Progress in the first incarnations
Question: Two souls that were created simple and ignorant do not know good and evil when they come to Earth. If, in this first existence, one follows the good path and the other the bad, since in a certain way they move by chance, they do not deserve either punishment or reward. The first earthly trip may have only given them the conscience of themselves, an awareness that they did not have up until then. To be logical it would be necessary to admit that punishments and rewards would only be granted after the second incarnation when the Spirits can then distinguish between good and bad, an experience that they lacked at their creation but that was acquired after the first incarnation. Is that correct?
Answer: Although such a question has already been resolved by the Spiritist Doctrine we will respond for the general enlightenment.
We absolutely ignore the conditions in which the first incarnation of the soul took place because that is one of those principles of things that belong to God’s secrets. All we know is that they are created simple and ignorant thus all having the same starting point, according to the justice. We also know that the free-will develops gradually and after several experiences in the corporeal life. Thus it is neither after the first nor the second incarnation that the soul has a sufficiently clear awareness of oneself to be responsible for one’s actions. It may well be that it will only happen after the hundredth or thousandth incarnation. The same happens to a child that does not enjoy full awareness of faculties after the first or second day of birth but after years. Besides, when the soul enjoys free-will the responsibility grows in proportion to the development of intelligence. That is how, for example, that a savage that feeds from the flesh of their peers is less punished than a civilized person that simply acts unfairly. Our savage are undoubtedly much delayed compared to us but they are already far from their starting point.
During long periods the incarnate soul is submitted to the exclusive influence of instincts of conservation. These gradually transform into intelligent instincts, or even better, there is a balance between instincts and intelligence, and it is only later and always gradually that intelligence dominates the instincts. It is only then that serious responsibility begins.
In addition, the author of the question makes two serious mistakes. First is the admission that chance decides between the choice by the Spirit of a good and a bad path in the beginning. If there were any chance or fatality any responsibility would be unfair. As we said, the Spirit remains in an unconscious state during several incarnations; the light of intelligence only shines with time and true responsibility only begins when the Spirit acts freely and with knowledge of cause. The second mistake is to consider that the first human incarnations take place on Earth. Earth used to be but it is no longer a primitive world. The most delayed human beings found on the face of Earth have already left the marks of the first incarnations behind and our savage have progressed when compared to what they were before their Spirits to come and incarnate in this globe.
Now think about the number of existences necessary for those savage to transpose every step that separates them from the most advanced civilization. All of those intermediary steps are found on Earth without a solution of continuity and may be followed by tracing the nuances that distinguish the several peoples. It is only the beginning and the end that are not found here but the beginning is lost to us in the depth of the past that we are not allowed to penetrate. In fact, that is not important because such a knowledge would mean nothing to us in terms of evolution.
We are not perfect that is for sure. We know that our imperfections are the only obstacles to our future happiness. Let us then study so that we can perfect.
At the current stage our intelligence is developed enough to allow us to judiciously assess good and bad and it is there that responsibility is seriously committed because one can no longer say what Jesus said: ‘Forgive them for they don’t know what they do.”
