Chapter 212 I love my brother, and I love the truth even more
Facing the Templar, Archos thought of what Amedee had said.
[Martyrdom is a gift from God, and I don’t think I can get it. 】
Yes, Jesus, the Son of God, gave up his life for faith and did not deny his identity as the Son of God until his death.
It laid a solid foundation for Christianity, and thus gave birth to the idea in Christianity that there is no greater love than those who lay down their lives for Christ and their brothers.
The act of martyrdom makes the Christian like Christ Jesus, bleeding and dying like Him.
Christianity therefore values this behavior as a special gift and the highest proof of charity.
Archos was unafraid, his eyes staring straight at the Templar.
"You say, I am a heretic?"
"Our spirituality is gained by establishing a relationship with the Father, rather than relying solely on the authority of the church. True faith lies in the inner calling, not external constraints."
"History will remember that it was not us who split the church! It was the self-righteous 'godfather' you followed."
For Archos, the Templar's scolding was not an insult, but a compliment.
After all, he already believes in the Orthodox Church, how can you still use Catholic laws to restrain him?
The Templar, Master Francois to be precise, as a man who holds more swords than beads, he will naturally not talk nonsense with Aljos.
Now his subordinates have surrounded this temporary wooden platform, and they can capture the heretic on the platform just by giving his order.
But at this juncture, another group of people rushed out from behind the wooden platform. Although these people were not wearing armor, they all held some weapons in their hands.
What was even more surprising, scary, and eerie was that the faces of these people seemed to be wearing cloth masks. They were all masked people, covering their noses and mouths.
The confrontation between the two sides made the air freeze, but Francois, a man in his forties and a master who had killed countless enemies, did not take it to heart.
"Hmph!"
However, just before Francois gave the order, a man wearing a simple coat walked out of the crowd.
While walking out, the young man pressed down the weapon in the hand of the person next to him.
"Sheath your sword! Anyone who uses the sword will die by the sword."
Garris came among the crowd, defenseless and helpless.
Next to Francois, the only hospital knight in black robes among the many Templars, Stephen opened his mouth and asked:
"You are?"
Stephen was a little unsure because Garris was too young. This young Frank looked like he was only eighteen or nineteen years old. If he had children, he would be about this age.
"You come to me, and you don't know me or my Father?"
"Then I tell you, I am a child of the Lord, the Holy One of Jerusalem, one who will turn away sickness, suffering, sin, and poverty."
One point that Gareth always emphasizes is that Jehovah is his Father and the Father of all people.
This is actually true in Christian theology.
[Just as God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. Because of his love for us, he predestined us to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will. 】
——"Ephesians" 1:4-5
But obviously, Garris's words were not so peaceful. For Francois, this kind of declaration was undoubtedly heresy.
But before Francois could speak, Stephen issued a reprimand.
"You shouldn't say things like that kid."
"Lying will get you into hell."
However, Gareth shook his head.
"Every word of mine is true, and there is no lie."
Yes, if there is Jehovah, then He is the Father of all people, and Gareth is naturally His son.
If there were no words from Jehovah, then Garris would be even more fearless.
Things reached a stalemate, and Francois wanted to kill someone with his sword, but Stephen stopped him.
"Francois, don't be impulsive. This boy has never held a sword in his hands."
At this juncture, Garris took the initiative to ask: "What do you want to do here?"
"Let you repent."
"What if I refuse to repent?"
"I will take you and your accomplices away together until you shed tears of repentance."
"Then if I follow you directly, can I let these people behind me go?"
Stephen and Francois looked at each other. The current situation was something they did not expect.
"They will follow, just don't restrain them."
Stephen and Francois looked at each other again, and then Stephen responded.
"You will be shackled and put in a prison van, and we will take you to the cathedral, where Archbishop Olivier will persuade you to follow the right path."
"Okay."
……
A carriage passed through the streets of Tripoli, and a man in a simple robe was controlled in a prison carriage.
Both his hands and feet were shackled, and heavy lead balls restricted his movements.
Obviously, the previous scene of Garris taking a sword with his bare hands in front of Archbishop Olivier was so shocking that the people of the church would want to restrain Garris as a beast.
Faced with such treatment, Garris did not refuse. He openly asked the Templar Knights to place restrictions on him one after another, and suppressed the dissatisfaction of the followers behind him. A bizarre scene occurred.
The Templars were guarding a prison car, and Francois and Stephen, two famous masters in the County of Tripoli, were guarding Gehrys.
Behind the prison car and the team of Templar knights, there were nearly a hundred people following them.
Those people didn't look like they were just watching, but they were following sincerely.
And because these people all wore masks, they looked uniform.
In this way, Gareth in the prison car not only did not look like a prisoner, but actually became a king.
Stephen felt uncomfortable, Garris was too calm, and this calmness made him think of some bad things.
Anyway, being bored, Stephen took the initiative to chat with Garris in order to break the weird atmosphere.
"I heard you are a doctor?"
"Yes."
"I heard you removed other people's internal organs. What's going on?"
Garris would naturally not refuse other people's inquiries and questions, and would answer them in a straight-forward manner.
And to a certain extent, Garris actually had a better impression of the Knights Hospitaller than the Knights Templar.
If the Knights Templar were originally born for holy war, then the original identity of the Knights Hospitaller can at least be said to be to care for the sick.
Although the hospitals of the Knights Hospitaller in this era essentially only serve to relieve and accommodate patients.
But this is at least a good start.
At least the Hospitallers' medical facilities not only accommodated Christian pilgrims but also served Muslims and Jews.
The Knights Hospitaller, at least, isolated patients with contagious diseases and provided them with clean beds, food, and warmth to ensure they received adequate care.
Even in the hospitals of the Knights Hospitaller, Arab and Jewish doctors could exchange medical skills with Frank doctors, and some Arabic medical books were translated into Latin by them.
Limited by the times, although what the Knights Hospitallers can do is limited, and the reasons why they do so are still open to question, their deeds regardless of their intentions are ultimately appreciated by Garris.
After Stephen chatted with Garris for a while, he asked again: "By the way, is there really smallpox in this city?"
Then Stephen got a positive answer.
Stephen's face fell for a moment, and he subconsciously took a few deep breaths.
To him, heresy or not is a trivial matter, but if there is a smallpox outbreak in Tripoli, it would be a big deal.
At this juncture, if he escapes from the battlefield...
Stephen couldn't help but let out a long sigh. He wanted to live more than being a heretic or not.
"Master, try not to touch the skin of smallpox patients. Secondly, smallpox is mainly spread through droplets. When patients cough, sneeze, or talk, they may infect people around them."
"Wearing a multi-layered cotton mask can actually effectively prevent illness."
Listening to Garris's words, Stephen couldn't help turning his head and glanced at the team of Greeks following the prison car behind him.
Quite a few of those Greeks were wearing cotton masks, as Garris said.
In this case, Stephen couldn't help but said: "You are a Frank. If you really have superb medical skills, then you can definitely admit your mistakes, and I will persuade Archbishop Olivier."
"There is no need to go against the church. The church just needs unquestionable authority, not to stop you from practicing medicine."
Stephen's whispered words were clearly heard by Gareth.
Garris understood what Stephen said. For the church, whether Garris's medical skills were miraculous or not was not the point.
To be precise, medical skills and science, in the eyes of the church of this era, are essentially just like obscene techniques.
The biggest taboo of the church is that Garris is using his medical skills to connect with the Greeks and using his medical skills to deceive people.
In fact, as long as Garris bows his head to the church and gives in, Garris might become the "holy doctor" of the church.
But can Gareth accept it?
He couldn't accept it.
"I love my brother, and I love the truth even more."
Garris said something that sounded ludicrous to Stephen.
At this time, the prison van had also arrived at the square in front of the Tripoli Cathedral.
Here, Archbishop Olivier has been waiting for a long time, and many unrelated people are here to join in the fun.
The dark clouds in the sky once again crackled with lightning, and the roar of thunder echoed through the city.
The light rain fell on the city like silk threads.
Hundreds of people gathered here, and they witnessed with their own eyes the biggest heretic in the city in the past month being escorted off the prison car.
Stephen felt something was wrong, he sniffed the air hard, and then started to feel palpitations for no reason.
It seems that there is already some fishy smell that can't wait to emerge.
Double update
(End of chapter)