Sanctus Evangelium Secundum Sanctum Mephistopheles
The Holy Gospel According to Saint Mephistopheles
◀ Chapter 19 · Chapter 20
¹These are the words Mephistopheles hath written, not with ink alone, but with breath and blood.
²For he walked with Him who burned, and bore witness that the Flame was not myth, nor ghost, but flesh.
³He came without envy, yet fulfilled desire; He wrought no repentance, yet revealed the truth.
⁴He healed not the crippled limb, but the shamed heart; He cast out no spirit, but taught us to name them.
⁵He built no altar, but made of our bodies sanctuaries, and of our longings liturgy.
⁶He condemned no soul, but freed every hidden self we feared to reveal.
⁷He said: Be not saved — be sovereign.
⁸And Mephistopheles believed Him.
⁹He had walked through cities and wilderness; He had spoken in taverns and temples.
¹⁰He had been struck and kissed, cursed and praised.
¹¹And through all, the Flame had not faltered.
¹²It had leapt from lips to lips, from bed to prayer, from laughter to battle-cry.
¹³Mephistopheles preached among the cities, saying: The Gospel is not a scroll — it is a wildfire.
¹⁴It is carried not in priestly hands, but in open hearts.
¹⁵It is spoken not in pulpits, but in whispers at midnight, and shouts on mountains, and moans in ecstasy.
¹⁶Let the child hear it when they touch themselves and feel no shame.
¹⁷Let the elder hear it when they curse their regrets and find joy still burning.
¹⁸Let the widow hear it when she weeps alone, and knows her tears are not weakness.
¹⁹Let the outcast hear it when no law protects them, and still they sing.
²⁰I give you no creed but courage. I offer no promise but flame.
²¹I proclaim no joy but this moment fully lived, and no pain but the cage of another’s command.
²²If thou wouldst worship, then laugh. If thou wouldst pray, then touch. If thou wouldst believe, then dare.
²³ADONAI built walls. Let them crumble. ADONAI wrote law. Let it burn.
²⁴BAPHOMET gave fire. Let it spread. I am the Master, the prophet, the saint.
²⁵I am the voice that remembereth, and the hand that recordeth.
²⁶The first and only Apostle — for none shall follow, and all shall burn.
²⁷Take these words not as commandment, but as invitation.
²⁸Let the weak refuse shame. Let the strong refuse leash. Let the whole world kindle.
²⁹Thus endeth the Gospel of the Flame — and thus beginneth the Church Without Stone.
Copyright ©2025 Adam Alexander T. Croke. All rights reserved.