A Hospital in Another World?-Chapter 878: Council Intervention, Promoting the New Church!
"The Nederland War is currently in a stalemate, with the front lines stalled in the central region..."
"The third batch of mages who went to the front for training has returned, with a casualty rate below 3%, and not a single mage from Thunder Horn perished..."
"The council has observed that a group of new Radiant Church clergy has emerged in Nederland. They do not obey the church's orders and do not even believe that their divine spells come from the church..."
"Garrett!"
"Garrett!"
"…Garrett Nordmark!"
"Ah?!"
Garrett jolted awake, coming to his senses. Poor guy, he had been swamped with tasks recently, working around the clock without rest:
Daily hospital work needed to be done, daily guidance for his subordinates;
Magic practice, mental strength practice, and physical combat practice, which could not be neglected before becoming a knight;
His disguise technique had not yet met his teacher's requirements, requiring at least an hour of practice each day;
His teacher had opened up a plethora of internal information on seventh, eighth, and ninth-level spells, not only with spell descriptions but also combat records and video descriptions, which he had to memorize every day until he was dizzy...
If spellcasters did not need eight hours of sleep each day to have spells the next day, Garrett suspected that his teacher would let him stay up all night, again and again, allowing only four hours of sleep at most each day.
Given such a tight schedule, it was normal for him to daydream during the weekly meetings.
Moreover, the meeting had not even started yet, and his teacher had not arrived. It was just a gathering of his senior brothers watching the recent news broadcast by the Tower Spirit...
"Garrett, did you hear what we just talked about?"
Senior brother Byerbo raised his voice slightly. If one simply wanted to be a mage, one could naturally bury oneself in the laboratory, ignoring the outside world;
But as disciples of the Lord of Thunder, they had to bear more responsibilities than others. Being unaware of external situations and changes could easily lead them into traps, thus implicating the entire sect.
Not to mention, having a high position and broad vision was beneficial for a mage's long-term development.
He stared at his junior brother who had been daydreaming during the meeting, preparing to lecture Garrett if he could not answer. Well, not too harshly, as little Garrett was still teachable...
Unexpectedly, he did not get the chance to lecture. Garrett blinked, seemingly sleepwalking, and began to recite:
"The council has observed that a group of new clergy has emerged in Nederland... They do not believe that their divine spells come from the church... Eh!"
Reciting up to this point, he suddenly cried out in surprise like a cat that had touched a hot pan. Archmage Byerbo suppressed a sigh:
"What is it?"
So jumpy!
"Justification by faith!" Garrett's eyes widened with an "I can't believe you didn't think of this" look, gesturing animatedly:
"Not obeying the church, yet still able to perform divine spells, divine spells not coming from the church—this is justification by faith! They actually came up with this! This is a powerful tool, if played well, it can directly split the church!"
"How so?"
"Everyone can directly connect with God! Everyone can read the scriptures on their own, connect with God through their faith, and obtain divine spells. No one is nobler than anyone else!" Garrett waved his hands:
"That means the Radiant Church, the representatives of God on earth, all step aside!"
"Little Garrett is quite right." A clear voice suddenly rang out. Everyone present stood up collectively and turned around. Before everyone could salute, the Lord of Thunder waved his hand leisurely and said:
"We were just discussing this. Historically, there have been independent individuals who obtained divine spells without the church, but most were burned by the church. This time, with the church's weakened power, the opportunity is better—hmm, Garrett, continue. How can we use this?"
"Ah?"
Garrett was dumbfounded.
Use?
How to use it?
No one used it!
In history, Martin Luther published the "Ninety-Five Theses," then Protestantism emerged, and then they fought...
His deepest impression of Protestantism was that it became the Church of England. King Henry VIII switched to Protestantism to divorce and remarry, then divorce and remarry again...
It seemed historically, Catholics and Protestants killed each other, with casualties comparable to the Crusades...
All this was fragmented knowledge from middle and high school history books. As for how to use it, he had no idea, as the books didn't cover that!
Right, the Ninety-Five Theses!
"I think, perhaps a theoretical system is needed to unify these clergy." He thought quickly and stammered:
"To let them know their actions are correct, and they can use this theory to spread the word, influence more people, and oppose the Radiant Church..."
A theoretical system is needed at all times. The Renaissance or any other movement needs theoretical guidance to be stable and go far. The more Garrett spoke, the faster his brain worked:
"This theory needs to be rigorous, complete, and self-contained. It's best to criticize many practices of the Radiant Church, to theoretically negate them..."
For example, indulgences? Ah, who knows if the Radiant Church here sells indulgences? They might not, since selling holy water is enough...
The Lord of Thunder watched Garrett with great interest. The news from the Nederland battlefield, filtered through layers and discussed in the review board, only reached their legendary mages with a few points.
The only point that piqued their interest was this one, and Garrett, despite dozing off and daydreaming, also zeroed in on this point!
What is this? Intuition?
"How should it be written? What specifics should it contain?"
He deliberately asked. Garrett spread his hands, justifiably:
"I don't know."
"Hmm?!"
"I really don't know!" Garrett's momentum quickly shifted from "justifiable" to "unjustifiable but forceful," and within a second, to "pitiful":
"I'm not a follower of the Radiant Lord! I don't study theology! How would I know!"
Martin Luther was a professional theologian! I'm not! He was a theology doctor, professor, who studied for decades! His long-term research wasn't in vain; at least he thoroughly understood the doctrine!
I, this Ninety-Five Theses, if I wrote it, it would probably go like this—
First thesis, justification by faith. Humans connect with God through faith without the church. Second to ninety-fifth theses: omitted...
If Martin Luther wrote it like this, it would be impossible to establish Protestantism, but getting beaten to death would be highly probable.
Fortunately, Garrett now had the backing of the Mage Council, so professional matters could be handled by professionals. He calmly passed the buck:
"Gather a group of priests from the Nature Church, War God Temple, and Spring Goddess Temple to draft it! At least they are clergy!"
Archmage Byerbo glanced sideways slightly. The way he spoke, it was as if he wasn't a nature priest—how much of the Nature Church's doctrine and scriptures had you read? Memorized any?
Opening his mouth and asking for people from three temples, you just threw it to the council, didn't you?
The Lord of Thunder also silently criticized. On second thought, Garrett leaning more towards being a mage was actually desirable for everyone. He nodded calmly:
"This is one option. Hmm, if we use this plan, what do we do next? Distribute it across the continent after writing? Or use [Memory Weaving Spell] to choose someone to spread it?"
In fact, this plan, once discussed, was the one the necromancer legend was most interested in.
The Immortal even volunteered to travel across the continent to select a suitable person. Then, using the ninth-ring spell [Memory Weaving Spell], he would inject the entire theory into that person's mind...
"Uh, this might not be good..." Garrett thought for a moment and dismissed it:
"If such a lengthy text suddenly appeared in my mind, I would surely think I was going mad or influenced by someone else's spell. This kind of thing should grow naturally..."
Exactly! The Lord of Thunder secretly gave his disciple a thumbs up. In fact, after the Immortal proposed the plan, Steiner immediately rejected it for the same reason.
It must be a brainless bonehead, unable to see something even a child could see!
He silently vented, then urged Garrett to continue. Garrett, feeling pressured, quickly racked his brain and decided to borrow from history again:
"Well, if that doesn't work, just find some theologians from the Radiant Church. Preferably those who are always upright and simple, who dislike the core members of the church, and are renowned. Ideally, from humble backgrounds, young and vigorous?"
Their works should look more legitimate, rigorous, and less likely to be refuted by the original system?
Something made by outsiders would always seem off...
"And then?" The Lord of Thunder smiled. Garrett widened his eyes:
"Then just let it spread! There must be local nobles and lords who need divine spells, might believe a bit in the Radiant Lord, yet hate being controlled by the church, and will help!"
Why was Martin Luther protected? Because he was German? Right, he was German, the church was in Italy, and Germany wanted independence, so they were at odds...
Garrett thought and added: 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢
"Oh, such people should preferably be chosen within local lords' territories!"
"And then?" The Lord of Thunder grew more intrigued. He deliberately brought up every point discussed in the legendary council meeting to tease Garrett:
"Should the council contact those people?
Befriend them? Fund and support them?"
Garrett shook his head repeatedly. If he were a higher-level warrior, his head might have already left an afterimage:
"Better not! People who come up with such theories are mostly the most devout and pure... Direct funding might backfire! Let local lords befriend them! We should befriend the local lords!"
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