The Courage of Faith

13. Everyone who confesses me and acknowledges me before men, I will acknowledge and confess before  my Father who is in heaven; and anyone who denies me before men, I will deny before my Father who is in heaven. (Mt. 10:32-33)

14. If anyone  is ashamed  of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of his Father and all the holy angels. (Lk. 9:26)

15.  Courage of opinion has always been held in great esteem by humankind because there is merit in facing the danger, persecution, opposition and even the simple sarcasm to which are exposed those who are not afraid to loudly profess ideas that are not the same as everybody  else’s.  Here, as in everything, the merit depends on the circumstances  and the importance of the result. There is always weakness  in recoiling from the consequences of one’s opinions and in denying them, but there are cases where it is a cowardice as great as that of fleeing at the moment of combat.

Jesus condemned such cowardice from the special point of view of his doctrine, saying that if anyone is ashamed of his words, he will be ashamed of him or her; that he will deny those who have denied him; that those who confess him before others, he will acknowledge before his Father who is in heaven. In other words, those who are afraid to confess that they are disciples of the truth are not worthy of being admitted into the kingdom of the truth. They will lose the benefit of their faith because it is a selfish faith that they keep to themselves, and which they hide out of fear that it might bring them harm in this world, whereas those who, placing the truth above their own material interests and proclaiming it openly, work simultaneously for their own future and the future of others.

16. It will be the same for the followers of Spiritism; since its doctrine is nothing other than the development and application of the Gospel, Christ’s words are addressed to them as well. They sow on the earth what they will reap in the spirit life. There, they will reap the fruits of their courage or their weakness.