Chapter 37: Gu Shengrang took theology a step further...
Gu Sheng took theology a step further, his theories filled gaps in the doctrine and redefined a new theology.
The debate lasted a long time, and Gu Sheng seemed tireless, patiently answering every question as he had answered Ming Qingyuan's.
Finally, the hall fell silent again, because those below had nothing left to say or ask.
After a long silence, the teacher gave Gu Sheng a perfect score, the first perfect score since the establishment of the theological school.
Faced with this score, Gu Sheng simply bowed politely, expressed his gratitude, and then returned to the podium.
As he walked out of the hall, the crowd automatically parted to make way for him.
Ming Qingyuan gazed at Gu Sheng from afar, as if watching a rising star.
In Ming Qingyuan's eyes, Gu Sheng was a friend, a teacher, a spokesperson for God, and a righteous man who would lead the religion to glory.
After the speech, students who successfully graduate can go to the Academic Affairs Office to register their information and receive their identity badges.
Students graduating from the theological seminary will automatically be promoted to altar priests if they graduate successfully.
On the day of the registration, Ming Qingyuan saw Gu Sheng from afar.
He hadn't yet recovered from the debate a few days ago, but upon seeing Gu Sheng, a surge of emotion instantly overwhelmed him.
Ming Qingyuan excitedly walked up to Gu Sheng, but after getting close, he unconsciously took a step back, because he felt that getting too close to Gu Sheng would be a desecration.
Ming Qingyuan asked, "May I ask, what are your thoughts on gods?"
Gu Sheng's speeches were all based on doctrine and theological theories. In debates, he always quoted scriptures, but rarely mentioned the core of the religion: the true God.
Ming Qingyuan looked at Gu Sheng expectantly, waiting for his answer. Ming Qingyuan felt that Gu Sheng's answer would surely elevate his faith once again.
Under Ming Qingyuan's gaze, Gu Sheng looked at him with a puzzled expression, and then said, "God? There is no god in this world."
Ming Qingyuan's expectant expression froze instantly; he hadn't expected Gu Sheng to say that.
The first thought that came to Ming Qingyuan's mind was "heresy".
However, he immediately dismissed the thought. No, that's not right. How could Gu Sheng be a "heretic"? No one understands the religion better than him. If Gu Sheng is a heretic, then what are those who lost their debates with him?
Ming Qingyuan forced a smile. He told himself that Gu Sheng must have had a deeper meaning behind his words, but he hadn't figured it out yet.
Ming Qingyuan continued to ask questions about the existence of gods, and Gu Sheng's answer was always the same: there are no gods in this world.
Ming Qingyuan was unconvinced and began to refute Gu Sheng's theories. In Ming Qingyuan's view, those theories were flawless. The teachers were unable to refute them, nor were the bishops, and even the patriarch was defeated.
However, Gu Sheng calmly refuted each of the theories he had previously put forward, just as he had used these theories to refute others.
After a series of questions, answers, rebuttals, and refutations, Gu Sheng showed Ming Qingyuan a world without gods.
Ming Qingyuan's worldview was almost entirely built by Gu Sheng, and now, it is Gu Sheng who has shattered his worldview.
Does God not exist?
Even though he couldn't refute Gu Sheng's theory, Ming Qingyuan simply couldn't believe that there couldn't be a god in this world.
Yes, there must be a God in this world. When Ming Qingyuan was found by the current Pope, who was then the Archbishop, the Pope told him that it was God's guidance that led him to find Ming Qingyuan, and that saving Ming Qingyuan was also God's will.
If there is no God, then who can save the world?
Who can save the Ming and Qing dynasties from the past?
Ming Qingyuan could not accept Gu Sheng's words. He took a few steps back and said, "No, that's not right. You didn't say that in your previous speech."
Gu Sheng simply replied calmly, "Of course I can't say these things in my speech. If I did, how could they possibly let me graduate smoothly?" He was there to give a graduation speech, not to cause trouble, so naturally he couldn't say something like "there is no God" on the stage.
Ming Qingyuan suddenly looked up at Gu Sheng and asked incredulously, "All those things you said were just for graduation?"
Even the capital city of Lianmu personally attended the event, but Lianmu lost the debate. Was it all just for graduation?
Ming Qingyuan could not accept it. He could not accept Gu Sheng's words, and he could not accept that he seemed to have been persuaded.
Do you believe there is no God in this world?
As a devout believer, Ming Qingyuan couldn't even accept that such a thought had even crossed his mind for a moment.
No, something's not right.
Instead of repeating Gu Sheng's theories, Ming Qingyuan began to recount his own previous views.
It is highly individualistic and idealistic, and contains no objective facts.
There is no point in refuting Ming Qingyuan's views, because those so-called views only exist in his imagination.
His arguments, evidence, and methods of reasoning only exist in his imagination; others have no idea how he arrived at these conclusions, let alone how to refute them.
Therefore, Gu Sheng did not answer Ming Qingyuan's question.
He simply asked a question that Ming Qingyuan could not answer: "Have you ever seen a god?"
Ming Qingyuan was stunned. He had never seen a god before, but he said, "Just because I haven't seen one doesn't mean it doesn't exist." There were many things he had never seen.
Gu Sheng then asked, "Have you ever seen a white egret flower?"
Ming Qingyuan had never heard of this flower before, and he shook his head: "No."
Gu Sheng said, "That's a very rare word; it only exists in F City."
Ming Qingyuan looked at Gu Sheng with a puzzled expression, wondering what he meant by saying all this.
Gu Sheng then asked, "I can tell you that you can see egret flowers that you've never seen before in F City, but can you tell me where I can see a god that I've never seen before?"
Ming Qingyuan opened his eyes wide, opened his mouth, but didn't say anything.
Where can one see God?
There is an answer to this question, but that answer is full of flaws.
After a moment of silence, even knowing he would be refuted again, Ming Qingyuan still gave his answer: "Heaven, God is in Heaven."
Gu Sheng laughed, as if he had heard a funny joke. He said, "You mean that place where there is no return? Since no one has ever come back from there, how do you know that those who went to Heaven saw God, instead of the other way around and saw nothing there?"
Ming Qingyuan could refute Gu Sheng's claim that the first and second pastors had both gone to heaven and returned, but Ming Qingyuan was not satisfied with this answer.
Since Gu Sheng could construct doctrines, he naturally had countless ways to refute these stories, and Ming Qingyuan knew that he could not win the argument against Gu Sheng.
Moreover, although Ming Qingyuan was blind when it came to faith, he was always very clever when it didn't concern him with faith.
Ming and Qing Yuan knew that those legends passed down through generations had been modified many times in later generations, and after hundreds of years of transmission, those stories had long been distorted.
Ming Qingyuan believed that the first and second patriarchs had gone to heaven, but their experiences must have been different from those in the stories.
Ming Qingyuan didn't want these distorted stories as evidence; he wanted more concrete evidence that Gu Sheng couldn't refute.
However, Ming Qingyuan thought long and hard but ultimately failed to find the evidence he wanted.
By the time he came to his senses, Gu Sheng had already left.
After that, Ming Qingyuan began to immerse himself in the library just like Gu Sheng had done before. He searched through all the books, but still couldn't find what he was looking for.
When he finally came out of the library, the first news he heard was that Gu Sheng was gone.
He wasn't transferred to another parish, but rather left the church, though the church retained his position as altar boy.
Upon hearing that Gu Sheng had left, Ming Qingyuan went even more insane; he could not accept that the righteous person he had chosen had left just like that.
Thinking back to their last conversation, Ming Qingyuan attributed Gu Sheng's departure to his inability to convince Gu Sheng that the gods existed.
It's all his fault.
If he hadn't raised that question, perhaps Gu Sheng wouldn't have left.
Ming Qingyuan went crazy, seeking out people to debate with. He used the theories proposed by Gu Sheng to debate with everyone from passing monks to patriarchs.
As a result, the Ming and Qing dynasties achieved a great victory.
No one can provide concrete evidence to prove the existence of God.
Victory did not bring Ming Qingyuan joy; instead, it made him even more tormented. He believed in the existence of God, and he was distressed because no one could prove that God existed.
These debates by Ming Qingyuan also brought him trouble.
In the main diocese of the religion, a deacon who graduated from a theological school debated with people every day about whether God existed, and his argument was that God did not exist. This could be considered heresy in the religion.
Despite numerous complaints and the Patriarch's strong support, Ming Qingyuan was ultimately reassigned to a sub-district and became a traveling altar priest.
The so-called itinerant altar priests are those who go to whichever church they are assigned to, and they do not stay in one place for long. They are the most peripheral figures in the church.
However, Ming Qingyuan was not saddened by his demotion, because he soon discovered that his role as a traveling assistant priest would allow him to travel all over the world, meet more people, and make like-minded companions.
For many years afterward, even knowing he wouldn't stay long, Ming Qingyuan never slacked off. He faced each believer earnestly, actively answered their questions, and listened to everyone's prayers.
He would travel to every place where miracles were said to have occurred, investigate thoroughly, and search for traces of the gods.
And so it went, year after year.
Ming Qingyuan did not find the evidence he was looking for. The facts he saw and heard increasingly told him that God did not exist.
Ming Qingyuan investigated all the miracles, and the truth he found told him that these miracles were either rumors passed down by word of mouth or manipulated by someone behind the scenes; the real miracles simply did not exist.
His like-minded partners came and went.
He had seen staunch atheists become devout believers overnight, and he had also seen former fanatics suddenly lose their faith.
However, the former did not receive God's reward, nor did the latter receive God's punishment.
Faith changed their lives, yet nothing changed at all.
As Ming Qingyuan once again prostrated himself before the statue representing God in prayer, the sunlight shone on the statue, making the entire statue look sacred and solemn.
Each church was meticulously designed to ensure that sunlight shines on the statues of God from sunrise to sunset.
Ming Qingyuan stared at the sculpture that symbolized the gods and fell into deep thought.
God is God. Mortals cannot know His name, cannot know His existence, and cannot even describe His appearance.
Does a being without a name, without an appearance, and without being perceptible truly exist?
The next moment, Ming Qingyuan was terrified by his own transgressive thoughts; he was actually questioning the existence of God.
The trembling fear caused by the distant changes in the Ming and Qing dynasties had not shaken his faith, but now reality had caused cracks in his faith.
Ming Qingyuan stared blankly at the sculpture above him. A voice inside him was screaming that he had to prove that God existed.
If he wanted to prove God's existence, he only had one path left to take.
Since we can't find any trace of God's existence on Earth, let's look for it where God exists.
He's going to heaven.
Moreover, he not only wants to go, but also wants to return to the human world, bringing back evidence of God's existence.
A madness began to creep into Ming Qingyuan's eyes, and his heart began to tremble uncontrollably at the thought.
Yes, that's right, this is the path he truly wants to take.
Gu Sheng was once the spokesperson of God in Ming Qingyuan's mind, but now, Ming Qingyuan suddenly realized why he didn't become the spokesperson of God himself.
Once he sees God, God will surely be moved by his piety. When he returns to earth, he will become God's true representative on earth, just like the first Patriarch.
Ming Qingyuan was stunned for a moment, then instantly overjoyed. Yes, the first Patriarch had been to Heaven and returned to Earth. He must have left clues to the way to Heaven.
From that day on, Ming Qingyuan disappeared, but no one cared about the disappearance of a traveling patriarch; his disappearance caused no ripples.
The person who disappeared has now returned. He has gone mad, and no one knows what he went through. This person, who was once ignored, now leaves a deep mark on everyone's hearts by stepping on the blood of the archbishop.
Inside the obelisk courtyard, upon hearing Gu Sheng's words, Ming Qingyuan did not hesitate at all.
"Okay, you can switch with him."
Teacher Ye looked at Gu Sheng anxiously, wanting to say something, but before he could speak, Ming Qingyuan pressed a gun against his forehead, the cold touch rendering him speechless.
Ming Qingyuan stared intently at Gu Sheng and said, "You switch with him." As soon as he finished speaking, the platform began to fall.
Ming Qingyuan revealed a maniacal laugh and said, "If you lose, I'll take you to heaven with me."
Listening to Ming Qingyuan's words, Gu Sheng always felt that there was a hint of ingratiation in his tone.
It must be an illusion.
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