Regardless of differences in philosophies and beliefs, Religious Doctrines have one thing in common: They all hold that human beings are on Earth for a higher purpose, a spiritual goal. Religions based on the literal interpretation of the Bible define this goal as "salvation of the soul". Spiritism and reincarnationist doctrines generally define this goal as "evolution of the spirit".

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However, in both concepts it is possible to compare the Earth to a great school, where we are temporarily to learn from our mistakes and successes, in search of the great spiritual goal, even though we do not have this awareness and, in this learning process, we will be evaluated based on what we have done good or bad, through our thoughts, words and deeds.

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The divergences begin from the moment in which one discusses the destiny of each one, after this short cycle called "life". Let us then analyze the two different "Systems of evaluation" advocated by each one of the doctrines, to conclude which of them is most compatible with the idea of Divine Perfection.

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The first one, which we will call symbolically as the "Punitive system", represents the doctrine of eternal punishments, defended by the traditional Christian churches; and the second one, which we will call symbolically as "Evolutionary System," represents the doctrine of successive lives. In our analogy, we will describe two fictitious schools, each using one of the systems mentioned:

 

First School: This school applies to students what we call the "Punitive System". In this system, each student will have a full year to prepare and, at the end of it, will undergo a general evaluation, which will determine whether or not the student will be approved. In case of approval, the student will be taken to a higher class, along with all the other approved students, where they will stay for all eternity.

 

In case of disapproval, the student will be isolated, along with the other students who were also disapproved, and all will be, for eternity, paying and suffering because they were not approved in that school year.

 

The justification for the inflexibilityto the students who failed is that they have had the whole school year to become aware of the importance of their studies and to get their approval, so in case of failure they deserve, as punishment, to suffer for all eternity. That is why we used the term "Punitive": Its focus is punishment. They will never be granted with a chance of recovery.

 

However, an important detail: Students who did not study hard along the year and certainly would not be able to reach approval, if they repent prior to the final assessment, they will automatically be "forgiven" and will go to special class along with the students who have been approved, with no need to make any recovery and no additional test. The simple fact of repenting will put them next to the best students, who in turn have conquered this right by their own merit.

 

And so, all students who go to the upper class, both those who have won their approval with merit and those who have conquered it only by repentance, will no longer need to perfect themselves and evolve, and they will only enjoy the eternal reward for having obtained their approval in just one school year.

 

Second School: This school uses what we call the "Evolutionary System". In this system, at the end of a school year, the students will undergo a kind of screening. Those who have performed well along the year will continue their studies the following year in a more advanced class, where they will be able to learn new and more complex subjects. Thus, over the years, they will accumulate more and more knowledge, until one day they will no longer need to study at that school, but they will continue their studies in more advanced schools, where they will never cease to evolve.

 

Students who did not perform well will have a new chance: They will repeat the year, having to study again, in the following year, the same subjects that they had studied the previous year, so that they can achieve a better performance. If, in this new opportunity, they are still not able to do it, they will repeat again, and so on, as often as necessary, until one day they finally achieve the necessary level so that they can move on to a higher class and thus continue their course until they graduate.

 

It is important to consider that, in this school, no student will get the approval without proper merit. Unlike the first school, there is no possibility for a student to gain approval simply because he "regretted" of not having dedicated to the studies. On the other hand, all students will always have new chances of getting their approval.

 

Comparison between the two systems

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In the analogy presented, the great inequality between the two systems is evident: One of them prioritizes the student’s evolution, giving him numerous chances to evolve and learn with his mistakes, and the other prioritizes the student’s punishment, offering him absolutely no chance in Case of disapproval. Not to mention the absurdity of giving the students who did not study, and would not be able to pass in the "final evaluation", the possibility of "repenting" and then, even without having any merit, go to a "higher" class, to stay with other students who conquered this privilege by merit, which would be a great injustice to those who really dedicated themselves and won their approval by merit.

 

After the presentation of the two schools and their respective evaluation systems, let us   deepen our reasoning by answering the questions below:

 

1. If you had to choose between one of the two schools to enroll your child, which would you choose?

 

Well, if your answer is totally sincere and free of dogmas and religious influences, I can say, with absolute certainty, that you would enroll your son in the second school, which applies the Evolutionary System and never, under any circumstances, would allow him to attend the first school, which applies the Punitive System.

 

 And the reason is very simple: No one would accept to see his own son suffering eternally, however bad mistakes he had made. The "punitive" system, applied by the first school of our analogy, unquestionably uses a cruel, inhuman, disproportionate and, above all, unfair criterion.

 

If the "punitive" System presented in the analogy were perfect and fair, it would certainly be applied by all schools on Earth, but fortunately we see no school condemning students who have failed, giving them no chance of recovery.

 

2. Would it be possible that God, the infinite intelligence, could apply a "System of evaluation" lower  to the terrestrial system?

 

Of course not! On the contrary, the Divine Laws are certainly infinitely superior to terrestrial standards, not inferior ones. Now let us consider: If here on Earth, where we are still so far from perfection, such an inhuman and unfair criterion would never be acceptable, how could we suppose that a God, to whom the Supreme Perfection and the Supreme Wisdom are attributed, would be capable of apply it to His children?

 

In fact, the Earth can be compared to a great school, and the life of each person, in relation to eternity, represents an extremely short period of time, just as the period of a school year is, compared to the period of a life.

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If, at the end of this short period, that is, after this life, we were "judged" and those who were considered "reprobate" were condemned to the "hellfire" or to any eternal suffering, without a new chance of recovery, then God would simply be applying the same cruel criterion previously presented that none of us would be able to apply to our children.

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Comparison of systems efficiency

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In addition to the "Punitive" system being completely unfair, we can prove that its efficiency would also be much lower.

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Let us Imagine a classroom with 100 students and, at the end of the school term, we had 60 students failed. In the Evolutionary System, those students would repeat the year and, at the end of the second period, would be reevaluated. In this new evaluation some would be reproved again, but others would get the approval this time. It would be entirely reasonable then to imagine that, out of the 60 students who repeated the year, 40 of them would gain approval at this new opportunity. Therefore, of those 100 initial students, only 20 would have to repeat the year for the third time.

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By the end of the third year, it would be possible that all 20 eventually got approval, or some still needed another opportunity. The fact is that, in the Evolutionary System, all students would one day get the approval! The efficiency of the system is 100%, unlike the "punitive" system, whose efficiency would be limited to the number of students approved in the first and only term.

 

 Parable of the lost sheep

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Analyzing the Biblical passage of the "lost sheep", we can see on it God's wish that none of his sheeps go astray, further confirming the illogicity of a punitive system:

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“What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off?  And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish”. (Matthew 18:10-14)

 

Let us think logically: If “God is not willing that any of his children perish”, how could He then create a system in which, as we have already seen, so many would be lost, probably the great majority? Which of the two systems presented in this chapter would be applied by an infinitely Fair and Merciful God, who desires, according to the biblical passage above, the salvation of all His children? Which one is more compatible with the parable of the lost sheep?

 

On a supposed "Judgment Day", surely millions of "lost sheep" would receive eternal damnation for the wrongs they committed in their lives. But how many of these would redeem themselves, if they were given a new chance? Then, why would there be such intolerance on the part of God? If He applied eternal punishment, He would be abandoning the lost sheep, to be eternally beside the sheep that did not go astray, unlike the biblical parable we have just analyzed, where He does just the opposite, that is, He never gives up the lost sheep.

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 Logical argument analysis: