Chapter 237: Praying Too Much Will Make You Doubt the Scriptures

"What we are looking for is the origin. This is also recorded in "The Origin of Creation: The First Cause". A mother gave birth to a child. Can we say that she created the child?"

"If we continue to pursue like this, what is the meaning of the existence of Myrcella and the Holy Tree? Isn't that denying the meaning of the Holy Trinity?"

"This is not to deny the Holy Trinity. As the Patriarch said, the Holy Trinity is a dynamic process. In the process of tracing back, our world must have come into being from nothing at some point..."

Sitting against the wall in a chair as an observer, Mitternich thought he was going to hear some magical heresy, but unexpectedly it was a formal theological debate.

Although these words are clear and unique, they are difficult for the older generation of bishops to accept.

But even Mitternich, who graduated from a serious seminary, couldn't find any major faults.

"Sir Mitternich, I am not from a seminary, and this looks like a sutra of doubt."

Martial lowered his voice and spoke in a very small voice.

After hearing Martial's question, Mitternich did not answer immediately, but listened for a while before blinking.

It is really a question of sutra.

The so-called doubtful scriptures, also called doubtful apocryphal scriptures, are based on the textual research and comparison of ancient books to correct and explain the lost or erroneous parts of the "Commentary on the Gospels".

This kind of "doubtful scripture" arose around 1066 in the Imperial Calendar, when the soldiers of the Xizi Army who returned from the Western Expedition of the Royal Court brought back a large number of lost technologies and books.

But after comparison, the church was surprised to find that its understanding of the scriptures deviated from that of the early saints, even to the extent of being completely opposite.

On the one hand, the scriptures were indeed distorted during the process of dissemination; on the other hand, the books brought back by the returning soldiers of the Xizi Army contained a large number of heretical pseudo-scriptures and fake books.

It was the millennium of the empire, but it was also a period when the influence of the church was the weakest. The lords could depose and enthronize popes and rob churches at will.

The entire empire was infested with bandits, robbers, plagues and natural disasters.

The priests believed that this was the punishment from the Holy Father for preaching the wrong gospel, so they began a vigorous "doubting the Bible" campaign.

They would verify each other based on ancient books to explore and prove whether the annotations were correct, and write down their understanding that was more in line with the "truth".

However, according to research by some scholars from the Salinist Society, the priests at that time would selectively choose ancient books that suited their ideas.

In order to satisfy their political ideas, a small number of monks would quote heretical scriptures, or even take them out of context to modify correct doctrines.

During the fifty-four years when Doubtful Scripture flourished, five ecumenical councils were held to clarify doctrinal disputes.

The church and orthodox doctrine that Horn and others are currently facing were basically formed in these five ecumenical councils.

It is only recently that the Ecumenical Council of 1270 decided that all skeptical activities were "not encouraged".

Mitternich was relatively familiar with this.

The so-called "not encouraged" means that only the theological institutions under the Pope and a handful of seminaries still enjoy the "right to freely question the scriptures."

The rest of the clergy dared to question the scriptures, for fear of being convicted of heresy.

"Mr. Mitternich, have you heard of the book they are discussing, The Origin of Antithesis?"

Martial turned his head and asked Mitternich in a low voice.

Mitternich naturally shook his head: "No, the original site here is the town of Guel. I guess they found some well-preserved ancient books."

Just at this moment, Horn knocked on the table with his scepter, signaling everyone who was still arguing to stop.

“… The issue has been argued over enough, and the debate is too intense to allow for clear thinking.”

Standing up and stopping the debate, Horn said to them, "Each of you write down your opinions. I will go to the Spire Library to see if there are any relevant books that can resolve the dispute."

"Yes, Master."

Standing in front of the long table, Horn winked at Armand and walked out of the conference room.

Armand, who was following Mitternich, quickly opened the door at the back of the conference room and made a gesture of invitation for Mitternich and others to follow. Following Armand, at the end of the corridor, Mitternich finally saw Horn, who was waiting with a smile on his face.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Your Majesty."

"You must be Lord Mitternich, please call me Horn."

Horn exchanged greetings with Mitternich, Martial and others, then walked towards his study under the guidance of the guards.

Before he took two steps out, Martial couldn't help but stop and said, "Your Highness Horn, can I ask what the book "Origin of Antithesis" is?"

"Oh, it's an ancient book from the Seven Hills Kingdom period, a counter-argument to On the Origin."

"On Origin? What kind of book is this?" Martial stood there in confusion. "Why have I never heard of it?"

"Haha, the former commander of the El Army in this military camp was a nobleman who loved collecting books. Later, a wizard who loved reading moved in. Originally, there were a large number of ancient El books..."

"Really? Can I take a look?" As a scholar of orthodox revivalism, Martial was quite interested in books from the ancient Aiel period.

"...but it was burned by a group of demon hunters." Horn finished the second half of the sentence with a smile, looking at Martial who was full of disappointment, "We have a wizard with an extraordinary memory... She memorized most of the books, and we have copied a small part of them into a book."

For various reasons, Horn did not reveal the identity of the witch Shilov to them.

"Then, then, then can I..." Martial stuttered. In this era, books were valuable items and were rarely allowed to be viewed by outsiders.

Horne stepped forward in a friendly manner, patted Martial on the shoulder and said, "If you want to read it, let Armand take you to the library, but it is not allowed to be borrowed or copied. You can only read it in the library."

"Of course I should, of course I should." Martial nodded repeatedly, rubbing his hands excitedly.

"Armand, take our guest to the library, Monsieur Mitternich, and we will have a detailed discussion there."

After saying goodbye to Mitternich, Martial followed Armand towards the library.

He followed closely behind Armand, and if he didn't need to lead the way, he would have wanted to run ahead of Armand.

Pushing open the door of the library, Martial rushed in like a hungry tiger, then tiptoed to stop in front of the bookshelf.

On the bookshelf, there are about thirty books sparsely arranged according to categories.

"Be careful, many of these are unique copies." Seeing that Martial looked like he was about to drool, Armand hurriedly reminded him.

Taking out the gloves, Martial showed them to Armand: "I have read many rare books, and I know how to deal with them."

After walking around the bookshelf twice, Martial couldn't help but marvel in admiration. On the bookshelf there were ancient books that were recorded in other books, as well as many that were not recorded.

Martial carefully opened a book and began to read it attentively.

The book "The Life of Ukulus" in his hand was just a thin biography, and he finished reading it quickly.

This biography corresponds exactly to the time points of Ukulus's experiences in "A Brief History of Air". The blank experiences not recorded in the "Brief History" are filled in this book.

"What should I read next?" After closing the book with satisfaction, Martial's eyes wandered through the books, but he soon saw a familiar title.

"Rosesi's On the Law." Martial gently pulled out the book. There was a fragment of this book in the library of his teacher's home. He didn't expect to see it here.

Placing the thick book on the writing table, Martial pulled over a chair and sat down.

As soon as he opened the book, he frowned, because this ancient book was full of French letters.

Looking more closely, I saw on the title page: "On the Laws, written by Rossellini, translated by Montesquieu."

It turns out to be a translated product, no wonder it is such a thick book.

I just don't know how good the translation skills of this priest named Montesquieu are.

Faced with such a big book, Martial devoted himself to it and began to read it word by word.

(End of this chapter)