114- Are spirits good or evil by nature, or may they seek to improve themselves?
“They may improve themselves, and as they do so they pass from a lower order to a higher one.”
115- Have some spirits been created good and others evil?
“God has created all spirits simple and ignorant, i.e., without knowledge. God has given each of them a mission. It is aimed at enlightening them and progressively leading them toward perfection through knowledge of the truth in order to draw them near to God. In that perfection, they will find eternal bliss without any troubles. Spirits acquire knowledge by experiencing the trials that God has imposed on them. Some humbly accept these trials and thus arrive more quickly at their destiny, whereas others cannot endure them without complaining; thus, through their own fault these latter ones remain far from the perfection and bliss promised to them.”
– Then are all spirits at their origin ignorant and inexperienced like children, who gradually acquire the knowledge they lack by passing through the different phases of human life?
“Yes, that is an accurate comparison. How much children improve depends on their behavior – rebellious children remain ignorant and imperfect. However, human life has an ending, whereas that of spirits extends to infinity.”
116- Are there spirits who remain forever in the lower orders?
“No, all will become perfect. They change, albeit slowly, for as we once said, a just and merciful father cannot banish his children forever. Do you think that God, who is so great, so good and so just, could be worse than you yourselves?”
117- Does it depend on spirits themselves to hasten their advancement toward perfection?
“Absolutely. The amount of time it takes them depends on their desire and submission to God’s will. Doesn’t a well behaved child learn faster than one who is obstinate?”
118- Can spirits regress?
“No. As they progress, they gain an understanding of what is holding them back from perfection. When a spirit finishes a particular trial, it never forgets the knowledge it acquired. A spirit may remain stationary, but it never regresses.”
119- Could God exempt spirits from the trials that are required of them to reach the first order?
“If they had been created already perfect, they would not deserve to enjoy the benefits of that perfection. Where would the merit be without the struggle? Besides, inequality among them is necessary for their personalities to develop, while the missions entrusted to them in the various degrees of the hierarchy reside in the designs of Providence for ensuring the harmony of the universe.”
Since it is possible for everyone in societal life to reach the highest positions, we might just as easily ask why sovereigns of countries do not make generals of every one of their soldiers, why all entry level employees are not made supervisors or why all students are not professors. There is, however, one distinct difference between societal life and spirit life in that the former is limited and does not always allow everyone to reach the highest degree, whereas the latter is unlimited and assures everyone the possibility of reaching the highest position.
120- Must all spirits pass through the trial of evil to reach the good?
“Not evil, but ignorance.”
121- Why have some spirits followed the path of the good, but others the path of evil?
“Don’t they have free will? God does not create any spirits evil from the start; they are created simple and ignorant, that is, capable of both good and evil. Those who are evil have become so through their own will.”
122- At their origin, how are spirits free to choose between good and evil when they are not yet self-aware? Is there some inner principle or tendency that leads them more toward one side than the other?
“Free will develops as the spirit acquires self-awareness. There would be no actual choice if it were made by a cause extraneous to the spirit’s will. The cause is not within the spirit, but outside, in the influences to which it yields in virtue of its free will. This is the great symbol of the fall of humankind and original sin: some yielded to temptation; others resisted it.”
– Where do the influences that act upon spirits come from?
“From the imperfect spirits who seek to involve and dominate them, and who delight in making them succumb. This is what is represented in the allegory of Satan.”
– Does this influence act on a spirit only when it first comes into being?
“It follows the spirit over the course of its existence until it has acquired so much self-control that evil spirits do not bother it any longer.”
123- Why does God allow spirits to follow the path of evil?
“How do you dare ask God to give account for the divine acts? Do you think you can delve into God’s will? Instead, you should say that God’s wisdom is found in the freedom of choice that has been granted to each spirit so that each one may have the merit of its own deeds.”
124- There are spirits who follow the path of the absolute good from the beginning, while others follow the path of absolute evil. Aren’t there gradations between these two extremes?
“Yes, certainly; they are the paths of the vast majority.”
125- Will those spirits who follow the path of evil be able to arrive at the same degree of elevation as the others?
“Yes, but the eternities will be much longer for them.”
We must understand the expression “eternities” to mean the way in which imperfect spirits regard the perpetuity of their sufferings, whose end they are not allowed to foresee. This belief is renewed every time they succumb to a trial.
126- In God’s sight, are the spirits who reach the highest degree after having passed through evil less meritorious than the others?
“God looks upon those who have gone astray with the same regard and loves all of them in the same way. They are called evil because they have succumbed; before that, they were nothing more than simple spirits.”
127- Are all spirits created equal with regards to their intellectual faculties?
“They are all created equal, but since they do not know where they come from, they must develop their free will. They progress in both intelligence and morality at different rates.”
Spirits who follow the path of the good from the beginning are not therefore perfect because of it. Although they have no evil tendencies, they must still acquire the necessary experience and knowledge needed for perfection. We could compare them to children who must develop and learn no matter how good their natural instincts are – they do not suddenly go from infancy to adulthood without a transition. Just as there are individuals who are good from childhood and others who are evil, there are spirits who are good or evil from the start, but with the crucial difference that a child possesses its instincts already formed, whereas a spirit is neither evil nor good at its formation. Rather, it has both tendencies, taking one direction or the other in virtue of its own free will.
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