Crusade against the Pope

Chapter 339: They can’t be killed or destroyed!

It is not easy to drink a cup of hot water in winter.

It was enough to ascertain Manuel's good will towards them.

In Manuil's home, besides Manuil himself, there is also his daughter at home. Judging from her age, she is actually not much different from Zoe, perhaps two years younger.

But unlike Manuil, she looked at Alexandros and his group with only coldness.

When he looked at Zoe, he did not hide his contempt.

In response, Zoe just endured it awkwardly.

However, no matter how she tried to hide her inner feelings, she would still unconsciously reveal a hint of sadness.

Although it was expected, it was still a bolt from the blue when I actually heard the news.

After both parties had a basic understanding of each other's information, Manuel took Zoe to see her mother's grave.

After thinking about it, Alexandros decided to go along.

Massena stayed in the house and talked with Manuil's daughter.

According to Garys' plan, even if they didn't meet Zoe, they still had to understand the situation in the nearby rural areas.

Now is a perfect time.

After the parties left, Massena, who was relatively more eloquent, learned more details from Manuil's daughter.

……

Under the guidance of Manuel, Alexandros left the village carrying Zoe.

The three people left two lines of footprints on the ground. It took about five minutes for them to find the village cemetery in the snow.

This cemetery is very simple, and the styles of the tombstones are all very common. Many of the wooden ones have even decayed and the names on them can no longer be discerned.

Manuel stopped in front of a newly erected tombstone, and everyone knew they had reached their destination.

Supporting Zoe, Alexandros moved closer to the cross. When Zoe touched the tombstone, Alexandros could make out the inscription on it.

May light welcome her soul

[She has escaped from the world of delusion]

The Lord’s truth brought her peace

According to Alexandros' own knowledge, these inscriptions are actually quite rare and not something most Christians would carve.

"Lord, the highest light."

"You have blessed the world with inexpressible mercy, allowing the living to walk in this world and the dead to return to your holy light."

"You have called back Your servant, Anna, who has put off her corruption and her soul has ascended to see the truth in Your arms."

"Lord, may you welcome her with mercy, like a shepherd calling back the lost lambs, like a loving father opening his arms to embrace his wandering children."

“She rests in your eternal kingdom, she no longer hungers or thirsts, nor does she tire any more.”

“Lord, may you also have mercy on us who are still in the world, so that we can walk on the path of righteousness, so that we will not lose ourselves in the darkness, and so that we will not forget your truth in the illusions of the world.”

"May your light glorify the gospel, and may your name be exalted forever,"

“From everlasting to everlasting, Amen”

Zoe whispered a prayer, her eyes closed and her hands open palms up.

When he heard and saw this, Alexandros was quite surprised.

He looked at Manuel beside him, and then at Zoe.

Manuel remained indifferent to Zoe's actions, as if he had expected it. After Zoe finished all this, she stood up with Manuel's help, and faced the somewhat vigilant Alexandros with helplessness in her tone.

"I said I was a witch, but I think I am a true Christian, not like you Roman Catholics."

A little cold wind blew, adding a little chill to this already cold winter.

There really was a huge chasm between the two of them.

……

Two days had passed, and Gailis did not return to Arsalan's winter pasture. Instead, he stayed in the monastery with two followers.

Because of his generosity, he was assigned the best room in the monastery. Apart from praying with the monks every day and occasionally participating in scripture debates, he rarely mentioned how to collect holy relics.

Of course, the monastery also does big business. There are monks who come here from Cyprus through Anatolia to visit, which is a recognition of their monastery.

As the saying goes, foreign monks are good at chanting sutras, so what's the harm if Gailis stays here for a few more months?
When a noble comes to visit for business, they can pull Gellis out to highlight the profound heritage of their monastery.

Therefore, Gillis lived in peace and the monastery was well arranged.

Take today for example, Garys and the dean here, Nicodemus, talked about heretical movements throughout the ages.

For ordinary believers, this is an untouchable slide.

But at the level of the dean, it is actually just a topic of conversation in spare time.

Armenia has always been a place where heresy has arisen, and it is difficult to say whether it is right or wrong. However, theologians have all noticed that it is in this ancient region that many religious sects have risen and fallen.

When talking about heresy, we cannot avoid the Pauline school.

The Paulicians originated in Armenia in the 7th century. Although the empire often persecuted or expelled Paulicians, the situation in eastern Anatolia was chaotic and the Paulicians continued to spread.

The Paulicians would call themselves true believers and call orthodox Christians Romanists.

In the words of the dean, the Paulist sect is truly "inexhaustible and endless", and their daily business is to deceive ignorant villagers and lure people to hell.

As for the Paulician theology, the dean chose to remain silent.

Although the dean didn't say it, Garys knew the general idea.

For example, the Paulicians do not believe in the Trinity, have strong remnants of Gnosticism, oppose the worship of the Virgin Mary, the worship of the cross, the worship of icons, and the Eucharist...

Apart from these theological tendencies, actions manifested in concrete secular interests were the belief that the Orthodox Church was corrupt, the refusal to recognize the clergy system of Orthodox Christianity, and even a certain hostility towards the empire.

The theological understanding of orthodox Christianity has developed and gradually reached consensus in generations of ecumenical councils.

In this process, believers who were unwilling to reach a consensus were expelled from "orthodoxy" and were no longer recognized as Christians by the empire.

You have to know that when the empire dealt with the Paulicians in the early years, they directly labeled them as heretics and burned them at the stake as witches.

But now, the dean said that most of Paul's followers were just deceived by the devil, so there was no need to burn them directly.

As long as they are willing to donate money and land to the monastery and come to the monastery to practice asceticism, they will naturally be forgiven by God.

To be honest, there are indeed big differences between Paulicianism and orthodox Christianity.

After all, if they don’t even make the sign of the cross, can it still be considered Christianity?
But from a theological point of view, it is actually quite instructive for Gillis.

However, since the Paulicians died out quite early, not much information remained. In his previous life, Garys had access to very little information about the Paulicians.

We also roughly know that the Paulicians deny the Trinity, deny the sacraments of the Orthodox Church, and are greatly influenced by Gnosticism.

I really don’t know how much more there is.

Now that he was here, Gaillis wanted to find a true Paulist to talk to. After all, according to some scholars, the Paulist faction actually had a strong concept of class struggle.

I just don't know where to find it?
(End of this chapter)