Chapter 609: I Think You Are Heretics
Baal? Isn’t that another name for Beelzebub? Aren’t they the same god? Then what is this Baal Order, and why is there conflict?
However, I noticed that most of the other believers didn’t look confused. Instead, their faces were filled with anger.
“Those heretics, do they want to start a war with us again?”
“Damn it, even though Our Lord’s influence is already scattered, they still believe those false scriptures and oppose us.”
“They are just brothers who have gone astray. I think we can still negotiate with them. At least we shouldn’t create new enemies when we are already surrounded.”
They were discussing amongst themselves. From their fragmented conversations, I understood that this so-called Baal Church was a splinter sect that believed in the same god as us but had different religious scriptures.
In ancient times, the Phoenicians and Canaanites worshipped Baalshil, the god of life, agriculture, lightning, birth, and death, the Lord of the Skies.
Through long dissemination, their original ethnic groups perished. Their doctrines and deeds were altered and distorted in continuous interpretation and spread.
Especially after being persecuted and suppressed by the mainstream churches, their sects split, and their believers scattered, eventually giving rise to countless different images.
There were fundamentalist believers who still saw Him as the glorious and great Main God of that year. There were also the Beelzebub Church who believed Him to be one of the Seven Great Demon Kings of Hell, and the Baal Order who believed Him to be the leader among the 72 Pillars of Solomon. Some even thought He was Diablo’s brother, a dark follower of the demon of destruction. There were even heresies of Beelzebub in the Arab world.
Thus, countless independent sects emerged, some large and organized, others small, perhaps only operating on a family unit for private worship. These sects were entirely unrelated to each other, and each denounced the others as heretics.
I had indeed researched the origin and development of Beelzebub seriously. After all, since I was tricked into this world to serve Him, I should at least understand Him. I knew that He had been divided into so many images, but I hadn’t expected so many factions would emerge among those who believed in Him.
Their relationships were probably similar to the three major religions. In essence, their beliefs originated from one source but had become independent after countless schisms, even viewing each other as mortal enemies.
“Um, I have a question. May I ask it?” While everyone was discussing, a weak girl’s voice was heard. Everyone turned to look and saw the Princess raising her hand to ask.
“Of course, you can. What is your question?” The Pope gestured for everyone to be quiet.
“Um, I’ve never met a Baal believer before. Please tell me, how should I identify them if I encounter one? And you said they are actually brothers?” the Princess asked confusedly.
“When you see them, you’ll know. Just like when we meet in reality, we know the other person is our countryman. Our shared origin of faith allows us to have a special connection. No matter which faction, as long as they still believe in Our Lord, this feeling will be accurate,” said one Cultist.
“But even though we have the same roots, you can clearly see the differences between those heretics and us. They use different Divine Spells, worship false scriptures, and impersonate images. It’s truly blasphemy against Our Lord!” another Cultist said through gritted teeth.
I could also see that there were many different opinions and attitudes among the Cultists present regarding the Baal believers. Some still considered them brothers, some thought of them as indifferent, while some extremists believed they were evil forces that must be eliminated.
However, as far as I was concerned, I felt no real connection to their accusations of heresy and straying into the wrong path, or worshipping false images and blaspheming the gods.
Because after researching a few source texts, I discovered that Beelzebub himself was already a distorted belief. Its origin was the stigmatization in the Bible, followed by the mixing of some folk legends, which eventually led to this current state.
The real Baalshil should be the sun god in Phoenician legends. The difference in image between the two is too vast. In contrast, Baal is closer to the original image. At least they don’t worship a Great Fly.
But I’ve noticed that the people of the Beelzebub Church also dismiss the most original Phoenician faith with disdain. When these matters are mentioned, they contemptuously refer to the original sect as stubborn fundamentalists and backward conservatives.
In summary, the believers of the Beelzebub Church, regardless of their attitudes towards other factions, firmly believe that only their own path is righteous, and all other images are heresy or conservative, without any basis.
The reason is also very simple. I understood it from listening to their discussions. The Princess had asked: “Since everyone knows we share the same roots, why don’t we join hands and merge into one church?”
“That is impossible. Not to mention that our customs and habits are different, even our worshipped God Statues are different. Even if our powers originate from the same source, the Divine Spells we use are completely different. We simply cannot get along,” was the answer from a Cultist who understood the Baal Order.
“They have a lot of complaints about our excessive eating, calling us the spreaders of disease and corrupting the god’s reputation. Heh, it is a Divine Revelation for diseases to spread across the land; they simply don’t understand.”
“Those guys also like to use the spells of devils, summoning emissaries from Hell. Such reliance on external forces is never one’s own strength.”
“They manage their sects strictly like legions. I can’t stand their rules at all; it’s better to be free and unrestrained like we are now.”
They were discussing heatedly. Most of those who had contact with Baal believers were complaining. Finally, the Pope also spoke.
“We have united in the past, even considering merging again, but soon we quarreled due to customs, doctrines, and status. Ultimately, we parted ways. At most, we can maintain loose cooperation.”
The Pope’s words were relatively objective. Unlike some extremely radical individuals, he did not directly call other factions heretics. In fact, the Pope was the one who first told me about the divergent images of Beelzebub.
This shows that he understood this history and could objectively face the points of contention between the two sides. He didn’t particularly care about these differences and his attitude leaned more towards shelving disputes and achieving win-win cooperation.
From their words, I understood why merging was impossible. It was because their systems and customs were different. We gained the abilities of Gluttony and disease through our faith in Beelzebub, but the Baal believers did not possess these abilities, nor did they have these customs.
The Beelzebub Church believes in Gluttony, one of the Seven Deadly Sins, the King of Flies who spreads disease. This is because these believers need such power. They do not need the power of the chief Demon God, or the demon of destruction, nor do they need Divine Favor for agriculture and fertility.
