The Great Gospel of John
Volume 10
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
The Lord in Golan
- Chapter 86 -
The captain instructs the priests about the uselessness of pagan worship.
On that, the captain said: "Although you have spoken very well now, and your words were very intelligent, but for me they only have very little value because their content and the truth in yourself are standing far away from each other. Because look, firstly you yourself do not even have a little spark of faith and trust in the gods, which I could very clearly proof to you as well as to all your colleagues from my experience. And since you yourself have no faith at all in a god, your speech is for me nothing else but a useless bragging of words without any value.
2
And I do not say this to you with the purpose of punishing you and your colleagues for your behavior, but I want to make it clear to you that you will not accomplish anything that is good with all your apparent wise shouting to the people, of which the better part thoroughly perceived your intentions already for a long time. Especially in this time when the clearest truth about the existence of an only true God, about the manner in which one should worship Him and about the very obvious destiny of man is spreading very clearly among the Jews. And a lot of the better gentiles are already turning to the new faith of the Jews and found therein real comfort and a very good and firmly established reassurance.
3
You certainly must also have heard about it. But then why did you not yet try to proof it for yourselves? And why do you stubbornly persist trying to make the people believe what you never believed yourselves, but still want to convince the people with your empty shouting?
4
If you are convinced in yourselves that our gods do not mean anything and you do not believe in them, then search first for the truth yourselves. And when you have found it, do not withhold it from the people who are only thirsting for the full truth. Then you surely will be more useful to the people and to the state than with your empty shouting.
5
Make from the idol temples houses to accommodate the poor and the sick, and do also not turn your back on the foreigners. Then you will find the true, living mercy from the one, only true God, who will certainly be more useful to you than all your dead earthly treasures that you extorted from the people through your insane shouting at occasions like tonight."
6
On this, the pagan priest said: "High commander, now you have completely spoken the truth, and this is precisely how things are with us. But to whom should we turn to find that living truth that will be more useful to us and the people than the possession of all the treasures of the whole Earth? And when we have found the truth and will have instructed and converted the people according to that truth, then what must we answer our supreme priests if they would call us to account for the fact that we turn the people away from that which they are teaching and what they want to have, and convert them to the pure Judaism?"
7
The captain said: "To whom you should turn in order to come to know the pure, living truth and the one, only true God and thus also His will, I can show you the very shortest way to that.
8
Look, here at my right sits the Man who can show you the pure truth in all its fullness, and He is also in Himself the One to who obey all the powers and mights of Heaven and Earth. If you acknowledge that and will really understand it, it will become clear to you by itself what you will have to say to those who will ask you why you turned to the true Judaism with the people who were entrusted to you.
9
We Romans are very tolerant what concerns the various religions, and we do not refuse anyone the manner in which he imagines some deity, believes in it and trust upon it. You know that as well as I do, for although the Romans have conquered many nations in Asia, Africa and Europe and made them subordinates of Rome, they nevertheless always left the teaching concerning the gods of those people untouched. And they also erected temples in Rome for the strange gods. So in this respect, Rome is tolerant and you have nothing to fear from that, and even less here in Asia since the Judaism is the ruling religion here.
10
I have shown you now the way to the pure, living truth, and you may now do what you want."