THE GREAT GOSPEL OF JOHN
VOLUME 5
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
Jesus in the region of Caesarea Philippi. (cont.) Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 16
- Chapter 201 -
A view into Saturn.
Says Hiram: "Now everything would already in the best order, since we now believe every word that you say, oh great, most eminent wise man. But since absolutely everything already seems to be possible for you, it shouldn't be impossible then for you to allow us to take a closer look at such a totally different earthly world "but for both of us at the same time, so that we can give a valid testimonial to others afterwards!"
2
Say I: "Oh, there is nothing easier! But with your physical eyes alone it would indeed be impossible. I will thus unite the eye of your spirit, your soul and your body for a short time, and up there in the sky you will see quite a large and moderately bright star "it is the so-called planet Saturn. If you now turn your eyes to it, you will see it quickly becoming larger and larger, and that will continue until you find yourselves like being on it completely! Then you may tell one another what you have seen! Now do this!"
3
At this both of them began to focus at the star and quickly it becomes larger and larger. Soon they see even its cleft ring and several of its moons. Soon the moons become as large as the moon of the Earth and quickly even larger; but the planet itself already stands in an awe-inspiring size and majesty before their eyes. Their loud amazement is already beginning to exceed all limits; for while they look at all this ever more perfectly, they express loudly with their mouths everything that they see.
4
They are now actually very close to the first, but actually most distant moon of this planet, and Hiram calls out loudly, "Ah, that is a huge, but unfortunately very barren earth! There are indeed people and animals and plants there; but everything is as if very atrophied, and it looks as if these people have only little intelligence "and they are not at all good-looking. The animals are also very poorly represented and look very strange. The plant world looks very monotone as well and severely atrophied. No, we don't like it there at all!
5
Ah, another world is coming towards us! Oh, that one is even worse! There's a third, it's also nothing "that would be the right world for wise Diogenes! We have seen it! Hey, there is a fourth and it looks no better! Just move on! Here comes a fifth already, there everything is very small; but the inhabited part nevertheless looks better than with the previous ones. The children are jumping around very cheerfully just like apes! There is no house to be seen anywhere. The animal kingdom seems to be represented very simply and very sparsely there as well, and likewise the beloved plant world! But here comes a sixth and even smaller world, and even a seventh! Oh. These are terribly ugly!
6
But now, oh, all lightning, hail and thunder! Now an enormous world is coming towards us! Oh, it has no end at all! (N.B.: It is the outer ring.) Ah, it seems to go on in the straightest line eternally with no end! Oh, it looks quite magnificent there! Extremely long mountain ranges seem to go on forever, and a number of lakes and rivers are visible, and people and plants have more similarity to ours. But there seems to be no trace of a noticeable culture there. The people, who look very strange, seem to know no cheerfulness and are tremendously huge. But there are no houses, nor even less any towns.
7
Aha, now a second such large world is coming towards us yet again! That is just as if one extremely large world was stuck inside another! But otherwise there is not much difference between this and the previous great earth "and here, here comes a third already, almost the very same! Well, well, how many earths are hidden then inside one another?! But here the somewhat smaller people seem indeed to be very phantom-like, and everything is very barren "and almost no culture at all! No, we would not like to live on this world either!
8
But here comes once again a sort of little world towards us! Well, well, in close proximity now it nonetheless looks quite acceptable; but there is nothing of any creature to be discovered! But oh, all the elements! Now here an earth is coming towards us for which one must have all respect!"
9
At this the observation bound with every possible exclamation of amazement lasted almost half an hour, and I called the two back again to their natural state and left them the fullest memory of what they had seen in their souls and even in their brain, and then asked them how they had liked Saturn.