Spiritism: The Fundamentals

From the original "Get to Know Spiritism, a new era for Humanity" by CEI (International Spiritist Council)
The below gives a brief list of the most fundamental concepts of the Spiritist Codification.

God is the Supreme Intelligence, first cause of all things. God is eternal, immutable, immaterial, unique, omnipotent, supremely just and good.

The Universe is God's creation. It encompasses all rational and non-rational beings, both animate and inanimate, material and immaterial.

In addition to the corporeal world inhabited by incarnate Spirits, which are Human Beings, there exists the spiritual world, inhabited by discarnate Spirits.

Within the Universe there are other inhabited worlds, with beings at different degrees of evolution: some equal, others more or less evolved than Human Beings.

All the Laws of Nature are Divine Laws because God is their author. They cover both the physical and moral laws.

A Human Being is a Spirit incarnated in a material body. The perispirit is the semi-material body that unites the Spirit to the physical body.

The Spirits are the intelligent beings of creation. They constitute the world of the Spirits, which pre-exists and outlives everything.

Spirits are created simple and ignorant. They evolve intellectually and morally, passing from a lower order to a higher one, until they attain perfection, where they will enjoy unalterable bliss.

Spirits preserve their individuality before, during, and after each incarnation.

Spirits reincarnate as many times as is necessary for their spiritual advancement.

Spirits are always progressing. In their multiple physical existences, they may sometimes become stationary but they never regress. The speed of their intellectual and moral progress depends on the efforts they make to attain perfection.

Spirits belong to different orders according to the degree of perfection they have attained: Pure Spirits, who have attained maximum perfection; Good Spirits, whose predominant desire is towards goodness; and Imperfect Spirits, characterized by their ignorance, their tendency towards evil, and by their lower passions.

The Spirits' relations with Human Beings are constant and have always existed. The Good Spirits attract us towards goodness, sustain us in life's trials, and help us bear them with courage and resignation. The Imperfect Spirits induce us towards error.

Jesus is the Guide and Model for all Humankind. The Doctrine He taught and exemplified is the most pure expression of God's Law.

The morality of Christ, as contained in the Gospels, is the pathway for the secure progress of all Human Beings. Its practice is the solution for all human problems and the objective to be attained by Humankind.

Human Beings are given the free will to act, but they must answer for the consequences of their actions.

Future life reserves for Human Beings penalties and pleasures according to the respect they do or do not show for God's laws.

Prayer is an act of adoration for God. It is found in the natural law and is the result of an innate sentiment in every Human Being, just as the idea of the existence of the Creator is innate.

Prayer makes Human Beings better. Whoever prays with fervor and confidence grows stronger against evil temptations, and God sends the Good Spirits to assist them. This type of assistance will never be denied when requested with sincerity.

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