The Fox of France

Fekin spoke while reaching into a nearby briefcase, pulling out a notebook as thick as a large dictionary. It was a simple notebook with a plain white cover, red ink inscribed on it: "Notes on the Bible."

Several people gathered around as Fekin flipped open the first page, revealing a line of text: "I did not come to bring peace, but a sword..."

Everyone recognized it as a passage from the Gospel of Matthew. Father Torres had placed this sentence here for a reason.

As he turned the pages, there was a preamble-like text, hastily written, indicating Father Torres's intense excitement while jotting down these words.

"While I was in prayer, a spark of thought suddenly appeared, a flash that illuminated me. No, it wasn't just a spark; it was a lightning bolt in the pitch-black night, a miracle, akin to when God said, 'Let there be light.'"

For years, I immersed myself in studying the Bible and the works of theologians at the monastery, gradually distancing myself from the beautiful world God created. I built a barrier between myself and this world, believing that distancing myself from humanity brought me closer to God. Looking back now, it's utterly dizzying! It reeks of self-righteousness and arrogance.

Under the inspiration of that light, I realized that the Bible and the world aren't separate. The Bible is God's word, and isn't the world also God's creation? Just as understanding an author involves not only reading their autobiography but also their other works, how can one claim to know everything about an author just by reading their autobiography? If a reader claims to understand everything about an author by merely reading their autobiography, how arrogant is that? How can we say that by reading the Bible, we can disregard God's most important creation—the whole world? Those who think they can close their eyes to the entire world just because they hold a Bible commit a sin of arrogance.

We must not only read the Bible but also understand the world.

So, I shared my thoughts with the monastery's head. He warned me, 'Young man, your thoughts are perilous; you're stepping into heresy. Satan has entered your heart, misled you. Quickly abandon these untimely thoughts and return to orthodoxy!'

At that moment, a phrase from the Bible struck me: 'Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.'

The term 'Pharisee' comes from ancient Hebrew, meaning 'separate,' indicating those who isolated themselves from the secular world in pursuit of purity. They strictly followed Moses's laws, considering themselves devout. However, Jesus rebuked them. Why? Some say the Pharisees' intention was initially good, aiming to adhere strictly to God's law and maintain spiritual purity, but they deviated, becoming self-satisfied, arrogant, and hypocritical.

But were the Pharisees only later deviating from the right path? No, from the moment this sect appeared and sought separation from God's created world, the seeds of arrogance and hypocrisy were sown. If separation alone aligned with God's will, why did Jesus come to earth? Why didn't he disappear into the desert and never return? Why did he carry the cross for sinners? This shows that God's will doesn't desire separation from the world. Therefore, when the Pharisees shot their arrow, it had already veered off course. It started subtly, but as the arrow flew forward, it deviated further and became more apparent.

I told the head of the monastery that I intended to leave and travel the world. As he saw my disregard for his advice, he grew furious, but it didn't stop me from departing.

During my travels across France, I noticed the country was increasingly divided into two worlds. One belonged to the impoverished, living in hellish conditions, devoid of joy and happiness. No, they didn't live near hell; they lived in it. Dante supposedly witnessed hell's gates with a terrifying inscription: 'Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.' Cold and suffering weren't their greatest calamities; their true misery lay in the absence of hope. Yes, hell wasn't distant; it was right here on earth.

What was Jesus's first miracle? It was at the wedding in Cana of Galilee, where the wine ran out. To have no wine at a wedding, naturally, indicated poverty. Historians say the regions near Lake Genessaret and its surroundings were inhabited by incredibly impoverished people.

Then Jesus told the servants to fill the jars with water, and they did so, to the brim. He said, 'Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.' They did so, and the master tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, 'Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.'

At that time, Jesus hadn't yet arrived. But he performed this miracle in advance because of God's love. Whoever loves people will certainly love their joy. That's the significance of Jesus's arrival, his true redemption—bringing joy to more people. That's the real redemption.

The other world belonged to nobles and high-ranking clergy. It was luxurious, debauched, sustained by exploiting the poor, living sinful lives akin to Sodom and Gomorrah.

Then I witnessed God's redemption and punishment—revolution.

Revolution is redemption for those trapped in hell. Just as Jesus always stayed with the poorest, I realized the mystical and spiritual significance of the poor's history. Their voices in our time are akin to Moses hearing God's voice in the burning bush. The poor entered the stage of history, proclaiming that poverty isn't divine but human, a consequence of oppressive societal structures that can and must be changed, and the poor are initiating that change. This is liberation, or rather, redemption.

Revolution is also punishment for those who betrayed the masses, trampling upon those who should have been brothers and sisters, killing them, consuming their flesh, and drinking their blood. They faced God's punishment in the revolution, just as God struck down Sodom and Gomorrah.

I gradually understood the meaning of revolution. Then I remembered this line from the Bible:

'I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.' It's a sentence from the book of Revelation, depicting the new world after the apocalypse. I had never truly understood it before. But now, I finally grasped God's intent. Revolution is filled with pain, much like the apocalypse in Revelation, but it's only the end of the old world. The old, sinful world will be shattered by the revolutionary hammer, and after the revolution, a completely new world will unfold before us.

In this world, what separates people, the class divisions that create an ocean between them, will cease to exist.

'I also saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.'

'I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Look! God's dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God."'

Yes, heaven, true heaven, isn't in the ethereal sky; it's here on earth. Don't waste energy seeking God's dwelling in the heavens; it's not up there—it's here on earth. As long as we, through revolution, demolish the old world, heaven will manifest itself on earth, and God will dwell among us. Then 'He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.' My friends, heaven is on earth. Revolution is the only way to bring about heaven, it's redemption!

"No wonder Jesus said, 'It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.' No wonder, in the earliest days when Jesus was present, his disciples abandoned all personal possessions. No wonder the Romans, the Jews, wanted to kill Jesus," the butcher remarked.

"But Jesus couldn't be killed. He resurrected after three days. Because revolution cannot be killed. As long as there are people needing redemption, the revolution will continually resurrect. That's the significance of Jesus's resurrection, that's the true gospel," Fekin said. "I believe if Jesus were alive today, in this new century, he would undoubtedly be a revolutionary warrior. A warrior spreading the gospel of revolution in the new era, fighting for it!"

"Amen!" everyone echoed together.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!