Satan's Last Stand (the Connor series) - Dirk B. (Page 53 of 55)

Njc, can you suggest examples of holy but not righteous and righteous but not holy? I think that might help more clearly distinguish them for me.

One (potential) example that comes to mind is that Moses, in trying to free the Israelites, definitely was righteous, but the deaths of the Egyptian firstborn would not have been a holy act in my opinion.

Thanks
Dirk

Goodness gracious! This is challenging.
1. You almost seem to describe purgatory (helping his mortal sinner flock get to heaven). Make it more like purgatory. You might even want to call it that or a variation.
2. Satan will be released from his prison in Revelation 20:7-10 after 1000 years (you mention the demons escaping). He will lead one last rebellion and then go to hell.
3. Reforming the AC is still a question for me.?

I'm a little spacey so will stop here... where's my coffee?

1. I prefer to continue calling it the lake of fire instead of purgatory, primarily to remain consistent with Revelation. I treat the lake as symbolic; mortal sinners go into the lake of fire, where there is some burning based on the number and gravity of your sins, after which you come out on some alien world elsewhere in our galaxy, which I consider to be part of (inside) the lake. The worse your sins, the worse the planet. The original mortal sinners (and their descendants?) will never be allowed to leave, but they will be allowed to die (once they become holy enough) and their souls can then rest, although they remain connected to their planets. The more holy souls a planet has, the more paradisical it becomes.

2. Your point number 2 is problematic from a Catholic perspective. As I've written before the 1000 years is not literal to them. It merely represents a really long time. And Christ is already present in the form of the Eucharist, so the 1000 years is the Church age and is well underway. Given that, Satan must already be chained and locked up in the Abyss, which is a bit weird considering he's still considered to be active in the world today. That's why I gave De Rosa stigmata every time he kills or orders the death of a clergyman. It's sufficiently painful that it limits his ability to do it.

3. Don't forget, this story takes place on a different timeline. God actually helped create the Antichrist, not just by providing a soul but also by helping Satan breed all of Connor's powers over two millennia. Otherwise it could never be done in that short amount of time. The reason God does this is that he needs Connor to rule the lake of fire (the planets) and guide all mortal sinners and their descendants to holiness. Thus, every power Connor has and every challenge Connor faces are all part of preparing him for that task.

The one fly in the ointment is that there is a big separation between humans who made it to heaven the first time around, and those who didn't, including the latter's descendants. Seems unfair that the descendants would be excluded from heaven. Perhaps the way I should do it is that the holy souls of the descendants who contributed to turning their planet into paradise will get to heaven when that task is done. And the holy souls of the original sinners remain connected to their planets and maintain it as a paradise for their descendants, which is no longer a punishment but a privilege. This means the mortal sinners never leave the lake of fire, which is also consistent with Revelation.

I think the above works while still conforming to Revelation, at least symbolically. Technically, then, Connor should never be allowed to leave the lake of fire, either, although I'm willing to bend Revelation in his case (remember, different timeline) so he can someday get to heaven. The alternative is that he doesn't get to heaven but becomes increasingly holy as the planets he rules become holy. Ultimately, he could turn into a Lesser God, although that would happen way beyond the end of book three, so it'll probably never happen, except perhaps in an epilogue.

I just read up on it. The similarities are cool. I guess if you're going to invent an afterlife based on Revelation there will be similarities.

Hmm well, one expects a Christ-like figure to have figured out the head of his foe or a foe's 2iC and be able to diffuse any situation. We're given the impression he could have easily dodged the cross by giving Pilate straight answers.

That said, it's your story, so sell the violence if you can

Also, since Connor is supposedly just an ordinary kid who doesn't yet know he's Christ, I felt it was okay for him to think of the bullies as demon spawns and rats. He thinks in terms of "demon spawns" because that's what he himself is (that's me having a little fun), and rats is just short for the "Rat Pack", which is a phrase the other bullied kids normally use.

Since Jesus referred to the Pharisees as a brood of vipers, it's safe to assume he had to think of them as a brood of vipers before he said it. So, demon spawns and rats doesn't seem too much worse for a bullied kid.

Let's face it, none of those three are "charitable" thoughts.

EDIT: Connor also reveals that Alessandro's roommates refer to him as Tiny Tim behind his back. Because Connor is still trying to provoke the "beating" the rat pack intend for him anyway, he suggests Alessandro change clothes in the dark going forward.

Too much? If so, why?

Thanks
Dirk

Comments:
1. Rat Pack is common. How about the Magliana Gang. This was an Italian Gang that ended in the 1990s. Or Magliana Group. The Vipers would be good, too.

2. Can't he lift up his hand or point and rebuke violence and hatred? This could knock over the leader without Connor landing a fist on him. Everyone could look at him with - what just happened? He could look surprised as well. This kinda sorta happened when a bunch of guards came after Jesus in Gethsemane. They all fell backwards when Jesus identified himself.

I'm curious if y'all have any thoughts on how to handle the following: I'm about to post chapter 3 of Connor v2, and the observant reader will note that Connor, as described in the chapter, looks nothing like the blond, blue-eyed, muscular, handsome, tan devil spawn on the front cover of the v2 book.

That's intentional since the transformation from wimp to pseudo-god will be gradual as his Christlike powers "grow". Most of the changes are no problem (eye color, hair color, tan skin). The fly in the ointment is him somehow developing a muscular body from a scrawny waif. Since it's Connor, I can always speed up the process, but I'm wondering if I should go to the trouble of giving him some crazy hunger for food, especially protein, that allows his body to develop those muscles fast. Or should I just let it happen supernaturally like his other changes?

He'll of course be pretending to be sick for about the first week in the Holy Land, so it doesn't really make sense for him to stuff his face while sick. I don't want to dedicate many words to discussing him constantly eating to get bigger, either.

There are a number of superheroes in comics who transform into their superhuman equivalent pretty much at the drop of a hat. Shazam is one. I believe a fairly recent origin film for Captain Marvel did something similar. There are others.

I'm leaning toward letting it just happen supernaturally, although I wish I had an explanation for how it could happen without eating constantly. It's one of those hokey plot holes that drives me crazy.

EDIT: Although he won't look muscular to start, he will reveal his incredible strength right from the first scene of chapter one, where he will fight Alessandro, admittedly using limited strength so as not to hurt him.

EDIT2: Perhaps his body grows unusually quickly at the outset based on what he eats, which is simply normal meals. His body could have the ability to turn what little he eats into muscles. In the third week, while sick, his body stops growing, and then resumes growing in the final week in the Holy Land.

Thoughts?
Dirk

Thanks.

LOL. I just posted it. Now I get to spend several days getting caught up on reviews. Ugh!
Not to mention clearing snow from my deck and driveway. I think I need a nap first, though.

Great! Then you can clear the snow. :-)
Of course, you'll have to pay a 25% tariff on all your worldwide possessions before you can cross. There is one border crossing you might use. I forget the exact location (probably on the net), but it's unmanned, or used to be. The crossing involves using a phone at that location to connect to a customs officer, whole ask you a bunch of questions, then decide whether you're allowed in or have to turn back. I kid you not, that was a real thing once.

And our national police force (the RCMP) always says please, when asking you to put down your gun. (Yes, that one I made up.)