Kardec Identified
as a Deist Representative
Marco Milani
Text published in Portuguese
in Revista Candeia Espírita, no. 38, November 2024, pp. 8–9
Maurice
Lachâtre, a French intellectual and longtime friend of Professor Rivail, was an
active figure in the defense of freedom of expression and a sharp critic of
religious intransigence. His prominent role in the press made him a target of
both politicians and clergy, leading to fines and lawsuits. After settling in
Spain to escape an arrest warrant, Lachâtre took part in an emblematic episode
in the history of Spiritism. He was the one who commissioned the Spiritist
works of Allan Kardec, which were later confiscated and publicly burned by
order of the Bishop of Barcelona in 1861. This act, reminiscent of
inquisitorial practices, became known as the Auto-de-fé of Barcelona and
ultimately helped to spread Spiritism throughout Spain.
In 1865,
Lachâtre published in France the Nouveau Dictionnaire Universel, which
made several references to Spiritism and Allan Kardec. In one of them, under
the entry “Deism,” Kardec was identified as the leader of the Spiritist
Doctrine and as a representative of Deism in France. In free translation, the
full text of that entry reads:
“DEISM, masculine noun (from
Latin Deus, God). Doctrine that admits the existence of God but rejects
revelation and all its consequences. The followers of deism associate this
belief with natural religion. The worship of the Theophilanthropists was a form
of deism. Deism is distinguished from theism, the former being opposed to
revealed religion and the latter opposed to atheism. The embryo of purest deism
was found in France since the seventeenth century, especially in Bayle, but it
was mainly in England, in the writings of Bolingbroke, Collins, Tindall,
Toland, Shaftesbury, Woolston, and Priestley, that it manifested itself openly,
being professed by all those who called themselves free thinkers. Voltaire, J.
J. Rousseau, and their numerous disciples spread deism in France in the last
century, and in our day, Allan Kardec, the leader of the Spiritist doctrine,
continues the work of those great philosophers.” [1]
As a
sympathizer of Spiritism, Lachâtre was familiar with its doctrinal works and,
as a personal friend, with Allan Kardec’s integrity and intellectual acumen. By
referring to him as a representative of deist thought in France, following
Voltaire and Rousseau, Lachâtre emphasized the contrast between Spiritist ideas
and the theism of traditional churches.
Kardec, in turn, devoted a
laudatory article to the Nouveau Dictionnaire Universel in the January
1866 issue of Revue Spirite. In that text, he stated that a work of the
highest interest to the Spiritist Doctrine had been published, noting that:
“All the special terms of the
Spiritist vocabulary are found in that vast repertory, not with a mere
definition, but with all the developments they entail, so that their whole will
form a true treatise on Spiritism.” [2]
Regarding the
concept of Deism, Allan Kardec contrasted it with Theism and Pantheism, but
subdivided it into two currents: Independent Deism and Providential
Deism [3].
Adherents of
the first current, independent deists, are those who believe in God as the
creator of the general laws that perfectly govern the universe, yet assume that
God no longer concerns Himself with His creatures.
Providential
deists, forming the second current, share the same notions of the independent
deists regarding the perfection and immutability of natural laws but differ in
affirming the existence of divine providence; that is, God is not indifferent
to His creatures and is, at the same time, transcendent and immanent in the
universe. The divine providence of deism, under this view, would be a direct
action of God fully in harmony with the laws of Nature, without any suspension
or miracle.
The Spiritist
Doctrine proposes a conception of God that is not subordinate to any prior
school of thought, distinguishing itself from Theism by rejecting supernatural
intervention and closed revelation, and distancing itself from Pantheism by
affirming the separation between Creator and creation. At the same time, it
approaches Providential Deism by understanding that God, after creating the
universe, continues to govern it in a just and loving way, without violating
His own laws. This conception places Spiritism in a unique philosophical
position.
In summary, the Spiritist Doctrine is a philosophy distinct from other spiritualist schools in its entirety, bearing close resemblance to Providential Deism. It embraces the idea that the universe was created and is not to be confused with God, who governs it through natural, perfect, and immutable laws.
[3] See Posthumous Works – Part 1 – The Five Alternatives of Humanity.
