Savior of the Damned (the Connor series) by Dirk B. (Page 59 of 59)

How about if the verse says "He'll come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven," and he returns as a boy (like my first draft)? He's still flesh, blood, and bone, which is what he was when he left. He's still God. He's just not yet an adult, which I believe is a requirement to satisfy some of the verses about his return, so the Second Coming might not begin until he grows up, floats up into the sky, and returns on a fluffy cloud with a host of angels.

Or, what if the author of your verse was writing a prophecy during the Middle Ages and was trying to keep from being burned at the stake for heresy for suggesting that he will return but not in this dimension? It would still be factual to write he will return. And since God never lies, the interpretation of that would be: God didn't lie. He spoke in riddles to confuse the "authorities." And if we get the interpretation wrong, that's our fault, not his. We're too limited to understand it all.

Or... an alternative view is: One expects the author of the verse to die for the truth, not fib a little to escape his doom

>> What? Just a warning? No, it's definite.

In the meeting in the year 430 after Rome receives the documents supposedly written by Augustine on his deathbed, the Last Challenge is described as being about corruption in the Church. Specifically, Satan is said to have claimed in the late first century that, by the End Times, the Church will be so corrupt that Christ will not find even one priest worthy of Heaven. That ruse is used by Satan because it supports the narrative that the Emissary is holy and has come to purge the Church of corruption. In reality, it allows Connor to purge the Church of his enemies (real priests still dedicated to God).

So, when Satan, who is in the meeting as a corporeal, discusses the Last Challenge, he explains to the others that, since God accepted the Last Challenge, there is no way the existing ending of Revelation can describe what will actually happen since it does not account for the events related to the challenge. In fact, it was the existing ending of Revelation that led Satan to issue the challenge. He adds that, had it been mentioned in Revelation, along with the likely outcome (God wins), Satan would never have issued the challenge. So, regardless of what John of Patmos wrote, Satan would have done something different to try to "change" the ending.

So, were John's ending "real", Satan would have invalidated it simply by issuing the Last Challenge (assuming God accepted). Although there is precedent in the Bible to change a "prophecy" (the people of Nineveh escaped destruction in the Book of Jonah), for now, I'm going to have Satan go with the argument that Revelation's ending is just a warning, so i don't need to justify how my ending could possibly change one of the biggest prophecies in the Bible. Technically, one could argue that Jonah's prophecy was also just a warning, so no prophecy was actually altered.

Here's a different angle on it. Please forgive it's a tongue-in-cheek variation of Abraham/Isaac:

Example:

What's happened in this example is the speaker is able to enter direct negotiation/discourse with God, unlike us trying to interpret scriptures. Eg: if the scripture says "Nation X will be fruitful and multiply" we implicitly understand not every individual will be fruitful and/or multiply. As the scripture doesn't (well, can't) single out Bob-From-New-York, then should Bob get into a fatal accident before Rapture, he couldn't claim essential facts were omitted.

Satan doesn't have this limitation if he can by-pass the scripture and have a direct-line. He's entering a negotiation where vital facts are being withheld with intent to trick him into losing.

Out of morbid curiosity, was that Gemini? Mine usually gives more light-hearted answers which sound like a TV commercial instead of scholarly

It occurred to me last week that the best way for the Church to help the Emissary successfully complete his (fake) mission and simultaneously prevent Satan from winning the (fake) challenge is to have the Emissary elected pope in the end times as a way of ensuring that at least one ordained priest will be found worthy of Heaven by Christ during the Second Coming. Any Catholic male can be elected pope, and if he isn't yet a priest or bishop, he is ordained/consecrated immediately. Satan suggests this in the meeting in 430 AD. Too bad the Emissary is Connor.

That brought to mind a series of Catholic private revelations that began in the Middle Ages, which remains popular among many Catholics to this day: the Angelic Pope (also the last pope, I believe, in one or more of those revelations). I modified chapter 3, to set the wheels in motion for that eventuality.

But now the question arises, do I really need the concept of the Emissary, which is of course total fiction based on nothing? Perhaps Satan should be setting up Connor as just the Angelic Pope in the meeting in 430 AD, after which Satan can ensure that fake private revelations come out starting in the Middle Ages. Then, when the modern pope's Council of Cardinal Advisors meets and sees that Augustine prophesied the coming of Connor sixteen hundred ago, he becomes a shoe-in as the (angelic) boy pope, provided the other characters become convinced that he is in fact that prophesied figure, which happens at the climax of book one.

The single biggest reason to keep the Emissary is that Connor's powers and his "harmonious communion" with Christ will far surpass anything written about the Angelic Pope among writers in the Middle Ages, but the Augustine documents could set stage for that. I could also have Satan introduce other private revelations that further support Connor, as well as simply allow him to have some powers that weren't prophesied by anyone.

Thoughts?
Dirk

I'm thinking about how best to introduce Connor to the reader. He did battle against the locusts in the prologue, but his real introduction comes in chapter 4, after the chapter in 430 AD. I've written several versions of this chapter already, although only the last two are relevant. In all cases, Connor is the POV character.

- In the short version, Connor is bullied by an older kid, Alessandro, and in order to fast-track yet another bullying session, he provokes the kid with insults. Alessandro belts him hard enough to knock him down. Connor seems barely able to get back up, but when he finally does, he quotes Christ about turning the other cheek, so Alessandro belts him there too. Connor plays dead, and Alessandro and his friends take off. Once they're gone, Connor sits up, and the reader realizes that he was faking death, which he's very good at. Just as he's sitting on the floor, a cranky priest find him and gives him hell for sitting on the floor and getting his clothes dirty. After giving Connor a silly lecture, the priest leaves. Connor shakes his head, walks away, glances at the ceiling, and says kill me now, Lord. In this version, Connor is completely non-violent, although the reader learns that there is more going on with Connor than you read in that chapter. A few chapters later, Connor will heal Alessandro's epilepsy with prayer despite the bullying and the two painful punches Connor endured earlier that evening. The two chapters combined will make a great intro to Connor and the role he pretends to play, but chapter 4, the first of the two, ends with that line about kill me now, which is funny but leans on the bullying to make the chapter at least somewhat interesting.
- The long version of this chapter treats a similar encounter as a flashback, but this second encounter is very different. Connor takes a similar hit to the face, but this time, he doesn't go down. When Alessandro tries to hit him again, he literally stops the bully's fist by grabbing it with a cupped hand and holding it fast. Connor eventually has to drive Alessandro to his knees and then flat on the floor. The second encounter takes place in front of many other kids. Connor insists Alessandro promise never to bully anyone again, otherwise he'll have Connor to deal with. Just then, two priests walk by. When they see that Connor has defeated Alessandro, they comment how team sports builds bonds of friendship. They're kidding of course but refuse to intervene, and just keep walking as if nothing is wrong (Alessandro's a known troublemaker). This version of the chapter shows Connor is incredibly strong but not vindictive or evil. In fact he ends up as a hero for the other boys.
- Given where this story is going, with Connor pretending to be the Emissary in "harmonious communion" with Christ, the pacifist Connor would choose option 1. If you don't mind a little violence committed by Connor, as he solves the bullying problem, he would choose option 2. The reader will see more of his mysterious strength in this version, and he's definitely not a pacifist in this case, and the chapter ending is much stronger.

The question: is it better to go with pacifist Connor to start, with a bland chapter ending, and then have Connor cure his bully in the next chapter involving the two boys (a few chapters further ahead)? Or go with the more powerful and heroic Connor from the get go?

Thanks
Dirk

My reason for considering a more impactful chapter here was that the reader just suffered through a long chapter that was almost all "meeting." The only advantage I felt for bland originally was that Connor takes two powerful punches and doesn't fight back, but then cures Alessandro a few chapters later. Plus the "Kill me know, Lord" line is really funny, IMO, given who he really is; naturally, the reader won't get the humor unless they read the book more than once.

I could have Connor (with Angelo's/Satan's help) act as if he is the Angelic Pope, then reveal at the end of book one that he, of course, is not. That could be done without any setup by Satan in the year 430 and in the Middle Ages, but that makes it far less interesting. The setup in 430, which you'll read next, combined with the other private revelations that Satan could put out there over the centuries, make a far more interesting use of the Angelic Pope concept.

One way to think of all this is: Satan is incredibly intelligent and a schemer, and if Catholics/Other Christians aren't careful, these are fictional examples of how far he could go. If he can subvert the Angelic Pope concept (by initiating and perpetuating it on Connor's behalf), imagine what else he can do in real life?

The part that is fictional is my story's usurping of it by Satan. I fact, the meeting in part 3 suggests the concept originated in the meeting in 430. One of my future characters will eventually discuss all of the related private revelations dating as far back as the Middle Ages as part of the discussion that the concept started in that historic meeting. The private revelations were planted by Satan over the centuries.

I think a Catholic reader will find that interesting (that the Angelic Pope dates back to that fictional meeting). Of course, at the end, comes the reveal of just how broad in scope Satan's plan was. At that point, the fact that the Unholy Trinity has conquered the Vatican/Catholic Church will be far more horrifying than what I've done with the Angelic Pope beliefs.