The Final Testament of the Holy Bible

There was a long silence while we waited for him.

I was, and everyone else was, expecting something more. He didn’t thank the Lord, didn’t thank the Holy Spirit, didn’t thank anyone but his mother and sister. It was shocking, brothers and sisters. We were all shocked. He smiled and pulled his hands away. I opened my eyes. I looked at Jacob, Caleb, and Jeremiah. We all seemed to be waiting for something. Ben stood and reached for the plate of fish and asked if he could serve us. I laughed, said the Lord certainly does work in mysterious ways. It was all I could say, brothers and sisters. Now I know it’s just life. Life happens in mysterious ways. Ben served each of us. He acted like he was some kind of waiter. He asked us how much we would like and put the fish on our plates. He did the same with the rice and the bread. He hardly put anything on his own plate. Not enough for a small child. Two bites of fish, one or two of rice, no bread. It was like he didn’t need food. He was beyond food. What he did eat, he ate out of a sense of manners. So that his mother and sister weren’t offended. Everyone watched him. He did not appear to notice. When he looked up from his plate, he would slowly chew his food and smile. No one spoke. I know I had a million questions for him. This was the man who spoke to God, was of God, knew things no one on earth had known for two thousand years. I figured I’d start easy. Always good to start heavy things real nice and easy, brothers and sisters. Start with the small and work towards the big. I spoke.

How are you feeling, Ben?

Alive.

That’s good. Better than dead, that’s for sure. Bless the Lord for giving us this life.

He smiled.

Is there anything you want or need?

No.

We’re very excited to have you see our church tomorrow.

He smiled again. Nothing more.

Do you mind that I’m asking a few questions?

Ask whatever you’d like.

What does it feel like?

What?

Being the Son of God.

I’m a man, like you.

But divine.

If you say so.

You can speak to him?

Him?

God.

In a way, yes, I speak to God.

What’s it like? What is his voice like?

He smiled.

It’s not what you would expect. It is not what is written in the antiquated books you read.

The books of the Bible?

Yes.

Antiquated?

Yes.

The Bible is eternal, brother. As relevant today as the day it was written.

The Bible was written two thousand years ago. The world is a different place now. Stories that had meaning then are meaningless now. Beliefs that might have been valid then are invalid now. Those books should be looked at in the same way we look at anything of that age, with interest, with an acknowledgment of the historical importance, but they should not be thought of as anything that has any value.

Brother, do you hear what you’re saying?

Yes.

It’s crazy.

What’s crazy is living your life according to some book written by someone who couldn’t imagine what your life would be like.

I respectfully disagree. I feel the world is very much the same.

Do you live in a two-thousand-year-old mud hut with no electricity, no heat, no running water, pissing and shitting in a hole in the ground? Do you go to an open-air market in a wooden carriage with stone wheels, being pulled by an ox? Do you pay for your food in trade with whatever you’ve grown in your backyard? Do you cook your meals over an open fire made of wood you collected and started using a flint? Look around you. This world is not that world. That world is dead. Those books were written for that world. Those books are dead. They should be taken out of every church on earth and recycled, so at least they might do some good in this world. The oldest and most beautiful copies are historical curiosities and should be put in museums.

There was silence at the table. We were all shocked. Brothers and sisters, it was beyond shocking. It was blasphemy. Straight from the mouth of the Lord and Savior himself. Ben sat calmly, waited for one of us to say something. Nobody said a word. It felt like the moment after someone dies, and just before everyone in the room starts wailing. Heavy, brothers and sisters, extremely heavy. Finally, Jacob spoke.

And this is what God tells you?

God tells me other things. This is what common sense tells me.

Common sense is nothing when placed against the word of God.

And you think the word of God is found in the books of the Bible?

I know it is.

Did God write those books?

They are his word.

They are the word of writers. Men telling stories. No different than writers today who craft mystery stories, or adventure stories, or war stories, or stories of the apocalypse. Biblical stories were written decades, and sometimes centuries, after the events they supposedly depict, events for which there is absolutely no historical evidence. There is no such thing as God’s word on earth. Or if there is, it is not to be found in books.

Then where is it to be found?

In love. In the laughter of children. In a gift given. In a life saved. In the quiet of morning. In the