The Great Gospel of John
Volume 9
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
The Lord in the region of Caesarea Philippi
- Chapter 156 -
The opinion of the Greeks about the only true God.
John said: "Yes, dear friends, so it is indeed, even it is still not completely clear to you, but it will become more clear to you when you will join that school in yourselves by the faith in the one, only true God and by the pure love for Him and your fellowman.
2
However, for this school, there is no house on the whole Earth, no temple and no Egyptian pyramid, for it exists only from the knowledge of the inner truth out of God, and besides that, from the faithful action according to that known truth.
3
You have searched for the truth for a long time and have now also found it. Now you know what man should do to become, to be and to stay a true disciple of the school of the inner life. However, knowing and realizing alone is by far still not sufficient to be yourself a disciple of this inner school of life out of God in man. Only the free action, coming from the free will according to the known truth will make man a true, real disciple in his own inner school of life."
4
When the 2 heard this from John, they thought by themselves: 'Strange. This disciple speaks just like his Master, and he also says that we have finally found the truth which we sought for a long time. This is really very praiseworthy, however, we can detect in ourselves only very little of that truth. We also should act according to that truth, but how is that possible when the truth itself is still very dark to us?
5
We only should believe in the one and only true God, love Him very purely above all, and our fellowmen also. Yes, that should now not exactly be one of the most difficult tasks of life, but who and where is that only true God?
6
To just, by coincidence, imagine yourself one or the other only true god and then also to believe firmly and without doubting in that being that is imagined as one god, to love that thought above all, and from that, also your fellowman, that is somehow a strange demand. If every person would do that, then everyone will also have his own god, which would then result in as many only true gods as there are human beings who are living, have lived and still will live on this good Earth. And that will then be even worse than our belief in many gods, for we know what we observe, and no one can say to the other: 'Look, the Zeus or the Apollo in whom I believe and which I observe is better than yours.'
7
This teaching must in time inevitably result in such evil among the people that every person, who is somehow wise from nature, will clearly prefer his own god above the one from another person who is from nature less talented, and then the old wars of the gods will appear again.
8
Thus, that one and only true God must then be shown to man with the greatest certainty and clarity as if existing outside of man, and all men must only believe in that God and love Him purely above all - otherwise, in the end, no one will benefit at all from that teaching.
9
And we think that this must also be the God of the Jews, in whom the more experienced Jews do not seem to believe too firmly. But then we should receive a light about that God. Otherwise also the God of the Jews will not be one hair better than our Zeus, whom we also have never seen yet."