Production of Living Beings

43. When did the earth begin to be peopled?

"In the beginning all was chaos; the elements were mixed up in a state of confusion. Gradually those elements settled into their proper places, and then appeared the orders of

living beings appropriate to the successive e states of the globe."

44. Whence came the living beings that appeared upon the earth?

"The germs of these were contained in the earth itself, awaiting the favourable moment for their development. The organic principles came together on the cessation of the force which

held them asunder, and those principles formed the germs of all the living beings that have

peopled the earth. Those germs remained latent and inert, like the chrysalis and the seed of

plants, until the arrival of the proper moment for the vivification of each species. The beings

of each species then came together and multiplied."

45. Where were the organic elements before the formation of the earth?

"They existed, so to say in the fluidic state, in space, in the midst of the spirits, or in other

planets, awaiting the creation of the earth in order to begin a new existence on a new globe."

Chemistry shows us the molecules of inorganic bodies uniting to produce crystals of regular forms that are invariable for each species, as soon as those molecules find themselves in the conditions necessary to their combination. The slightest disturbance of those conditions suffices to prevent the union of the material elements, or. at least, to prevent the regular arrangement of the latter Which constitutes the crystal. Why should not the same action take place among the organic elements? we preserve for years

the seeds of plants and of animals, which are only vivified at a certain temperature and under certain conditions: grains of wheat have been seen to germinate after the lapse of centuries. The is. then, in seeds a latent principle of Vitality, which only awaits the concourse of favourable circumstances to develop itself. May not that which takes place under our eyes every day have also taken place at the origin of the globe? Does this view of the formation of living beings brought forth out of chaos by the action of the forces of nature itself detract in any way from the glory of God? So far from doing this, the view of creation thus presented to us is more consonant than any other with our sense of the vastness of His power exerting its sway over all the worlds of infinity through the action of universal laws. This theory, it is true, does not solve the problem of the origin of the vital elements, but nature has mysteries which it is as yet impossible for us to explain.

46. Do any living beings come into existence spontaneously at the present day?

"Yes; but the primal germs of these already existed in a latent state. You are constantly

witnesses of this phenomenon. Do not the tissues of the human body and of animals contain the germs of a multitude of parasites, that only await for their development the occurrence of the putrid fermentation necessary to their life? Each of you contains a slumbering world of microscopic beings in process of creation."

47. Was the human species among the organic elements contained in the terrestrial globe?

"Yes; and it made its appearance at the time appointed by the Creator. Hence the statement

that man was 'formed out of the dust of the ground.'"

48. Can we ascertain the epoch of tile appearance of man and of the other living beings on the earth?

"No; all your calculations are chimerical."

49. If the germs of the human race were among the organic elements of the globe, why are

human beings not produced spontaneously at the present day, as they were at the time of its

origin?

"The first beginning of things is hidden from us nevertheless, it may be asserted that the earliest progenitors of the human race, when once brought into existence, absorbed in themselves the elements necessary to their formation in order to transmit those elements according to the laws of reproduction. The same may be said in regard to all the different species of living beings."

From The Spirit's Book - Chapter III - Creation - Production of Living Beings - Ed Federação Espírita Brasileira FEB