The Great Gospel of John
Volume 2
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
Jesus in the Vicinity of Caesara Philippi (Matthew 16)
- Chapter 207 -
Josoe's concept about divine acquiescence.
Says Josoe: "In Your name then I shall try it with all brevity, but whether my view is correct will be another matter.
2
Among life's priorities, man's feet obviously stand below those of the hands; but if the feet did not transport man to water then they could not be cleaned of dust and dirt by the hands. Wherefore I believe slavery generally to be as important as employment. When the feet slip, the whole man falls, and it hence is good and expedient that the feet, which by all rights can be called the body's slaves, are cared for more than any other body-members. Dull and resignedly the feet have to carry the heavy and often quite indolent body on days of journeying, to finally receive hardly any reward other than some cleaning refreshment at some spring; whilst the body, following a journey, having been indolent during the entire journey, fortifies itself with food and drink. - What can and what are the feet going to say to that? Nothing, -for they are created for that!
3
Wherefore I maintain that slavery is a necessity which cannot be abolished, if mankind is to remain within the order set for it, be it that mankind with time discovers some other kind of locomotion, whereupon the slavery of the feet could of course be made redundant. - And so I expect it could happen with slavery.
4
It would of course be better if degrading slavery could be done with altogether; but it may be a long time yet before such blessed condition shall be kissing the Earth.
5
Verily, among mankind, a slave is regarded as weed. But by this rare weed, free man is superbly manured, and becomes indigent and fully inactive, - and this I consider most evil. In this respect it would be better that there be no slavery at all. If on the other hand slavery is an school for humbling, then of course it is a necessity for the too highly ascended mankind, because after the Babylonian captivity the Israelites once again had become a quite good nation, - it is merely regrettable that the captivity did not last at least a century! Because after the liberation, there were to my knowledge too many of those among them before whose eyes there still swam the former brilliance of the Jewish nation, wherefore they then also had nothing more urgent to do than to restore the bygone brilliance. And once the walls and the Temple were re-built, the old arrogance too was at hand and things soon went on more wickedly in Jerusalem than before the Babylonian captivity. Forty years was therefore obviously too little, but in about a hundred years our forefathers' taste for glitter, magnificence and haughtiness would have completely left them for hundreds of years!
6
All this nonetheless is only my rather immature conjecture, and is bound to attract its well-founded retorts; yet I speak from the heart. Because anyone getting smacked shall avoid doing evil for no longer than the pain lasts; if however God visits him with a most painful suffering then he is not likely to commit a sin through which he has brought such pain upon himself.
7
Wherefore I cannot but regard long-lasting slavery as appropriate, and now also comprehend the steely necessity for this class, thinking to myself: basically, a good and willing slave is a much more perfect man than a free one; for the free one is a slave of his senses, whilst a material slave can be quite free spiritually.
8
For there is a big difference between a man who is in control of himself, which has to be the case with a true slave, and a person who knows no obedience and for whom things go the way he wants them to.
9
And thus I now fully endorse slavery, not wishing to abolish it! For I say to myself: when this chief school for true humility ends, the people of this Earth shall be overtaken by great adversity!
10
It is of course to be wished that mankind live by Your doctrine, in which case slavery would be preposterous, and a travesty against human rights; but as long as that is not the case and perhaps will not be for a long while yet, slavery is and remains for haughty mankind a true gospel from the heavens, prescribed to Earth for mankind's reform. -
11
These are my feeble thoughts about Your comments on slavery; but I beg You oh Lord through Your grace to point out the mistakes I made, so that I can get to the full truth in this sphere!"
12
Say I: "Dear Josoe, here you are right in everything, and there is very little if anything to be added. But concerning the duration of the Babylonian captivity, you were somewhat side-racked by your zeal. Since behold, every captivity and also every slavery is basically nothing else than a punishing judgement allowed by God! A judgement however is and remains unfortunately always an extreme coercion for betterment and therefore has normally for the soul of man a rather negative than a good effect; for who avoids the bad only because of its bad consequences and does good just because of its good consequences, is still very far from the kingdom of God. Only him who does good because it is good, and avoids which is bad for the sake of its being bad, is a perfect human. For as long man does not transport himself to the true light out of himself, he remains a slave in the spirit and is therefore dead for the kingdom of God. - External coercion leads man still onto other stray roads of moral love-life of which we will soon hear more about."