Comments about the Messiah of SpiritismSee the February issue of the Spiritist Review
Having several questions been addressed to us, about the communications regarding the messiahs, published in the last issue of the Spiritist Review, we believe it necessary to supplement them by some developments that will make it easier to understand their meaning and scope.
1st – Considering that the first of those communications recommended to keep it secret until further notice, although the same thing was taught in different regions, if not as to the form and the circumstances of the detail, at least for the substance of the idea, we were asked if the Spirits, by general consent, had recognized the urgency of this publication, which would have the significance of a certain gravity.
The opinion of most Spirits is a powerful control for the value of the principles of the doctrine, but that does not exclude judgment and reason, whose constant use is recommended by all serious Spirits. When the teaching spontaneously generalizes about a question, in a specific direction, it is a sure indication that the time is right for such a question; but the advisability, in the case in question, is not a question of principle, and we did not think it necessary to wait for the opinion of the majority for this publication, for its utility was demonstrated to us. It would be childish to believe that, making abnegation of our initiative, we obey, as a passive instrument, only a thought that is imposed on us.
The idea of the coming of one or more messiahs was rather general but considered from more or less erroneous points of view, owing to the circumstances of detail contained in certain communications, and of an overly literal assimilation, by a few, of the words of the Gospel on the same subject. These errors could have material drawbacks, the symptoms of which were already being felt. It was, therefore, important not to allow them to be accredited; that is why we have found it useful to reveal the true sense in which this forecast was understood by the majority of the Spirits, thus rectifying, through the general teaching, what isolated teaching could have been partially defective.
2nd - It has been said that the messiahs of Spiritism, coming after its constitution, their role would only be secondary, and it was wondered if this was indeed the character of the messiahs. Can the one whom God entrusts with a mission usefully come when the object of the mission is already accomplished? Wouldn't it be as if Christ came after the establishment of Christianity, or as if the architect in charge of building a house arrives when the house is built?
The Spiritist revelation had to be accomplished in conditions different from its predecessors, because the conditions of humanity are no longer the same. Without going back to what was said about the characteristics of this revelation, we recall that instead of being individual, it had to be collective, and the product of the teaching of the Spirits and of the intelligent work of the man; it was not to be localized, but to take root simultaneously in all points of the globe. This work is carried out under the direction of great Spirits who have been assigned with the mission of presiding over the regeneration of humanity. If they do not cooperate in the work as incarnate, they nonetheless direct the work as Spirits, of which we have evidence. Their role of messiahs is therefore not erased, since they fulfill it before their incarnation, and it is only more commendable. Their action, like Spirits, is even more effective, because they can extend it everywhere, while as incarnate, it is necessarily circumscribed. Today they do, as Spirits, what Christ did as a man: they teach, but by the thousand voices of mediumship; they will then come and do as men what Christ could not do: install their doctrine.
The installation of a doctrine called to regenerate the world cannot be the work of a day, and the life of a man would not be enough. We must first develop the principles, or if we want to make the instrument; then clear the terrain of obstacles and lay the first foundations. What would these Spirits do on Earth during the somewhat material work of cleaning? Their lives would wear out in the struggle. They will, therefore, come more usefully when the work is elaborated and the ground prepared; it will then be up to them to put the finishing touches to the edifice and to consolidate it; in short, to make the tree that has been planted bear fruit. But, in the meantime, they are not inactive: they lead the workers; the incarnation will therefore only be a phase of their mission. Spiritism alone could explain the cooperation of the Spirits of erraticity in an earthly work.
3rd - It was also asked whether there would not be fear that the announcement of these messiahs would tempt ambitious people who would give themselves so-called missions, and would fulfill this prediction: There will be false christs and false prophets?
The answer to that is quite simple; it is entirely in chapter XXI of the Gospel According to Spiritism. By reading this chapter one will see that the role of the false christ is not as easy as one might suppose because it is here the case to say that the habit does not make the monk. At all times there have been schemers who wanted to go by something that they were not; they can undoubtedly imitate the external form; but, when it is a matter of justifying the substance, it is with them like the donkey dressed in the skin of the lion.
Common sense says that God cannot choose his messiahs from among vulgar Spirits, but from those he knows capable of accomplishing his purposes. Whoever claims to have received such a favor should therefore justify it by the eminence of his capacities and his virtues, and his presumption would be the first denial given to those same virtues. What would one say of a rhymester who would pretend to be the prince of poets? To call oneself Christ or Messiah would be to say that one is the most virtuous man in the universe, and one is not virtuous when one is not modest.
Virtue is simulated, it is true, by hypocrisy; but there is one thing that defies any imitation: it is genius, because it must be affirmed by positive works; as for the virtue of facade, it is a comedy that one cannot play for long, without betraying oneself. In the first rank of the moral qualities that distinguish the true missionary of God, we must place sincere humility, dedication without limits and without ulterior motive, absolute material and moral selflessness, self-sacrifice of personality, virtues by which neither the ambitious nor the charlatans shine, who seek glory or profit in the first place. They can have intelligence; they need it to succeed through intrigue; but it is not this intelligence that places man above earthly humanity. If Christ returned to incarnate on earth, he would return with all his virtues. So, if anyone pretended to be him, he would have to equal him in everything; one less quality would be enough to expose the imposture.
Just as we recognize the quality of the tree by its fruit, we will recognize the true messiahs by the quality of their works, and not by their pretensions. It is not they who will proclaim themselves, for perhaps they will ignore themselves; many may be on earth without having been recognized; it is by seeing what they will have been and what they will have done, that men will say to themselves, as they said of Christ: “This one should be a messiah.”
There are a hundred touchstones to recognize the messiahs and the prophets of contraband. The definition of the character of those who are genuine is rather done to discourage the counterfeiters than to excite them to play a role that they are not strong enough to fill, and that would only bring them setbacks. It is, at the same time, giving those whom they try to abuse the means to avoid being duped by their deception.
4th - Some people seemed to fear that the qualification of messiah would spread a veneer of mysticism on the Spiritist doctrine.
For those who know the doctrine, it is from start to finish a protest to mysticism, since it tends to bring all beliefs back to the positive ground of the laws of nature. But, among those who do not know it, there are people for whom everything that escapes the tangible humanity is mystical; for those, to adore God, to pray, to believe in the Providence is to be mystical. We don't have to worry about their opinion.
The word messiah is used, by Spiritism, in its literal sense of messenger, envoy, abstraction made of the idea of redemption and mystery, peculiar to Christian cults. Spiritism does not have to discuss these dogmas that are not within its competence; it says the sense in which it uses this word to avoid any mistake, letting everyone believe according to their conscience, that it does not seek to disturb.
For Spiritism, therefore, every incarnate Spirit with a view to accomplishing a special mission to humanity is a messiah, in the general sense of the word, that is to say a missionary or envoy, with this difference, however, that the word messiah implies more particularly the idea of a direct mission of the divinity, and consequently that of the superiority of the Spirit and the importance of the mission; whence it follows that there is a distinction to be made between the messiahs properly called, and the simple missionary Spirits. What distinguishes them is that, for some, the mission is still a test, because they may fail, while for others it is an attribute of their superiority. From the point of view of the corporeal life, the messiahs come under the category of ordinary incarnations of Spirits, and the word has no character of mysticism.
All the great periods of renovation have seen the appearance of messiahs in charge of giving the impetus to the regenerative movement and leading it. Being the current era one of the greatest transformations of humanity, it will also have its Messiahs who already preside over it as Spirits and will complete their mission as incarnate. Their coming will not be marked by any miracle, and God, to make them recognized, will not disturb the order of the laws of nature. No extraordinary sign will appear in heaven or on earth, and they will not be seen descending from the clouds, accompanied by angels. They will be born, live and die like most men, and their death will not be announced to the world either by earthquakes or by the darkening of the sun; no external sign will distinguish them, any more than Christ was distinguished from other men during his lifetime. Nothing will signal them to public attention except the grandeur of their works, the sublimity of their virtues, and the active and fruitful part they will take in the foundation of the new order of things. Pagan antiquity would have made gods of them; history will place them in the Pantheon of great men, men of genius, but above all among good men whose memory will be honored by posterity.
Such will be the messiahs of Spiritism; great men among men, great Spirits among Spirits, they will mark their passage by prodigies of intelligence and virtue, that attest true superiority, much more than the production of material effects that the first comer can accomplish. This somewhat prosaic picture will perhaps bring down some illusions; but this is how things will happen, quite naturally, and the results will not be less important for not being surrounded by the ideal and somewhat marvelous forms with which certain imaginations liked to surround them.
We said the messiahs, because in fact the forecasts of the Spirits announce that there will be several of them, that is not surprising from the meaning attached to this word, and because of the greatness of the task, since it is a question, not of the advancement of a people or of a race, but of the regeneration of the whole of humanity. How many will there be? Some say three, others more, others less, proving that the thing is in the secrets of God. Will one of them have supremacy? This is still what does not matter much, and that would even be dangerous to know in advance.
The coming of the Messiahs, as a general fact, is announced, because it was useful to have been warned of it; it is a pledge of the future and a subject of tranquility, but individualities should only reveal themselves through their actions. If someone has to shelter the childhood of one of them, they will do so unconsciously, as for the first comer; they will assist and protect him out of pure charity, without being solicited by a feeling of pride, from which he could perhaps not defend himself, that would slip unwittingly into his heart, and cause him to lose the fruit of his action; his devotion might not be as morally selfless as he would imagine.
The safety of the predestined further requires that he be covered with an impenetrable veil, for he will have his Herod; however, a secret is never better kept than when it is not known to anyone. No one, therefore, should know his family or the place of his birth, and the common Spirits themselves do not know it. No angel will come to announce his coming to his mother, because she must not differentiate between him and his other children; Magi will not come to worship him in his cradle and offer him gold and incense, for he should not be greeted until he has proven himself. He will be protected by the invisible, in charge of watching over him, and led to the door where he must knock, and the master of the house will not know who he will receive at his home.
Jesus said, when speaking of the new Messiah: “If anyone says to you: Christ is here or he is there, do not go, because he will not be there.” We must therefore beware of false indications intended to deceive, to make him seem to be where he is not. Since the Spirits are not allowed to reveal what must remain secret, any detailed communication on this point must be regarded as suspicious, or as a test to the one that receives it.
It does not matter, therefore, the number of messiahs; God only knows what is needed; but what is unquestionable is that alongside the messiahs properly called, superior Spirits in unlimited number will be incarnate, or are already incarnate, with special missions to assist them. It will arise in all classes, in all social positions, in all sects and among all peoples; there will be some in the sciences, in the arts, in literature, in politics, as heads of state, wherever their influence may be useful for the dissemination of new ideas, and for the reforms that will be the consequence. The authority of their word will be much greater if it is founded on the esteem and consideration with which they are surrounded.
But one will say, in this crowd of missionaries of all ranks, how to distinguish the messiahs? It doesn't matter whether we distinguish them or not! They do not come to earth to be worshiped here, nor to receive the tribute of men. They will, therefore, not bear any sign on their foreheads; but just as we recognize the worker at work, we will say after their departure: He who has done the greatest good must be the greatest.
Spiritism being the main regenerative element, it was important that the instrument be ready when those who must use it come. It is the work that is being carried out at this time, and that precedes them by a little; but the harrow must first have passed over the earth to purge it from the parasitic grasses that would choke the good grain.
It is the twentieth century, above all, that will see the great apostles of Spiritism flourish, and that could be called the century of the messiahs. Then the old generation will be gone, and the new one will be in all its strength; humanity, recovered from its convulsions, formed of new or regenerated elements, will definitively and peacefully enter the phase of moral progress that must elevate Earth in the hierarchy of the worlds.
