The Household of God
Volume 2
Rise and spiritual prime of the first world empire Hanoch
- Chapter 148 -
THE PERSISTENT STRANGER. ENOCH'S GOOD EVASIVE ANSWER. THE STRANGER'S COUNTER - QUESTION AND ENOCH'S NEW EMBARRASSMENT
When the stranger had waited a considerable time without receiving an answer he again turned to Enoch asking him: "Enoch, do you deem me unworthy of an answer since you are silent saying neither Yes nor No? Or should you still not have found an answer within you?
2
"I request you to either give me an answer or refer me somewhere else; for I insist on the clearing up of this problem between me and this brother."
3
Here Enoch no longer hesitated, but promptly said to the stranger: "Listen, dear brother, your and your brother's problem is such that not much can be said about it really. For your statement is basically as true and right as that of the brother, one saying basically the same as the other; only the words differ. Look, this is how I comprehend it; however, since you find a considerable difference between them I find it impossible to come up with a dear mean, being at a loss to see any difference at all. For a life under compulsion is only a pretended life; and what is a pretended life? Hardly anything else but a pretended motion, which is as good as no motion at all!
4
"If for instance at nighttime scattered clouds pass under the moon, the impression on the eye is that the moon moves above them; but is that seeming motion real?
5
"Oh by no means. In this respect the moon is dead; for the moon does not move, only the clouds do.
6
"Just as such a motion is no motion, but merely a standing still, thus also a life under compulsion or judgment is not a life, but in relation to the actual life a veritable death.
7
"For if something lifeless is only carried along by some other life as if itself alive, just as I for instance carry a garment around on my living body, it does not follow that it lives, but it is absolutely dead with respect to my life although it must possess a peculiar innate power owing to which it does not completely perish thus becoming unable to serve me as a garment.
8
"Behold, this is all I can tell you in answer to your question.
9
"However, if you want to learn about some striking difference under all circumstances, you will have to turn to somebody else or wait for a more opportune time when I may have more light in this matter than just now.
10
"Besides, I must remark that it is much better to love God with all one's strength and the brothers more than one's own person than to engage in such wisdom tricks.
11
"Do this and you will be little bothered by the difference between what is a life under compulsion and sin and what is death; for only thereby will you become truly alive.
12
"But whoever has life, is unwise if he cares for that which belongs to death.
13
"Now do what you like; but do not leave this unheeded."
14
Thereupon the stranger replied to Enoch: "My dear Enoch, in a certain respect you are not exactly wrong. But when you say that the living shall not care about death, I should really like to learn from you what you mean by it.
15
"Behold, God is certainly completely alive; but compared to Him all people are dead! Now if He, as the alone Living One, in His great love, mercy and wisdom did not care about the innately dead people, thus about death in general, what about the coming-to-life of people?
16
"If we are images of God, owing to your quite good lesson I really do not know in this case how I can consider myself such a divine image; for not life, but death needs a Redeemer.
17
"Behold, here it is again between us!
18
"Prove this to me and I will be quite satisfied."
19
Here Enoch began to be quite taken aback; but Abedam said:
20
"It becomes progressively clearer: We are at a dead end - nothing else. I was just going to rejoice at your wise lesson; but how do we look now?
21
"No, what an objection this is. Like a mountain on an anthill, executing all.
22
"No, even an archangel would become sick over this objection.
23
"Brother, do you know what? Let us nicely lay down our offices before God and the world, and we shall soon feel better; for another such objection will cost us all our little bit of life! Yes, yes, that we will do."