Malmkrog, avagy az Antikrisztus története (2020) 85% 2★

– Have you not heard the voices that condemn war and military service as vestiges of ancient cannibalism?

– War is not an absolute evil and peace is not an absolute good. Or put simply, a good war is as possible as a bad peace.

– Don't get me wrong, but he who doesn't know his ancestors is like a child who thinks he was delivered by the stork.
– What about those unfortunates who have no ancestors?

-…And since we are talking about The Gospel of Christ, it becomes clear that Christ was not imbued with the true spirit of Christ.

– Absolute rules were invented by those devoid of any sense of reality. I do not allow any absolute rule. I only allow only indispensable rules.

– As for the evil you yourself do, erase it completely from memory. The only mortal sin is sorrow, because it gives rise to despair, and despair goes beyond sin, it is the very death of the soul.

– In fact, if I were certain that I would die once and for all, along with all that I love, would I not be indifferent whether various nations warred or lived in peace, if they were civilised or savage, polite or not?
– From a personal, selfish viewpoint, certainly it's all the same.
– Selfish in what way? Death levels all. In the face of death, selfishness and altruism are just as absurd.
– True…

– Not only do we not establish the Kingdom of God, but we destroy it with our states, our armies, courts, universities and factories.

Nikolai: It's simple. Evil does exist. It does not manifest itself only through the absence of Good, but also through resistance and a preponderance of inferior over superior qualities in every sphere of existence. There is an individual Evil, manifested by the fact that what is inferior in man, his bestial and violent instincts, opposes his loftiest aspirations and, in the vast majority of people, dominates them. There is a social Evil, which resides in the fact that the masses of people, individually subservient to Evil, oppose the redeeming efforts of the best and vanquish them. Finally, in man there exists physical Evil, when the lower material elements of the body oppose the living and luminous force that unites them in the wonderful form of the organism. They oppose this form and break it, destroying the real foundation of everything that is higher. It is the extreme Evil named Death. And if we allow that the victory of this extreme physical Evil is final and absolute, then we cannot regard as a serious success any of the victories of Good in the moral, individual, or social sphere. Indeed, let us imagine that a man of good, Socrates, for example, has not only triumphed over his inner enemies, his sordid passions, but has also succeeded in rectifying his public enemies, in transforming Greek society. What use would this ephemeral, superficial victory over Evil be, if Evil ultimately triumphs over life, at the deepest level of being? What if the real winners are the microbes of physical decay? No moral text could ever protect us against despair and extreme pessimism.
Edouard: I've heard this before, but how do you defend yourself in the face of despair?
Nikolai: One thing alone protects us: the true Resurrection. We know that the battle between Good and Evil is waged not only in the soul and society, but also more deeply, in the physical world. And here, we know there has already been a victory of the good principle of life, in the form of a personal resurrection. We await only one thing: the victories that will come through the resurrection of all. And here, even Evil finds its meaning, in that it serves the realisation, fulfillment and triumph of the Good. If death is stronger than mortal life, then eternal resurrection is stronger than both. The Kingdom of God is the Kingdom of Life which triumphs through the Resurrection. And in this life, the Good is actual, accomplished, final. Here is the entire power of Christ's work. Here can be seen His true love for us and ours for Him. Everything else is nothing but a condition, a path, a phase. Without faith in the actual Resurrection of the One and without the expectation of the future resurrection of all, the Kingdom of God is mere words. And, in fact, it is reduced to a kingdom of death.
Olga: How so?
Nikolai: But, isn't it so, by not recognising Death as such, as everyone does, the fact that people have died, die and will die, you elevate death to the status of an absolute law without exceptions, according to you. What would we call the world where Death holds absolute sway, if not the “kingdom of death”? And what else is your God's Kingdom on earth, if not a vain, arbitrary euphemism for the “Kingdom of Death”?
Edouard: I too think it is vain because we don't replace a known with an unknown value. Nobody has seen God and nobody knows what His kingdom is. Whereas we have all seen people and animals die and we know that no one escapes this world's sovereign, Death. Then why replace this “a” with an “x”? It would only create confusion and horrify the little ones.
Olga: I don't understand what we are talking about. Certainly, death is an interesting phenomenon. We can call it “law,” because it is a constant amongst living things, and inevitable for them. We can also speak of its absolute character since until now no exception to it has been observed. But what vital importance can this have to the true Christian doctrine, which through the voice of our conscience speaks to us only of what we must do here and now? It's clear that the voice of our conscience deals only with what we can or cannot do. Our conscience is silent, because it cannot speak of death. No matter how important it is to our present experiences and desires, death does not depend of our will and therefore it can have no moral significance for us. Viewed thus, death is a fact as neutral as bad weather. And if I allow as an inevitable fact that the weather is periodically bad, and suffer because of it, should I call it “kingdom of bad weather” rather than “kingdom of God”?
Nikolai: No, certainly not. Firstly, bad weather reigns only in London. Here, in our land, we are indifferent to its kingdom. Then, your analogy doesn't stand up. Even in bad weather we can glorify God. Whereas the dead do not glorify God. This is why, as his Excellency remarked, this world might sooner be called Death's rather than God's kingdom.

Nikolai: Until Olga shows me the goodness behind her master's actions, rather than merely his verbal commands to his workers, I will remain convinced that this master who asks others to do good, but himself does not, who lays down obligations, but does not show love, who does not show you his face, but lives abroad, incognito, I will remain convinced he is none other than “the god of this age”.