The Jewish drama throughout history

1. CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES AGAINST JUDAISM
(A Theological Play)
D. STAMATIS
A Synopsis
If you step aside and let history march in front of you as a Roman legion you will
notice that apart of triumphs and victories many errors, faults and
misunderstandings comprise her since the down of western civilization. We’ll
focus on Europeans to see how thought and mind of these people -apart of all
ethical values Christianity preaches- were negatively dominated by Christian
scriptures and especially by their holy book the New Testament when it dealt
with Jewish people. We will be surprised to read words of hate, anathema,
antipathy and resentment written by the “Evangelists” the authors of the
Christian Holy Book.
Having that in mind I started to search Jewish history here in Greece with
emphasis on the writings of the Christian Holy Bible and especially The New
Testament.
I must admit that in early childhood I had a negative incentive towards Jews as
many of my fellow students because we were all taught in school Jews
committed deicide. I wrote a sort theological play on Christian doctrines that are
harsh on Judaism having as protagonists the four Evangelists or saints of the
Christian church.
My aim is neither to mock Christianity nor to pass theological judgment but
to show that some Christian doctrines are harsh on Judaism. Some of the
Church fathers’ writings are in total war against Judeans. MATTHEW condemns
Jews in his gospel (7:15-2,…Kingdom of God will be taken away…, in 21:43 “His
blood be on us and on our children…, in 27Q23-25…),JOHN, Jesus ‘beloved
student in 8:44-5 (your father is the devil…) in his gospel , the Church fathers
commencing from JOHN CHRYSOSTOM (annihilate the Jews..) who hates
everybody except Christians, TERTULLIAN, CYRIL of Alexandria-the dark
episcope- ORIGEN, MELITO of Sardis who is characterized as the poet of deicide,
JEROME(a synagogue is a den of vice…),JUSTIN the Martyr, AMBROSE (burn the
Synagogues), IRENAEUS bishop of Lyon are few of them who have established
blasphemy, hatred and polemic against all Judeans. To many Christians a Jew is
an icon of evil which tries to demoralize their ethical souls. These people don’t
reason with logic or mind. They are victims of imposed alienation so they can be
controlled better. Many stories about Jewish suffering are yet to be told
after continues and unending research from those who care…
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2. CHARACTERS
1. The four Evangelists and authors of New Testament (The four main Characters):
MARK, MATTHEW, LUKE and JOHN
2. Church Fathers: TERTULLIAN, ORIGEN, (defence counsels)
3. “Chairman”: Professor LIEBERMAN of the University of Jerusalem. Dr
Lieberman is a sixty-two year old, experienced judge, with many arrows in his
quiver – renowned not only as a decent and just practitioner in the international
court of Hague, but also as an effective speaker in the peace talks of his country
with the neighbouring states, on the subject of peace in the much affected area of
the Middle East. He too is dedicated to the pursuit of justice. He is an impartial
judge.
4. “Interrogator”: Lawyer Mr. COHEN who is a fifty-five year old man with a both
austere and noble posture. He is experienced in defending justice and his ideas
with passion. His aim is to reveal the truth no matter how well some conceal it.
He believes that truth should be said regardless of the price, even if it will cause
pain to those who avoid it. He is dedicated to the pursuit of justice. He is
completely unaffected by any kind of self-interest or intrigue, something that’s
very rare nowadays.
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3. Beginning
At the University Lecture Theatre, in the city of Jerusalem, a discussion will be
held on the subject of how the Christian doctrine has influenced European
opinions and attitudes towards Judaism. Topics will include a discussion of the
motives and underlying reasons behind the writing of the Gospels, the influence
that the Gospels had on forming Christian attitudes towards the Judeans, in
addition to how they historically shaped European reactions towards the Jewish
existence. The university quickly promoted an open discussion in order to
insinuate the possibility of constructive and enlightening comments concerning
the social, cultural, and historical issues of these topics, which would thereby
promote the truth or at least a position worthy of thought and study. This
controversial topic has triggered many debates which have attracted the
attention of many researchers and historians, and more generally those who
have constructed their own valid and sound opinions, which may be contrary to
his or her traditional education. This discussion will include a variety of debates
and testimonials of events that have influenced different beliefs, positions,
opinions, and actions; the discussion will evolve into an evaluation which will
aim at reaching a certain conclusion.
Those involved in the discussion are people with experience in political and
social issues, like Professor Lieberman of the University of Jerusalem, who will
also chair the event. Additionally, the reputable lawyer Mr. COHEN will act as an
“interrogator” within the discussion, among other participants who will act as
“defendants”, “prosecution witnesses”, and “defence counsels”; the participants
have agreed to this structure, which will be self-regulated, and free from any
outside pressure and direction.
The participants will examine events that have influenced and somehow marked
people socially, culturally, and politically throughout history. Because the
subject matter of these discussions involves all people, there will also be an
audience present at the event; the audience will not be able to participate in the
discussion due to time constraints, even though the occasion will involve the
discussion of history which affects everyone present.
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4. The scene
The lecture theatre is full of people. Lively conversations can be heard from all
sides. Young, middle-aged and old people, students and teachers, people of the arts,
of science and of culture, forms a colourful mosaic of thought. In front of the rows a
large round table will be used by the “opposing parties” who are arriving last to
take their seats, after the lecture theatre is full.
The audience is silent. The hall is filled with searching gazes upon stretched necks
which try to make out the faces of the participants. The first participants are four
Judeans.
Their names: MARK, MATTHEW, LUKE and JOHN. They will be the “defendants” of
the case.
The defence counsels that are approaching are not Jews: they’re Westerners. They
have all embraced the positions and religious views of the four – opinions and
attitudes that have been validated throughout history. Their names: TERTULLIAN
and ORIGEN.
Finally, the “prosecutor”, Mr COHEN and the chair of the debate, Dr Lieberman,
enter.
After they all sat down comfortably, Dr Lieberman, the chair of the debate, spoke.
The room was completely silent, a sign of a civilized audience.
CHAIRMAN
(Speaks with a loud, clear voice)
“Ladies and gentlemen, we’re gathered here today, with everyone’s consent, to
examine a matter that has been plaguing many consciences for over 2000 years,
creating guilt or concealed indifference. We all came here of our own free will,
without any pressure, and I want to thank all the participants, especially the four
Evangelists, as they came to be known in the history of Christianity, who will be
“judged” if I’m allowed the phrase. Nobody in this room is either guilty or is a
real defendant; we just agreed that each participant would play a certain role in
order to make the process easier. The participants accepted this proposal
because their ideas and beliefs cannot be changed, as they stated. They’re
interested in restoring historical truth; if we can engage the participants, I
believe that changing their beliefs will be virtually impossible.
MATTHEW
(He looks at the chairman’s seat)
Thanks for making this statement
CHAIRMAN
Regardless, in order to respect our participants, we will look upon their
historical roles and arguments with an unbiased and critical eye.
MATTHEW
History has already given us many credentials
CHAIRMAN
I’d also like to point out that, in this room that was granted to us by the
university, our intention is not to find anyone guilty or to reach a verdict; thus,
we won’t strive to demonstrate, for example, the culpability of Christianity in
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5. these matters. What right would we have to do that? We may refer to it, but that
won’t mean that we disdain the Christian doctrine or that we’re trying to
promote another one, since we all know that Christianity, a universal religion
nowadays, is based on Judaism.
MATTHEW
You are the one who makes that statement
CHAIRMAN
(He continues in a polite manner)
So, the aim of this conversation is to see whether the writings of the four – the
Gospels for the Christians – can prove them, at all, responsible for the
consequences of the path that the Hebrew people and nation have had to follow
throughout history. Did the Gospels influence consciousnesses and politics?
Were those writings an alibi for the persecutions of the Jews by the Christians of
Europe during the formation of the European world? If yes, how responsible are
these four? Did they cause moral damage to Judaism? Does the burden of
instigation exist? Or are the four innocent, and instead these effects have all been
the doing of some “hidden” enemies that have been coveting them through the
years, trying to smear their reputation, characters, and work? We want to reach
the truth, if that’s possible.
MATTHEW
How can you define truth?
CHAIRMAN
It’s hard to define truth for a people because fixed perceptions are passed on as
values which in turn influence the religious and cultural establishment.
MATTHEW
You can achieve this by historical and theological research
CHAIRMAN
(in a acquiescent way)
Yes, I understand that many protest wildly against critical and historical
research, because any new knowledge could transform or completely change the
opinions imposed upon the consciousness of a whole people. And finally,
(turning to the audience),
I can see many worthy and well-known personalities that have left their mark on
history. Gentlemen, the university of Jerusalem welcomes you and thanks you for
being here today. We can now begin, Mr COHEN. The “prosecutor” will speak
now.
COHEN
(Everyone looks at him. He speaks with a polite tone in his voice)
Thank you Mr CHAIRMAN. It’s a bit uncomfortable and difficult to act as a
“prosecutor” against personalities that have formed the religious world and faith
for a very large part of the human population, and have influenced to an extent
the civilizations, and the habits and the structures, of Western thought.
However, I’m forced to do so, in order to discover the truth, despite faults and
guilt that might arise from this discussion. This may be the case if indeed arises,
but nothing is certain or compulsory.
JOHN
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6. (He answers with abundant confidence)
No problem. That is our challenge to you; after all, that’s why we decided to
return down here to humankind.
COHEN
(He talks in a calm way)
Thank you. Let us begin, then. If we go back, in our minds, to the history of
Israel’s existence as a state on the lands of our fathers, and look at the maze of
our dramatic past: fighting for our right to exist as an independent and dominant
nation, and especially inspect the hard times of the revolution of the Israeli
against the Seleucid conquerors of our holy lands, we will see that our ancestors
have enjoyed freedom for just about a century before they were conquered by
the Romans.
CHAIRMAN
(He asks for permission to interrupt and gets it from the chairman)
It is the fate of Israel to fight for liberty and independence
COHEN
I will agree to that and I’ll say that the era of violence and degradation, of drama
and brutality, had once more begun. Privation took the form of legal and
structural violence, cruel taxation, land seizures, and extreme poverty that lead
people to penury and beggary.
(All participants shake their heads in agreement to Cohen’s statement)
COHEN
(He continuous)
…But, there were many brave men who defied death, poverty, compulsory
submission and depreciation, who became freedom fighters. These
revolutionaries soon became a big hindrance for the Roman conquerors. After
the death of Herod the Great, a revolutionary movement against the conqueror
broke out in many regions, but, soon, the Roman state, with its well known cruel
apparatus of brutal conquest, managed to crush our conquered nation’s idea of
freedom.
CHAIRMAN
Rome was the mightiest force but Israel’s people never submitted. They resisted
to occupation and slavery
COHEN
Of course, fragments of resistance continuously arose, which were always the
secret hope to revolt for our conquered, but spiritually free, people. As
everybody knows, the great revolution, the uprising of our nation, became more
intense 60 years later and lasted four years until the final fall, when the symbol
and the point of reference of our identity, the soul of Israel – Solomon’s temple –
was destroyed. The massacre, whose scale was unparalleled at the time,
originated from Rome, which had given great orators, republicans and democrats
to the world.
CHAIRMAN
(with a sad tone in his voice)
Thus, another exodus, a compulsory flee, occurred for our people that led to the
great Diaspora.
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7. COHEN
The destruction of Jerusalem was now a fact, since freedom and national
independence were now unattainable to those who had sought ways of re-
establishing themselves on the holy land of our ancestors.
CHAIRMAN
Death and gloom everywhere in our once free country.
COHEN
In such an atmosphere of destruction and disdain, a new religious movement,
with a sectarian tendency, appeared. Of course, the land of Israel has always
been a cradle of religions. These new, and allow me to say, bigoted, in my
opinion, ideas and beliefs, were originally expressed in the writings of four
ingenious works, which were aimed at the desperate, of the fellow speakers who
are now present.
CHAIRMAN
How could they do that!
COHEN
We will find that through out the discussion and we will see that others who
wanted to leave their mark on history as pursuers and avengers of Jews later
complemented these writings. They often talk about love in their writings, even
of forgiving one’s enemies, and of turning the other cheek, yet
they curse the Judean that doesn’t embrace their opinions and sermons.
CHAIRMAN
This reminds me of a saying that if you are not with us you are our enemy
COHEN
Something like that. They tried to fulfil, with special passion, their duty, as they
believed, to God and to people and, for that, the Christian Church has canonized
most of them.
CHAIRMAN
The Christian church has proclaimed them as Saints.
COHEN
I know that my words may annoy some people because they think that the
doctrine of their faith is unshakable, and that I may cause irritation and perhaps
indignation, but believe me, it’s not my intention to annoy or to offend anyone.
CHAIRMAN
Let us state the facts.
COHEN
Yes we will. So we invited them – all the Fathers of the Church- but they didn’t
want to take part in the discussion except those present. All their writings,
which for modern Christians are the “good news”, are part of a New Testament
or Holy Scripture for them, and I respect that. But, I wonder how they
unjustifiably pronounce their Holy Scripture (in Greek higher education as far as
I know) the continuation of the Jewish Bible. They make countless references to
our Bible.
MATTHEW
We had to do this because we still believe in Jewish Holy Scriptures
COHEN
But you mention the prophets, the leaders, the hermits, and the holy people that
are mentioned in the "Jewish Bible". This bible the Orthodox Christians
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8. conscientiously call the Old Testament and so, it has been established in their
minds that the old and the outdated exists only as a reference and mention, and
not as guidance.
MATTHEW
Do you define this as fault?
COHEN
I find it as a paradox because the writings of these books or documents in your
opinion, substantiate events of the life of their new Messiah who will not save
man from the yoke of tyranny, but from sin, a term that causes acquired guilt to
man, no matter how creative and just his personality may be.
MATTHEW
We did not have that intention
COHEN
Maybe. But I’ll give you a simple remark: “What if I’m not guilty?” “Nobody is
without sin,” you often claim. If that isn’t an attempt to create guilt to control
minds, then what is?
MATTHEW
So you tell us!
COHEN
I shall tell you!
The writings of the four are fundamental for the doctrine of a new religious
structure. They initiate new teachings and moral values through the life, work,
and death of their Messiah. Ambiguous values, I would say, completely opposed
to reason which exist only in the notional sphere.
But, we’re not here today to debate on religious matters. As the CHAIRMAN said,
it’s not our intention to change or devalue established religious beliefs.
CHAIRMAN
Everybody has the right to religious and political faith and these notions have
been defined as social conundrums. Now, to go on, even though we’re not certain
that the four are the actual writers of the Gospels, we have however, some
historical indicators.
(The statements made by COHEN seem to annoy the four, and MARK, unable to
hide his rage, speaks out).
MARK
(He tries to be calm but is clear to all that he has been offended)
We’re the writers and there’s no doubt about that.
COHEN
(He continuous as before)
Since you intervened, I ask you: are you the first to ever write the story of the
new Messiah?
MARK
(He answers as an anger teacher in class)
As far as I know, yes. I followed Peter, our Lord’s student and wrote what he said
in his preaching. Jesus’ words. In my writings I tried to give a theological
interpretation of the facts, different from the metaphorically historical
description of the work and life of our Messiah.
COHEN
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9. ( in a calm voice)
People accuse you of expertly avoiding the confusion between the historical
person, Jesus, with Jesus the “God-man”, as you call Him, in order to protect any
newly converted from reaching theological deadlocks. You know, many young
people who study theology professionally, like religious teachers or future
pastors, also have, apart from their other problems in life, theological issues as
well. They are troubled about Christian reforms, Christian humanism, rational
theology, religion and personal freedom, Church and power; trapped in their
deadlocks, they seek a solution in sociology but, unfortunately, due to ignorance,
they mix Christian faith with social science.
MARK
(Trying not to get upset)
I don’t care what they accuse me of. My aim is to spread the new truth-the logos-
and to correct any imperfections of the Judaic law, and in so doing, I will describe
events that changed the course of history. Anyone who questions me should
understand this: the truth and deliverance of man came with the arrival of the
"Son of Man" and "Son of God". I’m simply describing what happened in Judaea.
We gave God a human dimension so that He can be part of the story. I know that
this makes Judeans angry and tear their clothes. The prophets also mention His
name in the Old Testament. These things are known to everyone.
COHEN
(He replies in an easy tone):
I want to remind you that his apostles, according to your theory of the
Resurrection, named Him the “Son of God”, later.
MARK
Whatever.
COHEN
(He speaks in a acquiescent way)
I want to ask you something. When our country was smashed and depopulated
by the Roman legions, Jerusalem and the Temple were broken to pieces, how
could you write about something new-alien religious scriptures- and different
from the beliefs and the doctrines of your people? Why didn’t you encourage
your people to fight, rather than presenting them with a new doctrine? Why do
you seek alienation and abandonment of the religious and cultural foundation of
Judaism? Why do you cause chaos? Why do you tear communities apart? Why do
you invest in fear? Why do you all compete in deprecating your fellow Jew?
MARK
We don’t deprecate the Jew. The Lord talks about the difficult times; He talks
about the destruction of the Temple.
COHEN
Is this maybe something you borrowed from Daniel’s writings?
MARK
( He speaks with much confidence)
No, I experienced the chaos and destruction myself. I cannot understand how
you get so upset when I was there and went through all those events. I gave hope
to everyone through my writings. There was a crisis of our religious institutions
and their values, which couldn’t be solved with the ancient, outdated traditions
of our ancestors. Things changed and we had to escape of the deadlock.
COHEN
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10. What you write is eschatological. “Everyone will be wasted if they don’t follow the
new Messiah” and this is your opinion. But don’t claim that you’re showing the
right path with your insistence on “repentance”. The new era of exiles had just
begun. Did your theological inspection give any hope to your people? Hope for
life as we all know doesn’t come via crucifixion, death and resurrection. The
rebirth of a man, of a nation, doesn’t happen via the dogmatism of the ancient
Egyptians who were the first to speak of resurrection in their religion.
MARK
I wrote about the martyrdom of the “God-man”. I’m sorry that you don’t
understand it. I insist that hope can only come via Resurrection. Is that so hard to
accept?
COHEN
Our aim today isn’t to debate on religious matters.
MARK
Then what’s the point of this awkward reference to the roots and beginning of
our religion?
COHEN
The point is that you use the life of Judeans, amongst other references, as an alibi
for the persecutions and crimes against Judeans – “against humanity” – as they
have been called by Christian parliaments and courts of law. Even today, many
theologians who embrace the “believe and don’t search” doctrines – who find
such dialectic very difficult– curse the Judaic clergy because they find it guilty for
the crucifixion of Jesus: is that not so?
MARK
(He answers in a surprised way)
And are we the ones to blame?
COHEN
Nobody said that. This discussion will show whether you, through your writings,
inculpate, either on purpose or not, a whole people. After all, you accepted the
challenge.
(At this time the Chairman interrupts)
CHAIRMAN
Let’s hear the other three honourable gentlemen then, or, better said, the other
three saints of the Christian Church.
Everyone agreed for the discussion to continue.
Mr COHEN, after a small pause, spoke to the other evangelist, the much-talked-
about MATTHEW. He seemed willing to answer questions and deal with any
possible challenge.
COHEN
(He speaks with a clear loud voice)
Honourable ST MATTHEW, looking back at the events of that time we can see
that your wrote your work twenty years after MARK wrote his, at a difficult time
when the –unfortunate– split of the Judeans was just starting. Your gospel is the
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11. most popular among Christian communities but is built on a paradox I should say
MATTHEW
I see no paradox in it!
COHEN
Well, it is the most Jewish, most universal of all other gospels in the Canon and
yet is an anti-Jewish, anti-Semitic document ever written by a Jew. You reject the
Torah by intensify it thus making it impossible to keep, you replace old MOSES
with JESUS, reject the law, accuse Jews as God murderess. A theological-religious
split one could call it.
MATTHEW
It is clear that you have not read my work in depth.
COHEN
Oh no, I have read it! You condemn the part of Judaism that stays faithful to the
principles and the values of our ancestors and doesn’t follow the new theological
trend that you skilfully created.
MATTHEW
You are the one who claims this
COHEN
It’s also sad to see this unrestrained tirade against the Pharisee: you incessantly
call them hypocrites, vipers, blind visionaries and many more vulgarities. The
West has adapted this anathema of yours and in all dictionaries the word
Pharisee is synonymous to hypocrite. In this delirium of yours, you even attack
the people of the Judaic religious power, threatening that they will lose all the
privileges they won because they perform their traditional religious duties.
MATTHEW
That was not my intention
COHEN
Regardless of the consequences, you imply that the Judeans have stained their
hands with the blood of your Lord, something you add to your own incentive, in
order to castigate a whole people.
MATTHEW
How on earth do I do this?
COHEN
You write: “His blood be on us, and on our children”. These are deprecating, fear-
inspiring words that will become the basis and alibi for the damnation of the
Jewish for the rest of the human history. How could you be so deluded? In those
disastrous years, instead of fighting for freedom against the foreign yoke, you
took the side of the modernists who dreamt of theological ideologies. How could
you do this? What were your motives?
MATTHEW
(He is completely calm)
I acted on conscience. The armed fight wasn’t leading anywhere. There was
massacre and ruin on a daily basis. Horror, with her dark face, covered the whole
of Judea in a bloodstained veil. All doors to freedom were closed.
COHEN
So you wanted to give them hope
MATTHEW
Yes I wanted to give new hope, to boost the quality of life. I didn’t intend to harm
anyone. My work is the continuation and complement of the Judaic tradition,
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12. since Judaism, on its own, only lead to fruitless paths. It had given all it had to
give. It had run dry. I had the divine inspiration of the Holy Spirit to write about
the Messiah who is a descendant of the Fathers of Israel.
COHEN
Why do you refer to Judeans?
MATTHEW
I exclusively refer to the Judeans because I considered them the lost sheep of
Israel. Jesus came to add to the law and not to abolish it. I still can’t fathom why
even today the Judeans accuse and avoid me.
COHEN
(He answers in a surprised tone)
Didn’t the Masada massacre affect you at all?
(he casts his eyes sadly. He didn’t speak for awhile….nobody spoke either. An
honourable silence for those who fell…) (after a while he continues)
So many brave men were lost there… Isn’t the Messiah you mention in your
writings the one and same that the prophets Isaiah, Ezekiel and the others
mentioned? Is he going to free Israel from the yoke with the motto “Repent ye:
for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”? How did you come up with this? What
were your motives?
MATTHEW
My motives were to save people’s souls
COHEN
National independence and establishment require earthly struggles, for the
present, so that the proper basis can be set for the building of independence. But
what kind of independence? You said it yourself: we should obediently perform
our duties to Caesar. Defiance is the biggest sin! If this isn’t enslavement to the
oppressor, then how would you explain it? Perhaps it is blind obedience,
dependence, and compliance.
CHAIRMAN
(He answers in a polite tone):
Please, everyone, let’s remain calm until the end of the discussion. Everyone will
have the chance to speak and express their opinions. Please, go on.
COHEN
You take many elements, principles and components of the life of MOSES you
copy-paste them and you present them as an original work. Parallel lives, if you
pay close attention. Herod- Pharaoh, flight to Egypt (a small Exodus) as that of
our ancestors. Don’t you understand that you’re creating confusion?
MATTHEW
No, I’m trying to be understood.
COHEN
You artfully and skilfully go on, to mention the preaching of your Lord on the
mountain, just as MOSES received the Commandments on Mount Sinai. This is
how you, too, profess and allege new moral codes via your Saviour God. You
insist that only the worthy and noble ones are those who renounced the
established values and moral codes of Judaism, in favour of your own preaching.
Perhaps those who submitted embraced them out of fear and despair – another
indication that discord was the most destructive flaw of our people.
MATTHEW
(He smiles):
Denis Stamatis 12

13. I don’t mind you being so defiant. All these years I’ve learned not to lose my
temper, and I’ve agreed to play this part in this discussion. Truth fears nothing. I
needed something new and different from the rigid attitude of Judaism. The
prophets’ futile words only led to an impasse. They spoke of redemption, but
redemption was nowhere to be seen. We got tired and lost our patience. How
long could we endure this? You must admit it too that Judaism didn’t have any
theological meaning left .
CHAIRMAN
That is an insult to Judaism
MATTHEW
It is not an insult. There were no signs of change and I, as a man who is against
violence, turned to man. I approached man and gave him hope, love, faith,
solidarity, charity, I shared my bread with him, I touched his soul. With what
result? Through the crucifixion of our Lord, the deliverance of man’s soul. If this
isn’t patriotism, as you speak of, then what is?
COHEN
A Messiah brings deliverance, peace, freedom to the motherland, and not the
dispersion of his people. There’s no deliverance through enslavement and
submission. Have you ever seen a state’s freedom granted simply through
agreements? The violence of revolt brings independence. Violence towards
violent enslavement is always legitimate. But, I’ll ask you a question: At that time,
weren’t you still employed by the Romans as a tax collector? The tax collectors
were the most hated people in Judea at the time, even more hated than the
Romans.
MATTHEW
Yes, I was until I met the Lord.
COHEN:
Your crew, though, worked incessantly.
MATTHEW
We were on a contract that we couldn’t breach. But I wasn’t in charge anymore. I
had a new purpose.
COHEN
You produced a new version of MARK’s work, ‘improved and more accessible to
the reader’.
MATTHEW
They are writings about the Messiah. I used MARK as a source for some events
that I didn’t remember well. It’s about the new moral values of life and society in
general. The Judeans have always rejected new religions but, this time they saw
the true light. These few are now hundreds of million people. They can’t all be
wrong since this is the only theory through which the notion of man maintains
its value.
COHEN
How can you say that, when over a million souls were lost during the oppressor’s
massacre? In truth, you invested in despair. Also, I wonder what kind of divine
inspiration could a hated tax collector – and you can’t deny that you were all
hated – have, in order to write a work inspired by God, which somehow you
claim to have done!
MATTHEW
It wasn’t something that I decided – it was meant to be! It was our Saviour and
Denis Stamatis 13

14. Lord’s decision. We aren’t historians, we’re Evangelists. We bring the Lord’s true
word – the good news. Can’t you understand? It’s that simple. Our aim was, and I
stress this again, the founding of a new God-inspired worldview in which
everyone: gentiles, Israelites, atheists, would believe in the Messiah of the soul.
COHEN
You’re trying to make excuses for things that cannot be excused. You planted the
seed of anti-Semitism, so that the generations to come would reap the fruit of
hatred against your own people.
MATTHEW
(In a sad tone)
It saddens me that you can’t see the wider, freer picture, outside of the narrow
boundaries of the Judaic consciousness and prophecy. It’s a matter of time-and-
space that comes in your way, as you specialists would say. Repentance and love
for one’s neighbour are the paths to salvation. Do not retaliate to others. The
lord comes to fulfil the law not to abolish it. After that, everything will go
towards salvation and deliverance. That’s all.
COHEN
(He replies in a surprised way)
Freer? This is a myth that through the passing of time has transformed, for the
Christians, into a reality. The Jews became the ‘murderers’ of Jesus. Punishment,
guilt, expulsion, and humiliation are the measures that the Christian Church
applied in order to extinguish the poor Jew. Such is the Passion that you write
about in the voice of an angry poet whose pen dribbles hatred, and not ink. You
create the story of the tearful arrest, trial, and crucifixion guiltlessly and
completely without shame.
MATTHEW
The Passion is god’s drama here on earth.
COHEN
The Passion is the zenith of anti-Semitism. Because of the supposed crime
against the ‘God-man’, the Jews were condemned by prejudice and hatred
throughout western history. No other religion accuses an entire nation. Doctors
of faith, the bishops, and even the Christian Church itself blame the ‘Wandering
Jew’. Is this your so-called love for thy neighbour?
MATTHEW
( He talks calmly)
All I wanted to make was a law abiding Church and reject the outdated Jewish
law. I am not presenting a new religion for me Christianity is the right way to be
a Jew because Christianity is a supersession of Judaism. If the Church has acted
like this, it’s morally wrong, but, to answer your question, as it seems you haven’t
understood: each of us has written, I repeat, a story of love and deliverance for
man. Accept it!
COHEN
Of course: a story of love for man. A different religious sect inside Judaism. Tell
me, what kind of love urges its believers into cutting off the body parts which
scandalise it? It is better to be lame or blind, than to be branded a sinner, or
other negative terms. You wrote that, didn’t you?
MATTHEW
Yes I did.
COHEN
Denis Stamatis 14

15. There also exists a confusion of values, lots of paradoxes in your work. Both you
and MARK write about it. In your writings, you have tactfully chosen to
substitute the theological person of your Messiah with the historical person, so
that the ‘good news’ would be believed more easily. And you succeeded.
MATTHEW
Of course I did, so what!
COHEN
For, many believe it to be so. I imagine that the first Christians waited here, on
earth, for His ‘second’ coming. Can you remember the fire in Rome during the
reign of Nero? So many innocent people went out holding candles, thinking that
the time had come.
MATTHEW
That does not concerns me
COHEN
Those were – and are – dangerous situations for governments, past or present.
This is why Paul purposefully took upon himself the task of changing what you
two had written, transforming any message of promised deliverance, by
displacing it with extreme zeal from the present life to a future, afterlife. I’m not
judging his work of course, but the artfulness and persuasiveness of his letters in
which he talks about a different Christ, not the one you talk about, was a great
surprise to everyone. So, which one is the Messiah, the one that you two
describe, or the one that Paul writes of?
(At this moment the chairman intervenes and says)
CHAIRMAN:
Please, let’s keep this conversation civil. Now let us take a short brake. We’ll
come back to you St MATTHEW. Mr COHEN, let’s go on with our next guest. He is
LUKE the Evangelist.
After a few-minute break the discussion started again.
COHEN
Honourable LUKE, I don’t want to compare your work with MATTHEW’S sad
project. But, I can see that your writings are addressed to Jews of the Diaspora as
well as to pagans and heathens, as the official Christian Church still call them in a
demeaning way.
(He looks at the audience and says)
Gentlemen, please allow me to insert a parenthesis. Just imagine, the ancient
Greek spirit, which forms the basis of the ideas of democracy, civilisation,
philosophy, rhetoric, natural sciences, and philosophy in general, being rejected
as pagan. What a pity, Christians could have done much better. That is the end of
the parenthesis. So, you, Honourable St LUKE, constantly refer to the divine
inspiration of your Messiah, who withdraws from the world and returns with the
air of a spiritual revolutionary in order to save the lost Judeans. This is an expert
attempt to penetrate, with surgical precision, the spiritual world of the Jews.
LUKE
I don’t think so
COHEN
Why not? This was the intended target, since the Jewish Bible symbolically
mentions the spirit of the Creator. You try to convince people that this very spirit
Denis Stamatis 15

16. is the Messiah’s, and that thus, he is the Son of God, and thereby the only
guarantee of salvation. This spirit guides the leaders of the converted Judeans to
convert more people from Jerusalem to Rome.
LUKE
(He looks strait into Cohen’s eyes and replies)
MATTHEW’S work is not sad. It’s blasphemy on your part to say such things. All
the Gospels were God-inspired.
COHEN
Are you talking about the same works that rose from the Altar Stone when they
were placed there in order to see which ones were God-inspired? Do you know
that Bishop Papias did this? And with what result!
LUKE
I don’t care what Papias did! In my writings I emphasize the spiritual dimensions
of Christianity as a whole. I don’t see anything wrong in doing that. Every new
theological doctrine has to have a powerful spiritual background. Even though
you referred to MATTHEW’S work in a negative way, I approve of it and add to it
with the spiritual dimension that can only exist through the Holy Spirit and by
divine inspiration.
COHEN
The aim of Christianity is to take away everything that gives value to the Jew and
makes him an equal social partner. Let’s use as an example, Saint Aquinas, who
encourages his friends to take the lands of the Jews because, in his opinion, they
were found guilty by the Almighty: “All Christians have the right to loot Jewish
property”.
LUKE
In our work we used elements from the Judaic Bible and we developed them in
order to provide a continuation of the work of the prophets.
COHEN
Don’t you think that in this way you apply concealed spiritual violence in order
to corrupt minds by use of established ideas?
LUKE
Why would I do something like that?
COHEN
In order to be more successful in converting people. Writing what you wrote had
a lot to do with the emancipation of man’s conscience. Man shouldn’t be forced to
embrace new religions, and to change his religious identity in order to jump on
the new bandwagon.
LUKE
We didn’t convert anyone. We preached. People came to us on their own volition
because we offered a new alternative, a new hope. These new, modern, people
will further develop the apostolic mission of our Lord. Our aim is theological and
apostolic. It was all recorded in history. If you go through it carefully, and
without prejudice, you will see that the persecution and death of millions of
Christians was because they searched for the truth.
COHEN
Are you sure about this story? I’m saddened by the fact that you reconstruct
theologies, beliefs, and moral codes in opposition to Judaism. Many don’t care to
know that you founded something without referencing the original source: the
foundations of our religion. The Christian lump grew and developed on our
Denis Stamatis 16

17. expense, through the sycophancy of distinguished Christians – nowadays saints –
of the official Church. If you carefully examine the work of GREGORY of Nyssa
and of JOHN the Archbishop of Constantinople, called the Chrysostom by the
Church, you will see the hatred against Judeans. Without shame, limits, or any
qualms he calls them murderers of God.
LUKE
How exactly does he do that?
COHEN
(He answers in a confident way)
His name is JOHN CHRYSOSTOME - this name was unjustifiably given to him by
his friends because Chrysostom was the name of Dio Cocceianus of Prussa, a
philosopher who lived during the last glorious years of the Greek civilization,
around ca. 40- ca. 120. Dio Cocceianus of Prussa was a worthy man- an Early
Church Father and a protector of the Hellenic tradition and education. But John
Chrysostom wasn’t writing with a clear head.
LUKE
Why did he do that?
COHEN
Because he saw enemies everywhere. Condemning anything Greek, he
encouraged believers, even Christianized Greeks, not to baptise their children
with Greek names, as if the Greek nation didn’t have a long history, but had just
sprung. As for Greek philosophy, he considered it wicked, superfluous, and
moronic compared to the teachings of Christianity.
LUKE
What does he say about Judeans? What has been recorded?
COHEN
During the time of Chrysostom, the new religion was still precarious due to
established beliefs coming from heresies, from the Dodekatheon, and first and
foremost, from the Judaic religion. He wrote the work ‘Against the Jews’ which is
a libel of rage. His preaching was first addressed to Judaizing Christians, because
Christianity and Judaism share their principles and have a two-way
communication.
LUKE
Didn’t Judaism affect anyone?
COHEN
Of course! Many people embraced the Judaic doctrine and that was something
Chrysostom didn’t like. That’s why he employed all means, including sycophancy
in order to prevent the phenomenon from expanding any further.
LUKE
How did he do that?
COHEN
Well, JOHN Chrysostom first started threatening the Judies, telling them that they
were enemies of God, in the same way that blasphemous people are, who cause
alienation from Him. He even got to the point of saying that the Judeans don’t
belong to the human race because they praise and dance with the devil! ‘They are
defected from birth because always, in the past and the present and always and
forever, they will be diabolic. They won’t hesitate to sacrifice their own children
to the demons, extinguishing their own genealogical tree, as man’s enemy would
do.’
Denis Stamatis 17

18. LUKE
Did John Chrysostom speak such hard words?
COHEN
Yes, that was his main method of deception. He considered Judeans as God-
slayers who committed the crime of all crimes and for whom no excuse will ever
exist. He said that their synagogues were joints of constant darkness and a
gathering place for beasts: ‘I despise and abhor the synagogue, this whorehouse,
because in the Old Testament the Messiah is mentioned, but the Judeans don’t
believe in anything! All of them ungrateful, cold, ousted, indifferent,
disrespectful, drunkards, deplorable, grubby, profane, brazen, unabashed
merchants of religion that try to cheat you. Christians, you should despise these
disgraces and stay away from them’.
LUKE
Were these his own words?
COHEN
Such were his words. This is the filth that this ‘excellent’ Father unleashed. But,
we don’t hate him. Not at all. We’re not like him. We won’t stoop down to his
level, no matter how hard he tries.
LUKE
(he looks surprised and says)
This saddens me.
COHEN
And that’s not all. JOHN CHRYSOSTOME’S theories have been incorporated in the
syllabuses of religious education (his writings but also his oral teachings have
given glory to Christian education as practiced by the Church).
LUKE
What about his writings?
COHEN
His writings have been accepted by the entire Church body of Greece, as well as
by the Church of Russia who embraced them, later, with great eagerness, so that
these theories could be the alibi of the persecutions of the Jews in Russia (let’s
not forget the great desire of the Russian Orthodox Christians to call Moscow the
third Rome).
LUKE
Did he enjoy his position as a patriarch?
COHEN
No, because in the end, even he, too, became a victim of the Byzantine
obscurantist circles. Violence, now, could reign unrestrained. Codex
Theodosianus included official edicts against Jewish citizens of Byzantium.
LUKE
What was this Codex?
COHEN
I’ll tell you so you too can have an idea about the first Byzantine emperor’s policy
towards those who did not embrace it.
Deportations, confiscations of properties, forced baptism, corrupted trials, and
even death were the legacy this Holy Father left behind. The monks, who have
rejected life and live in total spiritual isolation with prayers and flatteries of the
heavenly life, also became a steel shield of unfathomable fury against Judeans.
LUKE
Denis Stamatis 18

19. Is it necessary to mention the monks?
COHEN
Yes it is because these cruel maniacs, these dervishes of the Orthodox faith,
fought the Judeans without mercy, especially the ones with money and property.
Apart from writing hymns, they wrote extensively because they enjoyed the role
of the spiritual leader.
LUKE
What did they write against Jews?
COHEN
Words of hate such as ‘Illegal Jewish nation,’ the eminent orthodox monks
proclaim like raging preachers. They use vile words, like conspirators, trying to
influence the shapeless mass of believers. Use simple words for the crowd to
understand. What a specimen of culture and unrivalled social action! What a
healthy example to follow!
LUKE
Are there more to say?
COHEN
You’ll discover plenty as you go on. You’ll see how deep the separation between
theology and history is, and the efforts of the masters to prove it right and God-
inspired. You’ll also see that hatred towards the Jews remains great and
increases exponentially.
LUKE
Does this hatred continued to exist?
COHEN
Yes even today, even though in the past, glorious Jewish minds helped establish
European civilization with their humanistic ideas on society and man, in
European countries of “blonde people”, the neo-Nazis call out with hatred: “take
(out) your knives and stab Jewish flesh. These hateful people control the banks,
because they are the banks, who have led whole nations to bankruptcy and
despair. Every bank is secretly controlled by a dishonourable Jew…”
LUKE
That is anti-Semitism
COHEN
Of course it is anti-Semitism because it can be seen everywhere in modern
society, and most people, secretly or openly, that tries to harm the Jew. People
think that Jews control the banks, that they’re planning the destruction of
Christianity, that the financial collapse is an artificial creation of the Jewish
bankers who are extortionists and try to corrupt the political leaders of the
developed countries, they control the global economy that traps whole nations.
LUKE
That sounds ridiculous to me. Do people believe that?
COHEN
They believe all that and a lot more nonsense. All these false accusations,
sophistry, and extreme anti-Semitism were the result of your writings. At least
here you were completely successful.
LUKE
I do not accept that. You act as a false prosecutor and I feel sorry for you
After a short pause so that everyone can calm down, the Chairman tells the
Denis Stamatis 19

20. prosecutor to continue the discussion with the fourth evangelist, JOHN. All agree
that the procedure should go on with low tones.
COHEN
JOHN, according to the Christian Church you’re the writer of the fourth Gospel, a
work of “spiritual nature”, as it has been described by Clemens of Alexandria. To
Christians your gospel is the most divine the most Christological about God
savour yet it contains passages of anathema against the Jews. Now, I’d like to ask
you if you’re related at all to the JOHN of the “Revelation”.
JOHN:
(He replies with much confidence)
Not at all. From what I’ve heard JOHN of Patmos is a young irritable man. The
Revelation is an answer to Nero’s prosecutions. That piece of work is a product
of anger and revenge, something that I am in complete disagreement with.
COHEN
He mentions Armageddon in his writings, isn’t he?
JOHN
Yes he does. Armageddon, the beast, and the winged horse with the brass hooves
are the products of a strange imagination that make no impression on me. A kind
of star wars as you people of the 21st
century says.
COHEN
I thought of that too
JOHN
After all, the word of our Lord is the word of love and forgiveness. I’d also like to
add that I’ve never been to Patmos.
COHEN
Do you seek someone’s punishment?
JOHN
I don’t demand anyone’s punishment. I write about the theological essence of my
Lord; I’m not interested in his historical substance – that’s not my aim. For me,
the Messiah is God, “he that hath seen me hath seen the Father”. This is where
the Messiah is identified as divine.
COHEN
Indeed, the other three authors speak of the ‘kingdom of heaven’, while your
protagonist is characterized by ‘modesty and humility’ and knows the ‘truth of
life’ as you write. You compare life to death, heaven to earth, truth to lie, light to
darkness. You borrow many of the events of the Messiah’s life from the Judaic
Bible but you add the ability to perform miracles to Jesus, such as, for example,
curing the bind.
JOHN
Well, he’s the Messiah; of course he can perform miracles.
COHEN
The times during which you were writing were difficult, as was the case with the
other three. Only days after the destruction of the Temple: they were times of
discord and anger. You heard everything we’ve said.
JOHN
Yes I did
COHEN
You, too, condemn those who didn’t follow the new religion, the Judaeo-
Denis Stamatis 20

21. Christian. You condemn it in the ‘words and preaching’ of your Messiah who
addressed the Judeans: “…[Your father is the devil and you are all born from
snakes…you live in lies…]”, “I was sent by Him to you and you rejected me.”
JOHN
That is my way of hope.
COHEN
You demanded new theology from people who lost everything, when they
resisted the conqueror, who had freshly opened wounds; and at such a moment,
you asked them to change their faith. What right do you have to ask for such a
thing?
JOHN
I wanted to give them a way out
COHEN
You create a new hero, who, like Moses, will lead whoever follows to a new
‘exodus’.. And you go on to say that those who won’t follow Him will be guilty
forever. You clearly manipulate with guilt in order to achieve your aim. And you
write such things at a time when the Christian Jews were deciding to abandon
the new faith so as not to betray the values of their ancestors. They were feeling
guilty and wanted to go back to the true religion of their ancestors. It’s very hard
to forever close a door behind you and to deny those who were the first to love
you.
JOHN
I had to persuade them for the ‘new light’.
COHEN
This way with your ‘persuasive’ pen, you try to prevent this from happening. ‘I’m
the light of the world, I’m the only truth’. Stay in the community of Jesus, the
synagogue doesn’t represent you anymore…
JOHN
Well, that is the way I felt
COHEN
I’d like to discuss, if you don’t mind, the events of the martyrdom of your Lord
starting with the following: maybe Christianity isn’t the religious monopoly
anymore. But, is it at least a revolutionary religion? Regarding its nature, no,
since even in the ancient Egyptian religion there exist god-saviours that perform
miracles, have apostles, walk on water; even the triune deity is presented as the
Supreme Being.
JOHN
Yes, but what about the state of law, human rights, and civil society, don’t they all
exist because of the triumph of Christianity over the human consciousness?
COHEN
If you look at the persecutions of Jews that took place in the name of Jesus by
Christian authorities, you’ll see that this alone is evidence of guilt and not of
triumph. The men of clergy who are also theologians and the clergy in general,
play an important role in the preservation of the establishment. Their mentality
adorns the past and keeps asking everybody to return to the past because that’s
their comfort zone, even though they present it as a return to more traditional
ways of living.
JOHN
It is not bad to return to established morals that strengthened society.
Denis Stamatis 21

22. COHEN
In modern Greece, these fanatics teach in classrooms. Reason has been
substituted by instinct, and teaching at a middle or high school is a part that even
the best actors amongst these individuals want to play, especially when they
teach the Passion of Christ.
JOHN
Do they?
COHEN
Yes they do! They experience the drama themselves! Tears come to their eyes
and sobs to their throats when they narrate the Divine Drama. The narration
begins with the Mount of Olive Trees and Jesus’ arrest after he receives the kiss
of betrayal from Judas.
( He stops for a while and tells John…
You wrote the story!
and continuous)
But nothing is said about the great disappointment, sadness, and betrayal that
the other apostles caused when He asked them to stay awake and wait for Him
until He finished praying to His Father. On the contrary, they fell fast asleep and
snored. They neglect to mention that the ones He had chosen to be His apostles
left Him betrayed and alone. In His agony He only asked them for one thing and
they refused to grant him that. They didn’t even try to fight sleep and exhaustion.
Sleeping was easier than going through His agony …
JOHN
( He replies in a serious tone)
Easy there, you’re insulting Christian conscience – watch it.
COHEN
The Christian priests continue the narrative by saying “…the big iron nails that
pierced His hands and the long spear that pierced His ribs…” but they don’t
mention (and I’m only saying what you have written) that this act by the soldier
relieved him from pain. The Roman soldier’s spear, which tore His body apart,
acted as the final blow that relieved Him from His agony and pain. And when,
before He died, He asked for water, the only thing they had to offer was the
Roman army’s sour wine.
JOHN
That is the Devine drama
COHEN
The soldiers were humane and took pity on Him. He was fortunate in His pre-
planned drama. If one compares Spartacus’ death with that of Jesus he will see
that the former suffered much more. Without any wounds, no blood, no
sledgehammers to break his bones, no iron nails to pierce his hands and feet;
Spartacus was just left there tied to the cross.
JOHN
I can imagine the horrible, relentless and lasting pain that must have followed.
COHEN
Of course. “They tied him to the cross and left him there. Two days later, his
body was numb and full of wounds from the fighting and it began to swell.
Denis Stamatis 22

23. Immense pain came over him. His skin slowly transformed into a big gash. Flies
tore the wounds open and drank the blood that oozed black and thick, from
them. The place reeked of death, because along with him, all his comrades
suffered the same fate. Ten thousand crosses. Screams of terror and pain cut the
gloomy martyred air in two. Spartacus was going through the terrible pain in
silence: speechless, stoic, looking at the crows that picked out the eyes of his
comrades within the enormous slaughterhouse.
JOHN
I can imagine this gruesome scene
COHEN
(he continuous with passion)
The heat was intolerable. But Spartacus didn’t make a sound. He didn’t bend, he
didn’t complain, he didn’t cry, he didn’t ask for water or help, he didn’t get angry
with his father. Tied to the cross he bore the crucible as best he could. All his
comrades had died. Ten thousand souls. So, this dedicated fighter, this
revolutionary who, even if only briefly, offered to his comrades a taste of
freedom, succumbed to the same fate as them. He offered his wounded body and
soul back to nature where it belonged.
JOHN
(He answers in sadness)
I feel sorry for the loss of such a warrior, but this isn’t a rivalry between the two.
Spartacus experienced human pain, but Jesus went through the Divine Drama. A
mortal’s death cannot be compared to how the “God-man” faltered from the
cruelty and hatred which exists in the world. The two are beyond comparison.
We wrote about the Divine Drama, the Passion. We were never afraid of
anything. Everything we did, we did it in the name of goodness and people’s
salvation.
COHEN
Well I can see that we have totally different views
JOHN
Of course we have. There was no salvation in the primitive corral of our prophets
and so we took a new course. In truth, devotion and faith was the new triptych of
life. We added it to the Law of Moses. Even the prophets preached that the law
needed to be completed, something that would only come when Jesus the
Messiah stepped his foot on land. And so it happened.
COHEN
So, through your writings you aimed for a ¨reform¨ which attempted utopian
dictates, while consciously dividing the people of Judea.
JOHN
That’s what you and likeminded people think. Everyone needed the Son to bring
us closer to God, something that the prophets of the past had failed to see. We
didn’t want, nor did we need, political leaders.
COHEN
Didn’t you, as the God-fearing man you claim to be, fear the Bible’s law? For
Judeans, conversion is the highest treason. But then again, if there isn’t even a
state any more, how could it be treason? It’s an opportunity for new gods and
new Churches.
JOHN
I’ll say it again; we have nothing to be afraid of. "Search the scriptures” has
Denis Stamatis 23

24. always been our motto. Everything should be examined in the light of truth and
research – specialized research to be specific. Let’s be honest, our work is the
“Word” of God to His children.
COHEN
Your work is the attempt of one group to control another. You’re charmers of
consciences. In this way, the new and foreign controlled the old – the traditional.
Your actions show that you are experts in ignorance – accomplishers in the
deprecation of man. You write, JOHN, “If a man abides not in me, he is cast forth
as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire,
and they are burned.” Do you know, JOHN, that what you wrote became the alibi
for all of persecutions of Jews that followed?
JOHN
It’s not my fault that some people used our work as an alibi to commit crimes.
COHEN
I don’t know if it’s your fault, but many got inspiration to fulfil their criminal
plans of defamation, murder, and persecution against Judeans. What really
makes me sad, but doesn’t belong to our jurisdiction, is that a lot of the people
who played a major role in this deprecation of the Jews have now been
canonized by the Christian Church.
(At this moment the chairman intervenes and says)
CHAIRMAN
This is the reason of this discussion, after all. To decide if the four evangelists
should be held at all responsible for the continuous (?) crime of the Christian
Church against the Judeans.
JOHN:
(in a certain way)
And all four of us have accepted the challenge.
CHAIRMAN
And this honours you, as I’ve already said. Please, continue Mr COHEN.
COHEN
JOHN, your writings aim at trapping consciences in order effectively target the
desperate and the ignorant. You won’t be challenged since people consider you
to be the leading theological expert. But in truth, you cancel and brutally insult
the moral code of your ancestors by trying to promote a new Messiah who is
different from the one your people expected.
JOHN
We wrote in a simple, an easily understood vernacular way. We wanted to
change the world and, as leaders, we believed in the power of habit. People will
become accustomed to the new religion that one preaches, and whose good news
you profess; people, upon absorbing this doctrine, will come to accept it as their
new nature. Isn’t this what happens with new religions? A new Messiah comes to
bring deliverance after he lifted people’s sins. He is always the Son of God. This is
the story to be told and be accepted.
COHEN
I’d say that your message sounds desperate and contradictory. To receive a slap
on the cheek and say thank you is something that can only be found in your
works. Submission, dependence, and a culture of ignorance, are but few elements
of your work. You have no credibility whatsoever. You rely on insistent
improvisation in order to appropriate more confused people. All of your work is
Denis Stamatis 24

25. based on memories and testimonials of followers, since you didn’t experience the
events first hand.
JOHN
I, at least, was there as a witness of what happened.
COHEN
That’s what you say: it hasn’t been proven.
JOHN
It’s been proved in the hearts of the Christians and that is enough for me.
COHEN
Whatever, I don’t mind that, there are other things that sadden me.
JOHN
If you’re mellow and calm, then you’ll be blissful and able to love thy neighbour.
That’s when peace will truly come to earth. That’s when the kingdom of God will
come; but, you’re unable to understand the meaning of simplicity that can win
any opponent, because you, too, are a part of a kind of power, and this
mistakenly gives you a feeling of superiority over the rest. Also, please notice
that since the beginning of our discussion you have been aggressive towards the
ones you consider to be at fault, even if there isn’t proof of that. So, just abandon
the role of the prosecutor and comply with the rules of calm conversation.
COHEN
Listen, spare us the lecture please. There are no childless, desperate farmers and
poor fishermen in the audience tonight. Find another podium to preach.
JOHN
Our work is God-inspired, it’s the truth, it’s love for one’s neighbour.
COHEN
Love for the ones on the team. Humiliation and curses for those who don’t
belong.
JOHN
It’s not our fault that some “Church fathers” that came after us established the
deprecation of the Judean. Circles of conformity were only written by Christian
leaders and in particular by the Pope. If sects exist which declare themselves
Christian and misinterpret our words in order to serve their own interests, it
saddens us; but we forgive them in the name of love because that is the message
of the one and only God, Jesus Christ. Man is free to act. It’s written in the
scriptures.
COHEN
Would you like to hear an extract from the very short story of the persecutions,
so you can have a first hand opinion?
JOHN
(He wants the conversation to ease down so he says)
Why not?
COHEN
(He talks with much confidence)
Listen, then. When the Byzantine Emperor, Constantine, finally allowed
Christians to have their own churches and perform their religious duties and
rituals, he banned, at the same time, Judeans from Jerusalem. With this action, as
well as with the crimes against his relatives, he committed the double murder
killing of his first son Croispos and then his second wife, Fausta.
JOHN
Denis Stamatis 25

26. He killed his own son? How could he! I condemn such actions. These are
unforgivable crimes.
COHEN
And don’t forget Constantine’s favours towards the Church made him the Trojan
horse for the Church to share political power in the new Roman Empire
JOHN
We did not write about state power. We wrote about Christian love
COHEN
Let me continue for a moment. Listen to this: Today there are states like Greece
where the archbishop blesses and swears in the new government, the parliament
and schools. Without the Church nothing belonging to the public domain ever
starts in a new era. This is a case in which religious power undermines
democracy, which is a fundamental freedom, and dictates public life. Well, this
country is an EU member state.
JOHN
That saddens me a lot
COHEN
Let us continue our previous discussion: After his death Constantine was
canonized by Orthodoxy even though he was a pagan emperor, and also had the
title of the great priest of the Sun. The pagan emperor had lost control of the
bishops, because, at that time, the bishops were free as they willed to go to
libraries and destroy classical literature.
JOHN
I do not believe what I hear
COHEN
The bishops formed a powerful ecclesiastical shadow state that took advantage
of the poor farmers who lived in the countryside. As new leaders, they had
absolute rule over everything, and they used their power to shape anything into
something that suited them, including society as a whole. This was the decadence
and decay of civilization.
JOHN
It sad to know these events
COHEN
The ones who resisted were tortured and persecuted, including the Jews. In one
of his letters, Constantine writes that Jews lived in depravity, had blind, tainted
souls, and were driven by wild passions… If a Judean converted a Christian, the
punishment was death. This was the law that prohibited conversion.
JOHN
Did bishops do that?
COHEN
The bishops claimed that God Himself had cursed the Jews because they crucified
His son. Theodosius ordered, along with the destruction of the Greek temples,
the destruction of many synagogues because such a thing would please both the
bishops and God.
JOHN
That is a religious catharsis
COHEN
It is a religious catharsis was speedily taking place. Bishop Cyril of Alexandria did
everything he could to force Jews out of the city. Of course, he thanked the mob
Denis Stamatis 26

27. that participated in the "pious” act of persecution, inaugurating thus, the first
pogrom in history. The shaper of modern Catholicism, Augustine, shamelessly
stated that the true form of the Judean is Judas Iscariot who betrayed the Lord
for 30 pieces of silver. He goes on to add, with no remorse, and with an air of
nihilism, that Christians should cause fear to those who don’t accept Christianity
in order to help them get rid of their bad habits and see true salvation.
JOHN
That is violence
COHEN
Yes it is. They preached the use of violence against the faithless in order to bring
them to the path of truth. Only this was enough to make him the father and pillar
of Catholicism. What can one say…
JOHN
Don’t forget that Augustine, through his work, confirmed that God gave the Law
to the Jews. This is an act of recognition of the identity of the Judeans.
COHEN
And then he deprecates them by making his terrible aphorisms! Also, Justine, yet
another byzantine emperor with a tendency towards scheming against his
people – so many innocent people lost their lives in vain during the Nika riots –
thought of, with the encouragement of the bishops, he made a code that
prohibited the Judeans from building synagogues.
JOHN
History named him as one of the greatest emperors of the Eastern Roman
Empire
COHEN
She did but listen to this: The code limited, to a great extent, Judeans’ rights and
freedoms, and put them off of active life. Meanwhile, at that time in the West,
Judeans were prohibited from owning land, or dealing in trade, or even
appearing at the market during Easter because ‘they polluted the holy
atmosphere of the days with their presence.’ Concepts like ecumenism,
solidarity, and respect for another’s rights were deemed unnecessary. The only
ones entitled to progress and be free were the Christians.
(Short pause and then he continues)
But the place where Jews were completely denied the right to equality was Spain.
JOHN
Oh, I have heard that Spain was the place where the greatest misfortunes
happened to Judeans
COHEN
Exactly. Judeans there had two choices: to become Christians or to abandon the
country. The Christians said that baptism was their passport to dignity. Forced
Christianization was a common practice at the time. The former victims became
excellent persecutors! Origen, who’s here today, John the Crysostome (who calls
the Jews drunks, cowards, filth, disrespectful, wretched, rakes, and thieves) as
well as the Fathers of the Church, all smeared the Judean; they stated that the
Jew is a slave because he is the one who crucified Jesus.
ORIGEN
(he interrupts in an angrily tone)
I will answer to you in a while
Denis Stamatis 27

28. COHEN
(he continuous in a easy form)
This horrible lie that never stopped inspiring the persecutors of Judaism, allowed
the persecutors to express their most primitive instincts.
JOHN
I have heard about the Council of Orleans. What is this council?
COHEN
At the third Council of Orleans (538 a.d) it was decided that, “No Jew should
make a public appearance during Easter,” and that, “We tolerate the presence of
our Saviours, but during the days of the Christian Easter, it would be good if
these scum didn’t appear in public.”
JOHN
That is not Christian love
COHEN
Later on, during the crusades – that mad times – these supposed liberators of
the Holy Lands, who were, in fact, just poor looters from the countryside, killed
any Jew that they came across, or they burned them en masse inside their
synagogues.
JOHN
That is a campaign against humanity
COHEN
The campaign against humanity began with the massacre of the Jews in Cologne,
Metz, Regensburg, and many other places with the excuse that “it was God’s will”
to clean the world and get rid of the unclean souls.
JOHN
How did it happen?
COHEN
Pope Urban II led heavily armed Templar knights and massacred thousands of
“infidel” Judeans, “in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”
JOHN
I have heard about Spanish Inquisition too. Did they harm any Jews?
COHEN
The Spanish Inquisitors spread fear and death. An entire people were forced to
abandon the country, with their holy scriptures destroyed. With the passing of
time, the persecutions became stronger.
JOHN
What did the Catholic Church do about it?
COHEN
The Catholics said that Jews should be punished because they crucified Jesus.
They based this accusation on your work. We can see, once more, the insistence
of the Christian Church on discovering people to blame and on creating
indictments of collective responsibility.
JOHN
What did Thomas Aquinas react to this?
COHEN
Thomas Aquinas, the ‘great’ theologian, showed, in a very obnoxious way, his
hatred for Judeans “..It’s true, as the laws say, that the consequences of the
rejection and crucifixion of Jesus by the Judeans place them all in a constant and
Denis Stamatis 28

29. endless enslavement and subordination…”
JOHN
So murder was common practice back then.
COHEN
Yes, every day there were more unjustified accusations, persecutions, and
killings in Europe, the supposed “cradle of civilization.” When the great plague
broke out, thousands of Jews were accused, tortured, and killed
JOHN
They were the ones to blame…
COHEN
They were an easy target, they were a helpless opponent.
JOHN
Did Luther defend Jews in his writings?
COHEN
In this “civilized” Europe, Luther found fertile ground to spread hatred for the
miasmas, as he called Jews. Luther dared to oppose the Pope with the famous 95
theses manifesto that he posted on the door of the Castle Church of Wittenberg;
but he never dared to oppose the establishment, like his contemporary, Thomas
Müntzer, who was executed by the German nobles that feared the loss of their
privileges.
JOHN
It is well known to every one that Luther is the father of Protestants. What is
your opinion?
COHEN
Luther was the founder of anti-Semitism. His main belief was that religious faith
was distinct from ecclesiastical power. When he was sure that he had plenty of
followers, he uttered words that excited his uneducated followers: “Damned be
the Jews, burn them and their synagogues. Their holy scriptures, the Torah, is a
lie and a blasphemy”
JOHN
Where are these words written in a book?
COHEN
These words written in his book with its ridicule title, “Jews and their Lies.” And
all this came from the founder of the Protestant reform, who had the courage to
oppose the Pope in order to seize ecclesiastical power.
JOHN
But what were his sources?
COHEN
It was your work, dear Evangelists. He wished the worst kind of deprecation for
any man defined by the word Jew: a great step towards the future Holocaust.
JOHN
I totally disagree with your statement
COHEN
(with a calm voice)
Let me continue… Popes persecuted Jews around the world. “Burn the heretic
Jews,” was the appropriate motto for one to become Pope; if not, the conclave
would not support such a person…
JOHN
Tell as about the years of enlightenment and the fate of Jews
Denis Stamatis 29

30. COHEN
During the Enlightenment, civilization shone eclectically for Christians, but not
for everyone. Here the Jews were considered foreigners, unwanted, invaders…
JOHN
Was there any racism towards Jews?
COHEN
Every where in Europe was practised but racism in all its glory festered in Russia
and Poland – pogroms and violence were in full development in the ‘new’
Europe.
JOHN
We also know the greatest evil of all times since the commencing of civilization.
The Holocaust. Can you tell us a few words?
COHEN
The Holocaust is a curse that burdens a whole people, the Germans. Here, I’d like
to mention the Nazis’ plan for a new morality, a new start for the reformation of
souls, for new motives that were nothing but the desire to completely extinguish
the Jewish race. They “delivered” justice to Jews and they were pride of their
monstrous actions. Their foul motto was that humanity will never succeed
salvation if the Jews are not dealt with.
JOHN
Did people suffer?
COHEN
Many were arrested, beaten, tortured and killed. The Jews who survived fled to
avoid the worst. During the years of Nazism in Germany, dangerously naïve
biological studies were used to prove, with the help of “anthropology”, the
inferiority of the Jews compared to the excellent superior race. There were
“studies” of scull ridges, skeletal differences, and similar nonsense. Nazi
‘scientists’ deceived people and at the same time themselves with the following
question: what is each human’s worth? The Jews, are conspirators, and should be
gotten rid of.
JOHN
How many people were executed?
COHEN
Six million Jews were killed. The mass elimination programme begun with the
creation of concentration camps, Auschwitz being the first in 1942 where the
executioners were the camps’ doctors who performed their monstrous
experiments on humans.
JOHN
It is a disgraceful action that shames humanity as a whole
COHEN
This nefarious act of the Nazis, of course, didn’t just spring randomly; it was
probably based and on unacceptable thoughts that stain the rest of Bernard
Shaw’s work, who had stated that “a humane gas should be discovered that will
kill instantly and painlessly”, for the disposal of society’s parasites, the weak, the
useless…’
JOHN
It is hard to believe it. What one can say?
COHEN
The generally excellent professor and poet, T.S Elliot, in his letters calls Jews
Denis Stamatis 30

31. undesirable because their culture offends others: ‘The rats are underneath the
piles. The Jew is underneath the lot’. In 20th
century, the widely held opinion was
that Jews were foreigners, they only resembled humans, they weren’t actually
humans and so they couldn’t be assimilated.
JOHN
Were any prosecutions in France during the Great War?
COHEN
In France, during the times of Vichy the widely held slogan said ‘ a German
dictator is better than an elected Jew’, this slogan was translated into many
murders of Jews. The French communist party encouraged French communists
to become friends with the Nazis.
JOHN
Were any prosecutions in Soviet territory?
COHEN
Molotov, the soviet commissar, stated that it was a crime to fight Nazism because
in his camps ‘working was an honour…already before the war, they agreed with
Himmler that some groups should be destroyed and as an act of good will they
returned thousands of Jews back to Hitler when they tried to escape from Nazi
Germany and fled to the ‘land of the free people’. Such actions have stained
history as the soviet crimes against humanity and have remained unpunished.
JOHN
Were the Nazis inspired by the Soviets?
COHEN
The Nazis were inspired by the soviet mechanism of terror and were trained
accordingly: death lists, atrocities, common crimes. The grinding machine
worked ceaselessly, the enemy must die, bury the corpses aside in the red corner.
What will happen to the orphans of the dead? The executions happened day and
night in order to eliminate the ‘enemies of the People’ and found the new,
thousand-year religion because that was the new plan.
JOHN
I have heard about the Third Rome
COHEN
They mentioned that Moscow soon will be the Third Rome. And now I ask you,
gentlemen: do you feel at all guilty that so many ‘good’ people used your work,
your written alibi as their basis and committed their crimes?
MARK
(he is upset)
Not at all. It’s their entire fault. Why should we be accused for crimes that had
never been done before in history? This is outrageous.
COHEN
But you wrote light-heartedly. Are you aware of the fact that your work was
what marked religious intolerance that was then used with great willingness by
politicians and social and religious leaders in order to express their hideous
instincts against the Jewish people
JOHN
Our work is of a confessionary-catechetic nature. The ‘old’ Bible didn’t have any
new suggestions. For eight hundred years it’s been embellished by prophesies,
psalms and laws, but it was unable to project an effective opinion, to offer an
alternative and excite consciousness’. Stagnation was its trait and at the same
Denis Stamatis 31

32. time, its main weakness.
CHAIRMAN
You reject the Jewish Bible by name it old and you look for something modern
JOHN
Modernity that would solve the chronic identity problems of our people was
absent. The new suggestion, Christianity, in a hundred years became an
unprecedented success as a religion; it made roots and triumphed in the whole
known world of the time because it’s the only true religion.
COHEN
Thanks to the Roman civil establishment.
JOHN
If the idea was fake it wouldn’t last through time. Yes, it has its roots in the
Judean Bible, but, the flowers and fruit are the work of famous theologians,
Fathers of our Church, saints and bishops who were inspired by our work.
COHEN
What do those say, what news do they bring?
JOHN
They bring the ‘good news’ the love of God, of the “God-man” who sacrificed
Himself for man, love for his neighbour, something that didn’t exist in the old
Bible, or if it did, wasn’t adequately stressed. This, in a few words, is how
Christianity has been built up for the world.
COHEN
The new religion was spread quickly due to the expanded network of synagogues
throughout the Roman Empire. At every synagogue a few Judeans (since internal
faction had spread) followed the new religious trend.
JOHN
I admit that those people were the cause of the spread of Christianity. They were
the carriers of the new doctrine in the then known world. Without the Judeans
this new religion wouldn’t have blossomed.
COHEN
The budding was cut off the ‘old’ doctrine and became an independent theology.
But, there was always, you thought, the danger of some of the members of the
new sect to return to the religion of their ancestors.
JOHN
I admit that too
COHEN
That’s why you carefully deprecate, accuse, and anathematize those who
remained faithful to their tradition. Matthew writes that ‘the blood of the Lord
will fall upon the head and children of the Judeans for eternity’.
MATTHEW
I did write this as final effort to prevent future infiltrations and even a possible
liking towards the Judeans.
JOHN
The new religious proposal covered the old. We didn’t turn against anyone. It’s
the seminal word of the Lord.
COHEN
Denis Stamatis 32

33. You can apologize as much as you like, but this will not exempt you from having
‘stigmatised’ the Judean. It’s a great misdemeanour to accuse a whole people in
order to support a new religion.
CHAIRMAN
I call it collective responsibility
COHEN
This collective responsibility is your doing dear Evangelists, you have the
collective charge. You depreciate values, you imitate, you modify all kinds of
theologies of the time, and with constant repetition and use of violence, you try
to convert people and succeed in solidifying the Christian establishment and the
Church that arrived at doctrines as the following: Church and fascism, Church
and monarchy, Church and the emperor, Church and totalitarianism. The Church
always leads the way of the persecutions of the Jewish outcast.
JOHN
We simply set the foundations for Christianity; we talk about Jesus of love.
Repent, were His words.
COHEN
Your Messiah sets new values. But what kind of love is this when you write that
He requires punishment and death of those who won’t follow him? He will come
back to us to check if people are Christians and do good deeds! You use the idea
of resurrection influenced by eastern religions of the time. Isis, Osiris, Adonis,
Dionysus, Mithras, Jesus; they’re all resurrected in order to bring hope or final
judgment to people.
(At this time Matthew wants to intervene)
MATTHEW:
Excuse me, could I please intervene?
CHAIRMAN
Of course you can.
MATTHEW
We didn’t write about the resurrection, because we didn’t want to limit human
thought. Paul, in his work, mentions the resurrection. He made an effort to
change or adjust what we have said so that the word of our Lord could be spread
amongst the gentiles. Also, Mr CHAIRMAN, Mr COHEN seems to really be ‘living’
his role as a prosecutor and thus, he isn’t conversing, he’s simply making
accusations!
CHAIRMAN
Let him go on.
COHEN
Thank you Mr CHAIRMAN. St MATTHEW, you go on to write that the Messiah
will spread love and peace to the whole world. What kind of love is this, when
you also say that those who won’t follow Him will be damned? When you provide
no other alternative than submission?
MATTHEW
You put lost sheep on the straight path of Christianity
COHEN
You add royal connections to the genealogical tree of your Lord by mentioning
His supposed relationship with the House of David. How did you decide that?
You write that there are 28 generations between David and Jesus. The historian
LUKE counts 45.
Denis Stamatis 33

34. MATTHEW
We had somehow to find our Lord’s pedigree
COHEN
Isn’t this perhaps yet another trick to charm the masses? You also present your
resurrected Messiah at times in Galilee and others in Jerusalem hinting that he
will come back for people not to teach them anymore, but for the final judgment
and he won’t go easy on anyone.
MATTHEW
Oh yes that will certainly happen
COHEN
If what you wrote isn’t a libel for mankind, then what is it? One could wonder
whether you wrote it on request, whether someone commissioned you to write
the New Testament. Were you paid for this? Did you earn money from it? You,
MATTHEW, being a tax collector, surely wouldn’t do anything free of charge!
MATTHEW
(He is a bit upset)
Mr Chairman, I object, protect me.
CHAIRMAN
Mr COHEN, I understand your sadness but, please, lets try and keep the tones
down. It’s a fact that in those days, tax collectors were the most detested caste of
all; they not only collected the tax, but often they had crews which they used in
order to collect higher, even double, taxes from the poor. That was your
profession, MATTHEW, so I find it understandable for this nuisance to happen.
(The conversation stops for a while so every one will calm his temper and after a
while Matthew says)
MATTHEW
I stopped doing this job when I met the truth, our Lord, Jesus Christ.
CHAIRMAN
Thank you. I’d like to ask LUKE something.
LUKE
Please, your honour, go on, I’m listening.
CHAIRMAN
In your work you mention the promise that the Messiah will return to earth
playing the role of the judge, as Mr COHEN mentioned a while ago. What do you
have to say on that matter?
LUKE
We didn’t write about such things. Saul or Paul thought of them –I don’t know
how- and set out those rules that were accepted with great enthusiasm by the
official Christian Church, for our religion.
COHEN
Some one had to support the ecclesiastical establishment!
LUKE
We wrote and stressed the Divine Drama during the crucifixion of the Messiah,
which was the result of the betrayal by Judas, but there, on the cross he beats the
devil and rescues man with his death.
COHEN
Isn’t that a scandal?
LUKE
Denis Stamatis 34

35. I know that the crucifixion is a scandal for Judeans but, resurrection for Paul, is
an imposing need so that people can believe easier, better and more; you believe
in truth, because Christ is the truth.
CHAIRMAN
I have heard that similar later texts on truth exist too
LUKE
I’d like to add that it makes me incredibly sad when other texts –late truths for
some people- that have nothing to do with what we wrote, refer to our God-
inspired work. But we forgive them, because this is our mission; to forgive and
love our neighbour even our enemy.
CHAIRMAN
I can’t understand how Paul thought of that; to give your Messiah the role of the
re-appearing –who knows when- judge. What was he thinking? Was he trying to
prevent some sort of social revolt? Did he want to silence the masses making
them fear the ‘great judgment’? Did he seek the flock to be submissive? Who
knows!
LUKE
We didn’t write about the future. We wrote about the events of the time.
Testimonies and holy stories.
COHEN
You fabricated a neo-religious piece of work that was used by the Christian state
that followed in order to solidify its position and power over the Christian world.
LUKE
Paul as the new apostle was one of the fathers of the Church
COHEN
Saul or Paul was the new apostle, as the Christian Church calls him, because he
managed with artfulness and skill to provide the Christian Church with a tool
capable of humiliating and overpowering the Judeans.
LUKE
When did this happen?
COHEN
All these events took place when Rome was mowing down Judea. The ordinary
Jew had no time for spiritual dilemmas; he barely had hope, courage and
strength to go on living.
LUKE
He had the memory of his ancestor’s power!
COHEN
All of you turned your back on the Judeans, especially Paul when he asked for a
new identity since the role of the loser didn’t suit him, and he asked for that of a
Christian in order to set off on his journey of conquering consciousnesses, minds
and thoughts.
LUKE
What happened to him in Athens?
COHEN
In Athens he was faced with great resistance and ridicule to his fake and
mesmerizing calls. His theories were unheard of and they caused laughter to the
people who were used to free thought. He abandoned the city disappointed
searching for another place to convince the ignorant and innocent.
LUKE
Denis Stamatis 35

36. I know that he was welcomed
COHEN
You know wrong. The late Pope John-Paul was not properly welcomed when he
visited Athens and stated that ‘Paul too was treated as an unwanted stranger’
( Cohen continues and calmly states…)
And he succeeded with his mission like no other man could do it. In the end it’s
all a matter of education. All this, simply for the record. Of course we won’t go
into more detail about Paul because he is absent even though we invited him to
participate in the discussion. So, to sum up, I’d like to repeat the following:
(looking into the eyes of the evangelists)
Gentlemen, what you wrote was focused around the passion of your Messiah.
Around the core of the passion you created the details about Jesus’ origin and
genealogical tree using arbitrarily elements from the Judeans’ Bible because
Jesus was a Judean and he had to be the descendant of glorious Jews of history
and, in fact, as you say, he had to be a descendant of the House of David…
MARK
It had to be that way
COHEN
With great artistry you flatter and absolve the Romans and their leader, Pilate,
who was cruel, malicious and ruthless and had to be removed from his positions
by the Romans due to exactly those characteristics. Especially MATTHEW and
JOHN mention that
MATTHEW
The Romans were the masters of the world. How can you go against your
master?
COHEN
This is where we disagree. You fight the enemy you don’t accept him!
MATTHEW
At those hard times of the disasters and the merciless killings of the Jewish
people, it would be madness to accuse the Romans who hated all things Jewish.
COHEN
That way you contributed to the further humiliation and persecution of a
suffering people, spreading the seed of anti-Judaism that produced many sour
and bitter fruit in the western world.
MARK
I repeat, that was not our intention
COHEN
The once defensive attitude of the Christians turned into attack after they came
to power. Through constant lying and propaganda a fiery culture of hatred
emerged that resulted in the loss of life, harsh tyranny, enslavement and
catastrophe.
MARK
What’s the reason for all this hatred?
COHEN
Well, because the Judeans weren’t an easy opponent as far as conversion was
concerned, while the heathens, as you called the Greeks and the Romans, were
better in receiving the Christian doctrine.
MATTHEW
What was the result of such policy?
Denis Stamatis 36

37. COHEN
This resulted in great rage and oppression of the Judeans. The hatred for the
priests, rabbis and Pharisee was so great that you managed to pass it onto the
new generations, unchanged and even stronger
MATTHEW
These are unjustified accusations and generalizations.
CHAIRMAN
If you have finished Mr COHEN, I’d like to thank all of you for the first part of this
discussion.
MATTHEW
(in a sad tone)
Never mind. My life has taught me to endure everything. I’m constantly under
attack, I’m insulted, threatened, and I, and all four of us, have always faced unfair
challenges by angry activists who think we’re treading on their spiritual
domains.
CHAIRMAN
Violence is a sign of weakness
MATTHEW
…They attack what they don’t understand. We’ve had our share of bitter
experiences, but we get stronger over time. Look around you and you’ll see that
all wise men are Christians. Faith, repentance and prayer are the moral values
that surpass the deadlock of life for the future kingdom of heaven.
COHEN
(in an advisable way)
St MATTHEW I think you should feel sorry for the sad legacy you left for the
world, especially for the Europeans, which is none other than fear and contempt
for the Judean who has been called a miasma, a persona non grata, a deportee,
lazy, insincere, an outcast of society, the cause of all evil, the cause of misery, a
Juden!
MATTHEW
I repeat: we did not intend to harm anybody
COHEN
Maybe, but due to you writings too, European culture has never been able to
overcome the artificial fears of the contrary, the different, the other. A whole
culture willingly adopted a xenophobic, inflexible and illiberal attitude towards
the Jew, denying him equality before the law and denying his human dimension,
something that resulted in the tragic events of incitement, deprecation,
alienation, scorn and anti-Semitic violence.
MARK
(he talks in a loud voice)
These are wrongfully accusations
COHEN
In the bosom of Europe, religious racism and anti-Jewish fury grew roots and
thrived. Man hating man with religion being the only obvious criterion.
MATTHEW
Denis Stamatis 37

38. Again you speak with rage and fury and you shout like a nihilist. Every word you
speak is hubris. But, I won’t give up. You should know this: the Son of God taught
love, gave hope to the deprived and the miserable. He fought the Judaic religious
establishment, which tried to control, with undiminished rigor, even the simplest
habits of the people, while with Jesus they are now free to choose.
COHEN
What did he declare?
MATTHEW
He declared freedom of the bondage of sin and, eventually, He was crucified by
man. The Son of God gave something to mankind, He gave Himself. He sacrificed
Himself for the salvation of the sinners. He was the one to define like no other the
word love. If you’re looking for someone to blame, you’ll have to look elsewhere
or to yourself.
COHEN
Who crucified Him?
JOHN
(in a loud voice)
The caste of the Jewish clergy. These are the ones who crucified our Lord and
Messiah. The Romans weren’t interested in the intra-Jewish conflicts and the
religious matters. The clergy were the ones to make the conquerors trial Him,
and find Him guilty as a blasphemous pseudo-Messiah.
COHEN
You mention the names of Anna and Caiaphas
JOHN
Anna and Caiaphas were the ones with all the means and contacts to suspect Him
as a cause of future turbulence and resistance. If these two wanted it to be so,
Jesus wouldn’t have gone through the ordeal of crucifixion. But, fearing they may
lose their privileges, they put pressure on the Romans to condemn, torture and
kill the Messiah.
COHEN
And do you accuse all Jews?
JOHN
The Jews were the ones behind this action, and the divinely inspired and
infallible Paul confirms it in his epistle to the Thessalonians! What greater proof
than this?
COHEN
How can you say this and not blush with embarrassment? What do Jews have to
do with this story? This false accusation, first described by Matthew and, later
on, enriched, with great anger and hysteria by Paul, as the Orthodox Church has
established, that a whole people, a whole nation bears collective responsibility
for something that has turned into Christian tradition and has become a
cornerstone of its existence is unacceptable and provocative.
JOHN
The story had to be written in such a way
COHEN
A blood soaked story of the 'grim God-murdering' Jews! And yet, exceeding all
that is reasonable, the Christian mobs and their leaders, throughout the
centuries, have chased with unrestrained fury, helpless and defenceless souls.
The Jews have never been considered equal, fellow men.
Denis Stamatis 38

39. JOHN
We are equal before God
COHEN
Today, other means are used to safely spread these spurious stories with
representatives the neo-fascists of Hollywood, who are driven by their unlimited
desire for profit, and who rampantly stigmatize those they consider an enemy or
an obstacle standing in their way. They insist on preserving the "nightmare" of
persecution.
MARK
(loudly)
Of course, without the crucifixion the mission of our Lord wouldn’t have been
completed. There is got to be pain! No pain, no Christianity! The crucifixion is
the work of the Jewish sinners, and the resurrection is our Father's attempt to
save what was left of the ungrateful and sinful world.
COHEN
This ‘crucifixion’ has been the curse of the Jews
MARK
The crucifixion of our Lord helped the Judean exit the deadlock of his spiritual
confusion. It led to his catharsis and made him a useful man transforming his
soul into the temple of God.
COHEN
According to your theory, those who will follow your Messiah will be saved.
What about the others?
MARK
Vigil, fasting and prayer is the necessary spiritual triptych that leads to catharsis
with God’s will. The believers will be saved from the eternal damnation that
Matthew describes. Those who don’t follow will be the miasmas. Paradise
doesn’t exist for them. Only hell where there is no mercy for no one...
COHEN
(in serious manner)
We don’t want such a heaven, keep it for you and your friends; all of you are
cowards, with an obsession and anxiety about eternal punishment. How much
man has changed! The Christian Church failed so dramatically to include freedom
of thought in its existence. Submission, apathy, resignation and loathing are the
quadruple of order it gives to its followers.
(At this moment Origen intervenes)
(in a serious tone)
ORIGEN
Your honour, may I take the floor?
CHAIRMAN
Yes you may
MATTHEW
I was indignant when the virtuous God-man, the God who incarnated into a man
in order to save man, was crucified by the shouting mob with the guidance of the
Jewish clergy. I wonder what they were afraid of! Was it love, truth or equality?
Denis Stamatis 39

40. The Christian religion doesn’t make any discrimination, "there is neither Jew nor
Greek."
COHEN
What equality are you talking about, when all four of you wrote 'that a good
servant will go to heaven too ...'
MATTHEW
That’s how things were at the time.
COHEN
Yeah sure, and what about social change? Who has time for such things? It was
best to leave things as they were; it was more convenient that way. Masters and
slaves together in heaven live in perfect harmony.
MATTHEW
Yes, the great mercy will be granted in eternity and everything will happen in
the afterlife. The Lord is the Divine Nature, the Divine Drama. It is the drama of
man who wants to be saved, to finally be able to see the truth.
COHEN
And this is the only way according to your beliefs
MATTHEW
Through the Lord, in the Bible, man learns about values that were unknown to
him, values with deeper meaning, with new power, with hope for life. These
values were a light to the blind, a victory of the spirit over the flesh. Thanks to
the Lord, the power of man, his dignity, purity and simplicity, the depth of his
identity were shown.
CHAIRMAN
Thank you gentlemen
Let us now go on with the next speaker TERTULLIAN.
TERTULLIAN
A tall, dark man with a sparse beard and hard, coarse facial features takes the
floor. He is TERTULLIAN, one of the greatest early Christian men of letters who
wrote in Latin, experienced in brilliant studies in law, and knowledge of Greek and
Latin. He successfully practiced law in Rome but soon was influenced by the
principles and perceptions of Christianity. He is intolerant, rigid, monolithic, and
absolute in his opinions. He believed that with prayer, fasting, discipline,
dedication, and passion for the founding views of the new religion, of the four, man
could save himself. All of TERTULLIAN’S new dogmas indicated that his previous
academic studies hadn’t influenced him at all. He had a thorough knowledge of the
works of antiquity, but these he also completely rejected. Many ordinary
theologians of the Christian doctrine – Fathers of the Church – were influenced by
him.
TERTULLIAN
(in a strict form addresses Mr. COHEN)
The Day of Judgment is near, the great trial won’t be long, and I’ll be happy to see
you burn in hell. You dare doubt the word of the Lord that was given to man
through the Evangelists. Those who didn’t follow Him are immoral. Those who
Denis Stamatis 40

41. frequently attend theatres and taverns are the devil’s children. I curse all those
who are involved with the filth of sick minds, and especially philosophy.
COHEN
(answers with irony)
There’s no need for you to recite us your work. You speak with blind emotion.
Perhaps the pulpit of a Christian church would be the right place for you.
TERTULLIAN
It’s obvious that the truth bothers you, but you must hear it.
COHEN
Which truth? The one you advocated when you served the Order of Montanism
or the one you believed in when you built your own religious faction and even
gave it your name and title?
TERTULLIAN
I gave it a title because I quickly saw an early aberrance from the principles and
truths of the Gospel. I wanted, this way, to protect the values of Christianity. Over
the years the Church was smeared by a new, to its nature, modernity and so, had
to be protected.
COHEN
What do you mean by modernity?
TERTULLIAN
Many Christians were artists, others had a career in the army, the bishops
allowed sinners to the Eucharist, they gave freedoms and rights to women and so
many other ills...
COHEN
Even though you have been designated the creator of the Latin Christian
anthology I think you're too monolithic in your opinions. But, I’ll ignore it and
continue. Do you completely agree with the Evangelists’ writings and especially
with their views about the Jews?
TERTULLIAN
I couldn’t agree more. They can’t be wrong. The Jews have the curse of the
Christian Church and this is an act of law. They had succumbed to moral laxity
and that’s why they ended up crucifying Jesus. They had no qualms about
anything and I’d completely oppose any lifting of their sentence.
COHEN
Well, we oppose your ideas. You denounced everything you’d studied and
became a religious fanatic. How could you, after a citizen had consigned you his
defence, first mention the case to you local bishop and then take a position in
court? Wasn’t such a thing contrary to your principles? From what I know, being
a practitioner of the law means holding some principles. You’re not supposed to
spread your client’s indictment.
TERTULLIAN
The courts and the law of the state no longer meant anything to me, the only
thing that had meaning was the law of my Lord, Jesus Christ. Faith in the Messiah
is the only thing man needs in life.
COHEN
Is faith the only guidance to life?
TERTULLIAN
Denis Stamatis 41