The Spiritist Review - Journal of Psychological Studies - 1863

Allan Kardec

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The sermons continue but are not the same

The following was sent to us from Chauny on March 7th, 1863:

Dear Sir,

I will try to pass to you my assessment of a sermon that was given to us yesterday by Father X…, a stranger in our parish. That preacher, by the way a good speaker, explained as much as he was able to the meaning of God and the Spirits. He should know that there was a large number of Spiritists in the auditorium for it gave us great satisfaction to hear him speaking about the Spirits and their relationships with the living. He said that the only way to understand miraculous facts, visions and presentiments was through contact with the loving ones who preceded us to the grave. In addition, if I were not afraid of raising the veil from upon something very mysterious or speaking about something that would not be understood by everybody else I would spend much more time on the subject. I feel inspired and listening to the voice of my conscience it would not be too much to recommend that you keep a good memory of my words: Believe in this God from whom all the Spirits come to whom we shall all reunite one day. That sermon, Sir, given with kindness, benevolence and conviction, touched the hearts much more than the frenzied speeches in which one hopelessly seeks Christ’s taught charity. The sermon reached every mind. Thus, everybody understood it and left reassured instead of sad and discouraged by the images of hell and the eternal penalties and so many other contradictory issues to their understanding.

Sincerely… V.”

-o-



Thank God this is not the only sermon of its kind. We hear about several other similar ones, more or less pronounced, preached in Paris and elsewhere in the departments. We also hear of this bizarre thing of completely opposing sermons preached on the same day, in the same town and almost at the same time. There is nothing surprising about it since we count on many enlightened clerics that understand the fact that religion can only loose authority by taking the wrong position against the march of things and that, like all institutions, it must follow the general progress or be prepared to later on receive the contradiction of verified facts.

As for Spiritism, it is impossible that many of those gentlemen have not convinced themselves about the reality of things. We personally know more than one in such a case. One of them told us the other day:

They may prohibit me to speak about Spiritism, force me to go against my beliefs, and say that it is all the works of the devil when I have the material proof against it. That is what I will never do.”

A capital point stems out of that divergence of opinion: the exclusive doctrine of the devil is an individual opinion that will necessarily bend before experience and general opinion. It is possible that some persist in their own ideas in extremis but they shall pass and with them their words.



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