Sermon on ProgressWe got the following letter from Montauban:
“A few days back something happened that impressed the population of our town in different ways. Mr. Rewile, a Protestand preacher, Chaplain of the King of Holland, affirmed in a speech before two thousand people that he shared the new ideas. We were happy to hear these sublime truths proclaimed for the first time from a Christian pulpit, and developed with extraordinary talent and eloquence. He must have been brilliant because the fanatics promptly called him the anti-Christ. I am sorry for not being able to transmit the whole sermon but I will try to analyze a few passages.
The speaker used the following text as his theme: - I did not come to destroy the law and the prophets, but to fulfill it. Love yourself with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your thought, and your neighbor as yourself.
According to Mr. Rewile Christ’s mission among mankind was that of charity and spirituality; his doctrine, therefore, seemed contrary to that of the Jewish people whose principle was: strict observation of the law, a principle that would lead to selfishness. Nonetheless, the expression “fulfill it” explains that apparent contradiction because it means complement, makes more perfect. Replacing egotism by charity and the cult to matter by spirituality was a fulfillment, a complement to the law.
Christ tried in vain to make this nation break the chains of matter, elevating the thoughts and making everyone look at their destinies from a higher point of view. The depth of his moral has never been understood. Hence, when he tried to attack the abuse of all kinds, the exterior practices and to mitigate the rigor of Moses’ law he was accused and cowardly condemned. The Jews expected a conqueror Messiah that would give them the transient power with his iron stick, not understanding what could be great and sublime to humanity in that weak walking stick in his hand, bringing as a gift from his spiritual power the law of love and charity.
But God’s designs always come true, despite the resistances, and if the Jewish, as the workers of bad will, refused to work in his vines it was not enough to deny humanity its advancement, sweeping away in its movement everything that could constitute obstacle to progress. The Christian Church must follow that ascending march or else fail, because humanity was not made for the Church but the Church for humanity. The unfortunate ones that resisted would be smashed by the hand of progress. Wasn’t the past built to respond to the future?
May the children of the nineteenth century, contrary to the behavior of the former Jewish, understand and do their work! Don’t they already experience that involuntary excitement that agitates every distinct intelligence and that spontaneously drive them towards the acquisition of spiritual ideas, the only guarantee of happiness to humanity, since without spirituality there is only matter and without freedom only slavery?
Why then resisting to these noble impulses of the soul by attributing those new signs of modern times to the devil? Why can’t we see there the inspirations from God’s celestial messengers of love and charity, announcing to us the renovation of humanity?
Christian Church must return to the Spirit. In fact what is the Church without the Spirit if not a cadaver, a true corpse in the actual meaning of the word? He who has ears to hear, let him hear! True Church in these critical days has the right to count on its children… Let us go, stand up and hands on! May each one do their job! That is what God wishes! God wishes!
If Jesus came to complement, that is, to fulfil the law by the practice of love towards God and mankind it is because such a precept was the summary of human perfection. The law of love towards God and mankind is, like Jesus himself teaches himself, a greater law to which all others are subordinated. Therefore it is necessary to practice that law in its broadest sense to be closer to him and consequently closer to God that Jesus was the greatest expression on Earth. To love God it is necessary to love the truth, the beauty and the good; it is necessary to internally feel transported to these attributes of moral perfection, but it is also necessary to love one’s brothers and fellow human beings, since they reflect God’s truth, beauty and good.
Why did Jesus love humanity to the point of giving his own life for that? Because since he was also the highest expression of human perfection he felt the effects of that law of love towards God and his neighbors in its highest degree, having to practice it in a sublime way… Practicing charity and love is the same as marching large strides on the path of truth, beauty and good. It is a walk to God! Loving is living and advancing to immortality!
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From what I learned Mr. Rewile successfully discussed the issue of manifestations in two conferences to students of the Faculty. He would have responded correctly to all objections. I am sorry for not having heard them in such an interesting occasion.”
Observation: The Spirits had told us that Spiritism would find defenders in the ranks of the adversaries. Such a speech from the mouth of a minister of religion and given from the pulpit is a serious event. We should expect to see others because the example of courage of opinion is contagious. The new ideas will not take long to find confess champions in science, literature and in the press. They already have more sympathy there than one may believe. It is only the first step that is difficult. Up until today we can say that with the exception of the special organizations of Spiritism, that do not address the indifferent masses, only our adversaries have been given the word and God knows if they made use of that! Now the struggle takes place. What will they say when they see that honorable and dear names leave their ranks to openly hold the flag of the Doctrine in their own hands? It was said that all will be accomplished.
