IX
"It is I who have come - your savior and your judge. I have come as I did long ago among the wayward children of Israel. I have come to bring truth and to disperse the darkness. Listen to me. As my words did long ago, Spiritism must remind materialists that the unchangeable truth reigns over them: the good God, the Almighty God, who causes the plants to grow and the ocean waves to rise. I have revealed the divine Doctrine. Like a reaper, I have gathered into bundles the good ones who were scattered among humankind and I have said: Come to me, all you who suffer!
"However, ungrateful humans have deserted the straight and broad path that leads to my Father's kingdom and they have become lost in the rut-filled byway of impiety. My Father does not wish for the human race to perish. He will no longer speak through prophets or apostles; he wants you, both living and dead (that is, dead according to the flesh, for in reality there is no death) to mutually help one another. He wants the voice of those who no longer exist amongst you to make itself heard as it cries out, 'Pray and believe'! for death is resurrection, and life is a trial that you have chosen, during which the virtues you have cultivated must grow and develop like a cedar tree.
"Believe in the voices that respond to you - they are the very souls of those whom you evoke. Rarely do I myself communicate. My friends, who beheld my life and death, are the divine interpreters of the designs of my Father.
"Frail men and women, you who have believed in the deception of your darkened minds, do not quench the flame that the divine mercy has placed in your hands to light the path and lead you like wayward children to the shelter of your Father.
"Truly, I say to you, believe in the diversity and multiplicity of the spirits who surround you. I am too full of compassion for your sufferings and great weaknesses not to extend a protective hand to your unfortunate wayward brothers and sisters who, while looking to heaven, have fallen into the abyss of error. Believe, love and comprehend the truths that are being revealed to you. Do not mix the tares with the good wheat, or theories with truths.
"Spiritists! Love one another - that is the first teaching; educate yourselves - that is the second. All truths may be found in Christianity. The errors that have taken root within it are of human origin. And from beyond the grave - where you think there is nothing - voices cry out: Brothers and sisters! Nothing perishes. Jesus Christ is the victor over evil. You yourselves, be victors over impiety."
This communication, obtained by one of the best mediums of the Paris Spiritist Society, was signed with a name that out of respect we could only reproduce with extreme reservation, so great would be the honor of its authentic signature, and because the name has already been much abused in obviously apocryphal 'writings. It is that of Jesus of Nazareth. We have absolutely no doubt that he can manifest himself. However, if truly high order spirits only do so under exceptional circumstances, reason prevents us from believing that the Pure Spirit par excellence would respond to any appeal. It would be at the very least a great sacrilege to attribute an unworthy communication to him.
These considerations have led us always to avoid publishing anything bearing his name. We believe we can never be too cautious when dealing with publications of this type, which only appeal to vanity, and whose least inconvenience is to furnish weapons to the adversaries of Spiritism.
As we have stated, the more elevated the spirits in the hierarchy are, the more we should distrust signatures bearing their names. It would take a huge dose of pride for certain individuals to flatter themselves at having been privileged with their communications, deeming themselves worthy of conversing with them as if they •were one of their equals. In the above communication, our only proof is the undeniable superiority of the language and thought, and we will leave to each person the care of appraising whether or not he who has signed it -would reject it or not.
