Six Weeks Later
Annabeth
I look down at all of my research and groan. Frustration rises in me, and I throw it across the room. Daedalus made it indestructible, it won't break. I can't catch a break in all of This.
I started all this because I just wanted to prove it all wrong so I could spare Lassa getting hurt worse down the line. The first thing I did was contact my father's friend, a professor of philosophy at Oxford and an agnostic for an impartial view on what could disprove Christianity in its entirety. He said without the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the whole religion was a house of cards. And while he himself has never cared enough to pursue it, he warned me that most skeptics that go looking don't remain skeptics. Well I went looking. And I've looked at every angle I possibly could, and there aren't gaps in any of it. I've talked to Christians, Agnostics, and Atheists, Pagans. I've talked to doctors, archeologists, and historians. Hades I've talked to Roman ghosts that were alive during the first century!
Jesus Christ was a real person. He isn't a made up character to teach moral lessons. That's true without a shadow of a doubt. And his soul is not in the underworld.
There were 324 Jewish prophecies written hundreds or thousands of years before his death that Jesus himself fulfilled. The probability of him fulfilling these, even if he was trying to, is so astronomical it shouldn't even be a possibility. Yet, it seems he did.
When I talked to Will, he said There is no possible way he managed to survive and heal from his injuries, even if he was a demigod and could use nectar, thus making it appear as though he came back to life. The beating he sustained alone would have put him in the ICU today. Add carrying a cross up a hill, even just part way, being nailed to it, slowly suffocating, and being speared through the side all together, it means certain death. The Romans who crucified him may not have been doctors, but they were professional killers, and they were good at their jobs. He died on that cross.
The two guards who were supposed to guard his tomb were not executed after. That's not necessarily proof of anything that happened or didn't happen, It's just strange. Nico was able to call up a few Roman legionnaire ghosts from the time period until we found the right one. I had to fit the bill for a lot of happy meals along the way. But we found the right ghost, and he told us what he experienced guarding the grave. An Earthquake, the stone rolling away, and a man who shone like lightning and wore Snow White clothes appeared. They thought he was a god and passed out from fear, but were not executed when the body went missing.
Nico was unable to call upon the ghost of Jesus himself, or any of his followers. They're not in the underworld. Unfortunately for me, Nico asking Hades about it for me was out of the question. Apparently Nico had some similar questions since he was raised Catholic back in the 1940s, but as soon as he started to ask his Father Hades went into a rage. Not a bomb he's willing to set off for the sake of curiosity.
After Jesus was supposedly risen, he appeared to more than 500 people at once. It's not possible it was mist, magic, hypnosis or a hallucination. According to Hazel and the kids from the Hecate cabin, hoodwinking that many people at once and leaving a lasting impression rather than a fleeting one is such a huge feat it would at the very least exhaust the goddess Hecate herself to the point she would have to rest in her true form for a few days. And no one other than Hecate herself could have done it. Which she wouldn't have.
Jesus had 12 disciples. One, Judas Iscariot, betrayed him before his death and quickly committed suicide after. He's in the fields of Punishment, so he can't be summoned, and I'm not going to the underworld again in life if I can help it. The others, including the man who replaced Judas, each saw him die and supposedly saw him rise. And each of them, save one, suffered awful, gruesome deaths.
Simon Peter was crucified under Emperor Nero in Rome. He was crucified upside down since he didn't feel he was worthy to die in the same manner as his Lord.
Andrew was whipped and crucified on an x shaped cross. He was tied to the cross instead of nailed, and hung there two days before dying. The entire time, he was preaching his faith to the very ones crucifying him and anyone who would pass by.
Thomas, who doubted the resurrection until he claimed to have seen Jesus himself, was speared to death in India.
Phillip was tortured and crucified upside down.
James son of Zebedee was the first to die. He was put to the sword by King Herod.
There are a few different legends about how Bartholomew died. All of them are gruesome. The most popular is that he was skinned alive.
Matthew was killed in Ethiopia. It's unclear how.
James, son of Alphaeus, was beaten to death by clubs.
Thaddeus, aka Jude, was killed in Persia.
Simon the Zealot was either crucified or sawed in half.
Matthias was crucified in Judaea.
John was the only one to die a natural death, but before that the emperor tried to have him boiled in oil in the arena for entertainment. He wasn't even burned, it was as though the oil didn't touch him. They also tried to poison him, and to no avail. He died a natural death of old age in exile, but not before he wrote Revelations.
Minus John, every one of them died gruesome and violent deaths. People said they were lying, but for what gain? None of them gained power. None of them gained money. None of them gained any kind of good fame. And even upon violent deaths, not a single one of them recanted. And not a single one of their ghosts is in the Underworld.
The Bible itself is a mystery. I thought I was finally getting somewhere when I realized not all of the stories lined up in the gospel perfectly. But then I realized if it all lined up perfectly, it would be an obvious story that was fabricated. They were all just similar enough to carry the same bottom line but different enough to vary in each of their memories. Aside from the gospels, there are 62 other books of the Bible. They were composed over thousands of years by Kings, Farmers, Doctors, physicians, tax collectors, fishermen, singers, and shepherds. It's almost perfectly cohesive, despite the cultural differences of the times and drastic differences in the people writing it.
I think about what I know to be fact from my own experience.
The gods are real. The Olympians rule this age, before that the Titans ruled, and the titans were the children of the primordial gods. But where did those gods come from? That I don't know. But what about the origin of the Judeo/Christian God? Lassa said he has no beginning. He just always is, was, and will be. To her, the concept of eternity isn't something we're supposed to understand. And he's the only god in existence to claim creation of the universe. Everyone else just claims spheres of power.
I am a daughter of Athena, the goddess of wisdom and knowledge.
I trust logic.
So what is the logic telling me?
I'm afraid I don't want to know the answer.
But I know it.
Okay, God. Yahweh. Jehovah. Jesus. Whatever you want to be called. You win.
…..
I take a deep breath and start walking to the stables, where I know Lassa will be. And Jesse. Which means probably Percy, too. He doesn't exactly like leaving them alone after everything that's happened. If Jesse is bothered by it, he doesn't complain. but Lassa's supremely annoyed by it. Percy doesn't really care, he'd rather be sure she's safe than happy with him. Plus he gets to spend extra time with Sahara. He likes being around the pregnant mare, said it makes him think of our future.
I clutch the leather journal I'm carrying tighter to my chest. It's a print out of every ounce of my research over the last two months. With all my efforts to disprove it, I found overwhelming proof. And I see it in Lassa, something different than I've ever seen in anyone else. When I asked her to justify the hypocrisy in the church, she answered me she honestly couldn't. Ghandi said it best, in her opinion.
I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians.
The standard itself of a Christian life is unreachable. The goal isn't to be perfect, but to continue to strive to be as much like Christ as you can. Some people do. Some people don't.
I asked her how I could believe in a pacifist god when I'm the warrior that I am. She smirked at me and quoted a war movie her dad likes.
You Ever Read the Bible, Son? Violent as Hell.
There are times for war and there are times for peace. God, am I ready for some peace.
I walk into the sable and Percy smiles, walking over from Sahara's stall and kissing me on the cheek.
"Everything okay?" He asks when he sees my expression. I shake my head.
"No." I answer, and he gets a worried look on his face. "My world view shattered." I tell him, holding out my journal. His face changes into a smirk.
"So. The project you've been working on the last two months. Disproving Christianity?"
"Yeah. That project. I couldn't disprove it, Percy."
"So…what does that mean for you now?"
"Logically…I guess if I can't disprove it, it means it's true." I tell him and kiss his cheek, then go over to talk to Lassa. She's brushing Skyfall when she sees me and smiles my way.
"Hey Annabeth! What's up?"
"Hey, Lassa. Hey, Jesse." I nod at him in the next stall over. He smiles and nods back.
"Hey, Annabeth."
"So what's up?" Lassa repeats. I take a deep breath. Lassa will be thrilled. I'm pretty sure she told me Jesse is a Christian now too, and Percy would never use anything I believe in against me. This is the safest place I'll ever be to say this. I hold the journal out to her. "What's this?" She asks.
"The last few months worth of research I've done on your faith in every effort I could to disprove it."
"Okay…and how'd that go?" She asks with an eyebrow raised at me.
"I think you know how it went." I tell her. She grins at me.
"You believe it now, don't you?" She asks. I sigh.
"I'm the daughter of Athena. What I believe is always based on fact and knowledge. And logically, I can't deny this. So yes I believe it."
"Enough to give your life to it?" I sigh again.
"If that's what this demands. Yes." She smiles big and puts a hand over her mouth, running over to me to give me a hug.
"This is amazing, Annabeth! Oh, I'm so glad! You need to be baptized. We can work something out later, but I'm so excited!"
"Woah, Woah, Woah! What do you mean, give her life?" Percy says, walking over.
"I don't mean she's going to die right now, Percy. Although many have been martyred for their faith over the centuries. Christ doesn't want that for us, though. He wants us to be a living sacrifice for him. It means striving to be as Christ-like as we can in this life, and submitting to his will above your own." Lassa explains. The concern on his face is replaced with a smirk.
"Wise Girl? Submitting to anyone's will above her own? Okay, sure." He says sarcastically. I narrow my eyes at him.
"I'm serious, Percy. Do you not believe me?"
"Believe you? Yes. If you found enough proof in this, I'll trust your research. So the god Lassa calls Jehovah is the one who created the universe and everything in it. He sent his own son to die for the forgiveness of sin in the world. I'll believe that. But, I'm not into giving my life to any god. They're all the same. And they're not getting me as a living sacrifice or whatever. The gods just use you for their own purposes."
"That's not true with my God, Percy." Lassa tells him. "Submitting to his will is for the good of yourself and the good of the world. Unlike the pagan gods, he cares about you deeply, and always has your best interest at heart."
"Oh yeah? I remember being in the room when Annabeth was researching his disciples. Each of them died horribly. How is that in their best interest?"
"Because for us, Death isn't the end but the start of something much more beautiful. Eternal life of peace and no suffering with God himself. It's better than Elysian or even the Isles of the Blessed. It's true paradise with the creator of the world. Their deaths gave them the way to be with him. For us, To Live is for Christ and to Die is to Gain." She explains to him.
"That's fine for you to believe." Percy tells us. "Like I said, if Wise Girl is buying into this, I trust it's true. But I'm not making any god Lord of my Life or whatever. For me to do that, I'd need the proof to see why he's different."
"He died for the sake of the world, Percy." Jesse says from behind Skyfall. Percy glares at him. He's still not too keen on the kid, I see.
"So did Luke. I was willing to. That might make him a hero, but it doesn't make him special." He walks over and kisses my forehead. "I love you. And you can believe or worship whoever and whatever you want. I'm just not going to join in without seeing what makes him different. If you can show me that, I'll listen."
"Percy, do you know what happens to people who reject God?" Lassa asks. "The reason it's so important for us to share our faith and ask people to join it?"
"I've heard of Hell, Lassa." He answers. "I've been to Tartarus. I have no intention of going back. I'm pretty sure I've earned Elysium by now."
"Hades is a temporary place waiting for Judgement, Percy. The souls will be sorted out eventually. Jesus had to die to pay the penalty for our sin. To save us from Hell. But you have to accept the gift."
"Whoever confesses with their mouth and believes in their heart that Jesus is Lord will be saved."I quote from Romans, something I read through while I was studying the religion.
"I'm not scared of Hell. It can't be worse than Tartarus. Like I said, show me how he's truly different, special, and good. Then we'll talk. Annabeth, they were just about to have their nightly Bible Study. You should join them." He kisses me and Lassa on the Cheek. "I'm heading back to the cabin. See Y'all at dinner."
END OF PART II