Imitation of the Gospel According to Spiritism.

Containing the explanation of Christ's moral maxims in agreement with Spiritism and their application to the various circumstances of life.

By ALLAN KARDEC.

With this epigraph: “An unshakable faith is only that which can face reason squarely in every epoch of Humanity.”

We abstain from any reflection on this work, limiting ourselves to extracting from the introduction the part that indicates its purpose.

“The matters contained in the Gospels may be divided into four parts: the ordinary acts of Christ's life; the miracles; the predictions; and the moral teaching. The first three parts have been the object of controversies; the last, however, has remained constantly unassailable. Before this divine code, incredulity itself bows. It is ground where all religions may gather, a standard under which all may place themselves, whatever their beliefs, for it has never constituted matter for religious disputes, which have always and everywhere originated from dogmatic questions. Moreover, if they were to discuss it, the sects would have found in it their own condemnation, since, for the most part, they cling more to the mystical part than to the moral part, which demands 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 public life, the basic principle of all social relations founded upon the most rigorous justice. It is, finally and above all, the infallible guide to future happiness, the lifting of a corner of the veil that hides from us the future life. That part is the one that will be the exclusive object of this work. “Everyone admires the Gospel's 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 from it. 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 by them unnoticed. It is impossible, then, to grasp them as a whole and to take them as the object of special reading and meditations. “It is true that treatises have already been written on Gospel morality; but the arrangement in a modern literary style strips it of the primitive simplicity that, at the same time, constitutes its charm and its authenticity. As much may be said of the maxims detached 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 obviate these inconveniences, we have gathered, in this work, the articles that may compose, so to speak, a code of universal morality, without distinction of religion. In the citations, we have kept what is useful to the development of the idea, setting aside only what does not relate to the subject. Furthermore, we have scrupulously respected the original translation of Sacy, as well as the division into verses. Instead, however, of confining ourselves to a chronological order that is impossible and without real advantage for the case, we have methodically grouped and classified the maxims, 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. “That, however, would be a material work which, by itself alone, would have only secondary utility. The essential thing was to put it within reach of all, by means of the explanation of the obscure passages and the unfolding of all the consequences, with a view to the application of the teachings to all the conditions of life. That 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 sacred authors in general are unintelligible, some even seeming irrational, for lack of the key that enables one to grasp their true meaning. That key is complete in Spiritism, as those who have studied it seriously have already been able to recognize and as all, later, will recognize even better still. Spiritism meets 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. That is the reason why, at the same time that it opens new horizons for the future, it casts no less vivid light upon the mysteries of the past. “As a complement to each precept, we have added some chosen instructions, from among those which the Spirits dictated in various countries and through different mediums. If they had been drawn from a single source, they would perhaps have suffered a personal influence or that of the environment, whereas the diversity of origins proves that the Spirits give their teachings indiscriminately and that no one in this respect enjoys any privilege.

“This work is for the use of all. From it all may draw the means of conforming their conduct to Christ's morality. 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 Gospel 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 emanate from the Spirits are truly the voices of heaven that come to enlighten men and to invite them to the imitation of the Gospel.” [1] One large vol. in-12. Bookshop of Messrs. Didier & Co., 35, quai des Grands-Augustins; Ledoyen, at the Palais-Royal, at the office of the Spiritist Review. Price: 3 fr. 50 c.

[2] [see Bibliographical Notices.]

[3] [This 1st edition was revised, corrected, and modified by Allan Kardec in 1866 in its 3rd French edition, which is the one that was used for the present translation of the Gospel contained in this compilation.]

[4] [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 is the one present in this compilation, from Father Figueiredo;

at the end of each chapter of the Divine Testament there is a link to the corresponding chapter of the French version.]