When the Saintess Arrives, No King Exist-Chapter 686 - 644: The New Center for Religious Reformation

The oatmeal on the table gradually turned cold in the late autumn chill, but Modie almost forgot its existence, still repeatedly reading the newspaper.

Recovering from the shock, Modie began to earnestly ponder the theological perspective behind it.

This was not merely a simple discussion on whether humans can willingly become slaves but a challenge to the existing traditional theism.

In his view, getting to the root of this issue, what the Truth Court needs to do is to redefine clearly the concept of "human" in theology.

In the Truth Court's new definition, "human" is the ordained leader of all creatures by the Holy Father, which includes the right to freedom, the very reason for being human.

If a person does not even possess the most basic right to freedom, then they are no different from animals, which is clearly against the Holy Father's original intent and a blasphemy against the Holy Trinity.

The Church seeks to maintain the Holy Father's omniscient control over humanity, yet cannot explain why He endowed humanity with freedom, and this freedom often deviates from the Holy Father's will.

This contradiction is not new; it has been covered up by the Church's use of extraordinary hegemony up to now.

Whenever a Priest raises a question, it's immediately met with "What is your purpose in questioning this? Who is directing you? What is your motive?"

This problem has been buried in the hearts of countless Holy Professionals for a long time, yet has never received a suitable answer.

However, the explanation of the Holy Path faction in the "Truth News" almost perfectly resolves this issue.

Because according to the newspaper, humanity is born with the freedom bestowed by the Holy Father, and He also grants humanity the wisdom and reason to choose freely.

Therefore, what you love is your life, there is no need to feel fear and anxiety, this is the will of the Holy Father.

Humanity has ample reason to pursue material life and worldly enjoyment.

But thinking to this point, Modie shivered immediately, as he vaguely realized the incredible implications behind it.

If we extend this theory further, isn't the Church as a "faith intermediary" somewhat redundant?

Since my actions are the will of the Holy Father, why do we need the Church to convey His will?

Unbelievable, unbelievable, Modie quickly shook his head, shaking this untouchable topic out of his mind.

Having read the content over and over again, although he remained outwardly calm, the scales in his heart gradually leaned towards the monks of the Holy Path faction.

This is not only because their propositions are more reasonable theologically, but also because Modie has real-life personal experience in this matter.

By relying on the exclusive exegesis of the Holy Father's will, the bishops, in the name of the Holy Father, committed heinous acts.

As a low-level monk, he has seen countless times how ordinary monks are treated like serfs in the fields, while the bishops and abbots sit in luxurious rooms eating steak and drinking wine.

Those nobles and scoundrels can rise through bribery and corruption, while those truly talented and virtuous people waste their lives on a minor holy profession.

The chaos described by Juanuo, seemingly absurd, is the daily reality witnessed by low-level monks.

But they are powerless and can only watch the bishops blaspheme.

Thus, low-level monks and priests like Modie have an urgent desire for reform, hoping to eliminate the corruption within the Church and restore the purity of faith through a new ideological movement.

The most typical representatives are people like Juanuo and Ludvik, which eventually led to the theological thinking of the Juanist Faction.

Although Horn has criticisms on the issue of the "Holy Trinity," this time the newspaper's critique of the Church struck a chord with Modie.

He pushed aside the cold porridge, tucked the newspaper under his arm, and fell into contemplation: "The next few days are likely to be anything but peaceful."

After all, it's not just undermining the Church's foundation; if Horn is casually allowed to dig, the Church will lose its roots.

As Modie expected, when he went out hungry in the morning, the streets and alleys were still discussing the poems and jokes in the newspaper.

By the time he completed a day's courses and returned to the inn in the evening, half the inn was discussing the debate in the "Truth News."

By the time the weekend break arrived, even the citizens began to talk about this part of the theological content.

Because after many monks explained, citizens began to realize that if the conclusions about freedom rights in the "Truth News" were valid, they could use their wealth with peace of mind while trapped in the dilemma of faith.

As Modie walked the streets and alleys, he could hear shouts of "Born free" and "Humans are the noblest of all creatures" everywhere.

The number of supporters of the Holy Path faction was increasing, with many non-affiliated monks or former Juanist Faction monks gradually inclining toward the Holy Path faction's saying.

If it were in another region, the Holy Path faction's propositions would probably have been suppressed by the Church long ago, possibly even leading to large-scale purges and heresy trials to stifle such thought from budding.

But in the Thousand River Valley Region, Horn had swept away the Church hierarchy through force.

Those who remained were either low-level monks, priests from the Juanist Faction, or reformist monks who, while unaligned, despised corruption.

They naturally leaned towards criticizing the Church, and after the "Truth News" opened that door, their desire to vent was practically unstoppable like a flood.

Various handwritten booklets were circulated crazily, especially as Rapids City was still a training ground for the Monks of the Saint Father's Association.

With Catherine's tacit approval, the monks took to the streets, wielding the "Truth News" and began preaching to the citizens.

Equally furious, traditional priests and nobles also stepped forward to debate and rebut.

In just two weeks, the number of security incidents in Rapids City increased several times, with Sheriff Carl working tirelessly for days, and the dungeon was filled with prisoners.

Not just in Rapids City; this wave began slowly spreading from Rapids City to Shelley City, Xiaochi City, and Xia Lvcheng.

The previously peaceful and quiet winter was nearly overturned by this fervent wave and enthusiasm.

Some citizens and artisans, keenly aware of the impetus and meaning behind it, even voluntarily funded scribes, or purchased movable type printing machines to reprint the theological section of the "Truth News" and make booklets.

In some radical areas, such booklets were even given away for free.

Those one-page flyers changed topics daily.

The monks were discussing, the citizens were discussing, and even the nobles were also discussing.

When the nobles and traditional priests found themselves unable to dismantle the theory of free will, they had to begrudgingly develop it further.

The debate gradually shifted from "Can people be slaves?" to "If human actions are the will of the Holy Father, then is casual murder also the will of the Holy Father?"

In response to this question, the November issue of the "Truth News" published a new article for explanation.

This article was written by the long-absent Two-Wheeled Monster, titled "Thoughts on Blue Blood—How to Explain the Holy Father's Omnipotence and Omnibenevolence?"

This time, Modie couldn't even buy the latest issue of the "Truth News" before it was snapped up by others.

He had to go to the Baihua Cathedral where he was training to borrow the latest "Truth News" from his colleagues to read.

Despite the warm fire lit in the Baihua Cathedral, making it feel like spring, as he read, Modie's hands couldn't help trembling.

Based on the accusations of "evil as the price of freedom" triggered by "freedom rights," he initially thought that Two-Wheeled Monster would use "evil as God's test" or some such to explain suffering and sin.

But to his utter surprise, Two-Wheeled Monster actively refuted this notion and proposed a brand new concept.

Evil itself is a betrayal of divine will, not an expression of it.

This seemingly contradicts the omniscience of the Holy Father, but through the theodicy problem of Blue Blood Orphans, Two-Wheeled Monster proposed—omniscience does not equate to total control, allowing evil does not equate to supporting evil.

Through free will, humans have the ability to make true choices between evil and good, thereby showcasing the divine nature granted by God to humanity.

Although evil temporarily exists, the Holy Father's ultimate plan is to guide humanity back to goodness through free will, which is the greater goodness.

In an instant, the attacks on "the contradiction of omniscience, omnipotence and omnibenevolence," "freedom undermining morality," and "freedom causing evil" were all easily resolved.

But this wasn't the reason Modie's hands were trembling; his real reason for trembling was because "Born Free" was merely a rebuttal to church theism, while the new issue of "Truth News" discussing theodicy was a solid argument—

It's reconstructing the worldview of Miseria's Church!