"That's understandable." Joanna said: "The Mongols, a branch of the Khitans, will naturally be influenced by them. However, on the Roman side, it should not have reached the level of the Central Plains. ”

"I think it's not much different." Odosia replied.

"Why? Although everyone knows that the church is completely controlled by Rome, after all, there are still two systems in name, and it also has its own patriarch. Joanna said.

"That's to take care of the locals. Their church is just an organization under the government. Eudosia shook her head:

"The status of the Church depends only on financial power—do you see, does the Church of Rome have its own independent financial power?"

"Not really." Joanna said.

"Their churches also own land, churches, and receive donations from their congregations. However, according to the law, these revenues and expenditures are recorded in the accounts and submitted to the Ministry of Household Affairs for review. Theoretically, if the church did not have enough funds, the Khan would allocate subsidies to keep it running. But because of local customs, the church's income is not low. Therefore, the imperial court will collect a lot of money from the church every year. Odosia said.

"If it's not obvious now, I guess you'll be able to see it more clearly in a few years." She thought for a moment and added, "Judging from the Khan's recent movements, it should soon be an attempt to incorporate the Heavenly Fang Sect as well. At that time, everyone should be able to see the essence of this system. ”

"That'...... Why is that? "Joanna really didn't understand.

"As I understand it, this is because their beliefs are not a specific religion." Odosia said.

"Professional theologians will distinguish between different denominations by terms such as 'Crucialism,' 'God worship,' and 'Nestorianism'. But in the church, when the priests preach to the general public, they will make it clear that our faith is 'the worship of God in Rome'. ”

In their teachings, it was repeatedly emphasized that the Heavenly Brother was the sage of Rome. Because Rome is a universal empire, it will be chosen by the Father to undertake an important mission; He also let Brother Tian be born here to prepare for the subsequent edification in advance. ”

"To explain this theory, at the beginning of its establishment, the Roman Church introduced a concept called 'ordained'. They believe that there is only one supreme God, only one ultimate truth, and ultimately only one universal government. ”

"This deity cannot be described in words, so we take the liberty of calling Him Father; This set of truths cannot be summed up in simple words, so we forcibly use 'God worship' to summarize our understanding of it, and this regime also covers the whole world, and cannot be compared with ordinary kingdoms and states, so we will use 'Roman State' as its common name. ”

"I don't know if you can understand that." She hesitated and tried to explain: "In short, they believe that Heavenly Father has his own set of rules of conduct that are beyond the world and do not change from world to person. If the church is in harmony with the Father's teachings, it will prosper, and if it does not, it will fail. That's why their 'Roman Church' was able to rise, while the Church in the old Roman city gradually became corrupt, degenerate, and lost its prestige. ”

In the same way, if the dynasty is virtuous enough, it can be revitalized and assume the mission of the Father, and if not, it will decline. Thus the new Rome would rise in the original remote provinces, while the old Roman dynasties would fall in civil strife and barbarian invasions. This is because they have lost 'Wende' and 'Wude', so the Mandate of Heaven has been transferred here. ”

"It's okay, it's not too difficult to understand. It's pretty intuitive. Joanna thought for a moment and nodded: "Their theory is probably quite useful." ”

"Yes, and it's acceptable to the locals." "For example, the Greek Orthodox Church in the city, for example, has been quarreling with the Catholic Church in Rome. The Bishop of Rome had always claimed that he had priority and therefore had a higher status within the Church than the Patriarch of Constantinople. ”

Although the Orthodox Church has always been unwilling to accept this, even if they have the advantage in debate and the support of Barcelus, it cannot be denied that the Bishop of Rome does have priority over other bishops. Because the city of Rome is indeed the former capital and origin of the empire, this rule was indeed unanimously adopted by everyone back then, and it is difficult to regret it clearly. ”

"When Constantine the Great moved his capital, he put forward some theories that this 'new Rome' was also a Roman city. But the Romans' own theories were too crude to be useful. ”

The Central Plains, on the other hand, are said to have studied the theory of the transfer of the Mandate of Heaven and the succession of dynasties long before Homer's time, in that even more distant mythological age. By now, it has been very mature. Studying and referring to this set of theories is obviously very beneficial to future debates. So, people are actually quite receptive. As for the members of the 'Roman Church' who had been cultivated and supported by the Roman Khan's court from the very beginning, of course, they supported it. ”

"So what do these theories have to do with our topic?" Joanna asked.

"I think that after the introduction of these theories, the faith of the Romans can no longer be said to be a simple worship of God." Odosia said.

"In the Central Plains, there are also many religions and sects, but the relationship between them does not seem to be the same as ours here. The relationship between state power and these religions is also a different story. At first, I didn't understand the reason, and I always thought it was a problem with the religious teachings, but then I realized that it was not because the religion there was inherently different, nor that the people there didn't need religion. ”

"Why is that?" Joanna muttered, and then something came to mind: "I see." They have a replacement, don't they? ”

"Or rather, they have a religion that is above religion, or rather, a belief that is above faith." Eudosia replied, "I don't know if that's right, maybe it's some kind of ...... In their words, the ineffable. ”

"The doctrines I just introduced to you are what their bishop told me. You see, although at first it sounds like it is a reinterpretation of the traditional doctrine with some additions and deletions on the basis of traditional teachings, but after this description, the nature of the whole faith has quietly changed. ”

With the addition of these concepts, the doctrine in principle allows for trial and error, improvement, and even outright rewriting. As long as the basic principles are observed, it is acceptable for multiple different statements to coexist. The contradictions between them have been reduced to an extremely low level. For the common faith goes beyond the doctrine itself, and is no longer allegiance to the Order, but allegiance to the truth, to Rome. ”

"I have a feeling that the real faith in the Central Plains is not Buddhism, Taoism, or Confucianism, which I don't know if it counts as a religion. Their true belief can actually be called the 'state religion of the Han people'. It's the same with us here, not so much that we believe in the worship of God, but that we believe in the 'Roman state religion,' which now happens to be dominated by the worship of God. She shook her head: "I just said that sooner or later they will rub the Heavenly Fang Sect into it, which is also inferred from this situation. ”

"So I'll get it." Joanna suddenly realized: "Although this set of theories seems to have no limitations, it itself is dissolving the boundaries of religion." It doesn't matter what other people do, this thing can also bring everyone more together. But the Jews can only be organized by religion, and this religion that is beyond religion will be fatal. ”

"But where did you learn it?" She became curious: "This knowledge is also used to write scripts?" ”

"It's all from anywhere." Odosia thought for a while and said, "I have been playing with Li Lang for so many years, and I have also used him to meet many people and read a lot of books. The more you know, the more theories and ideas you have, you can speculate on your own. At that time, I don't know if it was deliberately designed like this. But at the very least, they should do it consciously. ”

"Well......" Joanna muttered as she stared at her, still not believing her. But Odosia looked calm.

"Okay." Joanna had no choice but to nod: "At least it makes sense......"

(End of chapter)