Reading Assignment:
- SB Part Three: Chapter I – Divine or Natural Law
Discussion Questions:
1. Are scientific laws, such as Newton’s laws of motion, divine laws?
2. What insight does reincarnation provide in helping us understand why different individuals vary so much in their ability to understand divine law? Does it also provide insight into the ability of a person to discover natural law?
3, If God’s law is written in every spirit’s conscience, what is the function of a book such as The Spirits’ Book?
4. What does Jesus say about discerning whether a prophet is a true one or not? Does The Spirits’ Book say the same thing?
5. The book Walden by Henry David Thoreau closes with these lines:
The light which puts out our eyes is darkness to us. Only that day dawns to which we are awake. There is more day to dawn. The sun is but a morning star.
Reading this chapter of The Spirits’ Book I think I understand the meaning of the first sentence, which had always seemed somewhat obscure to me. Can you explain?
6. Kardec’s comment to Q628 pertains to what is sometimes called the “Ancient Wisdom” (for example, the book The Gnosis and Christianity by William Kingsland). Does Kardec recommend the study of such material?
7. Some ancient scriptures identify two powerful forces in the universe, one for good and one for evil. The human drama can be seen as a playing out of the struggle between these two forces. Comment on this teaching in the light of Spiritism.
8. Gandhi said, “The world has enough for everyone’s need, but not for everyone’s greed.” Comment from the perspective of Spiritism.
9. Who is more guilty: the owner of a sweat shop who pays very low wages or the worker who resorts to theft to feed his large family?
10. Is it enough to do no evil?