The Great Gospel of John
Volume 10
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
The Lord in the region of Caesarea Philippi (cont.)
- Chapter 20 -
The most important reasons for the variety in the creation on Earth.
I said: "My friend, in a natural, worldly respect you are of course completely right, and little could be objected against it, but in the field of the soul and the spirit, which is completely unknown to you up till now, you want something from Me which is completely against every order on this Earth.
2
Look, on a celestial body where it is the people's destiny for what concerns their soul and their spirit to become perfect children of God, everything must be exactly arranged as it is arranged on this Earth.
3
Although your eye can see and your reason can recognize nothing else except judgment, persecution, robbery, murder, death, decay and perishability, but it is not as you imagine these things, but quite different.
4
Firstly the laziness, which is an inevitable attachment of the matter of the body, is the greatest enemy of the soul who must become more and more awake and active, for only through that can he become completely similar to the Spirit of God in him, and thus become similar to God. And the hotter the countries are where people have built their houses, the more they are threatened by this first enemy of the soul.
5
If in such countries there would not be all kinds of animals that are troublesome for man, and if he did not have to take care for the nourishment of his body, then he also would not take care for the development of the powers of his soul. He soon would look like a sea polyp or like the roots of a tree that have nothing else to do except to suck to them the nutrients that are suitable to them, from the water, from the soil and from the air through its organic-mechanical system.
6
Look, this is the most important reason why all kinds of things were created for man on this Earth which will wake him up to various activities - firstly for his body, and then also for his soul, which is the most important.
7
For what concerns the second reason, every thinker can easily discover this for himself. Just imagine the Earth as a completely uniform big globe. On its vast surface there would be only completely the same brooks, lakes and seas. No mountains, no other animals than sheep, no birds except chickens, and no other water animals than only precisely the same kinds of fishes everywhere. In the same manner on the earth's surface there would only grow one kind of grass as nourishment for the sheep, as well as only one kind of fruit to feed the people and the chickens. Furthermore also only one kind of fruit tree and one kind of tree to build a simple dwelling hut. And so there also would be only one kind of stone everywhere, as well as only one kind of metal of which men would be able to make the simplest utensils for their livelihood.
8
Now say for yourself how much progress the people could make in the development of their concepts, ideas and imaginations in such a world.
9
I do not have to explain to you how extremely meager their reason and mind would look like, while they have to become more elevated and purer. But I point your attention on the very poor state of development of the soul and the spirit of the living human beings on Earth who live in regions where there are no mountains in the wide environment, where only here and there some uniform grass on the ground is growing, and furthermore some meager shrubs that are pining away at the shores of a few ugly brooks and lakes that look like pools.
10
Such regions are not unknown to you. What does the development of the spirit of those inhabitants look like? Look, for the greatest part they are wild. And why? Because they cannot come to any development of their concepts, ideas and productive imaginations for the development of the reason and mind, because of the lack of an as great as possible variety of the things and creatures that surround them which are necessary for the higher development of the soul.
11
On the other hand, look at those people whose country is richly provided with all imaginable varieties, and you will discover that they have developed. If not in the sphere of the deepest inner life of the soul and spirit, then nevertheless in the sphere of the outer mind, reason and imagination, which man needs if he wants to pass over to a higher development of the inner life of the soul and spirit. For if you want to climb a mountain for the beautiful view, there firstly has to be a mountain, and when there is one, then while climbing you should not be satisfied with the half height of the mountain - although it will already give you a very wide view - but moreover make the effort to also climb the highest tops in order to enjoy the full view from there.
12
So also, once men whose reason, mind and imagination are greatly developed, should not be satisfied with this half height of life, but make the effort to reach its full height.
13
You will understand what I want to tell you with this. And here you have a second reason why God has provided this Earth with such great variety of all things, creatures and phenomena, of which you up till now, with all your Alexandrian development, hardly know the smallest stroke of the little alpha ."