CHAPTER 57.
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Levi
Meeting of the sages, continued. Opening addresses. Jesus with the sages. Seven days’ silence.
Ashbina said, Assyria is the land of doubt; the chariot of my people, that in which they mostly ride, is labeled Doubt.
2 Once Faith walked forth in Babylon; and she was bright and fair; but she was clothed in such white robes that men became afraid of her.
3 And every wheel began to turn, and Doubt made war on her, and drove her from the land; and she came back no more.
4 In form men worship God, the One; in heart they are not sure that God exists.
5 Faith worships at the shrine of one not seen; but Doubt must see her God.
6 The greatest need of all Assyria is faith—a faith that seasons every thing that is, with certainty.
7 And then Apollo said, The greatest needs of Greece are true concepts of God.
8 Theogony in Greece is rudderless, for every thought may be a god, and worshipped as a god.
9 The plane of thought is broad, and full of sharp antagonists; and so the circle of the gods is filled with enmity, with wars and base intrigues.
10 Greece needs a master mind to stand above the gods; to raise the thoughts of men away from many gods to God the One.
11 We know that light is coming o’er the hills. God speed the light.
12 Matheno said, Behold this land of mystery! this Egypt of the dead!
13 Our temples long have been the tombs of all the hidden things of time; our temples, crypts and caves are dark.
14 In light there are no secret things. The sun reveals all hidden truth. There are no mysteries in God.
15 Behold the rising sun! His beams are entering every door; yea, every crevice of the mystic crypts of Mizraim.
16 We hail the light! All Egypt craves the light.
17 And Philo said, The need of Hebrew thought and life is liberty.
18 The Hebrew prophets, seers, and givers of the law, were men of power, men of holy thought, and they bequeathed to us a system of philosophy that was ideal; one strong enough and good enough to lead our people to the goal of perfectness.
19 But carnal minds repudiated holiness; a priesthood filled with selfishness arose, and purity in heart became a myth; the people were enslaved.
20 The priesthood is the curse of Israel; but when he comes, who is to come, he will proclaim emancipation for the slaves; my people will be free.
21 Behold, for God has made incarnate wisdom, love and light, which he has called Immanuel.
22 To him is given the keys to open up the dawn; and here, as man, he walks with us.
23 And then the council chamber door was opened and the Logos stood among the sages of the world.
24 Again the sages sat in silence seven days.