1,476 Reply by Dirk B

Re: Savior of the Damned (the Connor series) by Dirk B.

The other alternative to Connor being a reincarnated Adam is for Connor to have his own unique soul and be in "harmonious communion" with Adam, an effect Connor doesn't realize until well after he fails to smother the pope, although Adam's influence is there even in chapter 3 (the intro to Connor at the seminary). Connor tolerates the bullying by the antichristlings to draw their attention away from the other boys, who fear them, except that Connor doesn't know why he wants to do it nor why it makes him feel good about himself. He thinks of it as almost instinctual. That's Adam's influence.

Although the forged Augustine documents made the untrue claim that the Emissary would be in "harmonious communion" with Christ, God could turn around and use that same concept with Connor and Adam.

Among several downsides to giving Connor his own soul, though, is that I would no longer be able to include the idea that, although, Satan demanded a soul from God for the Antichrist, Satan forgot to specify that he wanted a "new" soul, which is a key reason Connor is not the evil SOB that Satan genetically bred and trained him to be.

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Re: Savior of the Damned (the Connor series) by Dirk B.

Dirk B wrote:

George, I'm curious as to your reaction to the part of the dialogue in 430 that mentions how Satan is going to try to further divide the Church with heretical ideas, and that a divided Church is a weakened Church, which is a view that almost certainly was considered true back then. After which the bishop murmurs to pray it does not splinter.

In the first draft of this story, the dark figure talks to one of his intended victims (the one that he let escape) and tells him how Satan didn't cause the Protestant-Catholic split, that it was the uptight (or whatever the dark figure called him) Martin Luther, who drove that.

In the second draft, I plan to have Satan take credit for the split, which is him working to undermine the Church by fostering any divisions he can. That's not to say the end result (Protestant Christianity) was bad, but i read previously that (some? many?) Catholics apparently still hold the view that you have to be Catholic to get to Heaven. Naturally, I need to verify the extent to which that viewpoint is still true. Since the primary target audience is Catholics, it's going to require navigating a bit of a minefield to give the Catholic viewpoint without insulting Protestants in the process.

I think the right solution for the story is to treat the split as something caused by Satan, but some character in the story will point out that God took Satan's evil and made it into a good thing: a network of 45,000 denominations that Satan cannot possibly conquer, unlike conquering the Catholic Church, which is accomplished by Connor becoming the Angelic Pope in addition to being the Emissary. Nevertheless, Connor will try to convert Protestants to Catholicism at the start of book two.

Thoughts?

Wow. Pick an easy topic! Audience is crucial so be careful about describing ML as uptight. However, it gets real tricky because I (a Protestant) personally believe that ML should NOT have split off. However, the Catholic Church had issues back then and I believe that ML fled for his life. I hang with Catholics spiritually and not just socially and they accept me just fine and I accept them. Perhaps, you can treat the Reformation as Satan working through both Catholics and Protestants. The same might be said of the Catholic/Orthodox split.

Vatican 2 accepts Protestants as not having the same level of truth as the Catholics. But this can get tricky when Catholics have mortal sins and Protestants do not. Do I need a priest to absolve me of something considered a mortal sin?
And this is from AI:
[The Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) marked a significant shift in the Catholic Church's approach to non-Catholic Christians, including Protestants. The Council did not condemn those outside the Roman Catholic Church but instead sought to engage in dialogue and foster understanding. It recognized the validity of the faith of Protestants, referring to them as "separated brethren"]

Your last paragraph is interesting, but unity is not achieved through division. And Jesus prayed for unity. Both sides sharing the responsibility for the splits might be the best way to go. But do not slam either side. Can you describe it as Satan simply played to their weaknesses?

Hope this helps.
George FLC

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1,478 Reply by George FLC (edited by George FLC 2026-04-03 14:33:39)

Re: Savior of the Damned (the Connor series) by Dirk B.

This obviously part of the above response from today: Should you have Satan cursing Vatican 2 for trying to heal the divisions?

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1,479 Reply by Dirk B

Re: Savior of the Damned (the Connor series) by Dirk B.

It was Satan who described ML as uptight. Yes, I wrote it, but I intended it as Satan's opinion, not my own. I would imagine most Protestants see the result of the PR as a good thing for Christianity, otherwise why not become Catholic? At the time of the split, though, Catholics, especially the clergy, would have seen it as a disaster, and would surely have blamed Satan.

To view the PR as a good thing, the obvious conclusion is that 45,000 different denominations is also a good thing, hence my logic for the book that Satan can't conquer a denomination with no central figure to overthrow. Though Jesus prayed for unity, he also would have known what would eventually happen, and he didn't say Christians should remain forever unified under Peter and his successors.

His prayers are, of course, more than just a biography of important events in his life. Since he knew what would happen, his documented prayers are also his ongoing encouragement to readers of the Bible to remain unified. If Christians remain unified in their beliefs but not in who governs the Christian Church on Earth, does that mean Christ's prayers went unanswered?

I think the Christian faith is unified in the ways that matter most. You worship the same God, believe in the Trinity, the Resurrection, and the Virgin Birth, among other core beliefs, and you follow the teachings of the same Bible, more or less. And your faith can't be overthrown or corrupted as easily as a single Church hierarchy can.

Put all that together and the PR was a disaster one could blame on Satan. The fact that Christianity as a whole remains unified over core elements of the faith, suggests to me the outcome is actually a good thing. It seems like a great example of God using evil to do good.

Ultimately, it will be Satan who claims to be the cause of the PR, but the Catholic cardinal he converses with can point out that he's the Father of Lies and not necessarily to be believed, and the cardinal can make the counterarguments that I do above. Words to the effect: Satan, you may have caused the split, but God used it against you to create something even more indestructible.

The alternative would be to say that Satan wanted what has happened, including the 45000 different Protestant denominations, but that they will all come back together eventually. In fact, that's what Satan and Connor intend to do: conquer the biggest denomination, and then convert the rest back to Catholicism.

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