Chapter 477 – ‘Selling the Old Testament’
Honestly, I had a weird feeling from the start.
Particularly because the thickness of the Bible that Caressy gave out for free was oddly thin.
Even when a male student flipped through just a couple of pages and spoke up.
The parts that Caressy quoted from the Bible were somewhat偏り (biased).
And lastly, it all became clear due to the words Caressy was now spewing.
“I have a couple of questions about the Old Testament.”
“W…we only accept the New Testament as our Scripture…”
Right now, it was a fact that Caressy only handed them the New Testament.
[So this is that half-Bible…]
‘……You’re really going to get struck by lightning, you crazy woman.’
In fact, if you were to evangelize, it would be wise to use the New Testament.
Of course, its content is somewhat distant from the usual.
It’s not entirely free of problems or controversies, but it’s still considerably better than the Old Testament.
Such issues are inevitable for all religions.
But when you delve into the Bible, particularly annoying contradictions are numerous.
Not only are there historical records and contradictions with science, there are contradictions within the Bible itself.
There are so many contradictions that one might as well skip mentioning them.
However, many other issues remain concrete, especially in modern society as they’re hard to uphold, along with ethical controversies.
“It’s not that the New Testament is fundamental to the sect, so we completely deny the Old Testament, right?”
“T…that’s true…”
And this was something even Caressy understood to some extent.
“What I want to ask isn’t a big deal.”
“J…just go ahead and say it…”
Caressy, visibly flustered, couldn’t meet their gaze.
Even without her title as a saintess, this behavior seemed quite impolite.
But honestly, it wasn’t entirely incomprehensible.
Right now, Caressy was walking on a minefield called ‘the Old Testament’.
Yet, the male student brushed off Caressy’s attitude and continued asking questions.
As if he didn’t need to care about that and only needed to satisfy his thirst for knowledge.
“Can you tell me what the ‘manna’ eaten in the wilderness really was?”
Was it a reflection of the male student’s indifferent response that left this question feeling incredibly bland and somewhat hollow?
From Caressy’s perspective, it felt a tad unfair that she was worried before.
“……Is that really all you want to know?”
“Yes, actually, I wanted to recreate manna…”
From the conversation, it seemed the male student was in the food industry.
He was probably curious about the true identity of manna mentioned in the Bible.
“What could manna be for so many people to survive in the wilderness for forty years without a hitch?”
As soon as he said that, Caressy replied energetically.
Her slightly guilty feeling that she had worried them earlier peeking through.
“That would be none other than caramel popcorn, right?!”
I can’t say Caressy was entirely wrong with that statement.
In fact, it might even hit closer to home.
Considering the characteristics of manna, that actually fits.
It was small, round, white, and tasted kind of like a cookie mixed with honey.
Plus, it gets old quickly, so eating something like that for 40 years in the wilderness?
It’s no surprise that the Israelites were thoroughly sick of it.
There’s also the characteristic that after one day, it would become stale and inedible.
However, the guy couldn’t accept this.
[……Do you really think they referred to popcorn as ‘manna’ back then?]
‘It’s probably a rough fit due to a lack of words. Is this a decorative headpiece?’
[No, for crying out loud, would caramel popcorn drop from the sky?]
Coincidentally, the male student seemed to have the same thought and immediately started to question Caressy.
“Why exactly caramel popcorn?”
“God was watching the Israelites munching on popcorn and casually tossed whatever was left over.”
But every time Caressy opened her mouth, the male student’s tone became quieter.
“As a result, wouldn’t that lead to nutritional imbalance…?”
“So, to balance it out, God also gave them quail.”
“Y…yeah, that’s true, but…”
And with that, his weak resolve began to wane.
“W…wait a minute, Saintess, but didn’t the Israelites complain about how awful the manna and quail were…?”
“If it tasted good, they wouldn’t be stuck in the desert for a thousand years.”
“…Oh, Lord…”
He finally turned to God, the source of all this mess.
You’d think a crazy person’s God wouldn’t drop leftover popcorn from the sky.
But considering it was the Old Testament, it makes enough sense.
After all, the God of the Old Testament has plenty of ‘dog’ moments in the stories.
[……That’s truly blasphemous. There’s really no fixing this.]
‘Praying for the person responsible to repent might work… probably…’
The more you emphasize ‘all-powerful’ and ‘good’, the weirder it gets.
Killing and wrecking is a given, and at times, he’s even committed total annihilation.
He manipulated others’ hearts and used that to unleash disasters to kill people.
He gave trials to devout believers, sacrificing their families.
And at the end, he even blamed it all on Satan.
[But still, wasn’t it Satan who directly killed Job’s family?]
‘He outsourced the dirty work to Satan, so the God who’s the primary source should take responsibility.’
[Looks like God was a hunter after all.]
Just skim through, and various hit points flow out like this in the Old Testament Bible.
Meanwhile, the male student ironically began to build his faith, claiming he couldn’t believe it.
“…No way God… kept the Israelites… locked in the wilderness for 40 years… while munching on popcorn…?! That… makes sense…!”
[W…what the hell is going on here…]
‘Why, you ask? Because… it’s fun…!’
Of course, it reeked of a somewhat twisted faith.
As the male student held his head, mumbling and sitting down, an elderly man approached Caressy and quietly spoke.
He was probably trying not to disturb the atmosphere of the others.
“Saintess, I also have a question about the Old Testament.”
“…W…what is it…?”
Upon hearing the term Old Testament, Caressy’s nervousness spiked again.
“Isn’t the Bible based on the Theory of Creation?”
“Is the Theory of Evolution more believable then?”
“Yes, unfortunately, it is.”
Caressy let out a secret sigh of relief at the elderly man’s words.
Given he wore a white coat, he seemed more like a scientist leaning towards the Theory of Evolution.
It’s true that the Bible advocates for the Theory of Creation, making it tough to explain some aspects with the Theory of Evolution.
[Isn’t it ridiculous to even attach the word ‘theory’ to it?]
‘Well, technically, it is a ‘theory’ of Creation. So that was definitely well put. In a way, it’s just folklore.’
While there is a theory called theistic evolution that is relatively complementary nowadays.
“Due to my major, I apologize if this sounds a little… irreverent.”
“It’s fine. I understand perfectly.”
Even this is a bit difficult to call a complete theory.
Meanwhile, after listening to the elderly man’s words, Caressy nodded and began to speak with a saintly smile.
Though she spoke in a volume only the elderly man could hear.
“However, the Theory of Creation might make a bit more sense.”
“Do you know why?”
Simultaneously, to ensure the content was clear.
“You are the evidence, after all.”
“Me?”
Then, Caressy posed a somewhat unexpected question to the still puzzled elderly man.
“So, what do you think evolution is?”
“A composite of all genetic, mathematical inevitabilities and miracles meeting repeatedly.”
An impeccable and logical answer.
No wonder he picked that as his major.
But with Caressy’s consecutive questions, the elderly man couldn’t answer right away.
Well, that’s to be expected.
“So, can you show me your Internet search history, a miracle composite, to others?”
“……Th…that’s…impossible…”
This question was indeed quite sensitive.
“Oh really?”
“Yes…”
The elderly man seemed unable to put into words the things he couldn’t say.
Thanks to that, embarrassment and confusion began to show on his face, but soon those feelings shifted to another emotion.
“But doesn’t your searching for such things on the internet prove you’re a product of evolution?”
“Ah…”
With a sense of resigned comprehension.
“I suppose it’s more believable that it was just a botched creation.”
Eventually, the elderly man retreated to the corner where everyone was praying.
Quietly sobbing, he began to murmur a prayer filled with resentment.
“Lord… why did you make me like this…”
In that moment, feeling a bit sorry for the sight, suddenly, a voice threw itself into my consciousness.
And it came in quite an unsatisfied tone.
[But if Creationism is true, why do I feel pleasure at the prostate?]
‘The origins of male and female genitals are the same. It’s a kind of dump that emerged from that.’
[So it was a security vulnerability.]
Of course, I quickly clarified this to him.
[Since it was said they were created in their forms, I thought God had a female switch on us.]
‘When your time comes, die gracefully alone, bastard.’
But whether God would accept that was another matter.
Meanwhile, as Caressy watched this scene, she wore a smug smile.
Probably gained enough confidence from these two encounters.
“Nya ha ha! Anyone who’s curious about the Bible, feel free to donate and ask away!”
But perhaps this confidence didn’t sit well with God.
Or maybe that confident demeanor spread confidence to others.
Suddenly, a female student from the Academy grabbed Caressy’s hand.
“Saintess, I genuinely have a question about the Old Testament!”
“Ask away, anytime!”
She seemed unable to contain her overflowing confidence.
Caressy displayed no discomfort at the sudden grabbing of her hand.
That was a natural display from her position as a saintly figure.
However, it was probably the elevated mood that made her overlook that much.
“Isn’t Eve born from Adam’s rib?”
“That’s right! That’s a miracle only the Lord could perform!”
But hearing the following words from the female student.
“Then Adam and Eve were essentially incestuous!”
“…….Ah, f*ck…!”
Caressy’s smile began to falter.
