"The Borgia family motto is to give everything to Lord Novia."
When I was young, the elders in my family told me this.
Why?
The child asked.
"Our family migrated from Rome. At that time, our ancestor was very hungry and was about to starve to death. At the same time, my parents and sister were waiting at home. Then, Lord Novia, who brought Lucius all the way from Anatolia to Rome, gave him food, and that's how he survived."
This... is so stupid, stupid ancestral motto.
The child once cried out in his heart.
He remembered what he had shouted in his heart, and this wholehearted shout was so impulsive and sudden, feeling that his ancestor was a fool for foolishly saying such pathetic and crude words that would affect future generations.
But in fact, Alexander VI did not dislike Novia's theory, and he had his own views on Novia at a very young age.
The world and human beings are all cold and cruel, but that person does not think that coldness, cruelty and meanness are the right way for human beings to be.
That person was unwilling to think so. On one side, there were so many disgusting and unbearable vulgar behaviors, and on the other side, there were only a few noble sentiments that were worthy of admiration. If he had to choose one side, he would rather choose nobleness than vulgarity.
This wish and hope is described by the church as "not wanting a world where kindness is considered a weakness."
Even though we know that the world is vicious and cruel, we never think that it is right, and we never succumb to the cruel reality. We do not regard it as an ideal to be pursued, but as a declaration of our own dignity.
Perhaps the times a thousand years ago have changed from the present times, and the world that man saw was no longer the same as that seen by Alexander VI.
Alexander VI could not to this day believe in the world or humanity as he did.
But even so, he believed that there was one expectation that was the same——
Parents give to their children without asking for anything in return. Parents feel happy when they give selflessly to their children. When you do things for your friends, you will feel happy without asking for anything in return. When people give to each other out of goodwill and feel happy, this is the true relationship between people, and it is also the most beautiful thing.
"You still haven't told me why you want to have a theological debate with Martin."
Hearing this, the Pope fell into a brief silence. He sat in the antique armchair in silence, and then he opened his mouth to answer:
"Just like the original intention of opening the Ecumenical Council, necessary debate is necessary. Let's see if this reformed Luther can be the same as the former Monsignor Augustine."
At noon, the theological debate that has attracted the attention of all of Europe is about to be carried out in full swing in the always solemn church.
Inside the church, the towering dome is decorated with magnificent murals depicting the legendary stories of numerous saints and messengers. Their images appear and disappear in the interweaving of light and shadow, as if they are silently watching the debate.
The light coming through the stained glass windows cast colorful shadows on the interior of the church, adding a sense of mystery and solemnity to the debate.
In the center of the hall, a long table made of dark wood separated the debaters on both sides. On the table were placed heavy scriptures and manuscripts, which were not only references for debates, but also symbols of wisdom. The edges of the scriptures were worn by time, revealing a sense of historical heaviness.
The air was filled with a scent mixed with incense and paper, which made people feel solemn and pious.
An old man and a middle-aged man stood on both sides of the long table, their figures looking solemn and resolute under the light.
The middle-aged man was the German religious reformer Martin Luther.
In the audience, people were sitting or standing, their eyes closely following the figures of Pope Alexander VI and Martin Luther, their faces filled with tension and anticipation.
"Martin, how about you come and confess to me now and take back your disrespectful words toward the church?"
Alexander VI smiled.
Luther snorted and stood in the middle of the stage. "Disrespecting the church? As we all know, the authority and status of the Roman Church were only built by humans since the fall of the Western Roman Empire. They were not given by God."
"Oh? Can I understand that you are being arrogant and disrespectful to the Pope and the entire Church?"
"If there is no Monsignor Augustine, how can the Roman Church be what it is today? In the earlier ancient Roman period, without our Lord Jesus and Saint Novia, how can there be a church? Since its establishment, the church has gradually made believers' belief in "goodness" turn into blind obedience to the authority of the church."
The students brought by Luther gave a warm applause from the audience.
Alexander VI remained expressionless and continued:
"So, do you accept the Gospel of Matthew as true?"
Luther nodded, "Of course it is true. How can the gospels written by four saints be wrong or false?"
"Since you cannot deny this, let me ask you, what does Matthew 18: say?"
Luther slowly walked to the front of the stage, facing the students he brought with him, and began to recite: "I also tell you..."
With Luther's start, his students recited the rest of the verse in unison, and even the church members began to recite it.
"...you are Peter. On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatever you bind on earth... "
"Okay, let's stop here." The recitation was interrupted by Luther's gesture, but a few people still whispered the last few sentences: "It will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." The voices of the last few sentences gradually faded.
"Since you do not deny the Gospels, how do you interpret these words of Jesus Christ, telling Peter to establish the church?"
The Pope waited patiently for the audience to quiet down before asking the question.
"Pope, you are a world-renowned theologian who has studied the Bible for decades and recited scriptures day and night, but you turned a blind eye and heard nothing."
"Oh, tell me how to explain this sentence."
"Because you have read this sentence day and night for these years, and your understanding of it is completely wrong."
"Incorrect?"
This time, not only Alexander VI looked confused, but many of the audience members in the audience also looked confused.
"Yes, let me ask you, what does the Apostle Peter's name mean? 'Peter'?"
"'Peter' originally meant a small stone, and in Latin it is Petrus."
"So, what's the Latin word for stone?"
"Pedra."
"Isn't that clear? Petrus is a diminutive of Pedra."
Luther pointed out the connection but left it unclear.
Then he waved his hand and said slowly: "So, the sentence in Matthew, 'You are Peter, and I will build my church on this rock', does not mean what you understand: my Lord Jesus wants Peter to build the church. Instead, Jesus said to Peter: You are just a small stone, and the church cannot be built on small stones, but on the rock. The 'rock' in this sentence refers to Jesus Christ."
Luther paused, looked at the Pope and said, "Therefore, in this sentence, Jesus used a metaphor to say that the Apostle Peter could not take on this great responsibility. In fact, it was Saint Novea who took on the great responsibility, not Peter or Augustine. The current Roman Church does not have spiritual authority!"
The truth that Martin Luther upheld is: "The righteous shall live by faith."
Its source is "For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, "The righteous shall live by faith." This sentence comes from the book of Romans.
"By the righteousness of God, God justifies us by faith through grace and mercy" is the cornerstone of Luther's theology. Later, this idea led to the denial of indulgences, and then the denial of the church and the pope's authority to forgive sins, and the denial of church rituals, thus parting ways with the Roman Church.
Alexander VI understood what Luther meant, but he smiled and shook his head while saying:
"You are making a specious argument. According to your thinking, everyone has the right to interpret the Bible. However, everyone's understanding is different. How can you ensure that what you understand is the truth and the Holy Word?"
"You are right. Everyone has the right to understand the Bible. It is not the Roman Church that can manage and interpret it uniformly. Everyone can be justified by faith. As long as he is pious, everyone has this right. As Saint Novaya said in the past, 'No matter who you are, you have the key.'"
At this point, Luther turned to the audience and said, "We don't need the church to teach us how to understand. Just looking at this sentence, your church's explanation has misled us believers for thousands of years!"
"Yes! We don't need the Roman Catholic Church! We don't need the Pope!" A radical student in the audience responded loudly, causing everyone to shout together, "We don't need the church! We don't need the Pope!"
Alexander VI saw that only Luther's students responded to the call, and sighed slightly, "Martin, you are following the old path of Jan Hus, who was convicted of heresy a hundred years ago. You are rebelling. I want to advise you, do you want to be burned at the stake?"
──On the morning of November 1455, 11, Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France was crowded.
All the priests and citizens who came to inquire cast their eyes on a woman.
The woman was sixty-seven years old, pale and tearful. Her name was Elizabeth d'Arc, and she was the mother of Joan of Arc. At this moment, Elizabeth was sobbing with the support of her two sons beside her.
"My daughter, who grew up among fields and pastures, I had her baptized and confirmed and brought her up in the fear of God. Given her age and the simple conditions of life, I did my best to teach her to respect the traditions of the Church."
Her words were broken.
"I had great success, she spent most of her time in church, she went to confession and received Holy Communion every month, because the people of France suffered so much, she had great compassion in her heart for them, and despite her youth she would fast and pray for them with great devotion and fervor. She never thought, said or did anything that was contrary to her faith."
Her voice rose and fell.
"Certain of her enemies arraigned her in the Inquisition. Despite her express denials, her appeals, and without any help of defence, she was perfidiously, violently, unjustly, and guilty. The judges brought false, abominable, and criminal charges against her, and in a cruel manner, put her to death by fire."
The elderly mother spoke in grief, but not in despair, because in her hands she held the hope of her daughter's redress - a bull issued by Pope Callixtus III, which ordered the Bishop of Paris and the Archbishop of Reims to re-examine the charges against Joan of Arc.
From this day on, a series of investigations into the Joan of Arc case were launched at Notre Dame de Paris.
In 1456, twenty-five years after Joan of Arc's death, Pope Callixtus III declared that Joan of Arc had died defending her religion, her country, and her king, and that she was a worthy martyr.
In fact, when Joan of Arc's mother's cries of injustice echoed in Notre Dame de Paris, it already said it all.
"--Is that so? The people of France heard the voice of God, and in that voice of peace that seemed to be filled with pain, they went to save the people.
For those who dream of tomorrow, for the village, for the country, for the Lord, I chose the path of fighting. Goodbye, Jeanne of Domremy. The happiness you dreamed of is still in the sky of Domremy, and in the world protected by Lord Novia. "
The light that passed through the village was faint but beautiful, and even though the light from the sky could not be seen, it was still beautiful.
This happened more than sixty years ago.
For Alexander VI, those were undoubtedly his golden years.
"Over the past thousand years, many apostles and saints of Jesus have been burned to death. Are these still the minority? I, Luther, simply do not recognize the authority of the Pope and deny the authority of the Roman Catholic Church, but that does not mean that I want to rebel."
"Martin, haven't heretics in history caused enough rebellion and bloodshed?"
At this time, Luther could no longer listen to anything. He faced the students he brought with him and said loudly,
"Since this theologian has said that we are Hussites, let us boldly admit it. We do not need the Pope! We do not need the Church!"
“No need for a pope!”
“No need for church!”
The young people's shouts broke out of Rome and drifted to the Western European world.
However, how could a theological debate end so quickly?
In this situation where no one can convince anyone else, the only option is to extend the time and eventually reach a truce.
After today's debate ended, when everyone slowly left the stage, Alexander VI, who stayed where he was and stared at the murals, for some reason subconsciously glanced at the backs of the 'artists' as they left.
"you--"
At that moment, among those blurred figures, the voice that was talking among the blurred figures, that voice that seemed farther away than the eternity of Rome, that person seemed to be aware of his sight and looked at Alexander VI.
In fact, for Favia, who watched the whole process, he didn’t know whether it was an illusion or not, or maybe it really was an illusion.
Because of the infamous Alexander VI, he was reminded of a child he had met in his Roman days, no, to be more precise, all such children.
Malnourished, skinny, covered in dirt, with emaciated faces, ragged clothes, and dull eyes, all such children can be distinguished from those from wealthy families by their white and round faces.
"Thank you, sir, for the gift of God."
"Well, take more then."
"Really? It doesn't matter if I die...my sister, mom, dad...are still waiting..."
"If you are waiting, then go back quickly and don't wait any longer."
"Thanks....."
Past memories flooded into his mind, and when Favia raised his eyes, he found that the old man had stumbled towards him.
"Rodrigo, you are a respectable believer."
These concise words clearly conveyed Favia's innermost thoughts.
This alone is enough for the elderly.
This voice that echoed in the Eternal City was the final word in this debate──and the greatest blessing for the old man.
However, Alexander VI couldn't help but say a few more words.
"Thanks........"
What came out of the old man's lips was not a prayer, but simply a word of endless gratitude, just like the child in the Roman era of the past.
"Actually, I should be the one to say thank you."
Favia stroked the old man's face.
Like angry.
Like sighing.
Like mourning.
Like being happy.
Like sad.
