Date in Real Life: Sunday, 15 January, 2023
In Game Day: Khamesh, the 16th of Sawol (afternoon)
The team left the body of the Cacus Troll with Hector and Leja, and headed back to the mines. They found four more skeletons, which they easily destroyed, although Edward got enchanted and almost gave up in despair. Philip tried out his Jawbone of Whacking again, and obliterated a skeleton in one battle round.
The team visited the Pit of Justice. They found Lord Thorruri Nightbraid waiting for them. In the pit was Khustrit Warheart. He was charged with being a thief and insurrectionist. He had stolen tongs from the forge, as an act of rebellion against orc domination. The tongs were found on his person and he confessed. He was put in prison. Nightbraid asked the team: what should his punishment be? Should he get hammered? Or left to rot? Or tossed to the beast of the mines? Or sold to orcs? Or let go?
The team admitted they had already killed the beast of the mines, so that wasn’t really an option anymore. They decided they would think about it and get back to Nightbraid’s challenge later.
They spent some time thinking about their weapons and the tales of valour they could tell.
They made their way to the chapel to speak with the priest, Thunda Earthdelver. He loudly announced how he would question their theology closely, and led them to a private chamber. Once inside, his demeanour changed, and he admitted he had no idea what he was doing as chief priest. All the copies of the sacred scrolls had been destroyed before he was born. All he had to go on was a single document, signed with the name of the former priest who had been killed in the great battle.
The team asked if they could see the letter.
It said:
In the Sacred Scrolls, we find mention of the Holy Spirit. For example, in Matthew 28:19, it says: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Who is this Holy Spirit?
Some say that the Holy Spirit is God, but this is a mistake. The Scriptures never call him God. Just because he is listed in passages like Matthew 28:19 together with the father and son, that does not make him God as well. For example, in 1 Timothy 5:21, we see angels listed with God and Jesus: “I charge you, in the sight of God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels, to keep these instructions without partiality, and to do nothing out of favoritism.”
In such passages as Matthew 28:19, the Holy Spirit is always mentioned last, thus showing he is lower in rank than the Father and Son.
If he is not a creature nor one of the angels, but proceeds from the Father, then he is himself also a son, and he and the Word are two brothers. And if he is a brother, how is the Word only begotten? How is it then that they are not equal, but the one is named after the Father, and the other after the Son? How, if he is from the Father, is he not also said to be begotten or called son, but just Holy Spirit? But if the Spirit is of the Son, then the Father is the Spirit's grandfather.
As for indwelling believers, the ancient texts use the words εν εμοι in Zechariah 1:9, which demonstrates that angels can indwell believers.
No, the Holy Spirit is the Chief Angel in the heavenly realm.
Tropici Serapion
Tropici Serapion, priest of Brazenthrone
The team was aghast at the rampant errors, logical fallacies and falsehoods contained in the letter. They suspected it might be a dragon forgery.
Since they were all carrying copies of the Sacred Scrolls, they pulled them out and conducted a Bible Study with the priest. At first, they couldn’t quite put into words what was wrong with the letter, but once they slowed down and dug in, they were able to articulate more and more errors. The first one was the Zechariah 1:9 reference towards the end. When they looked up the reference, they discovered the phrase had been ripped out of context, as it was talking about an angel who was “with” the prophet, not indwelling him.
They spotted the non sequitor of 1 Timothy 5, and the argument from silence in the line about the Scriptures never calling Him God. They also figured out the paragraph about being either an angel or a son was a false dichotomy, or bifurcation fallacy.
They then went on to prove to the priest that the Holy Spirit was, in fact, God. They first used Acts 5, the story of Ananias and Sapphira, which equates the Holy Spirit with God. They used some other supporting references of a similar nature.
Earthdelver asked if they would be willing to preach a sermon at the chapel service the next day. The team agreed, and spent the rest of the evening in prayer and preparation for the next day’s encounters.
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