Epistle of Pahanism, Chapter 5 - The Gospel of Pahan

The original Korean version is available at here.

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5. The Descent and Resurrection of Pahan

1) Yaho Enters the Game

As the wise Solomon planned, Lord Yaho’s interest in Israel grew increasingly distant. However, the degree was so extreme that Solomon’s descendants failed to maintain the throne, and the Israelite people groaned under the harsh rule of Assyria and Babylon. Lord Yaho could not completely sever His relationship with the Jews, whom He had personally chosen and given a covenant. So He commanded King Cyrus of Persia to liberate the Israelites from the hands of their oppressors. Keeping His distance, He managed them just enough to prevent their lineage of faith from being severed, occasionally giving revelations only through prophets. After Daniel and Malachi, Lord Yaho abandoned the world for a while. But even as He continued to watch the fates of empires, He noticed repetitive, predictable patterns and became apathetic. He had essentially entered a period of ennui.

Then Lord Yaho came up with a groundbreaking idea. He realized the truth that watching can never be as fun as playing. Lord Yaho decided to personally experience the game world He had created. Rather than an easy descent coming straight down from heaven as a completed being—as when He foretold the destruction of Sodom to Abraham—He wanted to experience everything fully from a human’s birth. The Lord sent an angel to the faithful virgin Mary and her fiancé Joseph to announce the conception, and He personally descended into the world incarnated in her body as Pahan, taking the form of a baby. Mary, who became the Holy Mother, truly possessed the finest character among humans, just as the Lord had discerned. The Holy Mother made a massive contribution to the formation of Lord Pahan’s personality.

Confining Himself in a human body, Lord Pahan was subject to physical limitations. Especially during His childhood, when His brain wasn’t fully developed yet, His capacity for complete thought was restricted. One day, the young Lord Pahan playfully boiled water and poured it into the entrance of an anthill He found near His house. From the ants’ perspective, it was a horrific disaster akin to combining Noah’s Flood with the hellfire of Sodom and Gomorrah. The merciful Holy Mother was horrified at the sight. She suspected that, true to being Lord Yaho’s son, He might be a narcissist or a psychopath exactly like His father. She worried that if He wasn’t socialized early on, her son, trapped in human physical limits, would live a very difficult life in the future. The Holy Mother brought Lord Pahan inside and disciplined Him with a switch. Being a smart child, Lord Pahan wept bitterly and realized this truth:

‘Causing unnecessary, cruel pain for fun is a bad thing. And a being with a physical body feels enough pain to burst into tears from just a trivial switch like this.’

By personally experiencing the human body in this way, Lord Pahan came to know an unprecedented empathy and compassion for human suffering.

As Lord Pahan grew, He gradually awakened to His divinity and recovered His memories of His past as God. Then one day, while the young Lord Pahan was playing at throwing stones with His friends, He was hit in the side by a stone. The spot where He was hit turned black and blue, and the young Pahan cried because it hurt so much. The Holy Mother comforted the young Lord Pahan and tenderly treated her beloved son’s wound. The Holy Mother’s embrace was cozy and warm, and Lord Pahan could physically feel what a mother’s love was. Feeling physical pain down to His bones, the young Pahan made a resolution.

‘My law commanding death by stoning was too harsh for humans. I must ease these unrealistic laws and perfect them into true laws.’

Then, suddenly looking at His private parts, He also had this thought:

‘Oh man, I just made them do this to see if Abraham would listen to Me, and they’ve still been doing it for almost 2,000 years. Later, when I perfect and proclaim the new law, I need to let them know they don’t have to do this anymore.’

2) Since I Descended, Might As Well Be the Messiah

When Lord Pahan reached an age where He could handle a hammer reasonably well, Mary’s husband Joseph began teaching Lord Pahan how to make a living. Lord Pahan started learning carpentry. Joseph was an excellent carpenter who could easily settle in another town whenever he left home. Joseph passed down his skills to Lord Pahan, sometimes strictly, yet tenderly. Watching Joseph like that, Lord Pahan could experience a father’s love. Then He recalled old memories.

Lord Yaho had once swallowed up Aaron’s two sons, Nadab and Abihu, in fire simply because they displeased Him, despite Aaron’s lifelong loyalty. Lord Pahan, who had already felt how hot fire was in a human body, agonized over the memories of the past. He came to empathize with the extreme mental agony Aaron must have felt losing two sons to His own temper tantrum. Yet, Lord Pahan felt a sense of awe beyond surprise at Aaron’s faith, as Aaron never uttered a single word of resentment against Him. Thus, love, admiration, and compassion for humanity gradually piled up in Lord Pahan’s heart. Lord Pahan also imagined how much Job must have missed and ached for his 10 dead children, whom he never got back. Humans, whom He had created for fun, were no longer merely moving, talking dolls to Him. Humans were beings capable of laughing, crying, learning, and loving just like Himself. ‘What kind of being was I to such humans?’ After such thoughts, Lord Pahan came to this decision.

‘That “Messiah” figure I often prophesied about to prophets and seers, telling them not to lose hope… Since I came all this way, I should play that role properly Myself. No matter who I send, they could never do it as well as Me doing it in person.’

As He grew a bit older, Lord Pahan, like other Jewish boys, came to study the Torah. Recorded there were the countless massacres and harsh punishments the Lord Himself had committed as the Father Yaho over thousands of years up to the time of Moses. Lord Pahan felt as if He had been struck in the back of the head. The Lord had believed that no matter how harshly He acted, humans could not fight back against the Lord at all. However, the humans had wanted to leave a record of Lord Yaho’s cruel deeds so they wouldn’t forget. Outwardly, it expressed the intention to serve Yaho even more sincerely, but Lord Pahan could feel the humans’ resentment and anger toward Lord Yaho’s harsh decrees. Humans did not just read it once and end it; they memorized it and even transcribed it.

Lord Pahan remembered ‘Perez Uzzah,’ left by David a thousand years ago. The Bible was an amalgamation of the individual ‘Perez Uzzahs’ of countless people who died at Lord Yaho’s hands. When it seemed like just David’s solo act, He could pass it off thinking, ‘Look at this guy? Funny.’ But when they gathered and formed a massive scripture, Lord Pahan felt so ashamed He could hardly lift His head. Beloved brothers. Imagine discovering a video of some foolish mistake you made in your immature youth permanently immortalized on YouTube with a billion views. The Lord felt exactly that level of tremendous shame. However, through such immense pain, Lord Pahan greatly matured His divine persona.

Living an ordinary life as a carpenter, Lord Pahan turned thirty, met John the Baptist as planned, and was baptized. Upon His baptism, a dove flew down, and Lord Yaho’s voice was heard from heaven declaring Lord Pahan as His son. And Lord Pahan unsealed the divinity He had restricted Himself. To test His newly reclaimed divinity, Lord Pahan went out into the wilderness. He tested the restoration of His divinity by summoning the Devil.

Saints. There are foolish people who interpret that the Devil, who conversed with Lord Pahan in the wilderness, dared to tempt the Lord, but you must not be deceived. That is an inaccurate interpretation of the Bible. How foolish must a Devil be to tempt Lord Pahan, who is already the Master of the world, by offering Him authority over the world? That was merely Lord Pahan testing His divine authority to summon the Devil. Anyway, Lord Pahan had now finished His preparations to spread His teachings to the people.

Saints, here I would like to briefly introduce an irreverent, yet truthful record handed down deep within our denomination. It is the record of an anonymous seeker who chased down a rarely seen Satan to interrogate him. Face the hollow truth of what the origin of evil that has tormented humanity really is.

“Didn’t you read Job chapters 1 and 2 where it’s fully explained? I swear I am absolutely just doing what I’m told from above. I didn’t get free will from the Lord like you humans did! I am just the Lord’s tool. I have nothing more to say. Go away. Fuck, stop it and just leave!!! Since the Lord doesn’t give me permission, I can’t even just smack you out of anger, this is driving me crazy…”

3) Pahan’s Ministry

Lord Pahan pondered what would be good to teach people. Thinking about this and that, as long as one followed the existing laws well, there wasn’t any particular problem. But looking at the reality, it wasn’t that simple. The Law was made meticulously to ensure the unity and survival of the Israelite nation. The Law had to play the role of a shark thrown into a fish tank to keep more fish alive. But when Lord Pahan experienced it Himself, the reality was that rather than keeping people alive, the Law was painfully biting them, and Lord Pahan shuddered at this. So He thought of a way to simplify the existing Law to relieve people’s burdens while creating an even more spiritually fulfilling world. The conclusion was a sincere heart and love. Lord Pahan spoke to the people like this:

“I have not come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it. My law is only two things. First, love the Lord. Second, love your neighbor. With this alone, the Lord’s Law I gave you before will not change by a single stroke or dot until the end of the world. However, the infinite Lord does not particularly need your love. Direct your love for the Lord to the people I designate. They are the least and most insignificant among your neighbors.”

Lord Pahan delivered sermons to the people on the mountain and below the mountain. It was a new teaching focused on love and sincerity, massively simplifying the existing laws. Lord Pahan greatly expanded the scope of love, even teaching to love one’s enemies. He said if someone slaps your right cheek, turn the left to them as well. And He demanded a pure heart, stating that a wicked mind is a sin even if it is not executed but merely thought of. Consequently, clashes with the scribes, who prioritized meticulous forms over a sincere heart and used them to elevate their own authority, were inevitable.

Against those who put the value of the Sabbath above all else, Lord Pahan countered with the principle of prioritizing life, and to those who forced strict dietary laws, He shot back that nothing God made is unclean. However, there was a limit to winning people’s hearts and effectively delivering teachings through words alone. So Lord Pahan decided to actively utilize miracles. Lord Pahan began healing people’s diseases. He met not only those with illnesses but also those possessed by ghosts and demons. The ghosts and demons recognized Lord Pahan’s true identity, didn’t dare resist, and obediently followed Lord Pahan’s commands like loyal soldiers meeting a prince. Whenever Lord Pahan commanded, the demons and ghosts immediately stopped tormenting the people they held.

One day, while passing through the region of Tyre, Lord Pahan encountered a Canaanite woman who persistently followed Him. She made a scene, asking Him to heal her daughter. At the time, Lord Pahan was still focusing on the task of ‘the lost sheep of Israel,’ and did not want to waste time on someone who wasn’t His intended target. So, despite His disciples trying to stop her, He spoke coldly to her.

“It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”

Lord Pahan thought if He insulted her this much, the woman would give up and go back. It was because the fatigue of being human and the stereotypes of being Jewish still remained in Him. But the woman gave a witty reply that exceeded Lord Pahan’s expectations.

“Yes it is, Lord. Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”

In that moment, Lord Pahan felt a strange thrill, like the shock of being struck in the back of the head. While the scribes were frantically trying to nitpick His words, this foreign woman had turned His insult into humor and dug into the logical loophole.

‘Oho? Look at this woman. She speaks more amusingly than most Jews. I guess I don’t need to push away foreigners anymore. The fun of ruling only Jews had gotten pretty stale, but it looks like there will be unexpected new entertainment?’

Lord Pahan realized that His ministry did not need to be bound by the boring setting of bloodlines. If there was fun and sincerity, it didn’t matter who the subject was. Beloved brothers and sisters. Do you see? The one who ultimately seizes salvation is not the one who blindly drops to their knees and sheds tears, but the one who has the wit and courage to make God smile even in despair. We must learn the boldness of this foreign woman. As a reward for her wit, Lord Pahan immediately healed her daughter. This became the starting point for commanding the apostles to preach to the whole world at Pentecost.

Lord Pahan demanded that the legalists, who tormented people by flaunting strict laws, follow the new law He had perfected. However, they absolutely refused to let go of their vested interests. They always picked fights with Lord Pahan. Once, Lord Pahan was asked by them, “They say you drive out demons by the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons?”

In reality, Beelzebul absolutely obeyed the commands of Lord Pahan, the incarnation of Lord Yaho. Lord Pahan thought to Himself, ‘How did that bastard know?’ but without panicking, He replied like this:

“If a house is divided against itself like that, it will fall. How could that possibly be the method?”

When the scribe tried to argue back, saying, “You guys are totally in cahoots! Do you think I’m an idiot?”, Lord Pahan exercised His divinity to seal the man’s lips so he could no longer speak. Lord Pahan’s disciples recorded this as Lord Pahan emerging victorious in the debate.

Lord Pahan worried that if His teachings remained only as ‘words,’ they wouldn’t be passed down to people for a long time. So He emphasized His divinity to the people to grant authority to the word. But that method of evangelism collided with the warnings of past prophets like Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Micah to beware of false prophets. People often demanded that Lord Pahan prove He wasn’t a fake Messiah. As a result, Lord Pahan gradually suffered the problem of focusing more on emphasizing His divinity and showing miracles rather than teaching. The more He continued such activities, the more Lord Pahan’s followers increased, but as a reaction, the suspicion and hatred of the scribes opposing Lord Pahan also gradually grew. Eventually, they reached a resolution to eliminate Lord Pahan if even the slightest excuse arose.

4) Love Your Enemies

While preaching the gospel, Lord Pahan felt a limitation. The realization that practicing His teaching of loving even one’s enemies could inadvertently implant a flawed ethical view in people. Lord Pahan always healed the sick who sought Him and helped the poor. Because of this, besides the scribes, there was no one who could be called an enemy showing hostility toward Lord Pahan.

Reacting with love to the doctrinal challenges of the scribes could easily be misunderstood as Lord Pahan’s teachings being logically defeated by the scribes’ rebuttals. Therefore, rather than embracing those who opposed His will, Lord Pahan dealt with them using violence, like the cleansing of the temple, or responded with curses and maledictions, like He did to the Pharisees and Sadducees. The more He did so, the more the holy teaching to love one’s enemies increasingly became like a contradictory, empty declaration that no one could keep.

After much agonizing, Lord Pahan ultimately chose a difficult solution. Just as offering the left cheek when the right is struck, it was to docilely accept the violence of the scribes trying to eliminate Him without resisting. By meeting death in that way, atoning for the sins of humanity and the people mocking Him, and forgiving them, the plan was to dramatically put His teaching to love one’s enemies into ultimate practice.

Since Lord Pahan performed the role of the Messiah, the plan had to be executed according to the methods written in the books of the prophets. Being hung on a tree, that is, crucifixion by the methods of the time, was the appropriate method. Lord Pahan would often tell His disciples thereafter that He would bear the cross. When the Pharisees and scribes threw stones at Lord Pahan, He slipped away leisurely, but to the gang of scribes trying to hang Him on a cross, He docilely allowed Himself to be arrested, restraining the fierce resistance of His disciples. Even though He could have easily defeated them all by calling upon angels, He docilely accepted their violence. And Lord Pahan tolerated Judas Iscariot selling Him out for a few coins, knowing it full well, and even called him a friend without hating him. However, because Lord Pahan knew exactly how painful it would be to endure it with a human body, before being arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, He fell into agony, praying to Lord Yaho, asking if this cup could pass from Him if possible. Nevertheless, Lord Pahan decided to walk the path exactly as He had planned.

Lord Pahan did not resist the mockery and abuse of the scribes and Roman soldiers who arrested Him. And hanging nailed to the cross, He prayed for those harming Him, “Forgive them,” and forgave them. By atoning for all the sins of those enemies, He finally and conclusively practiced His teaching to love one’s enemies.

5) The Resurrection of Pahan

Before the cross, Holy Mother Mary was shedding tears, enduring the reality of her son’s predestined death. Looking down from the cross at the ‘beloved disciple’ watching Him with sorrow, Lord Pahan spoke.

“Here is your mother.”

Lord Pahan remembered the day the Holy Mother had traveled a long way with His brothers to see Him while He was preaching. He regretted turning away and treating His mother like anyone else without welcoming her warmly back then. His mother’s face, streaked with tears, looked noticeably aged and exhausted. Lord Pahan’s heart ached as much as the holes in His nailed hands and feet. Lord Pahan muttered, unheard by anyone else.

‘I will be waiting in Heaven. My Mother.’

From the moment He was hung on the cross, Lord Pahan was atoning for the sins of humanity just as He planned. When Lord Pahan said He was thirsty, a soldier watching Him soaked a sponge in sour wine, put it on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Lord Pahan’s lips. Having completed the long, drawn-out atonement, Lord Pahan swallowed a sip of the wine soaked in the sponge, left the words “It is finished,” and breathed His last. It was the concentrated sinfulness of all humanity that led Lord Pahan to His death.

Lord Pahan’s body was laid to rest in a stone tomb provided by a rich man named Joseph. Having overcome all the sins He shouldered, Lord Pahan resurrected three days later. Lord Pahan had an angel roll away the stone of the tomb and set out to meet His disciples. During the 40 days before His ascension after the resurrection, Lord Pahan met various disciples. He passed on to them the mission to spread His teachings across the world and even shared the power to perform miracles, but He ultimately did not seek out the Holy Mother.

Lord Pahan wanted to hug His mother one more time and eat a meal prepared by her. However, He couldn’t bring Himself to meet her because He felt the tearful parting His beloved aging mother had to endure was enough for one lifetime. Also, He wanted to avoid the situation where His mother, upon seeing His resurrection, would no longer consider Him ‘Pahan, the son of Mary,’ but deify Him as the Son of Lord Yaho and fall to her knees before Him. After Lord Pahan ascended, the ‘beloved disciple’ of Pahan, who was serving the Holy Mother as his own mother, delivered the news to her. The Holy Mother quietly smiled, recalling her memories of her son.

Having deeply experienced human life, pain, and love through the body of Pahan, and having completely embodied all the sins of humans through atonement, the Lord was reborn as a God who could understand and love humans far better than before.

My precious friends. Lord Yaho, who was the master of cruel games, voluntarily wore the shackles of flesh, pierced through the agony of the cross, and was finally perfected as Lord Pahan, the true incarnation of love. Therefore, tremble no more in outdated fear. The one watching over us is no longer a punishing tyrant, but a holy companion who most deeply understands our tears and scars. I pray that the grace of Pahan is forever with you on your journey to find the truth.

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The original Korean version is available at here.