“Contention? Better to call it an hypothesis. I am a scientist Mr. Kismet, studying the religions of the world, ancient and modern, not so much to determine what is true, but to find the commonality that might educate us as to the origin of faith.”
Leeds flipped to the back of his notebook as he spoke, and Kismet realized that the thick leather bound volume was actually a Bible. “In the Western world, it is generally accepted that, if there is a religious truth, it is expressed in the Judeo-Christian belief system. Now, if we are to accept the Holy Scriptures as essentially factual — and that is a leap of faith which many in our modern society are no longer willing to make — then the account of Genesis proves unquestionably that the antediluvians lived to extraordinary ages. Adam, Methuselah and Noah himself, all lived to be nearly a thousand years of age. These accounts were not meant to be taken as allegory, as so many today want to believe; the language is very precise. Those men living before the Great Flood had extraordinarily long life spans. What changed?
“The answer is here. Genesis chapter two: 'And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.'“
Leeds looked up from the pages and watched for a reaction, but Kismet could only shake his head. “I'm not sure I follow you.”
“The rivers that issued out of Eden, the garden of life, were likely imbued with the properties of the Tree of Life, mentioned here in verse nine: 'the Tree of Life also in the midst of the garden.' Adam and Eve were not permitted to eat of the fruit of that tree. They were expelled from the garden for their transgression and barred from entering by the cherubs and the blade of a flaming sword. Nevertheless, the life-giving properties of the Tree of Life flowed out of Eden in the waters of those rivers; diluted to be sure, but still potent enough to enable those men to live to extraordinary ages.”
“Then the Flood came and washed it all away,” continued Kismet, making no effort to limit the skepticism in his tone. “So how did Noah and Shem manage to live on for so long afterward?”
“One explanation would be that both were born into the antediluvian world; both would have tasted the waters of life. But I postulate a different theory.
“Noah was certainly the favored of God, even as Uta-Napishtim was in the Epic of Gilgamesh. I believe that Noah may have carried pieces of the Tree, perhaps its fruit, plucked from the river waters before the Flood. He would have given these powerful items to his sons Japheth and Shem, though not to Ham, the accursed progenitor of the Negro race.”
Kismet winced at the unexpected diatribe. He was liking Leeds less as the conversation progressed.
“Nimrod,” continued Leeds, “was a descendant of Ham, and likely coveted the gift that Noah had passed to his superior offspring. Perhaps the quest of Gilgamesh is an allegory describing Nimrod's desire to seize that power from the children of his grandfather's brothers.”
“Sounds like you’ve got it all figured out.”
“There is much more evidence to support my claim.”
Kismet wanted to leave; wanted to be away from the odious Dr. Leeds as much as he wanted to take refuge in his stateroom, but the unequivocal assertion held him rooted in place. “Evidence?”
“Earlier you asked why no one else had ever discovered the secret of immortality. In fact, an eighteenth century French nobleman, the Comte de Saint-Germain, reputedly discovered the secret of immortality in a substance he called ‘the Philosopher's Stone’.”
“I’ve heard the story,” Kismet replied warily. “Various charlatans throughout history have claimed to be Saint-Germain, Cagliostro, the alchemist Nicholas Flamel…snake oil salesmen, one an all.”
“Are you so sure that they were charlatans? If Noah or Methuselah could live to be nine hundred years old, why not these men?”
Kismet shrugged. He silently admonished himself for not having made his escape sooner. What he had first mistaken for charisma was, it seemed, just the persuasive passion of a crank. “Those stories failed to convince me then, and nothing I have heard here convinces me now.”
“Then consider a different tale.” Leeds gestured with the Bible. “Have you ever heard of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ?”
“Aside from the fact that hundreds of churches, schools and hospitals are named for it, not really.”
“The Devotion of the Sacred Heart is a liturgy found in the catechism, though it is not explicitly mentioned in scripture. The doctrine itself has more to do with the symbolism of Christ's love for mankind, a love so passionate that it caused his heart to glow visibly in his chest.
“In the subtext of this tale however, I see yet another clue in the puzzle of the quest for immortality. There is a tradition among the Gnostics, who were in fact among the earliest of Christ's followers, and never accepted the pollution of the Roman church, that Jesus was in fact one of the Magi; a class of Rabbis devoted to studying the Kabbalah. During the forty days and nights, which Christ spent in the wilderness, he learned the secret of unlocking the powers hidden in the language of the Torah. I believe that he also found something else.
“Another supposition of scholars is that Shem, the son of Noah, was also Melchizedek, King of Salem, and there is no mention of Melchizedek’s death in the scriptures; in fact, St. Paul alluded to Melchizedek's immortality in the Epistle to the Hebrews. It is my belief that Melchizedek bequeathed his vestige of the Tree of Life to Jesus Christ during the forty days of his meditation, and the Christ in turn used the knowledge of the Magi to incorporate it into his own flesh, making it one with his own heart.”
“That is an interesting way of skewing the scriptures,” remarked Kismet. “But it doesn't really support your idea of eternal life. Jesus didn't exactly survive to a ripe old age.”
“Only because he was slain. And yet death could not hold him, for he rose three days later, as an eternal spirit.” Through his discussion, Leeds’ voice remained calm, never betraying the passions he evidently harbored on the subject. “Notice however the particulars of his crucifixion, mentioned in the Gospel of St. John: 'But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.' The spear of the centurion Gaius Longinus pierced the heart of Jesus. When that happened, the heavens darkened and the earth shook. The gospel of St. Matthew says that tombs were opened and the dead came to life. Imagine the power that was released when the Sacred Heart was pierced. The spear of the centurion became a powerful talisman, as did the chalice in which Joseph of Arimathea collected the heart-blood of Christ. Longinus himself received the gift of immortal life.”
“I have heard those legends as well; the Spear of Destiny and the Holy Grail. I seem to recall that Longinus viewed his immortality as a curse.”
“Only because of his guilt for having slain the Christ. He doubtless wished to kill himself, even as Judas the betrayer did, but he was denied the release of suicide.”
Kismet shook his head, as if clearing away cobwebs. “Okay, so Jesus’ powers to heal, raise the dead and everything else came from his possession of some magic fruit. We'll sidestep the fact that about every Christian on the planet would view that as blasphemy. How exactly is that going to lead you to the secret of immortality? You said it yourself: the Sacred Heart of Christ was destroyed when he was killed.”
“True, but remember what I said earlier. Noah passed his gift on to Japheth also. There were at least two, and perhaps many more pieces of the Tree of Life. I believe they were seeds that survived the Great Flood. Shem, who later became Melchizedek, had the one which eventually became the possession of Christ and made possible his transcendence of the flesh. Japheth also took possession of one of the seeds, and I believe that this is the one which Nimrod, or Gilgamesh sought and eventually captured.”