Philochristus: Memoirs of a Disciple of the LordAbbott, Edwin Abbott
Religion
Philochristus: Memoirs of a Disciple of the Lord
Abbott, Edwin Abbott
Christian fiction; Jesus Christ -- Fiction
By this time the aspect of the country shewed that we were leaving the
region of the lake. For the thickets of oleander, which but yesterday we
had seen blossoming thickly with red blossoms, were here, in these
northern and higher parts, still green and in bud. Now also the snows of
Hermon seemed very nigh, even over our heads; and we were not far from the
town called Cæsarea Philippi. The grass was everywhere green under our
feet as though the land knew not drought; and trees of diverse foliage
shaded us overhead; and as we drew nigh to the town, we heard the sound of
many rushing waters.
Yet though all things shewed thus fair around us, our hearts were sad,
yea, all the sadder for the beauty of the place, which seemed to rejoice
while we sorrowed. Jesus himself looked not now (as he was wont to do) on
the glories of the mountainous country, but rather on our faces; neither
did he take note of the cedars, and the olives, and the groves of oak‐
trees; nor of the great plains of green grass; nor even of the Mount
Hermon, the top whereof, all covered with snow, waxed daily larger and yet
larger as we journeyed still northward. Ever and anon he turned to us as
if he would have said some new thing to us; but as often, he turned again,
as if still perceiving that the hour was not yet come.
We were now nigh to the outskirts of the town called Cæsarea, even at the
place where the fountain of the Jordan floweth forth; and here Jesus bade
us sit down. If we had had leisure to admire, there was much cause for
admiration. Before us, just above the spring, was a cavern wherein the
inhabitants worshipped a certain false god of the Greeks, which haunteth
thickets and forests, and he is called Pan: whence also the town in former
times had been called Paneas. Higher up, on the summit of the cliff, stood
a temple of marble, white and fair to look on, built by Herod in honour of
Augustus Cæsar. Below, from the foot of the same rock, there flowed forth,
under cover of poplars and oleanders, many little rills of pure clear
water, which, meeting together, made a rushing stream, the noise whereof
was exceedingly pleasant. This stream it is which passeth through the lake
called Merom, and, flowing southward, becometh our river of Jordan.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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