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 153 -
The Pharisee's philosophy of nature.
Cyrenius says, "From all this that you have now told and expressed, emerges clearly however that you as a pious servant of God have never believed in a god; but how can one be even a strict servant of a being that does not exist at all for you all?"
2
The Pharisee says, "Well, that can also be very easily explained for the previously mentioned extremely cogent reasons that are valid for all time! What can a child do, however enlightened he may be, against the power and physical strength of his parents and often super-foolish teachers? He has to obey them! I'll give you this situation: You Romans have made us submissive with your irresistible power. Which of us could offer their resistance against your power? You should have, however, instead of your very wise and just laws, for example, given us the most foolish of them to be observed most strictly. Could we weaklings do anything else but observe them just as exactly as we observe these present wise ones? The eternal power works with irresistible power and one must follow its orders. On this earth everything is of course only a sham and no real existence.
3
We seek the truth, we seek God. But where and what is the truth and where and who is God?! Every nation recognizes and has a different deity and accordingly determines the statutes that are presented to the same people as a holy truth. Are they therefore also a truth for us? We laugh about them and cannot understand at all how a nation can possibly believe such illogical, very most foolish things! But if we go to that nation and inquire about the judgment on our faith, if they know something about it, they will not understand either how we can believe and keep ours! There is something good for the maintenance of the general order everywhere "but by no means any truth and even less a divinity truly present anywhere!
4
Over there the sun is a truth and the effective divinity for itself and also for us, although we must satisfy ourselves simply only with its shine, thus there is also here on this Earth thoroughly more of a shine than any true existence. Or does the sunshine not affect everything here? Everything that exists came from the shine of the sunlight and its wonderful warmth, and as long as it exists, it exists and lives through the shine of the truly all-powerful sun; for it will always shine on one half from the one side, while the other half has the shade.
5
Thus in the sky the real sunlight is resplendent in great majesty as the perfect truth. The Earth and everything on it is a work of its light or the shine, thus already more shine than being. Behind the seemingly existence of the whole earth and of all the things there is the shadow as a complete lie; and it is exactly this shade that all travelers seek and love the most and the sleep among the general shadow of the earth that we tend to call 'night', is and remains after the work and effort of the day the greatest, most strengthening and most pleasant revitalization of life!
6
And therefore it also seems to me that the people can exist under the rule of the possibly purest truth just as little, taken morally, as their physical being can without sleep. Therefore what sleep is o the body is a well-conditioned lie to the whole moral person. And then it certainly does not depend on whatever sort of form a lie is supposed to have! If it only gives the moral person a certain feeling and very refreshing rest of hope and a half-illuminated and easily acceptable confidence, then the lie is good, and the purest truth can go to her begging for its bread.
7
For as long as people have been living on this Earth this has been so; now it is also that way and will also so until a possible end of all time. The people will continue to seek the truth but at the same time eat from the dish of lies and live. There will always be wise men too among the very many foolish people who will hold out a light of truth to the people. But the brighter they illuminate the people always only on one side the more certain and pronounced the shade will be perceived behind the people who have been illuminated most brightly from the front as a constant consequence of the light!
8
But as the light also always affects the shade, in just the same way the purest truth also always affects the most complete lie. For without truth there would be no lie and without a lie there would not easily be a truth. But every truth hides at least the capability in it to create a lie, just as the light creates a shadow. Every person should ask himself which of the two is the better for the people, but faithfully and openly without concealing anything! A just judge sentences liars and deceivers according to the law and lives from his position; but where is he who can make things generally understandable for me, that the law itself is a truth? It is an accepted and sanctioned statute, here one way, but different in another place! Where is the truth there where one lie punishes the other? I say again here: Sapienti pauca!"
9
With this Cyrenius had had enough for the meantime, and let the Pharisee retreat and said to Me, "No, did You hear that? Such a thing has never happened to me! Roklus also understood how to speak in his purely intelligent sphere; but I still remained his master in my innards. But this Pharisee has now fenced me in so much that I cannot say anything at all to him in return! I have always imagined the Pharisees to be very much more foolish; but he has proven to me that they are not foolish at all! But what should be done with him now?"