The Earnest Expectation of the Creature

The following is from Robert Anton Wilson's, 'The Historical Illuminatus Chronicles Vol. 1: The Earth Will Shake'. As it continues the theme of the last two posts, it seems appropriate.

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"Sigismundo Celine's initiation as a Speculative Freemason occured on the night of July 23, 1768.
        He had been puzzling over Uncle Pietro's questions for five days and had gone through stages of ecstacy, irritation, boredom, increased sensitivity, and sudden flashes of anger at the whole mystifying business. If the Masons had something important to teach, he thought in these moments of rebellion, why not just teach it and be done. But he knew the answer. From music, he had already discovered that some things simply cannot be taught; they can only be learned.
        On the evening of July 23, Sigismundo was in the living room of Giancarlo Tennone, his fencing teacher, with Uncle Pietro.
        "The lodge meets in the garden," Uncle Pietro explained. "You can probably guess why."
        Sigismundo understood: Tennone's house had the traditional Mediterranean architecture, with four wings, each wing being the side of a square. The garden formed the middle and was therefore the furthest spot from any streets or neighboring houses. It was the place most invulnerable to spies, especially if each wing of the house had a lookout stationed to ensure that no stranger approached uninvited.
        Tennone stepped into the room from the garden. He was wearing a lamb-skin apron with five Hebrew letters on it.

Even though Sigismundo's knowledge of the language was scant, he could read that word. The letters were yod he shin vau he, - Yeshuah, or, in Greek Jesus. Without the shin, it was yod he vau he, JHVH or Jehovah. The shin, which looked like a flame, represented the descent of the Holy Spirit of Jehovah into the flesh in the form of the man, Jesus.

        "Prepare the candidate," Tennone said in a tone that conveyed no admission that he had known Sigismundo for seven years.

        Tennone quickly stepped back into the garden and closed the door behind him.

        "By now," Uncle Pietro said, "the questions which I gave you have turned into monsterous problems. I will now give you the answers. Read them quickly, because you will be summoned to the garden in only a few minutes." He went to Tennone's bookcase and removed the Holy Bible. With a solemn glance, he gave it to Sigismundo, who noticed at once that it had a parchment sticking out of it.

        "Read the parchment and consult the Bible," Pietro said. "I will leave now. You will be called shortly."
        He immediately exited into the garden, leaving Sigismundo wondering if the parchment might say, "This is the final joke. Beware of damnable books of philosophy along with those of Romance."

        Sigismundo removed the parchment. It began:

             Who was Adam the son of?

              See Luke 3:38

             Does God have an opposite?

              See Exodus 3:14 and Ephesians 4:4-6

        And so on. Oh, damn and blast, Sigismundo thought. Why didn't they just write in the texts, instead of forcing me to look up each one for myself? But the answer was clear. Hunting for each text under a time limit would increase his sense of urgency.

        He turned to the first question and its answer. Luke would be near the back of the Bible, of course. He quickly found chapter 3, verse 38:

             "Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth,

             which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God."

        Sigismundo couldn't believe his eyes: he felt like Galileo seeing the blasphemous, unbelievable, non-Aristotelian spots on the sun. He scanned rapidly back through several verses. This was the genealogy of Jesus (who's name was on Tennone's apron....). It began at verse 23, saying Jesus was the son of Joseph and Joseph was the son of Heli which was the son of Matthat and so on, David and Solomon and all, until Enos, "which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God," in verse 38, from which he had started.

        But Adam was the "son of God" only metaphorically, wasn't he? (But Vico said all thought was metaphor.) The text did not seem to be speaking metaphorically; it repeated "which was the son of" in what seemed to be a very real literal sense each time until it reached the astonishing conclusion. It seemed to be saying that Adam was the son of God as literally as Joseph was the son of Heli.

        The Masons were indeed leading him into most extreme heresies. The idea that Mohammed was literally the son of God, and so was Confucius, and so were many others, could easily follow once you accepted that Jesus was not the only one, that Adam had been another.

        Sigismundo quickly turned to the next question.

             Does God have an opposite?

              See Exodus 3:14 and Ephesians 4:4-6

        He turned the pages rapidly. Exodus 3:14 said:

             "And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt you

             say unto the children of Israel: I AM hath sent me unto you."

        And Ephesians 4:4-6 was even more startling:

             "There is one body, and one spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your

             calling: one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who

             is above all, and through all, and in you all."

        Sigismundo thought of God as I AM, as one body and one spirit, in all. Even in Peppino? Even in Caligula? This was pantheism, another doctrine for which Bruno had been condemned. Were the Masons secret followers of Bruno?

        He rushed on to the next question.

             How many sons of God are there?

              See Romans 8:14-17

        Here we come to the heart of the heresy, he thought. But he looked up the text:

             "For as many are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God; for ye

             have not recieved the spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye have recieved

             the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit beareth

             witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: and if children,

             then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer

             with him, that we may also be glorified."

        Everybody was a child of God -- not just Adam and Jesus -- and the Bible said so. Sigismundo had never heard that in Religious Knowledge class. He went on to the next question.

             Are the sons of God also gods?

              See John 10:34

        Sigismundo turned the pages impatiently.

             "Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law,

             I have said, Ye are gods?"

        There it was in black and white.

             Are any of the sons of God less than others?

              See Colossians 3:4

             "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear then shall ye appear with him in glory."

        In other words, Sigismundo thought, when you can see Christ you are Christ. When your will becomes one with the will of God, as Abraham said.

             What is the goal of prophets and teachers?

              See Ephesians 4:11-13

             "And he gave some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists,

             and some pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the

             work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all

             come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the son of God,

          unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ."

        We are to be raised to perfection, Sigismundo thought. Just as the French atheists say. But here the Bible is saying it, too. He rushed on, turning pages rapidly.

             How many minds are there?

                  

        He had thought: billions and billions, all over space. What he read did not contradict that, but gave a new perspective on it:

             See Deuteronomy 4:39 and Exodus 3:14

             "Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the Lord he

              is God in heaven above and upon the earth beneath: There is none else."

             "And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM......"

        Sigismundo rushed on.

             What is a human being?

              See Genesis 1:26

             "And God said, let us make man in our image, after our likeness."

             Is mankind finished or still in process?

              See 1 John 3:2

             "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not appear what we

             shall be: but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him,

             for we shall see him as he is."

             How much can and should we attempt?

              See John 14:12

             "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth in me, the works that I do

              he shall do also; and greater works than these shall he do."

        But that was the heresy of the Alumbrados: the doctrine that we could all perform the miracles of Christ if we were illuminated.

             What is the purpose of consciousness?

              See 2 Corinthians 9:8 and Luke 12:32

             "And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, having

             always all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.

             Fear not, little flock; for it is your father's good pleasure to give you

             the kingdom."

        And the last question, finally:

             What is the next step?

              See romans 8:19

 "For the earnest expectation of the creature awaiteth the manifestation of the sons of God."

                
                
        "Psst!" Uncle Pietro whispered. "Come out now."

        Beautifully timed, Sigismundo thought, they were watching to see when I finished.

        He walked toward the garden with his mind in a whirl of confusion and excitement. They have me, he thought, in a state where any shock will be like great music........"