Decision at Golgotha: A Controversial Devil's Testament

By Tolly Kizilos

Decision at Golgotha: A Controversial Devil’s Testament is a unique story, with ingenious interweaving of biblical truth and imaginative fiction. Azalek, a controversial, lesser devil in Satan’s army, becomes involved in the life of Jesus Christ, and gives us a fascinating eyewitness account of the war between Jesus and Satan’s forces. Azalek is an inquisitive devil, who thinks fast, sees far, and disagrees with many demonic practices. He infuriates Satan by inventing solutions and asking thought provoking questions about mankind’s perennial problems.
This is a sophisticated work of fiction about God’s love for his Creation, where theology is done in plain language and the mind and the spirit are weapons more deadly than any modern firearm. The narrative moves back and forth between the familiar biblical teaching and actions of Jesus, and the strange world of Jesus’ human and demonic enemies. The reader has a front row seat at the gatherings of humans and devils debating the fate of Jesus, is present at the exorcisms of demons from tormented people, and is not spared the details of Jesus’ agony, as Satan and his helpers conspire to torture and kill him.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Oct 24, 2001
• ISBN: 9781469754383

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All Rights Reserved © 2001 by Apostolos P. (Tolly) Kizilos

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ISBN: 0-595-20083-4

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Contents

EPIGRAPHS

PREFACE

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

EPILOGUE

AFTERWORD

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

EPIGRAPHS

It is the property of angels not to fall, and even, as some say, it is quite impossible for them to fall. It is the property of men to fall, and to rise again as often as this may happen. But it is the property of devils, and devils alone, not to rise once they have fallen.

St. John Climacus

The Ladder of Divine Ascent

What is a merciful heart? It is a heart that burns with love for all creation, for men, for birds, beasts, demons, and all creatures.

St. Isaac the Syrian

In Mystic Treatises, ed. by A. J.

Wensinck

Christians may legitimately hope even for the redemption of the Devil.

St. Gregory of Nyssa

In The Orthodox Way, by

Bishop Kallistos Ware

PREFACE

The war between Good and Evil is the theme of much serious fiction, because it portrays the life and death contest in the human mind and in the world around us. This book is a reminder that the war has been going on, not only in the physical world, not only in the mind and soul of man, but also in the spiritual realm. In Christian theology, it is the cosmic war waged sometimes by Satan and his devils against Jesus Christ, and sometimes by man alone against his Maker. Exploring the causes of this war from the point of view of the enemies of Christ, understanding their theology, their strategy and tactics, and speculating on the character and leadership of human and demonic evildoers in relation to the goodness and wisdom of Christ was an intriguing prospect in writing this book. Finally, the book was shaped by a desire to underscore the biblical message that this spiritual war has already been won by Christ, but Satan hasn’t yet signed the protocol of his unconditional surrender. He will!

I decided to show how the war might have been waged in the trenches by crafty or vicious or stupid devils against the unyielding love of Christ and his faithful followers. And, to make things more challenging to the imagination, I decided to do this from the point of view of a lesser devil, a controversial devil, who fought in that war and has a lot to say about it.

Decision at Golgotha: A Controversial Devil’s Testament, is a book of fiction, not a factual account of the struggle between Satan’s forces and the Son of God. I have no more information about what goes on inside a devil’s mind or in the kingdom of Beelzebub than anyone else has. But that doesn’t mean that narrative or epistolary fictions contain no new ideas or truths. I believe that they can contain both.

Though all the sayings of Jesus and the Gospel stories that I have included are reported without any substantive changes, biblical and fictional passages are interwoven so tightly, that it is hard to tell exactly where the Bible stories end and the fictions begin. The instances of demonic possession mentioned in the book are taken from the Gospels. Demonic possession is a reality of the New Testament, but in today’s world, most mainstream Christians would agree, demonic possession is quite rare. One should always examine the human sources of evil, before jumping to the conclusion that demonic possession is the cause of evil in any particular case. Belief in devils should not be allowed to deteriorate into a preoccupation with them. As C. S. Lewis said in the preface to The Screwtape Letters, There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive interest in them. Besides, it seems that the demonic forces of Evil have changed their strategy and are focusing on man’s ample capacity for wrongdoing, using temptation to help it along and bring about corruption and destruction. Finally, the reader should remember that devils are quite capable of lying, and Satan and his subordinates may say things that are untrue, even from their own point of view. Only the Bible is a reliable guide to the truth. My book is bound to be a mere footnote to the Bible’s inspired text, providing, at best, some valuable insights, but not guaranteed to do so.

I hope that believers, seekers and non-believers will enjoy reading this book as a stand-alone work of fiction. Any similarity between devils and evil human beings is not coincidental, so readers who don’t believe in devils can replace devils with evil human beings and still make sense of the story. If in the process of enjoying the narrative, readers become curious and want to know what the Bible says about a particular miracle or parable or issue, they can find the relevant texts in one of the many searchable Bibles and Commentaries on the Internet. I usually consulted the texts of the RSV, the NIV, and the Greek New Testament in writing this book. To begin this process, the reader will find in the afterword a few relevant, mostly biblical and patristic quotes that I gathered, as I worked on the story. The book is intended to engage the readers’ reason and imagination, so that they will reflect on the story or feel inclined to discuss some points with others. All such individual or communal efforts on matters concerning God and man constitute the process of thinking the faith, which is a good way, along with praying, for getting to know and care about God, his Word, and our brothers and sisters.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I want to thank my loving wife Betty for her unwavering support in many of life’s journeys, including the writing of this book.

CHAPTER ONE

I am one of those angels who followed Lucifer in his rebellion against the Almighty God. We lost that bid for power and were cast down to earth, but we didn’t cease to strive for domination. We took over the earth and have been spoiling it with all kinds of horrors and abominations ever since. But most of all, we corrupted the heart of man, the most precious work of God’s creation. We may be doomed at the end of time along with a lot of men, but in the meantime, we are not exactly powerless. Lucifer is the prince of this world, and he commands a vast army of devils, bent on humiliating and eventually destroying mankind. Existence for most of us is less than we can imagine, but on the whole, most of our appetites are adequately satisfied. And, there are always promises for more and better times ahead, especially for those who are recognized with promotions for their skill at debasing human beings. We are spirits with free will, all right, but anyone who has been close to Lucifer, will tell you that his attraction is powerful enough to make anyone’s free will go limp. This is no excuse, just my opinion, formed by my experience.

The name is Azalek, and there is no reason why you should have heard of me. No reason why my adventures of deceiving, tempting, corrupting and tormenting human beings should be of particular interest to you. I did what you expect devils to do, nothing more, and nothing less. I would have remained just an ordinary devil, without any claim upon your time and thoughts, if it weren’t for what I did in my last assignment. That was quite different than anything I had done before, and turned my world upside down. I happened to witness, you see, many events surrounding the life of Jesus Christ on earth. And not only witness, but also become involved in these events. So, I am a messenger of sorts, and this may be reason enough for you to care about what I have to say. The news I have to tell you is good for mankind, though my story covers many of the evil deeds I and my comrades committed against the Son of God. If you want to know more about sin and redemption, you may find my story relevant to your life. If you have no such interest, read it to find out, from a devil’s point of view, how Jesus Christ won a victory in the epic struggle waged against Satan and his forces for the heart of man. This may be the only such account you’ll ever find.

We had known for some time that God was going to intervene decisively in the affairs of mankind, through Israel. For centuries his prophets foretold the signs, trying to prepare his people. Not everyone believed what these holy men proclaimed. We made sure of that! In fact, we used every trick in the book to distort the understanding of their words. We even went so far as to discredit the truth by portraying them as madmen and fools. We were quite successful at this. Although Israel’s expectations were confused and the people’s prospects bleak, we could do nothing about God’s plans, other than be vigilant and ready to react.

We never understood why, but we have always known that God loves human beings in a special way. Perhaps it makes a difference that he made man in his own image and likeness, though demons don’t know what exactly that means, and why he did it, anyway. The point is that we were on guard because man is precious to God, and God doesn’t let go of his own. Through the writings of the prophets, we realized that God was going to send someone very special to save these miserable creatures from all the pain and suffering that was in store for them. We waited for the arrival of the Messiah, looking for signs of this supposedly awesome event. We didn’t know what he would do for them, or what he might do to us. We had no idea how events would unfold, or when they would take place, but we had been on the lookout for a long time.

As fallen angels holding mankind hostage, we were ever ready to fight to the end for the souls of human beings, the vilest creatures on earth, according to Lucifer himself. He was determined to prove to God that, no matter how much he cared for them, or what he did for them, they would always be ungrateful and were not worth it. Bent on betraying their Creator and wallowing in sin until the day they died, they deserved to be lost forever. How are they any different than us? we sometimes asked each other rhetorically, to justify our evil ways.

Every time we corrupt the soul of a human being, Lucifer lectured us once, we prove conclusively to God that his love for these creatures is misplaced, and his efforts to prop them up are futile!"

We thought this Messiah would be no different from the rest of his fellows. So, those of us in the legions of Satan trained constantly, and made plans to stop him when his emergence seemed imminent.

When we got word that the archangel Gabriel, one of God’s most trusted servants was on the move, we became very disturbed, and redoubled our efforts to guard and protect our domain. He has work to do on earth, messages to deliver, people to protect and guide, we were informed by the legion commanders. It seemed to me that the time of the Messiah was near, and I was ready to do my part and shove him down to hell all by myself, if I could.

I was but a lesser devil, a foot soldier in the Crimson Legion, and was assigned to observe a dozen people around the Temple in Jerusalem. I had under surveillance a couple of priests, some lesser Pharisee officials, and assorted scribes. They were all men, ostensibly dedicated to serve God. Other comrades had orders to tempt these men, and attempt to disrupt, distort and destroy whatever good they tried to accomplish. I must say, I envied them and their action assignments, but my superiors insisted that I had to learn how to observe, plan for evil, and do it the legion way, as they put it, rather than indulge myself merely with ad hoc mischief. I didn’t agree, but I had finally decided to try and rise up the ranks, so I did as I was told.

I was tired of watching old men talk themselves silly, or pray endlessly to a God some of them could not quite believe in. Still, I reported their actions dutifully to my legion superiors. I was hoping that, if I performed my duties with distinction, I would eventually be noticed and would be given the responsibility to use every means at my disposal to corrupt as many human beings as I could. I didn’t care much about possessing and tormenting people. Corruption of the soul was what interested me most. To make human beings desire and do whatever is harmful and destructive to their bodies and souls, while they believe the opposite, and to see them delude themselves with the belief that they are free, when they are nothing but slaves of devils, is indeed thrilling and empowering. This, after all, is what every devil with ambition lives for. We chose these and other practices after our uprising failed. But we never gave up trying to become God’s favorite creatures. We thought that if we did succeed in our mission, our fortunes might improve. God would see how depraved human beings had become, misusing their free will, and would change his mind about them and us. God could change his mind, as he had done many times before, and welcome us back. It was a risky plan, but it was the only plan Lucifer had given us.

One of the people I had just begun to track more closely was the priest Zechariah, an old and difficult man, according to the scuttlebutt from the troops. I soon discovered that he was not only a hard man to deal with but also one of the few people I had come across who really believed in the One True God. This man had no doubts about God and his presence in the affairs of human beings. Because of his strong faith, I had been paying more attention to him than his very ordinary actions required.

He and his wife Elizabeth had placed their trust entirely in God, and for that reason, I thought, they were potentially very dangerous. People who let God into their hearts become so powerful that we cannot bring them down, no matter how hard we try. They were, however, old and childless. It appeared unlikely that they would exert much influence upon others, or have any part to play in the coming of the Messiah.

You cannot imagine my shock when I saw the archangel Gabriel, this harmony of power and beauty, gliding down from above and standing beside the old priest, as he was praying alone at the Temple. None of my comrades was around at the time. I couldn’t believe that I was the first and only soldier of Doom to see the angel everyone had been waiting for. But, he was right there, in front of me, ready to set in motion what was supposed to be the New Era on the earth.

I was afraid that Gabriel, an archangel with far greater powers than I possessed, would blow me away. To my surprise, he ignored my presence, and allowed me to remain in the vicinity. I tried to enter the Temple and move a bit closer, so I could hear whatever was said between them, but I was frozen in my position.

I wished that I had been closer to the priest before the descent of Gabriel, but there was no way that I could have done that. After all, the old man had been burning incense in the Temple of the Lord and glorifying him with loud songs and heartfelt praise. The chatter of the faithful that joined him in the Temple court made it impossible for me to hear what Gabriel told the old priest. I was sure however that an important message had been delivered. I did my best to instill doubts in the old man’s mind, even though I was there only to observe and report and had no authorization to take any other actions. Did he really see an angel? What exactly did he hear him say? Could the message possibly mean what he imagined rather than what he heard? This was an opportunity to interfere that I couldn’t possibly ignore.

When Zechariah came out of the Temple, he was unable to speak, and people said that he had seen a vision. He made signs to the people, trying to tell them that the archangel Gabriel had visited him, but not a sound came out of his mouth.

My first thought was to report to the legion command everything I had witnessed, and receive the credit and commendation given to those who are first with news of major events. After a moment’s reflection, however, it dawned on me that they could ignore me, or they could punish me, rather than reward me for intervening. I decided that I needed to know much more about this major event, before submitting a report announcing the news.

Surely, my superiors would want to know the content of Gabriel’s message. If I told them that I had no idea what it was, they would laugh at me and ridicule me for my incompetence. Besides, how could I justify tempting a man to doubt, when I had no idea if doubting was to our advantage in this case? All the benefits of reporting first would be for naught, and I would be left with shame and humiliation for my ineptitude. I made up my mind to follow the old priest to his home, and try to find out what Gabriel had told him.

After two days of stalking him, I discovered that the Almighty had, in fact, intervened once again in the affairs of mankind. He had announced to Zechariah that a son would be born to him and his wife, and that his name was to be John. That, in itself, would require a miracle, since Elizabeth had been barren and both she and Zechariah were too old to conceive.

I could not be sure that this was the entire message, but it was a momentous piece of news. The officers at the legion’s command would certainly find it remarkable. The only bright spot for us, at least as far as I could tell, was that even Zechariah, a man dedicated to God and facing an archangel, had some doubts about the message he was given, whether he succumbed to my influence or made them up all by himself. Apparently, he was being punished for his unbelief with the loss of his speech for nine months. The old man had to write out the angel’s message and show it to his wife, who then read it aloud to make sure that she understood.

Now I felt that I could proceed. I headed back to the command post of my legion, and asked to speak to the commander himself. My superiors were critical because I didn’t use the conscience continuum, which is our usual way of keeping in touch. But, more than that, they were furious with me when I refused to obey their command to reveal whatever news I had to them.

I have to speak directly to commander Garabon! I demanded with boldness that even I didn’t know I had. I was afraid, but I was sure it was best for me to talk first to the great Garabon, commander of the Crimson Legion and a good friend of Lucifer.

Do not try to read my mind without the commander’s permission, I warned the officers when I felt them probing. I knew I was taking a big risk going over the heads of so many high-ranking devils and issuing warnings, but I felt that this was my chance to be somebody. I had a lot of ambition and I knew that rising up in the ranks took courage, lots of faith in one’s superior ability, and willingness to take some risks. Besides, the message I was bringing could not be spread among the troops, before some top officers assessed its impact and devised a strategy for coping with its potential consequences. This, if nothing else, would justify my unusual conduct, in case they thought of reprimanding me later.

I was taken to the Hall of Horrors by two captains, and told to remain silent, no matter what happened. I was startled to see that the walls were covered with murals portraying atrocities from crimes, massacres, battles, plagues, and the aftermath of disasters, all in stunning, twisting, stifling, colored relief. It seemed that all the horrors of the Crimson Legion’s history were laid out on these undulating walls. I could never have imagined such spectacle. The red blood spilled by the Crimson Legion over the years was everywhere. I noticed that from time to time some living creature, a bleeding horse, a headless man, or some other tormented being would take form, and protrude out of the flat world of paint, and twitch, and writhe in pain for a long agonizing moment, before receding back into the background of the mural.

I waited for what seemed to be an eternity. Then, commander Garabon burst in the hall, and greeted me with a sullen face. Wearing his red velvet cape with the legion’s golden crest emblazoned on his chest, the commander towered above me. I stared down at his shiny, ceremonial red boots to show my respect. It was apparent that he had no use for uppity privates, and did not like wasting his time on someone of my lowly rank. I knew my fate hung in the balance. Unless Garabon deemed my message important to him, he would have me ridiculed by experts, before sending me on assignment to some impenetrable forest or the frozen tundra. It was too late to reconsider my course of action. I had to go through with it.

I summoned whatever courage I had left and asked that the two captains who had been guarding me, to leave the room.

Commander Garabon, holding back his anger at what he thought was sheer impudence on my part, snarled at them, Get out! Didn’t you hear the worm’s order?

We were alone in the princely hall with some of the horrors of the world, and the splendor of the legion’s power surrounding us in gold and ivory, red silk, and blood. I handed him my report, which he read very quickly, and I told him what I had witnessed. I purposely withheld a few details, in case I later had to prove to those who might doubt my account that I, indeed, had been present at the Temple that day and had done nothing wrong.

I have no doubt that this miraculous birth is the first act of God that sets in motion the change we have been expecting, I concluded.

The commander was shaken by the news, though he controlled himself enough to tell me how pleased he was by the thoroughness and accuracy of my report. And, you did the proper thing to insist on a private meeting, he went on, fighting against the fear my message had instilled in him.

I thought it would be best, if you were the only one beside me who knew the facts, I couldn’t help saying. This way you can be in control of how you brief Lucifer.

Quite so, quite so, he mumbled.

As the great commander pondered how to proceed, I waited standing at attention for further orders.

Focus your efforts on Zechariah and his wife, he commanded. Forget the other notables on your list. Stay around the priest’s house and report to me again, if you come across anything unusual. If this John is the Messiah that the prophets foretold, we’ll need to learn everything we can about him and his parents.

Yes, sir! I blurted out, to show my obedience to his command.

I must admit, however, that I already had my own ideas on how to proceed. I did not intend to spy on an old man while his wife’s belly grew big for nine months. Nor did I intend to gather tidbits about their life so we could figure out how to exploit the Messiah’s childhood problems. My plan was to keep an eye on old Elizabeth and her miraculously conceived child, but I wasn’t going to limit my observations to them and their house. I wanted to be free to roam around, following my instincts, so that I could be present if any other unusual thing transpired between God and man around them.

Naturally, I would give the appearance of doing exactly as I was told, because no one will tolerate a disobedient devil anymore. They want you to follow orders and do things by the book before they trust you with any important assignments. I was not about to give them an excuse to brand me a malcontent and put me out of action. At the same time, I wasn’t going to miss all the action on what appeared to be times of great change, just to comply with the irrelevant orders of some high-level ignoramus. In the back of my mind, however, I wondered how many of his henchmen would be assigned to watch my every move, and how good my skills for deception would have to be to escape detection.

As I left Garabon’s palace, I wondered whether he would tell Lucifer that it was little, lowly Azalek who brought him these disturbing news. Of course not! Why should he bother to mention me at all? No demon would ever give credit to another out of a sense of decency. Our pride would never permit it. More than likely, I thought, Garabon would soak up for himself any praise given to the Legion for the early detection of God’s plans. He would probably say that the breakthrough came because of the intelligence reports gathered from the conscience continuum, through the judicious application of an ingenious sorting system, conceived by him and implemented under his direction. I chuckled to myself, but it was a bitter taste I had.

Other uncertainties began to