This last statement elicited the now customary slight smile from the audience. The so-called Jesus smiled back and continued:
– Let's move on. Such a speedy death of Christ surprised not only those present, but Pilate himself. I will quote again: "…Joseph of Arimathea, a famous member of the council, who himself was expecting the kingdom of God, came and dared to enter Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus. Pilate was surprised that He was already dead, and calling the centurion, asked him how long had He been dead? And having learned from the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph" (Mark 15:43-45). There is an opinion of a specialist in forensic medicine on this case. Here it is.
In the space in front of the audience appeared a text in a frame of three-dimensional letters, perceived as a 3D image.
– Quote: "…The noted series of circumstances of the death of Jesus Christ, which is given in the Gospels, namely – the relatively rapid onset of death, the ability of Jesus Christ to clearly pronounce words until the last minutes of life, the clarity of consciousness retained by the crucified man until his death, as well as the flow of blood and water that flowed from the wound inflicted on him posthumously by a spear, allow us to doubt the validity of the asphyxial genesis of Christ's death...." Realizing these inconsistencies, experts began to look for other causes of Jesus' death. True, they did not think about the main factor, but about it later. I will not disclose it for the time being. While on this issue I will voice the following: in 1949 in The Hibbert Journal there was published an article by R. Primrose, "The Surgeon looks at Jesus' death. Primrose "A Surgeon Looks at the Crucifixion", where it was claimed that the death of Jesus Christ on the cross was imaginary, and the lethal outcome was caused by a spear thrust. At first this version was accepted as true. After experts decided that this is a mistake. That is, in their opinion, I note – professional, it could not be with a dead man. Especially, I note again, water. And again I remind you, perhaps it is not about water… or water is mentioned in an allegorical sense. There are other opinions as to why Jesus died. Here are some …cardiac arrhythmia (Johnson C., 1978), progressive acidosis (Wijffels F., 2000), pulmonary embolism (Brenner B., 2005) led to the rapid onset of death. However, they do not explain the oozing of blood and water from the wound inflicted by the spear. There are various versions of the cause of Jesus' death, as well as his physiological and psychological state during the execution, but the main factor should be taken into account – there is no data in the Gospels that could testify to any change of consciousness in Christ. All his speeches on the cross and his behavior are completely sensible. That is why this version is the closest for me. Of course, if we do not take into account the factor that I have not yet voiced. Or rather, this is the version, which, by the way, we have to check.
Having said the last, Rangit, having made a turn around his axis, suddenly appeared in the holographic image of a famous scientist showing his tongue. It happened masterfully and spectacularly – the audience expressed their feelings with a second's delay. They were vague emotions, but the flashes of admiration and surprise showed the brightness of their colors. The hyped-up brand of imagery intrigued, and the sight of a comical grandfather with his tongue sticking out made the audience laugh. The listeners, who, although attentive, but without emotion, calmly, perceived the information, buzzed, expressing in whispers a clear interest.
– Among other things," Rangit added, smiling, realizing the delight in the change of image, "the mission will be sent to different worlds to verify the different variations of the Gospel story. After all, there are reasonable assumptions that there was no such story at all.
He silently began to scratch his head amusedly, looked at his audience stupidly, said quietly, as if in confidence:
– There was no whole person image at all – one Savior. So Jesus is a collective image…perhaps.
After saying this, he maintained the silence in the room with silence on the stage, waiting for the thought processes to end.
– Now let's move on to completion… and I won't torture you any more," Rangit informed in the voice of a movie character.
– Really like Pilate," said the lady, who looked like the famous French singer Mireille Mathieu, with a comical grimace.
She was known to her colleagues in the expert community by her star name Venus. She clearly wanted to tease the ISKIN, judging by her cocky manner.
– Did Pilate express himself like that? – Rangit threw back.
– That's just what we'll check," she parried without a fraction of strain.
– All right, let's hear it," the lecturer continued, taking on his original appearance in an instant.
This time the reincarnation energized the audience and caused fun.
Satisfied with the response Jesus continued:
– After scrupulously examining the many theories of Jesus' death, M. W. Maslen and P. D. Mitchell (2006) expressed doubts about all the medical versions that explain Jesus' death. In their opinion, not one version can adequately explain the death of Christ. These experts suggested that possible new archaeological or some other, preferably written, evidence, such as the Qumran evidence, might clarify the true cause of Christ's death. It should be noted that the ancient Greeks and Romans referred to the liquid part of blood, as well as all transparent body fluids (e.g., pericardial fluid) as water. The Romans used the word lympha to refer to the water that is part of the blood and flows through the body, while the Greeks used the word hydōr. Note that doctors and biologists of all countries still refer to the liquid part of the blood as lymph, and use the root hydōr to refer to the accumulation of fluids in individual body cavities. Yet this does not explain the event authentically described in the Gospel, nor does it speak of a real physical process.
Saying the last, Rangit did the same trick, turning around himself, appearing for a moment in the image of the genie from "One Thousand and One Nights," with the jug on the floor being quite real, said:
– I'll dematerialize," he climbed into the jug and… disappeared with it.
To say that the audience was bewildered is possible. But that would not reflect their true state of mind, for Rangit could "read" their thoughts. Knowing, he waited. And when the degree of neuron excitement began to subside – it appeared again, making the contacts of dendrites and axons shimmer – Darth Vedder appeared on the stage.
The listeners looked at the holographic image in silence, which apparently did not suit Rangit, so his image changed. In his next incarnation, he appeared as a character from the same Star Wars epic, a C-3PO droid. It was a humanoid (in form), somewhat comical character that amused the audience. When the audience moved away from the magic tricks, it was time for discussion. It was an easy outlet for overheated brains. Without waiting for the end of the mild controversy that arose spontaneously in the audience, a lady, a statistician of the World Council of Churches, said:
– Don't tell me you have everything.
Rangit replied in the same style.
– That's it. The rest, I'm sorry, is in the mission itself.
Chapter 6. Where faith ends and religion begins
Rutra came on stage, smiling, and asked:
– What do you think of our showman?
– Quite," came the lady's alto.
– Is this technology patented? – the question was asked.
The voice belonged to the world-famous founder of the Internet giant, who had the status of a Bilderberg Club member.
Ruthra smiled, and it was clear from the questioner's answering smile that he knew the answer to his own question.
Then Rutra, waving his hands as if to ask "no more questions?", introduced the experts to the keynote speaker:
– Our longtime friend, a professor of theology at the Institute of World Culture… he will tell you the story of our subject in a multivariate focus and perspective. I hope