Crusade against the Pope

Chapter 350 Exodus

Living in the Levant, there is always a sense of vastness where wilderness and civilization are intertwined.

Contrary to what many people think, although the Levant region is adjacent to Egypt, the two regions have completely different climates.

Egypt is a desert with no rain all year round. If it were not for the irrigation of the Nile River, it would actually be a forbidden zone for life like the Sahara Desert.

Moses led his people out of Egypt and headed for Canaan, following the rain in search of life.

The land you are about to enter to possess is not like the land of Egypt from which you came, where you sowed your seed and watered it with your foot as with a vegetable garden. The land you are about to enter to possess is a land of hills and valleys, watered by rain from the sky, a land that your God cares for; the eyes of your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.

There are mountains and valleys here, and they are watered by rain. This is especially true from the southernmost Sinai Peninsula all the way north. It is as if you can see the world being gradually painted with green by God, moving from barrenness to abundance.

Desert, Gobi, plains, valleys, shrubs, trees and jungles.

Ever since Amedee met Garys, every time he walked this road, he felt as if he had learned a lot.

Thirteen years ago, he met Garys in Karak and witnessed Garys burning the evil in the city with fire and beheading the villains.

This memory was deeply imprinted in his mind, making it impossible for him to forget it for the rest of his life.

Now, thirteen years have passed, and many of the things that Gaillis once promised have gradually come true.

Palestine, a land where war never stops, has enjoyed more than ten years of peace.

This year is the first year of the Prophet's calendar. The news that Gairis announced the change of the era had spread throughout the Levant long before the end of the year.

This wasn't something that Garys came up with on a whim.

The Kingdom of Jerusalem had also considered the issue of the deflection of the winter solstice, but it was usually shelved due to a lack of sufficient observations.

The first year of the new calendar actually happens to be the year when the Jerusalem Synod, a general assembly of clergy, is held every four years.

According to the usual plan, every leap year, churches in various regions need to send their representatives to the meeting place.

They will discuss doctrinal issues, audit all aspects of the Palatine Order, and ensure that the Order always serves the believers.

Although the Jerusalem Church, or the Gelis theology, has institutionally abolished the church system and denied the authority of the bishops, it is still necessary to coordinate the allocation of resources from all aspects and train qualified priests and paladins of a certain level.

Therefore, there are still non-frontline organizations.

The priest group, that is, the priests, as clergy, are often scattered in specific churches, employed by local believers and obtain their living necessities from the believers.

It's not a privilege, it's just that they are hired.

As employed parties, in addition to handling various religious affairs, they also serve as a channel for non-parliamentary and government agencies to provide feedback to their superiors.

In other words, they have become representatives of public opinion at the religious level and are required to provide feedback on the real lives of grassroots believers.

This is a supplementary channel for the people to speak out through religion, in addition to parliament.

However, it is difficult to coordinate the power of the sects at a higher level by relying solely on scattered local priests. Therefore, the Palatine Order was established, which serves as the light cavalry of Gellis and executes the unified will.

Whether it is building seminaries, managing religious estates, sending warriors to carry out missions in specific areas, or spreading truth and wisdom, the Paladins are indispensable.

As the former bishop of the Karak Church, Amedee lost his episcopal authority after the Jerusalem Patriarchate continued to fine-tune its institutional reforms. Although many people still respectfully call him bishop today.

But that was just an honor, and it did not mean that he still commanded all the churches in the original Transjordan area.

In fact, shortly after Guéris left Karak, Amédée exchanged parishes with Antoine, making himself the priest of the lower city of Karak.

After that, he vowed that as long as he saw hungry people, he would feed at least two people every day.

He did fulfill his vow, so even though he lost his bishop's authority, his reputation was elevated.

People used to be afraid of his bright and beautiful bishop's robes and worried about the spear-wielding guards following him.

But after that, many people respected the old man from the bottom of their hearts. Even though he was wearing simple sackcloth, believers believed that he could communicate with angels or saints.

Therefore, every time the Jerusalem Church needed to hold a general meeting, Amedee would be elected by the believers and priests near Karak to represent their opinions and attend the meeting. Amedee did not set out on the road to the north alone. This time the meeting was held in Antioch. It happened that the Knights of the Order, who were originally stationed in Transjordan, needed to be transferred to the north, so everyone set out together.

Before setting off, Amedee also greeted Lorian. After all, Lorian was a native of Karak City, and the two were actually quite familiar with each other.

Lorian also enthusiastically introduced his son Raymondin to Amedee, and gave Raymondin the blessing from Amedee.

Apart from some family matters, Lorian, who had received education from Garys, would also consult Ameda on some theological issues.

Lorian knew that among the Jerusalem sect, apart from the exception of Gellis, there might be only a few people like Archos and Antoine who dared to say that they really understood the essence of Gellis' theology.

Among these people, Amadeus must be among the top three.

After all, it was Amedee, Archos and others who enriched the concepts proposed by Gellis into specific doctrines.

Among these questions, Lorian raised a question: "The prophets often said that the Messiah was hidden among the poor, and the faces of the broadest and most common people reflected the Lord's suffering."

"What on earth does that mean?"

Lorian theology is not as low as he modestly claims. At least he can abstract the concept of God from a concrete "human form" to a conceptual level.

Only in this way can we be qualified to discuss some truly sensitive topics that are not so suitable for communication with the public.

"This question needs to be combined with another perspective. If there are no believers, will religion still be a religion?"

"Even if Garys has performed many miracles, if he does not have a charitable heart and is willing to walk among the people, who will follow him?"

"Ambition, thug, swindler..."

“The prophet and the people complement each other. The reason why he is a prophet rather than an angel on earth is that he speaks before the people and shouts out the truths that many people dare not, are unwilling to, or cannot say.”

"If we simply rely on miracles, then you and I will become superstitious people, blindly following others and losing our ability to judge for ourselves, just like the illiterate people under the Pope's throne."

“From this, it can be seen that the people are not just oppressed, nor are they eternally illiterate or barbaric, but have truly become the many faces of God.”

"Of course, there is a problem in that man is not God himself, but only the image of God."

"In the scriptures, Moses' people often missed the meat pots in Egypt, and many people said to Moses, 'We lived well in Egypt.'"

When Amedee mentioned the Egyptian meat pot, Lorian frowned. He certainly knew what the Egyptian meat pot was.

The "Flesh Pots of Egypt" appear in Exodus 16:3, symbolizing that although the Israelites were oppressed when they were slaves in Egypt, at least they had food to eat.

During their migration, they complained to Moses and Aaron in the wilderness because of hunger, and missed the "pots of flesh and bread that filled their stomachs" in Egypt, but ignored the hard labor they had endured in Egypt.

This phrase symbolizes human weakness, that is, when faced with challenges, people would rather return to their past comfort than endure the hardships that lead to freedom.

Leaving the Nile Delta and crossing the Sinai Peninsula to Canaan is ultimately an ascetic journey.

Not everyone can cut off the weakness in their hearts and say goodbye to the past with determination.

“Therefore, the emergence of prophets here is inevitable. Greek philosophy is the plaything of philosophers. They think about the universe and life, but often ignore the most miserable people around them.”

“They treated their slaves as talking animals instead of looking at them.”

"But the prophet was willing to speak up, willing to tell the slaves, to tell all of us, that we are all the same."

“When the prophet trusts the people and the people trust the prophet, a new covenant is reached.”

"Gailis, he became the mediator between man and God."

Lorian took two deep breaths, and when he looked towards the north again, he felt that he might still be too shallow.

As for Amedee, the old man in his sixties, he was grateful that he could witness such a magical scene while he was still alive.

Compared to what Gellis showed, those visible miracles, which allowed all people in the world to renegotiate their covenant with God and made people realize that they are human beings and break the invisible shackles, are the "salvation" that lasts for generations.

(End of this chapter)