yopplwasupxxx 5665 Popular Post Share Posted March 5 “Any Canonist of firm faith is expected to know and understand the text and teachings of the Holy Scrolls. As a bishop serving within the Church, this is doubly true for myself: much of my time is spent on diligent study and meditation of the sacrosanct collection. While I wear the robes of a holy man, I also wear the garbs of a student of history; most of my public writings deal in some regard to historical trends and political musings. Out of the four scrolls, therefore, none are more important to me than the Scroll of Gospel, the lifeblood of any contemporary study into the ancient histories of Mankind. Despite its antiquity, much of the archival chronicles detailing the times of Horen and Owyn remain desperately understudied in modern historical study. What I wish to bring to your attention, dear reader, is some of the fruits and struggles therefore of my own attempts at scholarly inquiry within the Scroll of Gospel. During one of my recent sessions of study, I came across this line: “Thus, the Word of GOD was kept for a thousand years of His Silence, and man’s purity of faith and blood was so sworn.” -Gsp. 4:62 For context, the latter verses of Chapter 4 in the Scroll of Gospel detail the waning end of Owyn’s war against his uncle Harren, the former’s familicide of the latter, and the consequences that burgeoned after. At initial glance, this line brings no controversy; in fact, it is a justification for why no prophets emerged between Owyn and his latter-day descendant Godfrey, one which is taken by nearly all Human scholars as historical fact. But the issue in this line does not lie with the ‘Age of Silence’ in of itself, rather a glaring conundrum which emerges when one attempts to discern the length of this age as without error. This short essay will be my elucidation of this issue and what I believe may rectify it according to contemporary historical methods and theological harmony. Although I am a bishop, I do not speak for the Church as a whole, and I leave any official views to the Curia and the High Pontiff to judge as they see fit, under the guidance of God and the Prophets. Instead, what shall be contained within this work shall solely be my own opinion. The Scroll of Gospel states that the “Word of GOD was kept for a thousand years”, which was only lifted upon the anointing of Godfrey as prophet. Also according to the scrolls, Godfrey received the laurels of prophethood shortly before being crowned King of Renatus by Reynard Lycian in 1361. Roughly, then, Godfrey’s ministry began sometime around 1360. However, if we take this literally, then Harren (a pureblooded human) would have been atleast 360 at the time of his death, with Owyn at the bare minimum over 200. This seemingly contradicts the Church’s teachings and scientific research which finds the average age of humans to be around 80-100, with at maximum reaching upwards to 150 with the aid of magick and medical advancements. This is also not to mention that, at the time of Horen’s death, Harren was an adult male who lived for an unspecified amount of time, meaning he already was of advanced age even before the count of time began. How can we rectify this? The first answer is that the Godfreyan Chronology is correct, and that the advanced ages of both Harren and Owyn can be due to the fact they lived during the time before Iblees’ curse. It can be reasoned that perhaps a lagging effect took place in which the first humans, while still having shortened life spans, were not as severely impacted by the Ibleean curse compared to contemporary humans born after such curse. However, there is no justification found for this in the Scrolls nor historical documentation. Further research would need to be elucidated within this field of study. The second answer is that the 1000 years ended sometime before Godfrey’s ministry began. While this may be contradictory to the reading of the Scrolls, it is not entirely far-fetched. We know in history that the Aengul Avalier wandered the earth atleast a century before Godfrey was called to the office of prophet (notably as well, the Aengul gave the people a text now considered a deuterocanonical work within the Church’s greater Canon). Godfrey’s grandfather, Daniel of Al Khazar, also experienced a miraculous event in his life which pushed him to abdicate and take the cloisters, spending the remainder of his life preaching the teachings of the Church. There is potential for argument to be made that either of these incidents show that the Age of Silence has ended, although the Scrolls do mention that saints and miracles still appeared to some degree during time between Owyn and Godfrey. Both the Danielian and Avalierian Chronology does not ultimately fix the issue at hand, but it does bring the years down to more manageable levels (300 and 200 respectively). Year 0 = (Death of Horen) Year 1360 = (Start of Godfrey’s Ministry) Godfreyan Chronology X (Death of Harren) + 1000 = 1360 (Start of Godfrey’s Ministry) X (Death of Harren) = ~360 Danielian Chronology X (Death of Harren) + 1000 = 1300 (Abdication of Daniel) X (Death of Harren) = ~300 Avalierian Chronology X (Death of Harren) + 1000 = 1200 (First Appearance of the Aengul Avalier) X (Death of Harren) = ~200 The third answer is that the 1000 years as written in the Scrolls should not be taken literally. Perhaps it is a translation of a Flexio term simply meaning ‘a very long time’. One would expect, however, the diligent work of St. High Pontiff James II to either give a better phrase to explicate this meaning or give a footnote in explanation of it. Though I do not intend to throw the charge of ignorance upon the late pontiff and his scribes, it could also be that the phrase was not understood to be figurative rather than literal. This would require some study of the original Flexio by those talented within the nuances of this ancient language. Either of these three answers, I believe, could be valid answers to this glaring contradiction within the Scroll of Gospel. Personally, I lean towards first answer: that the humans living before the curse and closely thereafter had longer lifespans (although not immortal like the other Descendants) and it somehow shortened over time to what it is today. As mentioned previously, this requires more studious efforts to justify. I leave this question to the fair scholars of this land, and I appreciate all thoughts, criticisms, and opinions. Prophets’ Blessing, Amleth, Bishop of Andrikev” 34 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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