- the CHARACTER OF THE TRUE PROPHET

The Gospel According to Spiritism. cap. XXI. items: 9 and 10

II - THE FALSE PROPHETS OF the spiritual world

SYNTHESES The Character of the True Prophet * Mistrust the false prophets! * This recommendation is useful in all epochs, but above all in times of transition such as now when a transformation of humanity is occurring , because of a multitude of those who are ambitious and scheming will promote themselves as reformers and Messiahs. We should be on guard against these imposters and it is the duty of all honest people to unmask them. * The command of an army is only confided to a capable general. Do you believe that God is less prudent than Man? You may be sure that He only confides important missions to those He knows are capable of fulfilling them. * The true missionary of God must justify his mission through superiority, virtue, magnanimity, results and by the moralizing influence of his work. * So then, mistrust the false prophets especially at a time of renewal such as the present, because there will be many imposters who say they are from God. The False Prophets of the Spiritual world: * The false prophets are not to be found solely amongst incarnates. They are also to be found in even greater numbers amongst the prideful Spirits, who by appearing to be all love and charity, sow disunion and hold back the work of emancipating humanity by infiltrating their absurd doctrines, after having gained a mediums acceptance of them. * The Spirits of this particular category, to which they say they belong, have to be not only very good but also eminently rational. * In desiring that the truth reaches everyone, God has not confined it to a narrow circle, but has made it appear in all places, so that the light shines alongside the darkness Equally you may be sure that when a truth is to be revealed to mankind it is, by the way of saying, instantly communicated to all serious groups who have at their disposal serious mediums, and not only to one group at the exclusion of all others. * It is incontestable that by submitting to the crucible of reason and logic all the facts and communications received from Spirit, it becomes an easy matter to reject the errors and absurdities. A single medium may become fascinated or a group deluded; but through severe verification of what is occurring in other groups, the acquiring of knowledge within the subject matter, the analysis of all communications received by the principal mediums of each group, together with the use of logic and verification of authenticity whenever possible of the most serious Spirit communicators, it is possible to render justice to all falsehoods and trickery from any band of deceiving or malicious Spirits. CONSIDERATIONS: As we study the Doctrine Spiritist, which fundamentally is based in the natural laws and very especially in the laws of Evolution and progress and with the revelation that we are spirits walking in several degrees of morals or of intelligence, some more advanced than others, and we know that Nature does not give jumps. So that consequently some spirits that were fanatic or obsessed religiously or of the things of God, in the beyond, they do not lose certain ambitions quickly of leading others, and certainly that they do not lose opportunities to give their messages.
1

Studied at Joana dArc, on 01/12/1998.

Belongs to the spiritual medium the constant study, the study of the Gospel, the study of natural laws and moral, so as with knowledge and attendance of good Spirits, may with crucible of reason analyze the contents of some message so as it is recommended by St. John: Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. (I John, IV: 1) With the incarnate also happens to appear many with ideas or theories about God which do not combine with truths that we already know, while other Christians base on their own theology and they gather in dogmas and prejudices, the Spiritism walks in wide steps in the knowledge of the moral laws of God, in the moral of the Gospel, and in the natural laws of evolution. Continues like this, with more and more knowledge that opens the capacity to know the right and the wrong, and is guided very much by Jesus words: ... For the tree is known by his fruit (Matthew, 12: 33) Spiritism is far from finding false prophets every place, it understands them and knows that it is: "To each one according to their works", (revelation, 20: 12,13) and the Spiritism with the knowledge that each spirit that gives a message, can by the very same message show in what spiritual degree he is, and as one gets used to say" each one gives what he has", if, presents to us a spirit that was a farmer, may we say so, he can very well within his philosophy, say that God creates beautiful things in the beyond, and that the plants are beautiful, but if a spirit habituated to moral theories would speak to us, he will do the utmost possible to give a message of moral contents, philosophical or even scientific if it is the case. A kind spirit does not criticize, but tries to teach and to divulge something that is not known, but teaches with humility and most affection for not offending our ignorance, they do not speak grossly, for instance, when there is somebody who might be in an inferior position, they do not say he is in hell, they can say, well that person is in an inferior sphere to mine, and if it is the case of a kind person in the beyond that might be in an inferior sphere, through her kindness might say, that person you ask is not with us, she is in a superior sphere. Most of the spirits are as we incarnated in several degrees, but within the evolution of the world, those who are classified go to happier worlds, for that reason only rarely, according to the purposes of God is that superior Spirits like Jesus, come to the world or give messages from the beyond or interference in our tasks. Therefore and with that knowledge, the spiritist has more logic in the analysis of false prophets or false Christs, because one knows that high spirits do not have the ambition to show themselves; they respect our free will and they try to help us according to the Father's will and not their own, and they do not say, kneel down, because I am angel X, on the contrary, if we subdue ourselves and kneel down, they speak, lift yourself up, because I am one of your brothers a son of our Father. (revelation, 19:10). As the Spiritist Doctrine is evolutionist, as the man moves forward in morals, improves himself and changes, there is the need of new knowledge, new realities, new revelations, and God knows about that very well, and the Spirits pure or superior that read the thoughts of God and that have coexistence with God, they come to aid us or to reveal something if it is necessary. God does not abandon us and we know that Jesus took the responsibility of the government of this world, and Jesus said: ... I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee", (Hebrews, 13: 5) it is well to remind that Jesus said that He could not teach ahead of our understanding, but that He would send Confortor that would remind us his teachings and he would reveal what He thought that we would not understand. (John, 14: 26 - 16: 12). Well then, we accept that Spiritism be the third revelation and of the essence of the spiritist revelation we still have a lot to learn, until we assimilate this gratifying doctrine will take maybe many centuries until we might need a more complex doctrine or complemental revelation but in the reality the Doctrine of the Spirits is of Jesus, they only complement it, and as the Spiritism is here to be with us, certain, that God will inspire them to some new developing contexts, when it is necessary. Now speaking about Spiritist Doctrine one would ask: and other doctrines of our brothers of several churches, is there any difference? Well then, yes, there is! The Spiritist Doctrine is progressive and evolutionist, whilst those of theologies, are based on the Bible totally, and they say that the Bible is complete and that God does not need to increase anymore, thence the difference, it is the great difference!

While time stopped for the theologians, the Spiritism is on the move forwards in evolution and progress and understanding the reasons of its existence; the reason of the incarnation, reincarnation and disincarnating, and of the erraticity; and therefore the Spiritism is a comforting doctrine. Its logical explanations, answer to the man's spiritual thirst and it satiates any man, except I mistake, but it is necessary a certain understanding, because, on the first view, rare are the ones that accept the doctrine immediately, in general the people accept after analysis that convinces them; but the Spiritist Doctrine does not convince for the number of those that know it, but for the truths that it reveals and portrays! Nor it is worth to remind that for the theologians the false prophets are the Spiritists, but for Jesus it is: According to his works (Matthew, XVI: 27 Mark, XIII: 34). And for us Spiritists we are satisfied with the Doctrine, and I think all the theological points have already been compared and analyzed with the doctrine, explained and faced up by the use of the reason, logic, and of practice and, above all, confirmed by the superior Spirits. (The Gospel according to Spiritism, - Introduction, - The authority behind the Spiritist doctrine, -.):
If the Spiritist Doctrine were of a purely human conception it would offer no more guarantee than the enlightenment of those who actually conceived it. But no one in Earth could seriously contemplate the pretension of possessing the exclusive and absolute truth. (). God wished the new revelations to reach mankind by the quickest and most authentic path, so He entrusted the Spirits to deliver them from pole to pole, manifesting everywhere without conferring the exclusive privilege of hearing these words to any one individual. One person might be deceived, could even deceive himself, but this could not happen when millions of people see and hear the same thing. (). The Superior Spirits proceed with extreme wisdom in their revelations. They never touch on the most important questions, except gradually, until our intelligence shows itself to accept a more advanced truth and when circumstances show themselves to be favorable to a new idea. This is why they did not reveal everything from the outset, and still have not told everything. ().

It is right that we are also learning how to compare and to grow in our study and conclusions. God bless us as formerly, today and always.

Extract from the book Convite ao Espiritismo by Antnio Martinho Fernandes