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Lizzie Bordan took and ax, and drove it deep into the VAX.
Don't you wish that you could do what really crazy people do?

- a modified limerick only DEC VAX users understand
- FORTRAN and BASIC? Pfft! John Wayne would have used COBOL!

Okay. I'm stuck. I'm writing a scene set in the year 430, the year St. Augustine died. The Church of Rome (chief diocese of the Western Christian Church) had received a letter and scroll supposedly written by Augustine the day of his death after experiencing a holy vision about the End Times, including the coming of the Emissary, a boy sent by Christ to purge the Catholic Church of latter-day Pharisees and replace them with the Lambs of the Lord, teenage priests and priestesses, who will deliver God's final warning to humanity to seek refuge in the Catholic Church during the End Times. In other words, join the Catholic Church, which will be led by Connor, who is actually the Antichrist.

The letter and scroll were actually written by Satan, setting up Connor's arrival and conquest of the Catholic Church sixteen hundred years into the future. Satan not only wrote the documents, he's a senior figure in the Church of Rome in 430 and participates in the meeting itself, attempting to steer the meeting where he wants it to go.

I'm looking for a way that the Antichristus dagger (forged by God for Connor) could affect the future if Connor were to throw it at Christ when the time comes (as opposed to throwing it at Satan, his other option). God decided when he accepted Satan's Last Challenge that he would accept Connor as the one to make that final decision. If Connor throws it at Christ, then Satan wins. Not only does he not burn forever in the Lake of Fire, but he ends up in control of Earth, ruling all grave sinners. Further, God promised that he would return to the spirit realm and never return.

In order to remain compatible with the Book of Revelation yet still tell my story, Satan says in the meeting that he believes the Lake of Fire is actually a metaphor for Earth, devastated by the events of the Apocalypse during the End Times. Since the "New Earth" of Revelation for saved Christians (those who survived the Last Judgment) is often seen as a reference to a *renewed* Earth, clearly Earth can't be both. So, Satan suggests that the New Earth is actually a reference to a slightly different realm between Earth and Heaven that is where the Garden of Eden is located. That realm is "new" only insofar as it has remained "new", just as it existed when God drove Adam and Eve from there. According to Satan, that's where saved Christians will go.

However, if Satan wins the Last Challenge, it hardly seems sufficient for God to leave Earth with his saved people. That's not much of a victory for Satan since that's what would happen anyway: Satan and grave sinners will wind up in the Lake of Fire and God will live with his saved people on a New Earth.

There needs to be more to Satan's victory. I'm still considering that if Christ is hit by the dagger thrown by Connor, it would cause an end to the hypostatic union, separating the Lord's spirit from the physical body of Jesus. Since the dagger is a physical object, it ought to have a physical impact, hence the end to the union. Further, there ought to be no salvation at all, for anyone. Those people, too, should be left for Satan to rule.

The problem lies with the idea of no salvation. I'm trying to treat Revelation prophecies as being just as accurate as the prophecies written by Augustine (Satan) on his deathbed.

My explanation for why the Emissary isn't mentioned in Revelation is because he comes before the Second Coming, fulfills his destiny, then is killed in a battle to the death against the Antichrist.

As noted above, I have a way that Earth can be the Lake of Fire yet still accommodate the New Earth of Revelation.

What I don't have is a way for salvation to be eliminated (if Satan wins the Last Challenge) without invalidating the prophecies of Revelation. Also, an end to the hypostatic union violates Revelation prophecies.

I definitely don't want to simply ignore these plot problems, but I also don't see a way to reconcile them.

For what it's worth, Connor will ultimately throw the dagger at Satan, so the events in Satan's documents of him winning will never come to pass, nor should they since it's just a bunch of BS made up by Satan in the first place. But he needs to be able to explain how those events could reconcile with Revelation in the meeting in 430, otherwise his fellow meeting attendees will never believe Augustine wrote the documents.

For the life of me, I don't see a way to explain the differences (eg no salvation, end of the hypostatic union) in a way that can reconcile them, even if I were to claim some of differences are really just a matter of interpretation

Within the past seven days, yes. But I don't know how long one of my tabs was open to the site's forums. Interestingly, the email I got notifying me of your post here actually had a working link, which I haven't seen work in ages on my machines.

Not sure. Sol, is it too soon for another contest?

I would message Sol if you want to be sure. If you don't have an existing connection with him, you can email him at contact@thenextbigwriter.com.

Thanks, George. For the moment I'm happy with the series title. And I'm almost certainly going to use "The Emissary" as the title of book one in lieu of the "The Rise of Connor." I think the new AI-generated image of Connor goes better with the new title. Naturally, I'm sure to change my mind at least five more times this year alone.

Hi ncj. Why Gathers the Darkness over As Darkness Gathers?
They're both catchy imo.

I just realized I hadn't updated the name of this thread with the correct series title. Fixed. The reason I didn't go with "The Gathering Darkness" is that there are too many books on Amazon with that title. "As Darkness Gathers" only occurs once, as a single book name in a series with a totally different title. To be honest, I actually like "As Darkness Gathers" better than "The Gathering Darkness."

Book two will probably be called "The War for Souls," which is from a line spoken by one of the characters near the end of book one: This battle is lost, but I assure you, the war for souls has just begun. The only reason I might go with something different is that someone else released a book in 2024 with that exact title. To be honest, I like that title enough, I'm willing to be one of two books with the same name. Realistically, it will be years before I write and publish book two, so the other author's book will be much older.

Book three will most likely be called "The Lesser King", which will become (spoiler alert) Connor's title at the end of book three. The other options are "The Unholy Shepherd" and "The Immortal Sinner." I may give him all three titles, which isn't uncommon among royalty, but he'll primarily be known as Lesser King Connor.

As Darkness Gathers.

I'm waffling between titles again; that's what happens when your cat keeps you up until 2 AM:

- The Rise of Connor - still a good title for book 1 and unique on Amazon the last time I checked, although I'm now toying with "The Emissary" as the title of book 1 (see below); the idea of Connor as the Emissary/Holy Emissary will play a major role in the latest draft, hence the reason I'm considering the new title.
- The Emissary - short and catchy; reminds me of the Exorcist as far as catchy titles go; since there are already books with that title, I'd have to rely on the series title (As Darkness Gathers) to distinguish mine; the word Holy in one of my previous dalliances with this title (The Holy Emissary) was overkill since Connor is already wearing a glowing cross and sporting a halo on the front cover. Technically, he's the Emissary of the Lord, although most of the time, he'd be referred to simply as the Emissary.