John's Story by Tim Lahaye, Jerry B. Jenkins Read Free Book Online Page B

Magdala?”
    The crowd roared. Cerinthus continued, “Unless you too were an eyewitness to Jesus—and you are clearly too young for that—you can vouch for no one who said he has seen the Man.”
    Voice shaking, John said, “Let me tell you, sir, you have it all wrong.”
    “And let me beseech you, honored associated of Jesus, to act as He would wish and hold your tongue while I have the ears of these people.”
    “But you do not deserve their attention, man! You are lying, making bold claims from thin evidence, confusing truth with—”
    “I assure you, John—if that’s who you are—that when I am finished here I will urge any who wish to to stay and listen to you.”
    He turned back to the people. “The salvation I preach and believe has nothing to do with the redemption of every human soul. It is a grand, cosmic process. It is the return of all things to their state before a flaw in the realm of the good brought matter into existence and entrapped some of the divine light. The Christ was sent as a savior who united Himself with Jesus, the son of Mary, at His baptism.”
    “You must not continue with this!” John cried, but Cerinthus ignored him.
    “The human is a creation of the Demiurge, a composite of soul, body, and spirit. Your salvation rests in the return of your spirit to God.”
    “No!” John yelled. “Men of Ephesus, hear me! Your salvation lies in your resurrection, based on the work of Jesus the Christ on the cross and His resurrection!”
    Cerinthus plunged ahead. “There is no resurrection of the body! God revealed Himself in Jesus and appeared as a man in Judea; to know him, and to become free of the angry, vengeful Creator God of the Old Testament, this is salvation.”
    “Your savior, then,” John said, “is not my Savior! Your savior does not save. Where is the atonement for your sins? You recognize no sin to be atoned for, except ignorance. How does your savior suffer for you? How does he draw you to God or grant you grace? To you Jesus was merely a teacher who brought truth, which you believe alone can save. You know nothing of the real Savior, who said He came to seek and to save all who were lost.”
    “It is true that we differ,” Cerinthus said. “I do not debate that. My savior has no human nature; He is not a man. He only seemed to be a man.”
    “He was both God and man!” John said. “I knew Him! I know Him!”
    Cerinthus smiled patiently again and addressed the crowd. “Ephesians, if you would believe this man is truly the disciple John, ask him about the magic language.”
    “The what?” John said, as people whispered. “I do not know of what you speak.”
    “Of course you do! You say you were there! My angel muses tell me that Jesus and His disciples often broke into a gibberish of only vowels. Spells have been cast made up of vowels in sets of twenty. Tell us, O great one who was there, what did it all mean?”
    “It means your muses cannot be angels, but rather demons! This never happened! I was His friend. He knew me by name. He called me beloved.”
    “If that is true, sir, if you are truly one of His, you know that we obey God by abstaining from flesh, meat, and marriage, and by leading an austere life. In this way we earn our salvation.”
    “Such a life is well and good and may be profitable,” John said, “but in Christ we are free from such strictures.”
    “Now who is the blasphemer?” Cerinthus said. “If you knew the truth, you would worship the Father, the Son, and Hyle, which is matter.”
    “I worship God the Father,” John said, “and His Son Jesus the Christ, and the Holy Spirit.”
    “That is where you are wrong, sir! The Son is the cosmic serpent who freed Eve from the power of Hyle. We represent the universe by a triangle enclosed in a circle, because the number three is the key to all mysteries. There are three supreme principles: the not-generated, the self-generated, and the generated. As we study these mysteries, we exercise