Post 3 – 20 May 2019
One of the main themes of the Bible is that humanity, and creation, are fallen. People and a world created by a perfect God are in a far-from-perfect state.
Humans are not the first intelligent created beings in the Bible. In eternity past, before time as we know it, God made mentally bright pure spirit beings – Angels. The reason for the fall of one third of them was their misuse of God’s most precious gifts – self-awareness and free will.
The highest and mightiest angel, Lucifer, revolted against the Lord Creator. In a decisive primordial battle, the Archangel Michael defeated him. Lucifer became Satan (the Accuser) and the Devil (the Adversary) – preferring to rule in hell rather than serve in heaven. The one third of all angels who joined Lucifer in his revolt became his army of demons.
When time as we know it and we humans came along, Satan made sure to tempt our self-awareness towards his own basic sin – wanting to replace God’s rightful authority with our own knowledge and wills. Just like the corrupted angels, Mankind listened and fell.
Though defeated in his original bid to take over creation from the Lord, Satan did win a perverse victory. He managed to impose Death, his most evil and powerful creation, on God’s new universe and the creatures in it.
The Lord Creator promised a Redeemer, to undo Death and break Satan’s power over creation. Jesus Christ, a human being who is also the very Son of God, is that Redeemer. He came from among the Jews, a People the Lord had set aside on this earth as His special nation, just for the purpose of bringing the Messiah into this world.
Betrayal and Hope, Book 1 of The Spirit War, does two things. First, it puts in place the cosmic biblical background in which the entire trilogy will unfold. With that foundation laid, it then presents an updated, plausible version of the traditional Christian story of the birth of Jesus and his family’s escape to Egypt.
Book 1 introduces the Archangels Michael and Gabriel. Jesus’s parents Mary and Joseph are the main human protagonists. The Roman soldier Longinus, a main character in Books 2 and 3, also appears in a supporting role.
Betrayal and Hope incorporates interesting character nuances. Mary is an educated rabbi’s daughter. Joseph, instead of a humble carpenter, is a smart, gritty builder and business man. Jesus himself is an ordinary-seeming baby, then little boy, with much to learn from his wise parents.
Ready for a different take, for modern readers, on the traditional Birth of Jesus story? Wondering whether or not to plunge into an entire Spirit War trilogy? Try Book 1.
The traditional Nativity of Jesus story from which the first book of The Spirit War is adapted is well known. So there is not much worry about plot spoilers. But the interweaving of action in human and spirit dimensions, along with the modified main characters, make the plot come alive with surprises. Herod the Great is truly a monster, and the escape to Egypt is thrilling. Though an introduction to the Spirit War trilogy, Book 1 manages its own satisfying climax while still retaining a definite “to be continued” note.
Betrayal and Hope is only 155 pages. Most likely you’ll love it and want to read Books 2 and 3. But whether you go on with the rest of the Spirit War trilogy or not, Betrayal and Hope, stand-alone, will not disappoint.
Informally Yours
In this new section, I’ll comment on nuts and bolts issues regarding this website and all our Spirit Wars.
Boring but important tech stuff – How does this blog/website show on your screen?
This is a privately hosted website based on the WordPress platform, using the Customizr theme.
Though the text and sidebars for SpiritWarWorld rearrange well for tablet or smartphone screens, there may be a problem with menu navigation due to the narrowness of small, vertical screens. Lower levels of the menu may become partially disabled. If this happens, only the top line of pages in the menu structure may be available by clicking or tapping. The links to sub-categories of pages under the top menu line may become inaccessible.
As a work-around for this inconvenience in navigating SpiritWarWorld using narrower screens, a section called PAGES has been installed in the right sidebar. All permanent website pages are accessible from this right sidebar list by directly tapping or clicking.
If you are viewing this website on a normal, horizontally oriented computer screen, you can access permanent SpiritWarWorld website pages either from the fully functional menu at the top, or from the right sidebar under PAGES.
