The Childhood of Jesus
The Gospel of James
Biographical Gospel of the Lord
- Chapter 143 -
A Captain Seeks Enlightenment
THE MORNING MEAL lasted for an hour, and during that time much was said about many things.
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A captain seated at the end of the table, who had also been present on the mountain trip, now asked one of the three former priests,
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'Listen to me! See, we have a doctrine about the gods, according to which everything teems with gods wherever we happen to look;
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but I have never seen nor noticed a trace of a god anywhere!
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I have not infrequently dreamed about a thousand things - but never about any sort of deity.
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Now who among all of us now living human beings can testify and confess in conscientious truth: I have seen and spoken with Zeus or any other deity?
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And since we all are only human beings just like those who in ancient days are supposed to have associated with the gods,
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I just cannot see why the gods now desert us and do not in the least concern themselves with us any more.
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Could you, as a former priest, not give me some valid reason for that?'
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The lesser priest answered, 'Dear friend, I beg you, whatever you do, never ask me about such most ridiculous things.
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Our gods are nothing but pure ephemera which originate in the morass of our stupidity.
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And since we in our stupidity are able to discern nothing better than the products of our own morass, we therefore prefer these and picture them in our minds as gods,
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build temples to them and in these worship the altogether null and void products of our stupidity.
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See, those are the gods to whom we have built temples, and with which Rome abounds.
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Yes, there is indeed a true God, but He has always been holy, and we in our hearts most unclean beings cannot see Him, but nevertheless His works.
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Now if you wish to find out a few things about this one God, then turn to yonder chaste Jew. He will surely - I swear it to you - teach you to know Him more closely.'
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With this information the captain was satisfied, for he there received just the answer which he had long been seeking.
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He then made his way over to Joseph and made his wish known to him.
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But Joseph retorted, 'Good man, everything requires its time. When you are ready it will be revealed to you, so be content with this promise for the present.'