How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #7
A THIRD JEW God is at no time hidden. He showeth Himself at all times and in all places. God is in what is evil even as He is in what is good.
A FOURTH JEW Thou shouldst not say that. It is a very dangerous doctrine. It is a doctrine that cometh from Alexandria, where men teach the philosophy of the Greeks. And the Greeks are Gentiles. They are not even circumcised.
FIFTH JEW No man can tell how God worketh. His ways are very dark. It may be that the things which we call evil are good, and that the things which we call good are evil. There is no knowledge of anything. We can but bow our heads to His will, for God is very strong. He breaketh in pieces the strong together with the weak, for He regardeth not any man.
FIRST JEW Thou speakest truly. Verily, God is terrible. He breaketh in pieces the strong and the weak as men break corn in a mortar. But as for this man, he hath never seen God. No man hath seen God since the prophet Elias. (221-224)
Though they cannot agree on any number of theological issues, the general consensus among the Jews is that God is a powerful and mysterious force.
Quote #8
FIRST NAZARENE He hath come, and everywhere He worketh miracles.
HERODIAS Ho! ho! miracles! I do not believe in miracles. I have seen too many. [To the Page.] My fan.
FIRST NAZARENE This Man worketh true miracles. Thus, at a marriage which took place in a little town of Galilee, a town of some importance, He changed water into wine. Certain persons who were present related it to me. Also He healed two lepers that were seated before the Gate of Capernaum simply by touching them.
SECOND NAZARENE Nay; it was two blind men that He healed at Capernaum.
FIRST NAZARENE Nay; they were lepers. But He hath healed blind people also, and He was seen on a mountain talking with angels. (244-250)
In contrast to the Jews, who seem to believe that God is mysterious and well nigh impossible to see, the Nazarenes' Messiah is not only walking the Earth—he is performing miracles which demonstrate his power.
Quote #9
HEROD Peace! you are always crying out. You cry out like a beast of prey. You must not cry in such fashion. Your voice wearies me. Peace, I tell you!... Salomé, think on what thou art doing. It may be that this man comes from God. He is a holy man. The finger of God has touched him. God has put terrible words into his mouth. In the palace, as in the desert, God is ever with him… It may be that He is, at least. One cannot tell, but it is possible that God is with him and for him. If he die also, peradventure some evil may befall me. Verily, he has said that evil will befall some one on the day whereon he dies. On whom should it fall if it fall not on me? Remember, I slipped in blood when I came hither. Also did I not hear a beating of wings in the air, a beating of vast wings? These are ill omens. And there were other things. I am sure that there were other things, though I saw them not. Thou wouldst not that some evil should befall me, Salomé? Listen to me again. (367)
Whether or not Herod believes that Jokanaan is a prophet and no matter what he thinks Jokanaan's God might be like, the prospect of angering that God instills fear in him. He's neither an atheist, nor a believer, nor an agnostic—he's more worried than anything else.