Although everyone still had doubts about Guo Kang's suggestion, they did not directly object. Because of similar operations, the Roman Church did often do so. And the God-worshiping church has no shortage of such cases.
The Cao family has been engaged in diplomatic activities all year round. Even in a country like the Purple Horde Khanate with more active ideas, they are relatively flexible in thinking. In their opinion, although Guo Kang's ideas are a bit biased, they are not incomprehensible.
As for Mrs. Irina, although she has a close relationship with the Kiev Church, she has been married into this family for decades and has long been accustomed to worshiping the Church of God.
Because the Kiev church is far away and its believers are scattered, many people still have old ideas, and the church as a whole appears to be more conservative. However, in the process of development and missionary work, they also often incorporate local beliefs - such as the frequent "Father Bear", which is a typical example.
Therefore, Mrs. Irina needs to consider more about how to explain it so that it is easier for the Kiev church to accept it, so as to cooperate with the efforts of the Grand Lama Wang at the official level and push them to agree with this matter. For herself, as long as she doesn't go too far, she doesn't have to be serious.
After several people thought for a moment, Mrs. Elena raised the question.
"If we really do this, it can be explained in theory, but will it cause other questions?" She asked: "Piling two religions together gives people the feeling that they are trying to recreate the past. Pantheon. I am worried that many people will not be able to accept it and think that what we do is purely pagan behavior.”
Guo Kang also thought for a moment and prepared to answer this question. However, before he spoke, Cao Zhonglin, who had been drinking tea and not talking much before, couldn't help but speak first.
"Mom, in my opinion, you still go abroad too few times." He shook his head and said: "We are not accepted religiously by everyone. The Christian world has indeed been treating us as heretics. Since the establishment of the account So far, it hasn’t changed.”
"So, we don't need to think so much - it's already a heresy anyway, and even if they don't do it, they won't change their tune; and even if they do, the diplomatic environment won't be worse."
"In this case, as long as it is beneficial to us, a heretic is a heresy." He spread his hands and said: "We have endured so many Crusades. If we are not a heresy, it will not live up to our reputation."
"This is no longer a heresy." Mrs. Elena said: "It is already retro to the level of polytheism..."
"Aren't heretics better?" Cao Zhonglin teased: "Compared to heretics, everyone is more tolerant of heretics."
Lady Elena was speechless for a moment.
"This is different." Guo Kang quickly smoothed things over and explained: "Polytheism does have some problems. The biggest disadvantage is that it is poorly organized."
"The Pantheon of the ancient Romans was still in a very primitive state. It was just a simple collection and lacked follow-up work." He began to review history: "At that time, the Romans often went out to fight. When they saw that other people's gods were good, they Just move it back. Some foreign gods are very interesting to everyone, so they will also put them together for sacrifice."
"But this approach is essentially that the religious groups of various gods are doing their own thing. This has led to an extremely large number of sacrificial activities in Rome, and even caused a lot of trouble to the public. Many gods also have obvious regional characteristics, and there are differences among believers. Exclusions and fights were not uncommon and actually hindered the unification of the empire.”
"I think the crux of the problem lies here." Guo Kang pointed out: "What really matters is not one god or multiple gods, but an effective organization."
"In comparison, the monotheistic religions at that time were more organized and more adaptable to the state after the unification of the empire. The church cut out a large number of repetitive and wasteful religious activities, and also adopted universal doctrines that were not bound by ethnic groups and regions. Relatively speaking, Compared with traditional polytheism, it naturally has advantages."
"Isn't it because the doctrine is closer to the truth and easier to be accepted by everyone?" Mrs. Elena seemed not to have thought about this issue.
"We will know by making a comparison." Guo Kang said: "Our current religion was reformed by Brother Tian on the basis of Judaism. There are many basic principles that are interlinked. But the two sides are incompatible with each other. , a fierce confrontation broke out at that time, and the Jewish priests were determined to get rid of him."
"Later, what was widely spread and accepted by the world was the Cross religion founded by Brother Tian, not the original Judaism. The biggest difference here is that he and his disciples added another set of scriptures, changing that God will only bless the Jews This statement makes Heavenly Father truly a God that everyone can believe in.”
"In this way, although the basic rules are similar, the Christian religion has gained a huge advantage over its opponents."
"So, the key here, it can be said, is to see who is more likely to be accepted by everyone." Guo Kang corrected: "But the causal relationship is reversed - it is not because the priests thought about it for a while and thought that their ideas were close to the truth. If it is accepted by everyone, it is directly accepted by everyone; but because everyone accepts it more, it can be confirmed that he is closer to the truth."
"The next question is why it is more accepted. If we understand the principle here, we can be closer to the truth."
"Then what do you think is the truth here?" Mrs. Elena asked.
"It's the organizational ability I just mentioned." Guo Kang replied: "Another example is actually Siris."
"Some priests believe that they are still a primitive polytheistic religion. But others believe that they are essentially a monotheistic religion. However, in my opinion, their understanding is still insufficient and their understanding is biased."
"The key difference between monotheism and polytheism is not the number of gods, but the organizational form of the gods."
"The church has also incorporated many pagan gods, calling them angels or saints, and interpreting the legends as stories with a religious background of worshiping God. So, what's the point of calling them 'gods', 'saints', and 'immortals' in Chinese? Is there any difference? I think there is no difference."
"Some ancient philosophers and theologians believed that language contains divinity and reason, and behind it contains the laws and order of all things. But I think the name is just a code name and has nothing to do with the essence of the object. Otherwise, we can change the language and vocabulary. Describing Heavenly Father, isn’t it the same deity? This is heresy and treason.”
"Since the name of Heavenly Father is not important, it makes no difference whether these spiritual secondary beings are called angels, gods, or saints."
"For example, there is a clear supreme god 'Tian' in Seris. The imperial court is very concerned about the supreme status of 'Tian' and prohibits any sacrificial activities beyond Him. Other objects of worship are said to be 'gods', but in fact they are It's just a name, and everyone even assigned them official positions and positions to establish order among these 'gods'."
"From this perspective, it's very simple. If you don't talk about anything else, just look at Serris's concept of 'Heaven' and the court's habit of registering and appointing gods. It's much more complete than the divine system of the Cross. ”
"So, who is more primitive and closer to polytheism?"
At this time, Mrs. Elena didn’t know how to answer.
"The cultural level of the Europeans is so poor that the priests cannot understand this. But we still have to figure it out." Guo Kang said: "Instead of referring to them and paying attention to their weird theories full of prejudice and ignorance, it is better to learn from the Serbian people. Rhys, look how they do it.”
Lady Elena nodded in agreement.
She is also a layman on doctrinal issues. But she quite agreed with what Guo Kang said.
After all, even now, people from the Roman Catholic Church come to stir up trouble from time to time and make things difficult for the Orthodox Church with doctrinal issues.
Of course, Orthodoxy is not vegetarian either. The church hired a large group of Greek theologians all year round, and every time they debated the Bible, it basically ended with the Roman Church having no success. As time went by, it was understandable that everyone felt that the priests there were not good enough and had too much to do.
"I am not a professional priest, but these ideas can be logically justified." Guo Kang continued to advise: "You can think about it, whether it is our church or the Roman Catholic Church, although the missionary time is not short, But who has the scale of Seris’ Heavenly Cult, and who has such a complete organization?”
"Obviously, their theory is more universal. And the results of the dissemination also tell us that it is the closest to the truth. We can refer to it and find a method that suits us."
"If Tianfang Sect and God Worshiping Sect are put together without any management at all, then they will indeed regress to the state of the Pantheon. Now that we have the conditions, we should not do this." He shook his head and said: "On the contrary, we should Take the initiative to promote the integration of both parties.”
"From the Celtic Church in Ireland to the 'heaven' belief in Serris, everyone believes in the same religion and the same god."
"If there are areas of consistency in the teachings, they can be merged and simplified. If there are differences, everyone should discuss them carefully and judge which ones are necessary and need to be maintained; which ones are not perfect or even wrong and need to be corrected. .”
"They have something that is closer to the truth, and we can use it as a reference; we have a theory that is closer to the truth, and they should be allowed to learn from it. This is the tradition and advantage of monotheism."
"Back then, Rome recognized God-worshipping and it began to flourish. As the orthodox successors of Rome, we also have an unshakable duty to pursue justice and truth and let them flourish."
"The proverb says: An insect that lives and dies does not know the change of day and night; a cicada that lives in spring and dies in summer does not know the two seasons of spring and autumn. The barbarians have no history and no cultural inheritance. Even if the Heavenly Father stands in front of them, they will only know Say 'Scare! Weird thing I've never seen before!'"
"How can such a person understand what truth is and what is the glory of Heavenly Father?" Guo Kang asked rhetorically.
(End of chapter)
