RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD

Chapter One

There shall be a resurrection of the dead - both of the just and unjust

The old priest gently rubbed his sun burned scalp and looked at the doctor with his piercing blue eyes. “He says that his name is Marcus Septimus Octavius Aquila, and he is, or was, a senior Tribune for the 9th Legion (IX) Hispana.”

Doctor Andrews looked accusingly at the priest as if he was attempting to hide some significant piece of a puzzle. “And just what is the 9th Legion Hispana, Father?”

“My Ecclesiastical Latin is no match for the Latin this man is using,” Father Joe chuckled. “He appears to be speaking pure Classical Latin with an upper-class tilt to it. I’ve never heard the language spoken with such purity before.”

“Forget the Latin lesson, Father, what is he saying? Where is he from? This man was fished out of the filthy East River two days ago and no one knows anything about him.”

Father Joe Gilbert was called in when one of the resident doctors noted that the unknown man was speaking Latin, a dead language, but one which most Catholic Priests studied.

The well-built man sitting in the chair was secured by straps to prevent him from assaulting the doctors and nurse attendants. Ever since he had been brought into the ward, he had been screaming and yelling and attempting to strike out with his fists. The look on the man’s face was a combination of terror, mystification, and rage.

“According to this man,” Father Joe continued, “He is, or was a Tribune, or senior officer, in the 9th Roman Legion stationed in Britain around 83 CE. The Ninth was one of the two legions that defeated the British Chief Caratacus at the battle of Caer Caradoc They also defeated, Venutius, the King of the Brigantes, around 57 CE, and they participated in the invasion of Scotland in 83 CE. Marcus here says that he was killed in action at Camulodunum, modern day Colchester, during Queen Boudica’s rebellion, in the Roman year 814, or during the 7th year of the Reign of Emperor Nero. That would be the year 61 CE or AD if you prefer, in our time.”

“More likely an escapee from some psychiatric ward,” Doctor Andrews replied. “You’d be surprised at the amount of detailed study and memorizing some of those twisted minds will endure in order to create and establish a sense of false reality. We had a woman in here a few days ago who professed to be one of Napoleon’s concubines. She also spoke perfect French of that era.”

“And another man claiming to have died on the Russian front in 1943,” Father Joe added, glancing at the doctor with a skeptical look. “There are recent reports from hundreds of hospitals around the world of people with memories of past lives, most of whom have no idea how they come to be where they are now. Also, police forces around the globe report having to kill or physically detain thousands who profess to prior lives who then become violent and disoriented. Are we possibly experiencing an epidemic of reincarnation?”

Doctor Andrews shrugged and reached to replace the patients’ chart. “I thought reincarnation was when someone remembered past lives but were reborn into a new body. Like a multitude of those unverifiable cases in India and other eastern areas.”

Father Joe nodded. “A friend of mine, a Medical Examiner, did a thorough autopsy on one of these past life claimants recently shot by the police. According to his autopsy results, there were vegetable, germs, and other foodstuff in the victims’ stomach that have been extinct for thousands of years. In order to have ingested them, the person concerned had to have lived in the Nile Delta, in Egypt, over five thousand years ago.”

Doctor Andrews looked skeptical. “You can’t possibly believe in the resurrection of the dead or reincarnation, can you Father?”

“Oh, but I do,” Father Joe quickly replied. “We Christians profess the Nicene Creed which affirms the resurrection of the dead. The Apostle Paul wrote; the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed. Paul also wrote; there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust. Even in Islam, in the Yawm al-Qiyāmah it is written; the trumpet will be blown a second blowing, and all creation from the beginning of time till the end of time will be resurrected. From the graves they will come out quickly to their Lord, people will be standing naked, barefooted and uncircumcised.”

“I am not a particularly religions man,” Doctor Andrews smiled. “How could there be a resurrection of every single person who ever lived? The world isn’t big enough to hold that many people at one time.”

“A staggering number,” Father Joe agreed. “The number of people alive today is roughly around 7.2 billion. According to a recent statistical study, it has been estimated that throughout the history of mankind, the number of people who have lived and died is around 108 billion.”

“One hundred and eight billion people!” Doctor Andrews whistled. “We can barely feed the seven billion we have on earth today, much less a number that large. Also, consider the fact that most of these people had different languages, customs, religions, and different moral beliefs. The world would be plunged into total chaos.”

“If you take into consideration the religious connotations, it would be even worse,” Father Joe added. “If everyone who ever lived was brought back to life, logic would imply that they could not be killed again without being resurrected again. Not only that, religion also deals with the power of reason. If a young child is resurrected it would be logical to assume that child would be given a chance to physically and mentally mature, and the elderly and mentally disabled would be regenerated into younger bodies to sustain them. There would be no very young and no very old.”

“The resurrection of many of history’s despots would add to that chaos,” Doctor Andrews speculated. “Consider what a resurrected Hitler, or Stalin, or Mao, would add to the mix.”

Father Joe agreed. “Thrown in a Caesar, Ivan the Terrible, Napoleon, Attila, and hundreds of infamous characters that history is replete with, and the brew would be interesting to say the least.”

“See what you can get out of him,” Doctor Andrews stated, as he walked towards the door. “I don’t believe in this reincarnation mumbo-jumbo. Too much like fantasy to suit me.”

Later that evening, as Father Joe entered his small apartment in the basement of a three story brownstone in Queens, he had a beaming smile on his plump face. As soon as the triple lock system on the massive steel door was engaged, he quickly ripped the choking collar from around his neck and threw it into a trash can next to his desk. He would no longer need it.

He was in a wonderful mood because the results of his tireless efforts were beginning to pay off. His conversation and verbal fencing with Doctor Andrews, a typical idiot, had been refreshing and reinforced his belief that mankind was deserving of the great shock to come. The scores of sample resurrections he had created was proof that his godly powers still prevailed. And, the fact that some had died and been immediately resurrected was inspiring.

Father Joe quickly undressed and donned the robes of his true identity. He was not the gentle, cherubic Catholic Priest that the community had come to adore, he was something completely opposite. Father Joe was a devout follower and active priest of the great Egyptian God Anubis. Anubis, God of the underworld and the dead, he who looks like a man with the head of a jackal.

The Egyptian people believed that Anubis helped decide the fate of the dead in the afterlife. The heart of the dead was weighed against the feather of truth (representing the goddess Maat), to see if the deceased was worthy of entering the afterlife. If the person had lived a bad life, his or her heart would weigh heavy, and he or she would be eaten by Ammit (the Devourer). If a person was good, the heart weighed light, and he did not have sins, he or she could continue on to the afterlife uneaten to meet Osiris. Anubis had absolute control of the world of the dead.

Unknown to the modern world, Anubis is alive and well and residing in the human body known as, Father Joseph Gilbert. Not only is he alive, but he glories in all his power and is now prepared to plunge the world into utter chaos.

Father Joe, Anubis, picked up his nekhaka (flail) and strolled over to his favorite recliner set a few feet in front of a large screen television set. “The writers and filmmakers of this day and age like to portray zombies, and the walking dead, and other resurrected things,” he muttered to himself. “Let them see what a disaster the world will be when ALL HUMANKIND is suddenly resurrected. What a wonderfully wicked world it will be. I was a God thousands of years before these upstart prophets and false gods were created, let them witness the power of a true God.”

He picked up the Book of the Dead and began to quickly leaf through its massive pages, containing billions of names. As the book vibrated and glowed with an unearthly red light, the dead listed therein were returning to life. Within moments ever person ever born would be resurrected once again, to live forever.

“So, let it begin,” He gleefully smiled.

Word Count: 1630