Satan's Last Stand (the Connor series) - Dirk B. (Page 41 of 55)

From Catholic.com:

I'll probably have an early chapter in the book where the 8th century manuscript is found, and I can include snippets of its contents in the scene. It has to be discussed before Connor's meeting with the Council of Cardinals (chapter 15) because there's no room in that chapter to cover everything. I may set the time period for the chapter in the past (hundreds of years ago?), and have a meeting at the Vatican to discuss its interpretation of Revelation, the idea that Christ will return as a boy, and the fact that the Bible is for another timeline. Those ideas are considered too wild to be taken seriously at the time, but since the manuscript was written by a saint (handwriting and ink/paper analysis all check out), it is not declared a heresy. They simply decide to put it in the archives. Song will claim to have stumbled upon it at some earlier point in his Vatican career, when he could still see/read such handwritten documents. He'll then raise it at the council meeting after he sees Connor/Christ. A key to it becoming believed will be a series of prophesied events written by Satan for our time, which he then ensures actually happen when predicted.

I'm not a theologian but don't you mean his role in the OT and NT? I've heard Satan described as the accuser of the brethren.

The wording in Rev 20 is allegory. After all, you've got a  so-called abyss and a dragon. Therefore, my interpretation seems reasonable. The Catholic Church believes we are already in the thousand year period (one thousand is sometimes used to represent "a large number" in the Bible; that period represents the reign of Christ from the altar via the Eucharist (i.e., He's here now)). Since the dragon is chained and thrown into the abyss, either he is completely unable to cause great evil during that period, or the chain merely limits Satan's power but doesn't prevent him from still causing evil acts. Since we're in the thousand year period and there is still great evil in the world, clearly Satan is not completely impotent. My chain only limits his power; it doesn't make him impotent. I also use the chain for other useful story purposes: the stigmata and the chain (supposedly given to him by John Paul II!) both make him a less likely suspect; he's also unable to change bodies, otherwise he'd be almost impossible to identify. If he can't change bodies and he's in the story, then he's got to be one of the existing characters. I do have characters speculate that the Unholy Trinity is in the story, which includes Satan. His inability to change bodies plays an important role in books two and three.

You had me fooled! I assumed too much. Connor's lie bothered me, but I guess I let it ride perhaps hoping to change your mind.
I'll be tougher next time round!
:-)

I was trying to figure out how to explain away any inconsistencies between Bible verses that discuss Christ's return and the idea that Christ will return as a boy. Since that could be a very long discussion, I'll nip it in bud by relying on the fact that our modern Bible is actually from the old timeline. Because of the wager, our new timeline no longer has to match the Bible, although I still want to minimize the number of unexplained discrepancies. If you read the previous post, you'll remember that, although the Bible doesn't match our timeline, the Bible itself is inerrant for its timelime. That is the part the cardinals will discuss when they meet with Connor, which is a much shorter conversation. As noted in one of my previous posts, an earlier chapter will provide all the setup for that topic.

EDIT: The same solution will allow me to use a more comprehensive battle between Connor and De Rosa. They'll both begin with human armies, then the demons attack on De Rosa's behalf, and all seems lost. That's when St. Michael leads a charge of angels against the demons. Modern weapons won't work around Megiddo because it's the site of Christ's imminent return, so only tech that existed during Christ's time will work (kinda lame, but I can't have tanks and other modern hardware, not even grenade launchers or guns, since all that's too violent). And like the timeline changes, I'm going to rely on the 8th century manuscript to explain why my story even has a real battle, which otherwise wouldn't be Catholic. Although, technically, my battle is between Satan's forces and those of the Antichrist. As a result, this is not the battle in Revelation, which won't happen.

Now that you mention it, I do give clues about De Rosa.
- when they're reviewing the security footage from the first church, they see the dark figure next to his Mercedes. Based on the car's known height, he estimates: 185 cm, same as me.
- De Rosa suffers stigmata every time a cardinal is killed. Now, stigmata is a rather confusing clue, but it is there. And he suffers stigmata supposedly from watching The Passion of the Christ the night before they find the last cardinal dead. It's such a weird detail that regular mystery readers ought to be wondering about it.
- De Rosa and the dark one both have a medium build
- De Rosa has blue eyes and blond hair, same as Campagna's rapist. So, if you guess he's the rapist, and you tie that to the fact that Campagna's missing son is probably Connor AND is De Rosa's godson, then it's not too big a stretch to think maybe he's in it up to his eyeballs.
- there is speculation that the Unholy Trinity is in the story, which requires three characters, and there's quite a limit on potential recurring characters in the story.
- I know I have other clues too

I remember thinking it was okay, even preferable, for the reader to guess that De Rosa is the dark figure/Antichrist since, then, they'll never see the real twist (Connor is the AC) coming. Marilyn was sure Connor was the Antichrist, but then I revealed de Rosa as the dark figure first, and she was very surprised, thinking the dark figure was the Antichrist. Then I reveal Connor is the AC.

In the second draft, I'll have Connor beat up by Alessandro as one of the first scenes, and the latter subsequently suffers a seizure and is healed by Connor. Again, barely a clue, but it's all noticeable on a second read. I think it would be too obvious if Alessandro has the seizure right while pummeling Connor, but maybe...

Before I dig into the rest of your post, I must ask - Are you referring to a timeline defined by Revelations or the entire Bible or what? I ask because I understand that Revelations can be figurative. Does that include the timeline? In other words, is Revelations just a series of descriptions not set in a rigid order? Of course, the end stuff is obviously in order! Just a thought!

I happened to notice that this thread has been viewed over 145,000 times. I was a bit freaked by the number until I looked at the whole forum. My old Galaxy Tales thread has been viewed 280K times. Sorcerer's Progress, 360K. And Amy still holds the record at 465K for her Acts+ thread! Yay, Amy.

Timelines - This is complex, but I will try. I need to describe two Greek words - logos and rhema. Both logos and rhema are the Word of God, but the former is God's Word objectively recorded in the Bible, while the latter is the word of God spoken to us at a specific occasion (I copied this last sentence). If someone is part of the Charismatic Renewal, Pentacostal Movement, and others, then they can have prophecies (rhema). This can be God speaking through a person perhaps a prophet. This 'word from God' cannot contradict the logos or written word. Therefore, try having prophets show up or priests (bishops, cardinals, etc.) that give prophetic words that 'clarify' what the Bible says about a particular scripture. If Revelation can be figurative then these so-called prophets can tell people exactly what those figurative things mean. By the way, dreams, visions, and other things can also be claimed to be rhema words.

It will really help your cause if these 'prophets' show great spiritual power. You've done stuff like that with Conner already. If someone comes along and starts doing miracles, then I will almost guarantee that they will believe almost anything coming out of that person's mouth. You can craft great lies but have the crowds say - Did you see what he just did? Of course, this God speaking to us. And it makes more sense than the Bible does! And if the Catholic Church approves these prophets or prophetesses then so much the better.

This allows you to keep the original Biblical timeline but to distort it for those who see great power.

I hope this makes sense.

1. There is a Catholic Charismatic Renewal going on. I belong to one of their groups even though I'm a protestant.
2. Correct. It would be tricky to blatantly contradict the Bible. Cardinals in strategic locations are needed to twist, distort, etc.
3. A weak example is when you had actual dragonflies attack Conner in Israel. I thought those REPRESENTED helicopters or something. I thought they would be big not bug like.
4. This is REALLY weak but Revelation 12 figurative talks about the birth of Jesus. You would have to construct it to point to Connor.

Revelation 12 And then a great wonder appeared in heaven: There was a woman who was clothed with the sun, and the moon was under her feet. She had a crown of twelve stars on her head (Spiritually speaking, Campagna was incredible). 2 She was pregnant and cried out with pain because she was about to give birth (Just like it happened to Campagna).

3 Then another wonder appeared in heaven: There was a giant red dragon there. The dragon had seven heads with a crown on each head. It also had ten horns. 4 Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and threw them down to the earth (They were ready to wage war and kill Conner). It stood in front of the woman who was ready to give birth to the baby. It wanted to eat the woman’s baby as soon as it was born. (Satan wanted her to abort the baby! He was ready to kill it. But she said no!)

5 The woman gave birth to a son, who would rule all the nations with an iron rod (look at Connor's power! He should rule all nations). And her child was taken up to God and to his throne. 6 The woman ran away into the desert to a place that God had prepared for her (Campagna was in the police department for years separated from her son. It was like being in the desert for her). There she would be taken care of for 1260 days (this somehow has to be twisted but I'm not sure). (There are more verses but it complicates what I would like to see.)

There might be other verses in other chapters, but I can't think of them right now.