Holy Writ

The Holy Writ was the sacred text of the Church of God Awaiting. Originally written by Maruyama Chihiro, a member of Eric Langhorne's staff, it served as the theological basis for life on Safehold for many centuries.

Premise

According to the Writ, God had created Safehold as a home where His children could live in simple harmony with one another, embracing a lifestyle uncomplicated by anything which might come between Him and them. Towards that end, He had selected archangels to help with the creation and perfection of the world, as well as to serve as mentors and guardians for humans. The greatest of the archangels had been the Archangel Langhorne, the patron of divine law and life, and the Archangel Bédard, the patron of wisdom and knowledge. (OAR)

Contents

The Writ was divided into a number of "books", each dedicated to one archangel and his or her field of patronship:

• The Book of Langhorne – dealing with the "law of God"
• The Book of Bédard – teaching "wisdom and self-knowledge"
• The Book of Pasquale – dealing with sanitation, hygiene, diet and healthcare
• The Book of Sondheim – teaching farming
• The Book of Truscott – teaching the breeding and keeping of animals
• The Book of Schueler – describing the punishment for defying the archangels' teachings
• The Book of Jwo-jeng – describing the technology allowed by God's will
• The Book of Chihiro – laying down the history of Safehold and Shan-wei's fall
• The Book of Andropov –
• The Book of Hastings – dealing with the shape of the world (actually an atlas of Safehold)