Spiritist Review - Journal of Psychological Studies - 1865

The preceding is just a preamble to the introduction of other ideas. I talked about preconceived ideas that there are others beyond those that come from the own inclinations of the inspired person; there are those that come from a bad learning, from an interpretation that was given more or less long ago and that were justified in times when human reason was insufficiently developed; those interpretations became chronic and can only be modified through enormous efforts, particularly when their only authority comes from religious teachings and hidden books. One of those ideas is this: God avenges. One may conceive the thought that a person that is attacked in her pride, in her interests avenges. Such vengeance, although wrong, it is within the limits of human imperfection; but a father that seeks vengeance against his own children causes general astonishment because everybody feels that his duty is that of educating his children and therefore guide them and move them away from mistakes and correct their actions by all possible means; vengeance, however, is not acceptable and would even be strange to paternity rights.

From the point of view of public vendetta the society that is disappearing revenges guilty persons; the frequently cruel punishment was its vengeance against a perverse person. There was no concern with rehabilitation of such person and forgiveness or punishment was left to God. It was enough to threaten future offenders with terror that was considered positive.

The oncoming society no longer believes that; it may not yet act in the correction of the criminal but it least it already sees that vengeance is hateful; it is now enough to be protected against the actions of the criminal and measures are taken to avoid legal mistakes. Capital punishment will soon disappear from our codes.

If society today is great enough to avoid vengeance against a criminal, avoiding to be carried away by rage, how come you wish to see God sharing your own weaknesses and hurting a guilty person out of pure wrath? The belief in God’s fury comes from human pride that believes to have a great saying in God’s judgment. If the plant in your garden does not develop well will you become angry and seek vengeance? No; you will do what you can to have it fixed, giving it the necessary support to develop and to avoid deviations, even transplanting it to another location if needed so. But you will not avenge. That is what God does. God’s vengeance, what a blasphemy! What a minimization of God’s greatness! What ignorance about the infinite distance between creation and creature! How can you forget God’s benevolence and justice?

Would God claim a high price from you to be paid for your previous faults in an existence in which you have no memory of the past? No, no. God does not act like that. God precludes the impulse of a bad passion, corrects the inherent pride through a forced humility, fixes the egotism of the past by a present need, leading to the development of a feeling that mankind has not experienced yet. God corrects like a father does and also like a father God does not seek vengeance.

Stay away from these preconceived ideas of heavenly vengeance, disparate remains of an old mistake. Stay away from those fatalist tendencies that abounds amongst new doctrines and that would take you directly to the oriental Quietism. Human freedom is not great enough yet to have it diminished even further by wrong beliefs. The more you feel free the greater your responsibility and the more you shall move forward dragged by the efforts of your own will, on the path of progress.

Pascal