Chapter 206 The battle between life and death is endless!
[Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is no longer here, He has been resurrected. 】
——"Luke" 24:5-6
Life is not just a matter of flesh and blood, life is a gift from God, life is a gift from God, and life is a sacred mission.
Garris showed Privan a kind of authority, which was control over life.
He is not only a doctor who can cut off other people's internal organs and keep them alive, but he is also a miracle worker who controls his own body and completely controls his life.
A being who can control life should know the secrets of life and cure all diseases!
"Privan, you have to know that what we believe in is not an eternal god who is indifferent to human suffering and ignores the needs of the physical body."
"But a Lord who sacrificed his life for love of life and all living beings."
"Heaven is not an ascetic place where joy and pleasure are strictly prohibited, but a feast full of the joy of life, a wedding banquet where everyone celebrates and participates in the joy of life."
Privan was still stuck in the impact. It took him a long time before he gradually realized the meaning of Garris's words.
This doctor is not an ordinary person, but a person who has inherited divine revelation.
"I came from the dead so that the living will never die, that sinners will repent, and that righteous people will be saved, so that everyone may live to their appointed age, and no one will die prematurely."
Garris showed Priwan a whole new possibility, a whole new world.
Can faith be eaten as food? The answer is that it can indeed be eaten.
The Church always reveres the Bible as it reveres the Eucharist of the Lord. The Church constantly draws the bread of life from the feast of the Word of God and from the feast of the Eucharist of Christ and supplies it to the faithful.
This interpretation of the world creates a spiritual world that is completely different from the reality of suffering.
Driven by this kind of religious power, many people are willing to give up their worldly pleasures and seek grace in the afterlife.
But now, a powerful person with real authority over life stood in front of Priwan.
For Privan, there is actually no need for worldly pleasures anymore. However, his poor spirit makes him pursue all kinds of "fun" in vain.
In this case, after Garris showed him his authority, even though Privanzhen had doubts, he was willing to do some extraordinary things with Garris.
……
The County of Tripoli, a Crusader country, was home to a large number of Franks.
Therefore, Catholicism has naturally become the most influential religion here.
The power of Islam was driven from the cities into the countryside.
And what about the Greeks? Those Orthodox Christians are faced with an embarrassing situation.
The religious rituals they practice are too close to Catholicism.
The Catholic priests directly drove the original Orthodox priests out of the church and occupied the magpie's nest with ease.
But has the Orthodox Church simply disappeared from Tripoli?
Of course not, it’s just that the way they carry out their activities has changed. They no longer hold sacraments in churches, they no longer gather in public, they just become marginalized people in society.
One thing to understand is that although the power of religion can drive people to do many extraordinary things.
But if a business can be sustained for a long time, it must be driven by real economic benefits.
At first, the Crusades were only trying to recapture the holy city of Jerusalem, and then they began to try to monopolize the transit trade from the Middle East to Europe.
Later, the Crusader countries also began to carry out large-scale handicraft production on their own.
According to records, there were at least 4,000 textile looms in Tripoli during the same period, producing silk and cloth.
In this case, it is not urgent or necessary to convert pagans or "heretics" into Catholics.
In fact, in the medieval era, from a purely governance perspective, subjects of different religions were not necessarily a source of unrest.
Moreover, as conquering Franks, they could not imagine confessing to an Arab priest.
The clergy, especially priests, could not accept the possibility of Arabs discussing the content of the Gospel with them.
Therefore, the society of the Crusader countries was divided, and Frankish Catholicism occupied the upper class of society.
Followers of other religions began to be marginalized. They were ignored and became objects of abandonment.
Even though this marginalized group occupies a full two-thirds of society.
Islam has an Islamic life, and the Greeks and Orthodox Christians have also separated from the church and have undergone changes in organizational form.
Since the County of Tripoli forcibly announced that Catholic priests would occupy Orthodox churches, the overt activities of the Orthodox Church have been greatly suppressed for several years.
There are no Greek Masses here, no Greek weddings, and no Greek baptismal sacraments.
Many Orthodox priests left Tripoli and went to Cyprus. More clergy either passively resisted or went underground.
The Orthodox Hierarchy, which is traditionally composed of clergy, can be said to have almost ceased to exist.
So much so that in this land, lay believers, that is, ordinary believers, had to take over from priests to preside over religious sacraments.
In Tripoli, the dividing line between believers and priests has become blurred.
A large number of scattered Orthodox disciples gathered together to form one low-level Christian gathering after another.
When Garris showed his profound theological knowledge to these gatherings and received a letter of introduction from the Archbishop of Cyprus, he was naturally accepted by these gatherings.
Garris took one of the members of the party to study the Bible, led them to reflect on the teachings of the Bible, and taught them the knowledge of practicing medicine.
Because of Gallis, the Bible here is not a boring dogma, but a living faith.
The Orthodox believers here have truly welcomed a priest again.
Moreover, because Garris got through to Priwan, at least in a short period of time, no one should come to trouble these marginalized people in society.
In a dilapidated hut, the lights are dim and the candlelight flickers.
Garris sat among them, quietly waiting for the next person to come here to confess.
Outside the confession room, a man with a tired face and ragged clothes walked over. He was in a daze and there seemed to be tears in his eyes.
Finally, he opened the door of the hut and sat on the side of the window.
He whispered: "Father, I need to confess. I have committed a great sin."
After looking at him carefully, Garris said softly: "No matter what your sin is, you can talk to our Father, and He will forgive you because of His love."
The man sighed and his voice trembled: "Father, I violated the commandments and committed theft."
"I took some food from a rich family's house, some bread and fruit."
Garris listened. He knew that this man still had a lot to say. This man came here not just to confess, but more to talk.
The man's voice echoed in the confessional room. He clenched his fists and his stiff shoulders trembled slightly.
"My wife died of illness a year ago, leaving only me and my three children."
"I haven't had any food for several days. I have been moving goods on the dock every day, but the meager income is not enough for the four of us to survive."
"My little daughter, she is only five years old and she is about to starve to death."
"I know stealing is a sin, but I really have no other way. I saw that rich family had endless money to spend and endless food to eat. I just wanted my children to live... …”
This is a young man who appears to be in his thirties at first glance, but is actually only in his twenties.
He was barely a few years older than Gareth, but due to long-term fatigue and hardship, he looked much older than his actual age.
This man's face was thin, with protruding cheekbones. His face was covered with traces of wind and frost, and there was only dull fatigue in his deep-set eyes.
His skin was roughened by years of working outdoors, and he had significant sunburn.
Every word and word of this man is the condensation of suffering in this world.
Priwan is already good, but no matter how good he is, he cannot eliminate poverty in his territory.
Listening to the man's choked sobs, Garris understood one thing. This man was not regretful about the theft, but more deeply helpless about his inability to protect his family.
Garris took a little holy oil, took the man's right hand, and made the sign of the cross on his palm with the holy oil in his puzzled eyes.
Then I heard him say: "It's okay, it's okay, you don't have to repent, because you have never sinned."
"Thus is written in Paul's epistle: How can the love of God abide in anyone who has worldly goods and sees his brother in need but has closed his heart to compassion? Children, let us not love one another only with word or tongue Always show it with behavior and sincerity.”
"Have you ever heard another sentence from the mouth of a prophet?"
“Is not the fast I want you to loose the bands of evil, to untie the bands of the yoke, to set the oppressed free, and to break every yoke?”
"Is it not that you should give food to the hungry, bring the homeless poor into your home, and clothe the naked you see, but not hide yourself from your own flesh and blood?"
“Therefore: God has ordained that the earth and its possessions are for everyone’s use.”
"Therefore: all creation should benefit everyone under justice and charity."
"Therefore: Wealth should not be regarded as exclusive to oneself, but as a gift from God. Everyone has the right to own a portion of wealth that is sufficient for himself and his family."
"Poor people, destitute people... people who work hard but still can't survive, have a part of God's gift waiting for you to take it."
"I say to the rich: Provide food to the hungry. If you don't give him food, you will kill him."
Garris's words shocked the man in front of him. He had never thought that he would hear such shocking words from a "priest".
For Gehrys, whether it is public ownership or private ownership, he is not obsessed with the system itself.
But he knows that in this era, with the emergence of capital sprouts and fierce market competition...
The strengthening of private ownership is an inevitable trend, and one day the concept of absolute private ownership will be born. In London at the beginning of the 20th century, in the aftermath of the Victorian era, even stealing a piece of grass from someone's home to fill their stomachs could be punished by two weeks in prison.
This is not because of the high value of the grass, but simply because the act of stealing violates the sacred and unshakable "private ownership" and refutes the sacred "big hand".
But Gehrys wants to say that private property is not absolute and unconditional, and that the world belongs to everyone, not just some.
Garris cannot stop the strengthening of private ownership, and he will even personally unleash tigers to bite people everywhere in this era.
But after all, Garis is not a believer in the "golden calf" and will not teach people to worship the idol that will be burned to ashes.
Therefore, no matter how the times change, no matter which direction the general trend goes.
Gareth will say: "Provide food to the hungry. If you don't give him food, you will kill him." 】
[Poor people, destitute people... people who work hard but still can't survive, have a part of God's gift waiting for you to take it. 】
This is life, a gift from God, a gift, something that cannot be touched.
Garris must walk with the victims in history. Fighting for human life should be everyone's obligation. This is a battle that lasts for countless generations and concerns hundreds of millions of people.
No believer of Garris should sit idly by. As long as someone's life is still threatened by the law of death, someone needs to fight.
Marx once said: "If a man is willing to become a cow, then of course he can ignore the suffering of human beings and only care about his own skin. However, if I do not finish my book (at least as a draft) If I die, I will indeed consider myself unrealistic.”
So does Gareth.
……
Living is already extremely difficult, if there is no candle of hope to illuminate the future.
Then all this is so sad.
The worship of nature gave birth to animistic belief. In animistic belief, human beings are just one of all things and are no different from all other things.
It is perfectly normal to use people to offer sacrifices and to use people to make sacrifices.
However, without exception, with the development of the times, there are fewer and fewer people making sacrifices.
Human status began to be elevated among all things. In Christian mythology, Yahweh created the world because of humans.
In Eastern thought, man has become the primate of all things.
But there are also differences between people.
[The Lord once said: "There are poor people in the world because there are rich people; there are rich people because there are poor people."]
[The wealth of the rich is taken from the suffering of the poor, just like the roots of a towering tree are deeply rooted in the withering of the poor. 】
Therefore, in order to make up for this gap, in order to use the wealth of the spiritual world to make up for the poverty of the material world.
Christianity and Islam, which emphasize that God values the poor and spiritually poor, and Buddhism, which emphasizes reincarnation, have become the three major religions in the world.
All three religions, without exception, promise the poor a better afterlife than the rich.
This is something that the Nordic faith, the Greek faith, the Roman faith, and even the traditional Taoist faith have never considered before.
Therefore, even in the 21st century with the rapid advancement of science, the world's three major religions may have gradually lost their influence on the secular world, but the number of believers of the three major religions is still growing!
As for the 12th century, there is no need to say more, but when Gehrys broke into the lower-level gatherings of Orthodox Christians.
Even though he never performed any miracles, relying solely on his medical skills and his new interpretation of the Bible, he immersed his influence like spring rain into this desert of faith.
However, things cannot be smooth sailing.
After another gathering on the ground floor, Garris noticed that one of the believers had an unnatural look on his face.
It can only be said that even though Orthodox Christians are marginalized people in society, the Catholic Church cannot really leave them alone. This is a situation where I can not touch them, but others cannot touch them.
In the church of Bertram, in this stone-built temple.
Bishop Bernard listened to the reports of the people around him. The more he listened, the tighter his brows became.
He had already begun to pay attention to the matter about Garris. After all, being able to cut off a section of intestines from a living person's body and save the person was very topical.
At this time, it is necessary to mention one thing.
The Middle Ages was a concept with a very wide span and a very wide geographical area. Different churches and different priests did not reach consensus on many things.
Therefore, even in this era, witch hunting has not yet begun on a large scale.
But the suspicion of "witchcraft" has always existed.
However, because Privan took great care of Garris in the past, the church never came to look for him.
But now, Galis is no longer just practicing medicine, nor is he just interpreting the Bible in Greek. He is also leading these Orthodox Christians to begin to rebuild the social order among them.
Garris leads people to learn to read in the Bible, let them reflect on the teachings of the Bible, devote themselves to charity, and let believers help each other.
These lower-level gatherings held various sacraments on their own, worked hard to improve neighborhood relations, and even planned to build bridges and pave roads.
To the Franks, to the Franks who really cared about this, this was incredible.
Because those Christians who were confused about their faith began to become richer and richer in their faith!
If a person is suspected of witchcraft, it is not enough to have a huge impact on the interests of the church.
But a group of people who have gone astray in their beliefs actually live better than believers who are on the right path, showing a richer spiritual world.
There is a problem.
Because it calls into question the validity of their church.
Who allowed you to live a good life? !
Your suffering in this world is the best aid to the faith of the Franks!
Because you have betrayed the Holy Tradition and failed to recognize the authority of the successor of St. Peter, you deserve to suffer in this world!
The bishop sat on the pulpit of the church, his face heavy, his brows furrowed, and his eyes flashing with anger and disappointment.
"We must condemn him, he is shaking the foundation of our faith."
"That guy's medical skills are just lies to fool the ignorant. They are the disguise and conspiracy of the devil!"
"He is using fallacies to mislead those devout souls. It is really outrageous!"
The priests and priests on the side nodded in unison after hearing the bishop's speech.
Gareth's practice of medicine actually had little impact, as long as he was willing to explain his medical skills as "a gift from God."
Then, maybe a "saint" or a performer of miracles can be packaged in the future, which is a good thing that is conducive to the spread of faith.
But this guy actually defected to the Orthodox Church?
Even though the current Orthodox Church cannot be said to be a heresy, the differences between the sects are already very obvious!
This kind of thing is unbearable!
Must be serious! Hurry! Be strict!
What's more, what he actually said: [Poor people, destitute people... people who work hard but still can't survive, have a part of God's gift waiting for you to take it. 】
This, this... doesn't this encourage those people to steal, rob, and rebel? !
Some people can't just starve to death at home and stop making trouble for others!
Based on this thought, Botlen's church made its own decision and was ready to attack at any time.
Meanwhile, not far away, in the Fort of Tripoli, in the most secure and secret tower of the castle.
Raymond III, Count of Tripoli, lies in bed.
He felt like he was going to die. This was the only time in his life that he felt so clearly that death was coming.
He could feel that the angel of death had come to his side, waiting quietly for the moment when he expired, forcing him to taste the bitterness of death.
While lying on the hospital bed looking back on the past, Raymond fell into confusion: What is the meaning of his life?
Unlike Leonard, who has a deep hatred for Muslims, he is not a true knight who pursues his ideals like Balian.
He was just an ordinary nobleman who inherited the title of Count of Tripoli because of his father. Under the guidance of Baldwin III, he grew up in the court of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
He raided the coast of the Eastern Roman Empire, was captured by Nur al-Din at the Battle of Harlem, and spent nearly ten years in exile in Aleppo.
After his ransom, he married the widowed Esquiva and became the lord of Galilee in the Kingdom of Jerusalem, gradually becoming one of the most powerful Crusader lords.
Like many nobles, Raymond longed to acquire land and wealth and seek higher power. He twice served as regent of the Kingdom of Jerusalem and signed a secret treaty with Saladin.
However, the former glory was lost in the battle on the Sea of Galilee.
In front of Saladin's army, Raymond realized how insignificant everything he had pursued was.
He fled back to Tripoli in panic. His former prominence did not give him the courage to continue his confrontation with Saladin.
After all this, Raymond finally realized a painful fact: he was just a coward.
Since then, Raymond has become seriously ill, and his desire for wealth and power has been ruthlessly drained away, leaving only his tortured body wandering in the world.
However, Raymond did not want to die after all. After all, it was better to live than to die.
Suddenly, an attendant gently opened the bedroom door, controlled his steps, came to the side of the Earl of Tripoli, and whispered a few words to the Earl.
"What? Are you saying that there is a miracle doctor over at Bertram? He can cure all diseases? He can cut people's intestines and still make them live?!"
"Quick! Go and fetch the doctor for me!"
(End of chapter)