The Divine Dissimulation [Complete]

Chapter 37 The Priests of Eden

During the first year on Eden, the angels were always down on the surface helping and leading the tribes they were supervising. Doing this had a drawback, however, eventually they would age and die, and Abraham wanted his Eden project to last for an eternity. For this to happen, the angels needed to be cryogenically frozen most of the time. Abraham estimated that the lifespans of his angels when combining cryogenic sleep and DNA regeneration technology would be thousands of years. With a bit of luck, the rest of humanity would be extinct by then so that Abraham would be the god of all humankind.

Abraham decided to pick the most suitable family of each tribe to become the head priests. Abraham used his DNA database to decide who would be the best head priest for a tribe and he would change until he was happy. Abraham decided that he would not allow female leaders. Female leaders were a poison he had experienced too much on Earth. The ancients were wise by only allowing male clerics, and allowing female clerics was one of the factors destroying religion back on Earth.

As Eden was a theocracy, the head-priest was the ruler of the tribe. Appointing governors for the tribes saved Abraham time as he could communicate to the leaders to make them do his bidding instead of talking to every human individually. It was also good to have an earthly power in place to keep some of the mystique around himself and his angels. If a ruler for some reason displeased him, he could always choose to kill them quietly by causing a brain haemorrhage or make a public display by having them publicly executed. No man on Eden, not even the local leaders were above God, and their life and well-being was dependent on pleasing Abraham and doing his will.

After setting up the religious leadership on Eden, Abraham ordered the angels to return to the Divine Control Centre where they could spend most of their time in suspended animation to extend their lives. Happy with his achievements, Abraham moved to his meditation spot in the Divine Dimension and meditated for ages; letting the humans of Eden govern themselves for a while.