Seven Christian soldiers have been killed in battle so their centurion, Gratillonius, must ensure that they are buried as they would wished even though he himself is both a devotee of Mithras and the current incarnation of Taranis. (Since he is also both the Roman prefect and the Ysan King, his responsibilities are many.) He visits the former temple of Mars to consult the Christian minister, Eucherius. In order not to interrupt a ceremony, he waits outside the building. After a while, a few elderly parishioners leave. We can still see their co-religionists emerging from churches every Sunday morning.
Contemplating those "poor souls," the Ysans, Eucherius comments:
"'Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. They mean well, too...'" (p. 290)
The first sentence here is a Biblical quotation that we have missed before.
Eucherius is able to arrange for burials in a churchyard in a nearby town.
When Gratillonius offers practical help, Eucherius responds:
"'Save where it comes to propagating the Faith?'" (p. 291)
Christians should be allowed to preach in public. I can testify from experience that this practice can have a high nuisance value but its suppression would be a greater wrong.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
Hmmm, "high nuisance value" meaning the problems and difficulties you had with evangelical Protestant preachers? I've been wondering, were these persons low church Anglicans, Baptists, or Pentecostals?
If you ever saw any Catholic preachers I hoped they offered more reasonable arguments than these others.
Ad astra! Sean
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