The Great Gospel of John
Volume 2
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
First journey of the Lord: Kis - landing place at Sibarah - Nazareth
- Chapter 58 -
About man's free self-determination and his sinful self-degradation.
Hearing this Cyrenius is overwhelmed by the greatest awe: "Friends and servants of the Lord, only now do I realise Who the Lord is and who I am. I am absolutely nothing and He is endlessly everything. I only do not understand our human audacity which makes us speak with Him as if with our own kind."
2
Says the two angels: "He wants it to be like that, for the children have from eternity the right to speak to the Father to their heart's content. Therefore, do not ask about silly things and circumstances, for it is not your responsibility that your a man, but solely His Who created you the way you are out of Himself, not depending on anybody's counsel but His very own. And how could He have asked anyone else but Himself since before Him there was no being in the whole of infinity?
3
Therefore, if you speak with Him as if with your own kind, you do the right thing, for God has no one except Himself with whom He could speak. But His created beings that are out of Him have been given the freedom so that they can now speak with God and God with them like one man with another, and thus it is quite in order for you to speak with Him like with your own kind. For the created being is worthy of its Creator and the Creator of His created being.
4
Every created being is witness to God's omnipotence, wisdom and love, and without His power no ever so mighty spirit is capable of creating anything, which can be done only by God. But since every created being is a witness to the divine omnipotence, wisdom and love, how should it then not be worthy of its Creator? - Do you understand this?"
5
Says Cyrenius: "Oh you supremely wise servants of almighty God, how clear and comprehensible your so very wise lesson is. Yes, it is indeed so. Man must truly not be ashamed of that which is, for he is the Creator's truest masterpiece provided he lives according to the freely recognised will of God. I think he corrupts thereby and can no longer correspond to what he originally was and is meant to be and remain forever.
6
And so sin must be an act contrary to God's original order by which act man, as himself creator of his to be developed nature, which is to become similar to God's, corrupts himself there by rendering himself unworthy of being a created being of the eternal, almighty Master."
7
Say the angels: "There you are quite right. Every human being remains God's worthy masterpiece as far as his form, usefulness, ability and living freedom are concerned, so-to-say purely a machine for a free and living expression of the spirit.
8
But as concerns the moral development of his heart and soul, which necessarily has to be left to him, he can degrade himself to a hellish monster, thereby committing the greatest sin because he has within and through himself transformed God's greatest masterpiece into a wretched bungle, whereupon it costs God Himself much effort and incalculable patience until the spoilt work becomes once more a masterpiece.
9
Because of inexpressibly many self-spoilt works the Master has this time Himself come into the world in order to once and for all rectify these spoilt works. However, the works will continue to become corrupted, and because of that He will establish in this world a new institution in which all the spoilt works will be able to rectify themselves independently. But he who will not of his own accord make us of this institution will forever remain corrupted if his will does not change. Do you understand this?"
10
Says Cyrenius: "I do understand also this completely and because of that I am of the opinion that people must be urged through good but strict laws to make the fullest use of this institution."
11
Say the angels: "This will indeed happen, but it will be of little use to mankind, for only what man does spontaneously is of benefit to him. Everything else harms him considerably.
12
For if man could be perfected through any kind of compulsion, be it from the outside or from within, we would have more than sufficient power to bind and compel all people in such a way that it would be impossible for them to ever again act contrary to any law. Thereby we would make of man, who is destined in all freedom to become similar to God, only a dumb animated machine that would forever be quite as incapable of any useful free activity as the ever so sharp sword of justice, without being handed by an experienced hand.
13
This shows you clearly that any compulsion would not ever be of any use, but only true teaching followed by free self-determination in accordance with the received teaching by which everyone is shown the well-lit path of divine order, how to conduct his life."