church. Such questions, addressed to the Spirit of Jesus, son of God, evoked for that purpose, are these: 1st Is hell eternal?

2nd Could you put within reach of my intelligence the explanation I asked of you concerning the supper that preceded your passion?

3rd Why did your passion take place?

4th What should I think of communion? Are you in the host, my Jesus?

5th What does temporal power have in common with spiritual power, that they cannot be separated?

6th What does love have that is so precious, that it should be in the heart of all men?

7th What is Sacred History, and who made it?

8th What do these words mean: sacred history?

The author of the letter asks that the Society pronounce, in a solemn session, on the value of the answers he obtained and on the authenticity of the name of the Spirit who gave them.

After having examined the matter, the committee proposes the following resolution, the reading of which is given to the Society, which approves it warmly, unanimously, and asks for its insertion in the Spiritist Review for the instruction of all, and so that the uselessness, in the future, of addressing questions on similar themes may be understood. Had the author limited himself to the first question, it would have sufficed to refer him to The Spirits' Book, where it is treated. Moreover, the question is poorly formulated; one does not know whether by eternity he means a place of expiation, or the penalties inflicted on each individual.

DECISION TAKEN BY THE SPIRITIST SOCIETY OF PARIS ON QUESTIONS PROPOSED BY MR. …, OF TONNAY-CHARENTE, AT THE SESSION OF FEBRUARY 13, 1863.

The Spiritist Society of Paris, after taking cognizance of the letter of Mr.…, and of the questions on which he wishes it to pronounce in a solemn session, feels it its duty to remind the author of the letter that the essential aim of Spiritism is the destruction of materialist ideas and the moral improvement of man; that it does not in any way occupy itself with discussing the particular dogmas of each cult, leaving their appreciation to the conscience of each one; that to disregard such an aim would be to make of it an instrument of religious controversy, whose effect would be to perpetuate an antagonism that it tends to make disappear, calling all men to the banner of charity, leading them to see in their fellows nothing but brothers, whatever their beliefs may be. If, in certain religions, there are questionable dogmas, it is necessary to leave to time and to the progress of enlightenment the care of their purification; the danger of the errors they might enclose will disappear as men make the principle of charity the basis of their conduct. The duty of true Spiritists, of those who understand the providential aim of the doctrine, is, then, above all, to devote themselves to combating incredulity and egoism, which are the true wounds of Humanity, and to making prevail, by example as much as by theory, the sentiment of charity, which should be the basis of all rational religion, and serve as a guide in social reforms. Questions of substance must take precedence over questions of form. Now, questions of substance are those whose objective is to make men better, considering that all progress, social or otherwise, can only be a consequence of the improvement of the masses; it is to this that Spiritism tends, and thereby it prepares the ways for all kinds of moral progress. To wish to act otherwise is to begin the edifice at the ridge, before laying its foundations; it is to sow in ground that has not been cleared. As an application of the above principles, the Spiritist Society of Paris declares itself prevented, by its regulations, from interfering in all questions of religious controversy, of politics, and of social economy [organization], and will not yield to any provocation that tends to divert it from this line of conduct. For this reason it will not express, either officially or unofficially, an opinion as to the value of the answers dictated to the medium…, answers essentially dogmatic and even political, and still less make them the object of a solemn discussion, as the author of the letter requests.

As for the book that is to treat of these questions, and whose publication is prescribed by the Spirit who dictated it, the Society does not hesitate to declare that it considers such a publication inopportune and dangerous, in that it could furnish weapons to the enemies of Spiritism. Consequently, it believes it its duty to disapprove of it, as it disapproves of any publication apt to falsify opinion concerning the aim and the tendencies of the doctrine. With respect to the nature of the Spirit who dictated those communications, the Society judges it necessary to recall that the name a Spirit takes is never a guarantee of its identity; that one could not see a proof of superiority in some just ideas it emits, if alongside these we find others that are false. Truly superior Spirits are logical and consistent in all they say. Now, this is not the case in the matter at hand. Its pretension in believing that this book must have as a consequence the leading of the government to modify certain parts of its policy would suffice to make one doubt its elevation and, better still, the name it takes, because this is not rational. Its insufficiency stands out further from two other facts no less characteristic. The first is that it is completely false that Mr. Allan Kardec received a mission, as the Spirit claims, to examine and have published the book in question. If he has the mission to examine it, it can only be to make its drawbacks felt and to combat its publication.

The second fact lies in the manner in which the Spirit exalts the mission of the medium, which good Spirits never do, and which, on the contrary, is done by those who wish to impose themselves, capturing the medium's confidence by means of fine words, with the help of which they hope to make the rest pass. In sum, it becomes evident to the Society that the name with which the Spirit, who says he is the Christ, adorns himself is apocryphal. It judges it its duty to exhort the author of the letter, as well as his medium, not to let themselves be deceived by such communications and to restrict themselves to the essential objective of Spiritism.