How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #1
SECOND SOLDIER The Jews. They are always like that. They are disputing about their religion.
FIRST SOLDIER Why do they dispute about their religion?
SECOND SOLDIER I cannot tell. They are always doing it. The Pharisees, for instance, say that there are angels, and the Sadducees declare that angels do not exist.
FIRST SOLDIER I think it is ridiculous to dispute about such things. (7-10)
What the Jews see as key theological disputes, the soldiers consider annoying arguments about dumb subjects.
Quote #2
THE NUBIAN The gods of my country are very fond of blood. Twice in the year we sacrifice to them young men and maidens: fifty young men and a hundred maidens. But I am afraid that we never give them quite enough, for they are very harsh to us.
THE CAPPADOCIAN In my country there are no gods left. The Romans have driven them out. There are some who say that they have hidden themselves in the mountains, but I do not believe it. Three nights I have been on the mountains seeking them everywhere. I did not find them, and at last I called them by their names, and they did not come. I think they are dead.
FIRST SOLDIER The Jews worship a God that one cannot see.
THE CAPPADOCIAN I cannot understand that. (30-36)
Two thousand years later, we listen to the Cappadocian and Nubian and think, "I can't understand that." The situation is reversed.
Quote #3
THE VOICE OF JOKANAAN Behold! the Lord hath come. The Son of Man is at hand. The centaurs have hidden themselves in the rivers, and the nymphs have left the rivers, and are lying beneath the leaves in the forests. (74)
The coming of Jokanaan's Lord represents a drastic change to the religious landscape: his Messiah will not simply coexist along with older religions—it will replace them. The "nymphs and centaurs" have fled like the gods of the Cappadocian's religion.