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 152 -
Further explanations of Old Testament miracles.
At this Cyrenius interrupted the narrator and said to him, "By no means are you as foolish as I believed in the beginning; but because you seem to understand things so very well in their nature, I would like then to learn from you how you will explain to me the familiar appearance out of the Ark of the covenant, and indeed its daily pillar of smoke and nightly pillar of fire. How then did this appear in your very natural and miracle-less way?"
2
The Pharisee says with a very easy spirit, "High ruler! Just take a short look into the old art of warfare "and the famous and so much idolized Ark of the Covenant is explained! The box itself was a well-constructed instrument to create electricity to the greatest degree according to the ancient Egyptian type. Behind the highly complicated box there were iron carts to make smoke. They were filled with all sorts of strongly smoking and mostly also very stinking things, like feathers, the hairs of all sorts of animals and also people, spread these smoking ingredients with sulphur, pitch and saltpeter and ignited then this mechanism. This gave out a thick and powerful smoke which in a very short time, particularly with a fast pull of the cart, concealed the path like a thick fog and prevented the vision of the following enemy over the turns and positions of the pursued army, but at the same time, too unbearably adversely for the camels, horses and elephants, brought these animals of war to a turn-around and to the retreat, which was certainly no desirable thing for the following enemy. It can indeed be imagined that behind a fleeing army often several of the now described carts were drawn. That is now in the true imagery the so miraculous and even super-holy Ark of the Covenant of Moses, and I can also say to you, very highest ruler, with a clear conscience: SAPIENTI PAUCA!" [the wise man needs little].
3
Cyrenius says, "Fine, let's leave that then! How do you explain, however, the falling in of the walls of the old, great city of Jericho? The Ark of the Covenant was carried around the walls of the city, accompanied by the powerful-sounding trombones in the way that was already normal among the ancient Egyptians in the temples and I believe that the walls collapsed like porridge at the third circle. How was that possible then? The noise of a million trombones would certainly never have been able to do that! Explain that to me too then in your natural ways!"
4
The Pharisee says with a pretty loud laugh, "Well, that will certainly be tangibly clear! We are told about that ancient Egyptians with the greatest certainty that they destroyed and burnt the ships of the enemy by means of the correct use of electricity. Here we see the certain Ark travel several times around Jericho's walls "and Joshua will surely have known in truth why he did that! He must have been familiar with the treatment and effect of the Ark! I say once again to you: Sapienti pauca!"
5
Cyrenius says, "Yes, this is worth hearing; but if the Ark was nothing but a pure machine of electricity, it must then be just the same today!? Why does it not have the same effect today?
6
The Pharisee says, "Well, will the reason be very much more understandable? If we take a house that is about a thousand years old, or a ship, or a rock; it will also have a very different appearance at such an age! Even stones often weather away very noticeably in a thousand years "how much more then an old piece of wood and the less noble metals, such as copper and iron; a thousand years can even be seen very well in gold!
7
We are still in possession of the old, artistic Ark of the Covenant, which has become so fragile however over time that it possesses just as much of the original effective set up as the healthy teeth an old man's mouth has lost. In addition the Babylonians understood very well how to plunder the temple along with the Ark. But we do not understand how the ark was once set up. Of course we had an identical one built; but it cannot possibly have the effect of the old one, because it is totally lacking and must lack the necessary inner features because in these times no one among us understands any longer how to set it up. I believe, highest ruler, that I have expressed myself about this as clearly as possible!"
8
Cyrenius says, "Yes, if everything is then so based on a fine, pious deception, how can you then remain with your very healthy opinion and insight a well-conditioned member of such an institute of deceit?"
9
The Pharisee says, "That is exactly the heart of Satan! Because one has become a member of the caste as a blind person! As a seeing person one would hardly have professed to this! But once one is there and sees that the whole world is a madhouse, well, then one is forced to go along with it for the sake of the dear stomach, just as for the sake of a healthy skin! A desertion is still always punished by our caste for indeed wise reasons by the by no means pleasant death by stoning! I think to have answered comprehensibly and quite understandably."