Allan Kardec-THE Spirit's Book_ The Principles of Spiritist Doctrine (1989)

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THE SPIRITS’ BOOK
"Those who, not being inspired by God, have arrogated to themselves, through ambition, a
mission which they had not received, may, undoubtedly, have led them into error;
nevertheless, as, after all, they were men of genius, great truths are often to be found, even in
the midst of the errors they taught."
624. What are the characteristics of the true pro prophet?
"The true prophet is an upright man who is inspired by God. He may be recognised both by
his words and by his deeds. God does not employ the mouth of a liar to teach the truth."
625. What is the most perfect type that God has offered to man as his guide and model?
"Jesus."
Jesus is the type of the moral perfection to which man may attain upon this earth. God offers Him to our
thought as our most perfect model and the doctrine taught by Him is the purest expression of the divine
law, because He was animated by the divine spirit, and was the purest being who has ever appeared upon
the earth.
If some of those who have professed to instruct man in the law of God have sometimes led him astray by
the inculcation of error. it is because they have allowed themselves to be swayed by sentiments of too
earthly a nature, and because they have confounded the laws which regulate the conditions of the life of
the soul which regulate the life of the body. Many pretended revealers have announced as divine laws
what were only human laws, devised by them for serving their own passions and obtaining dominion over
their fellow-men.
626. Have the divine or natural lares been revealed to men by Jesus only, and had men,
before His time, no other knowledge than that given them by intuition?
"Have we who told you that those laws are written everywhere? All the men who have
meditated upon wisdom have therefore been able to comprehend and to teach them from the
remotest times. By their teachings, imperfect though they were, they have prepared the
ground for the sowing of the seed. The divine laws being written in the book of nature, it has
always been possible for man to know them by searching after them. For this reason, the
moral precepts they consecrate have been proclaimed, in all ages, by upright men; and, for the
same reason also, the elements of the moral law are to be found among every nation above
the barbarian degree, although incomplete, or debased by ignorance and superstition.
627. Since the true laws of God have been taught by Jesus, what is the use of the teachings
given by spirits? Have they anything more to teach us?
"The teachings of Jesus were often allegoric, and conveyed in parables; because He spoke
according to the time and place in