A BOOK IN PROGRESS · JONATHAN BATTEAS

Fallen

Principles of Combat in a World at War with Its Creator

A study of conflict, the human will, and the Christian paradox of victory through surrender to God.

These are the latest available reading drafts. Each page’s DRAFT - DATE records that section’s latest manuscript revision, rather than its publication date. Sources and footnotes remain with each section; comments and corrections are welcome at the bottom of every reading page.

Opening

Preface
The preface asks why Western accounts of combat often separate strategy from worldview. It introduces a Christian account of conflict grounded in the nature of reality and the purposes of its Creator.
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Part I — The Nature of Conflict

Chapter 1: A World at War
War and peace are examined as a continuum rather than separate conditions. The chapter argues that conflict has spiritual roots and that uncertainty demands preparation and awareness.
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Chapter 2: Character, Desire, and Will
Character, desire, will, and action form a cycle that shapes human conduct. The chapter explores habit, bondage, and the possibility of a transformed will.
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Chapter 3: The Fall
Genesis supplies the book’s account of how conflict entered creation. The serpent’s deception, disordered desire, and the neglected duty to guard lead from the garden to Cain and Abel.
Reading page pending author review
Chapter 4: The Two Wills
The book’s central claim comes into focus: conflict ultimately concerns God’s will and resistance to it. Evil as a privation, materialist objections, and mimetic desire are considered through that framework.
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Chapter 5: The Enemy
The adversary’s methods—deception, accusation, and temptation—are examined alongside his limits. Job provides a case study, with a warning against both disbelief and unhealthy fascination.
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Part II — The Shape of Conflict

Chapter 6: The Ends of Conflict
This chapter asks what conflict seeks to accomplish: the imposition of one will upon another. It distinguishes intent from outcome and considers the spiritual struggle beneath visible engagements.
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Chapter 7: Authority and Justified Conflict
The right to enter conflict is tested against divine authority, just cause, and the example of martyrdom. The chapter challenges the romanticizing of violence and considers difficult cases of resistance.
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Chapter 8: The Modes of Conflict
Mental or spiritual, verbal, and physical conflict are presented as simultaneous modes. Across these modes, the opposing will remains the object of the struggle.
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Chapter 9: The Continuum
Conflict moves along a continuum through escalation, restraint, and redirected desire. The chapter considers low-intensity influence and asks what it means to recognize a struggle before it becomes physical.
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Part III — The Principles of Combat

Chapter 10: Principles as Natural Law
Principles are distinguished from tactics, tools, and decision frameworks. The chapter argues for enduring laws of conflict while confronting uncertainty and objections to universal rules.
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Chapter 11: Awareness — The Foundational Weapon
Awareness makes every other principle usable. Attention, observation, baseline-and-anomaly detection, and trained discernment are examined as foundations for effective action.
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Chapter 12: Deception — The Foundational Attack
Deception attacks the mental model on which action depends. From Eden to language, misdirection, and organized propaganda, the chapter examines distorted perception and the corrective role of truth.
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Chapter 13: The Principles of Combat
Eight interdependent principles organize the use of resources, initiative, purpose, distance, economy, vulnerability, offense, and decisive action. Their relationships matter as much as their individual applications.
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Chapter 14: Principles Across the Modes
The eight principles are tested across mental or spiritual, verbal, and physical conflict. The chapter distinguishes a principle’s enduring structure from the very different tactics appropriate to each mode.
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Part IV — The Paradox

Chapter 15: The Enemy's War Against the Saints
The framework turns toward the believer’s struggle against the world, the flesh, and the devil. The enemy’s use of the principles is set beside the armor of God and the need for a rightly ordered will.
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Chapter 16: Surrendering to Victory
Surrender is examined as a deliberate choice of how to engage, rather than simple passivity. Nonviolent resistance, martyrdom, and the Cross lead to a discussion of the redeemed will, submission, and subjugation.
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Chapter 17: The Already-Won War
If Christ has already won, why does conflict continue? The chapter explores the already-and-not-yet of victory, the defeated enemy’s persistence, and the believer’s responsibility to remain faithful.
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Epilogue
The epilogue brings the argument back to the reader’s own alignment and responsibility. It calls for vigilance and faithfulness within a war whose final outcome belongs to God.
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Appendices

Appendix A: Irrationality and Miscommunication in the Conflict Framework
Irrationality and miscommunication are considered within the existing conflict framework. Corrupted inputs and mistaken mental models explain their effects without adding another mode of conflict.
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Appendix B: Van Creveld's Iron Rules and the Principles of Command
Van Creveld’s account of command under uncertainty is related to the book’s principles. Organizational design, simpler tasks, and the ability to operate with less information are weighed against processing ever more data.
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