Crusade against the Pope

Chapter 341 Gnosticism
The Jerusalem sect was fundamentally different from any other sect in this era.

After all, Gillis was still alive.

Generally speaking, the founder of a mainstream religion's ideology and the founder of its religious organization do not necessarily need to be the same person.

In fact, in most cases, the emergence of religious organizations is a tracing back to the ideas of their predecessors.

There are only a few cases like the Prophet Muhammad who are both the founders of ideas and organizations.

Such a high degree of unity can often bring about a high degree of flexibility and "far-sighted" top-level design in the early stages.

As long as Gellis is still alive, there is almost no obstacle to patching the doctrine.

The authority to patch does not even belong to just Garys alone.

Instead, as long as they have a close enough connection with Garys and receive a certain amount of favor and permission, others can also obtain fairly high levels of flexible authority.

Take the case of Alexandros. If there were followers of the Jerusalem sect in later generations who told the Paulicians that they were true Christians, they would probably be criticized. If they were to take the matter too seriously, excommunication would be the least of their punishment.

But now, apart from Gyris, who could excommunicate Alexandros, a Palatine who accompanied the prophet day and night?

If you can't do it, it's called being fearless.

Moreover, to a certain extent, this story of the Paulines can be perfectly applied to Gellis, so much so that Alexandros even doubted whether what he said was true.

After all, many of Gellis's words and actions are in perfect harmony with the other party's teachings.

This includes emphasizing that the church system is dark, emphasizing that knowledge can change the world, not caring too much about people's confession, but looking at people's actions, and that although people have different statuses, they are equal in personality...

Whenever Alexandros thought of Gellis's nearly infinite wisdom, he couldn't help but tremble. That kind of wisdom that created something out of nothing and was innate was really not something a human should have.

Alexandros's theological attainments were naturally not very good, and coupled with the objective existence of Gellis, he fell into a dilemma of transcendentalism and did not realize the causal relationship between the two sides at the philosophical level.

Although Gellis tried very hard to avoid it, in fact many of his theological ideas were inevitably influenced by Gnosticism or Gnosticism.

Gnosticism is an ancient religious and philosophical movement that emphasizes knowledge as the key to spiritual salvation.

It holds that the human soul originates from a divine realm beyond the material world, which itself is fallen or corrupt, usually created by a lower, evil "demiurge."

Gnosticism advocates that through inner revelation or mystical knowledge, individuals can escape the constraints of the material world, restore their connection with God, and achieve salvation of the soul.

In Gnosticism, Jesus is usually seen as a revelator, a bringer of divine knowledge, not the "Son of God" or "Savior" as understood in traditional Christianity.

In some Gnostic sects, Jesus' divinity is weakened or interpreted as an enlightenment role, who helps believers understand the universe and themselves and guides them to achieve spiritual liberation through knowledge.

In mainstream Christianity, Jesus is the incarnation of God, possessing both humanity and divinity. Through his sacrifice and resurrection, he took on the sins of all mankind and provided believers with the only way to God.

Jesus' role is to be a savior, bringing hope of eternal life to all believers, not just to provide some kind of knowledge.

In terms of personal ability, as a living person, Garys naturally does not have the ability to directly bear the sins of all mankind.

On the contrary, he seemed to be at ease in the role of a mentor.

Therefore, even though he emphasized the Trinity, it was inevitably tainted with many spiritual colors.

Coincidentally, the Paulicians are the sect in the Christian system that is most influenced by Gnosticism.

When the two collided, Alexandros felt that some of the answers that Garys had avoided talking about were about to come out. He couldn't wait to take Zoe to see the side of Garys that held the truth.

……

Alexandros and his group stayed at Manuil's house. To be exact, only Alexandros and Zoe stayed in the village.

Massena returned to the winter pasture for no other reason than that Manuil's house could not accommodate so many people.

Before leaving, Massena looked quite aggrieved.

To be honest, although this era is indeed very hard, as a Paladin, I also have to sleep in the open air every day.

But the winter pasture life of the Turkic nomads was too hard.

If it weren't for Garys' constant guidance, few Paladins would be able to endure that kind of living environment.

Oh, maybe Alexandros could stand it, after all, that guy is half Turkic and was a nomad when he was a kid...

For Alexandros, the days at the winter pasture were like returning home and reliving his childhood.

However, what Massena didn't understand was that even if he stayed in the village, it didn't mean that his life would be comfortable.

These days are not the future.

For farmers, being wary of outsiders is almost an instinct.

What's more, these outsiders were brought here by Zoe.

Then all kinds of sarcasm and ridicule are inevitable.

Alexandros was a relatively calm person, and he could endure what others said.

If it were Massena, the least that would happen would be a curse on the spot, but he might even draw his sword and challenge someone to a duel in rage.

Under such circumstances, Alexandros did not dare to let the young boy Massena stay in the village for too long.

However, after returning to the winter pasture, Massena received good news. Although he could not live in the village, Gérice found a room for them in a nearby monastery.

Oh open!

This is much more comfortable than living in a farmer's home.

In Jerusalem, although hedonism is criticized, it is not a sin for individuals to pursue an improvement in the quality of life.

To quote a famous quote from Garys: Do not pursue vanity, whether it is wealth or fame.

Excessive asceticism was also seen by the Jerusalem Church as a way to seek vanity.

But if a person tries his best to change his life situation without harming others, he should be praised.

Massena couldn't help feeling much happier at the thought of living in a warm room and sleeping on a soft bed.

When they arrived at the monastery to meet Gellis, Gellis gave them another task.

(End of this chapter)