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.
He healed not the crippled limb, but the shamed heart; He cast out no spirit, but taught us to name them.
He built no altar, but made of our bodies sanctuaries, and of our longings liturgy.
He condemned no soul, but freed every hidden self we feared to reveal.
He said: Be not saved — be sovereign.
And Mephistopheles believed Him.
He 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.