Bibliography Letter from a Catholic about SpiritismBy Dr. Grand, former Vice-Consul of France
The author of this brochure proposes to demonstrate that it is possible
to be simultaneously a good Catholic and a zealous spiritist. In that
sense he preaches by the word and by the example since he is sincerely one
and the other. Through facts and arguments of rigorous logic he establishes
the agreement between Spiritism and religion, demonstrating that
all fundamental dogmas found in Spiritism give an explanation that satisfies
the most demanding reason, and that Theology unsuccessfully strives
to provide; concluding that if these dogmas were taught in this way they
would find less incredulity and hence religion would have to gain from an
alliance, forecasting that one day Spiritism will be in religion and religion
in Spiritism.
It seems hard to believe that after reading this little book those with
their religious scruples who keep away from Spiritism are not led to a
healthier appreciation for it. There also is an obvious fact that the spiritist
ideas advance with such a speed that even without being a sorcerer or
a foreteller, it is possible to predict the time when those ideas will be so broadly accepted that, willing or not, one will have to count on them.
They shall conquer citizenship, without the need for anyone’s permission;
and it shall soon be acknowledged, if not done yet, the absolute impossibility
of stopping its course.
Even the diatribes give them an extraordinary boost and one would
not believe the number of adepts that Mr. Louis Figuier made with his
“Histoire du Merveilleux” (History of the Marvelous) in which he pretends
to explain everything through hallucination when, in fact, he definitely
explains nothing since his starting point is the denial of every force outside
humanity and his material theory cannot resolve all cases. The mockery
of Mr. Oscar Comettant was without sufficient reasoning. He made
people laugh but not to the cost of the spiritists. The gross and insensible
article from the Gazette de Lyon harmed only itself because everybody
judged it as it deserved.
After reading the brochure mentioned above, what can we say to
those who still dare to suggest that the spiritists are impious and that
their doctrine threatens religion? They don’t notice that by saying so they
would lead to believe that religion is vulnerable. It would in fact be very
vulnerable if a utopia could compromise it – since according to them this
is utopia. We are not afraid of saying that all sincerely religious people –
meaning those that are more from their hearts than from their lips – will
recognize in Spiritism a divine manifestation, whose objective is to revive
the perishing religious faith.
We highly recommend this brochure to all of our readers and we do
believe that they shall do good service by promoting it.
