CHAPTER XL.
THE HUSKS OF RELIGION.
And none of those present, from the inspector down to Maslova,seemed conscious of the fact that this Jesus, whose name thepriest repeated such a great number of times, and whom he praisedwith all these curious expressions, had forbidden the very thingsthat were being done there; that He had prohibited not only thismeaningless much-speaking and the blasphemous incantation overthe bread and wine, but had also, in the clearest words,forbidden men to call other men their master, and to pray intemples; and had ordered that every one should pray in solitude,had forbidden to erect temples, saying that He had come todestroy them, and that one should worship, not in a temple, butin spirit and in truth; and, above all, that He had forbidden notonly to judge, to imprison, to torment, to execute men, as wasbeing done here, but had prohibited any kind of violence, sayingthat He had come to give freedom to the captives. real hair wigs
No one present seemed conscious that all that was going on herewas the greatest blasphemy and a supreme mockery of that sameChrist in whose name it was being done. No one seemed to realisethat the gilt cross with the enamel medallions at the ends, whichthe priest held out to the people to be kissed, was nothing butthe emblem of that gallows on which Christ had been executed fordenouncing just what was going on here. That these priests, whoimagined they were eating and drinking the body and blood ofChrist in the form of bread and wine, did in reality eat anddrink His flesh and His blood, but not as wine and bits of bread,but by ensnaring "these little ones" with whom He identifiedHimself, by depriving them of the greatest blessings andsubmitting them to most cruel torments, and by hiding from menthe tidings of great joy which He had brought. That thought didnot enter into the mind of any one present.