[Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ by Lew Wallace]@TWC D-Link bookBen-Hur: A Tale of the Christ CHAPTER V 12/23
When I heard of the Persian's Realm of Light, his Paradise across the bridge Chinevat, where only the good go, the thought haunted me; insomuch that in the day, as in the night, I brooded over the comparative ideas Eternal Transmigration and Eternal Life in Heaven.
If, as my teacher taught, God was just, why was there no distinction between the good and the bad? At length it became clear to me, a certainty, a corollary of the law to which I reduced pure religion, that death was only the point of separation at which the wicked are left or lost, and the faithful rise to a higher life; not the nirvana of Buddha, or the negative rest of Brahma, O Melchior; nor the better condition in hell, which is all of Heaven allowed by the Olympic faith, O Gaspar; but life--life active, joyous, everlasting--LIFE WITH GOD! The discovery led to another inquiry.
Why should the Truth be longer kept a secret for the selfish solace of the priesthood? The reason for the suppression was gone.
Philosophy had at least brought us toleration.
In Egypt we had Rome instead of Rameses.
<<Back Index Next>> D-Link book Top TWC mobile books
|