Jesus and Christ
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The audience supported him with friendly laughter and turned to listen, for not a single facial muscle on Ffitnop's face was deformed. He gazed serenely into the hall and, when the audience gave in to his hypnotic gaze, he answered:
– According to the legend, there was no need for her to have a fur coat there, but she asked for clothes. Now the question is, how did she know what shame was? I mean, she hid from God. That is, first of all, God here is almost the same as the pagans, walking among his creatures, just like them. Secondly, when he found out that Eve tasted from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and gave her husband a taste, he became angry and drove them out of their comfort zone. That's me putting it in modern terms. Besides, pay attention, there was nothing else to sin with except this fruit. Here I have to make a little disclaimer, but this disclaimer will be a red line through the whole narrative. And I ask you, please, do not lose sight of it. It is very important, because it is only by understanding it that you will be able to grasp the essence of the narrative correctly. And now here it is: all of this is written by people! People! And don't ever forget that. This understanding, interpretation, logic of thinking… even if you believe or admit the divine, even alien, origin of the very idea of this story… all the same it was understood by people, those who wrote it, and before many centuries simply orally transmitted it, in a human way, that is in that logic, which was inherent to them, available to them by the level of development. It may be a little difficult to understand such a representation of the reality of existence, but let us consider the following: God does not perform miracles to please humans. So, sorry, it is better to accept the fact that your interlocutor, neighbor, brother, brother-in-law, matchmaker, whoever, will adhere to another form of reasonable explanation of the metaphysics of the universe.
After saying this, the professor took a breath, took a noticeable sigh, as if what he had said was difficult for him, and, swallowing saliva, continued:
– Complex, perhaps, but in fact simple. It is difficult, but it conveys the essence of the story in the most truthful way in terms of logic and true understanding of what is happening. Be very attentive to this point, because people begin to argue, not taking into account the presence of many versions of the story, many editions of the scripture, and most importantly – the presentation of human understanding. Exactly the presentation of human understanding. And people, keep in mind and the time of origin of history, wrote according to their understanding, their worldview of being, happening and the state of reality. Therefore, when someone argues with someone, say, look, it says this and that, always take into account that this is not a scientific work, not a documentary chronicle, but a free statement, interpretation of what is happening. And another point – not only what is happening. Let some believers forgive me, but religious stories – and I call all biblical stories religious – are largely not reflected in historical chronicles. And if they are, they are told in a completely different chronology and factual reality.
The manner and style of the theologian's speech, and he told his stories, though serene, but very inspired, intrigued the audience and brought novelty to the "powdered" image of a well-known story. There was no question of boredom. They listened to him with interest. Applause was heard to confirm it. At first modest claps of one, and then there was a flurry of emotions. After the hall calmed down, there was silence. As it turned out, from Rangit's unspoken analysis, it was caused by misunderstanding. The one to whom the applause was intended was the one to speak. Even Rutra was surprised by this. After the conference, Ruthra analyzed the cognitive scanning reports of Nomor's reaction and found that he had thought it was sarcastic irony, but later it became clear that his views were shared.
– I, of course, would like to voice a lot of things regarding my conclusions, but, alas, I have a clear task. Therefore, if, of course, you wish, I will try to fly quickly through the obligatory program, and after that… and after that, as they say, there will be another time. I hope you understand me. Let me remind you once again, perhaps someone, and maybe everyone, counted on some romance connected with such a training program, but again, alas, knowledge is knowledge, no matter what position your body is in, it is always the same in the brain and memory. This is also a certain postulate, like the constancy of the speed of light. So, first of all, so to speak, for stimulus, what will information training give you in general terms? It is necessary, as I have already said or hinted… yes, yes, I leave room for your own reflection… So, knowledge of the topic will give you the opportunity to familiarize yourself with answers to popular questions related to repetitions and discrepancies of texts in the Evangelists, the events of Jesus' death and resurrection, the commandments of the Sermon on the Mount, references to John the Baptist, interpretation of parables, and so on. Let's continue with the Gospel of Mark, because it's the shortest, sort of, in terms of our teaching position. But the Gospel of Matthew, perhaps this is my subjective opinion, is the most detailed. It devotes almost seven chapters to the Sermon on the Mount, for example. The Gospel of Matthew is suitable for those who are interested in the theoretical part of the doctrine and the history of the life of Jesus Christ.
The lecturer gave a little time to the "applicants" to decide whether they had questions or not, and proposed the next "chapter":
– The Gospel of Luke. It contains the greatest variety of parables and descriptions of events. The Gospel of John is… perhaps, I would say, the most interesting and diverse. It repeats and supplements the previous three Gospels, and it already shows the censorship and propaganda, if I may say so, that has passed since the time of the events described. I say this because it emphasizes the perception of Jesus as Love, Truth, Word and Light in the world. This is where you must properly, in a sort of Nietzschean way, understand with pure reason. The way I have suggested to you, for an unbiased perception. That is, you must feel yourselves not only not Christians, not only not religious, but also not inhabitants of the planet in question. You must be unbiased statists. Why? Because this whole story described in the book of Bereshit (the book of Genesis – the first book of the Torah, the Old Testament and the whole Bible), may Gods and believers forgive me, and most of all – believers in Christ… by the way, I can't help saying again, the very question "do you believe?" has a different meaning than the one formed in minds now… and even then, as well as the story described in this book.
The listeners were a little puzzled by the strange way of constructing the lecturer's speech: the incompleteness of the first part of the sentence and the Christian theologian's use of the name Bereshit instead of the Book of Genesis. However, the professor himself apparently thought that everything should be clear to everyone. He continued by explaining the second part of the sentence:
– Initially, it had a meaning: do you believe in the Immaculate Conception, in the resurrection from the dead, in the divine election and divinity of Christ? That is, it was something new, as a religion for the lower, let's say simpler, common people. As sad as it is, we humans usurp everything, because before Christ, God was for the rich. People were considered equal before God strictly on the caste principle. Later, of course, everything was perverted again – a king, tsar, emperor or other ruler was appointed to rule over people with God's blessing.
He made a cocky "ts" sound with a curl of his lips that rustled clearly on the airwaves, while showing an "ok" gesture with his fingers and blinking one eye.
– I'm sorry, why do we see some decorations of religious scenes in paintings? I'd like to see the faces with whom in the group.
It was a ringing female voice, so I didn't have to specify whose it was. However, they decided to make a joke.
– And you, Venus, what shape are you in at the moment? – Mars asked.
Knowing his mischievous disposition, most chuckled. There was a chuckle on the air, which did not embarrass the lady in the least.
– Oh, my goodness. By the way, I'm supposed to be the Magdalene. So I might as well get erotic. I have nothing to be embarrassed about.
– All right, let's get on with it… it's business as usual.
– An hour," Mercury hinted as if wanting a speedy conclusion.
– By the way, who will be Maria? – A woman's voice sounded again.
– You will be. It's not like we can send all the characters. Remember, your purpose is to correct the course of history. That's why you may not have to go into Maria's mind," Ruthra explained.
And then a wave of understanding of the presence of an invisible observer swept through everyone's consciousness, or somehow the subjects had forgotten about it. It was Rangit who reminded of himself and his capabilities.
– Let's continue, I'll try not to take too long. Yes, by the way, about how and what to see and perceive – that's also part of the program, so let's test mental communication, that is, silent communication, – Nomor suggested. – Ready?
The audience was silent.
– We focus on John. In his Gospel, Jesus' identity is more openly presented by the narrator as not of this world, and parallels are drawn between the Father and the Son. I recommend to study it in detail, it will help you when in the program you directly have to join the ranks of Jesus' followers with a sermon. Though for the beginning I would advise you to start with studying the summary of the Gospel of Luke, which is full of events of the life of Jesus Christ, descriptions of miracles and healings, and includes many individual parables and popular Gospel quotations. A few words about it now. A summary of the Gospel of Luke. So, what you'll find in it....