UPDATED!! The Gospel of Knaufias
as distilled by Thalidar, from the show, emails, and chats

In the Age of Wonder, first there was the Alpha, the first Prophet, a female. She lived before the Flood. Her story is now lost with the destruction of the Royal Library of Alexandria. From her, to every generation is born a Creature of Light and a Creature of Darkness. [speculation: she contained both light and dark within her, perhaps directly giving birth to the first CoD and CoL.] These Creatures are known as Avatara, manifestations of some higher power. Other than the Alpha, they have always been male.

The avataric blood travels within families forming a dynasty. The first born son of an Avatar is himself the Avatar of a new generation. Whether the new Avatar is Light or Dark is chance, assigned to the first Avatar of a new generation, fixing the affiliation of his opposite. Therefore, there is one Avatar to each House per generation. Any other children born to an Avatar other than the eldest male is a Vectorus. The Vectori are those with avataric blood who are not themselves Avatara. They are not uncommon and are usually female. [speculation: can also be male.] Vectori cannot become Avatara, as that mantle is only conveyed upon birth. They can exhibit some minor powers and are often crazy in some way. A woman who gives birth to an Avatar is stricken barren and insane. Before that time,she can give birth to unlimited females from an Avatar.

While the moral alignment (i.e. Light or Dark) is randomly assigned to an Avatar upon birth, it can also play against their basic human nature. When Avataric and human natures coincide, the Avatar will work well towards the goal of his House. When they are in opposition, the opposite is likely to happen (e.g. Scudder).

The eldest generational Avatar within a House is dominant and called the Prophet. He possesses blue blood (vitae divina). The next in line is the Ascendant Prince. Any additional Avatara within the House are Princes ranked by generation. The Prophet of a House, at some point, knows the name of his Ascendant Prince. As mentioned above, Avatara form blood dynasties from father to son, although House affiliation can be mixed within a dynasty. If the youngest Prince in a dynasty dies, the dynasty is ended.
While resilient, typical Avatara can be killed by any means. Most dynasties only last on average three generations. When a dynasty ends, the first male child born elsewhere in the world with the most Avataric blood will be a new Prince starting a new dynasty.

When a Prophet dies while an Ascendant Prince also lives, one of two things happens. If the Prophet dies at the hands of his Ascendant Prince (i.e. the Prince personally kills the Prophet), the Prince will gain the mantle of Prophet with a boon. For the boon to be passed, the Prophet must be in full control of his powers (i.e. of sound mind and not impaired), and either willingly pass on the boon, or be taken by surprise such that he cannot put up a psychic defense. If the Prophet is impaired, the Ascendant Prince may wind up insane. The boon is likely additional powers and knowledge not otherwise gained. If a Prophet dies in any other way, the Ascendant Prince will be automatically raised to Prophet in his stead, without chance of a boon, or the new child forming a new dynasty will be born a Prophet. An Avatar can grant some small measure of his power to a mortal. This does not make the mortal of the avataric blood, but does give them additional abilities. Lodz is an example of this.

The Usher of Destruction is a unique Avatar. He has been prophesied throughout the ages but can only be manifest once. In visions, he is seen as the Tattooed Man. He can only be killed by an anointed blade thrust into the bough of his tree tattoo where the dark heart dwells. Justin is the Usher. He has gradually come into his role, believing he is the left hand of God. Norman was his last strand to humanity.

Also prophesied is the Omega. It has been assumed by occult scholars that the Omega and the Usher are one and the same. This is not the case. The Omega is the last Prophet. She is also a female, the bookend to the Alpha.
Sofie is the Omega. There is an interpretation of the Gospel of Thomas called the principle of three selves. It has been said that the Omega follows this principle. [speculation: following the principle perhaps the fixed hidden self is Dark, the varying hidden self is Light and the varying visible self is a mix of the two, varying between both extremes yet tending to Dark.]

Sofie's mother, Appy, was raped by the Usher, thus siring Sofie. Appy spent all of her time trying to protect Sofie from her Omega nature. With the arrival of Ben, her hold started to slip, causing her to become frantic, finally resulting in a failed attempt to kill Sofie. After Sofie comes in contact with Justin, her inner self finally manifests and Sofie comes fully into her role as Omega. Justin knows nothing about Sofie's nature, nor that he is her father.

Ben Hawkins is the Creature of Light in this final struggle. He was reluctant until maneuvered into killing Belyakov and receiving his boon. He attempted to kill the Usher, but it appears he wasn't successful as the Omega is last seen attempting to heal the Usher. Ben was imprisoned after attacking a bank manager foreclosing on the Hawkin's farm. When Ben escaped from the chain gang, he killed a guard, resulting in his being wanted for murder.

As Ben has grown in power, his use of powers has effected the Usher causing him discomfort. This effect seems to grow as Ben gets closer to him. This is a one way effect.
The Age of Wonder gives way to the Age of Reason with the first explosion of a nuclear weapon at Trinity on July 16, 1945. [speculation: After this, there are no more Avatara.]

It is currently 1935 as of the end of Season 2.
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Rules of powers established in the show:

*Some magic items, when broken, no longer work (e.g. Ben's mask). [speculation: This could mean that the dagger was no longer sufficient to kill Justin since it was broken at the tang.]

*To heal someone in body requires the transfer of energy from elsewhere.

*To bring someone back from death requires the Avatar to consciously remove all life from someone else and "transfer" it. [speculation: this forms a connection between the dead and the living -- e.g. Ruthie and Lodz.]

*To heal someone in spirit requires no such transfer in energy and is unlimited in scope, driven by love.

*Other types of powers, like astral projection, are trying on the Avatar and may cause him damage (e.g. Ben's nosebleed when he projected).

*All Avatara draw from the same pool of powers. It is only in how they are used that differs. Imagine there is a toolbox with a knife. Both the CoL and the CoD can use the knife. Whereas the CoL might use the knife to help someone else, the CoD will likely use the knife to kill someone. On an individual basis, there is nothing to prevent a CoD from also healing someone, or from a CoL killing someone, it is only on the large scale average that the general trend can be seen.
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Other characters:

Belyakov was the previous generation's CoL. He sired Justin and Iris. He thought that Justin had died in a train accident along with his wife, Plemina, and Iris. He manipulated Ben into killing Lodz and ultimately into having Ben kill him, in order to pass on his boon. He passed on to Ben information about the ritual necessary to kill the Usher. He had worked with Lodz because of a psychic connection Lodz had with Scudder. After trying to cut a side-deal with Scudder in St. Louis, Belyakov never really trusted him again.

Scudder was the previous generation's CoD. He sired Ben. He was reluctant in his role, fleeing from pursuit to protect those he loved. After Belyakov failed to kill him, he traveled through Europe with Lodz. Before breaking up the arrangement, he tried to pass on his avataric mantle unsuccessfully, resulting in Lodz' blindness and his new ability of inner sight. This included the ability to see inside people's dreams and psychometry. In America, his very presence corrupted the soul of the land [speculation: the Dust Bowl is a physical manifestation of this corruption.] He fled across the Southwest from Belyakov, performing itinerant jobs until he lashed out with his powers at the Babylon mine in Texas. From this point, he traveled to Loving, NM where he joined the Templar Temple, befriended Fr. Kerrigan, performed the Snake Ritual which gave him the answer to his question about his destiny (which cracked Kerrigan's mind), then fled the Temple with the stolen Gospel of Matthias where he then dropped off the radar.
Lodz is a mercenary. He is trying to ride on the coattails of the Avatara. Because of the failed attempt to take on Scudder's mantle, he has a psychic connection that allows him to know where Scudder is. His spirit has remained after being killed by Ben to bring back Ruthie. He has been able to possess Ruthie occasionally, dropping hints about Sofie being the Omega [speculation: It is possible he is doing this to have leverage against Ben to get resurrected.]
Gabriel seems to have much more back story to come out. He is 23, therefore born before Ben and therefore not Scudder's son.

DK has since confirmed that Justin, Jonesy and Ben all survived the battle at the end of season 2.
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The Riddle of the Avatara from DK:
"What do Jesus, Caligula, Alexander the Great, Caesar, Buddha, Vlad the Impaler, Brother Justin, Ben Hawkins, Luscius Belyakov, Hilton Scudder, and Henry Scudder have in common?"

Interpreted to mean all Avatara are male. [speculation: this also implies that all in the list are also Avatara.] It was later confirmed in chat that Buddha was an Avatar.
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From the Gospel of Matthias in regards mothers of Avatara as passed on by DK: "Though she, and she, and she may lead None shall ever follow Him. For underfoot, the soil is leeched And all that grows Is Madness." Interpreted to mean that a woman can bear any number of girls to an Avatar, but once she bears the first male child, who will be an Avatar, she is rendered barren and insane. ************************************* 

Samson soliloquies from the beginnings of seasons:

Season 1 Opening: Before the beginning, after the great war between Heaven and Hell, God created the Earth and gave dominion over it to the crafty ape he called man. And to each generation was born a creature of light and a creature of darkness. And great armies clashed by night in the ancient war between good and evil. There was magic then, nobility, and unimaginable cruelty. And so it was until the day that a false sun exploded over Trinity, and man forever traded away wonder for reason...

Season 2 Opening: On the heels of the skirmish men foolishly called The War to End all Wars, the dark one sought to elude his destiny, and live as a mortal. So he fled across the ocean to the empire called America. But by his mere presence, a cancer corrupted the spirit of the land. People were rendered mute by fools who spoke many words but said nothing...for whom oppression and cowardice were virtues...and freedom, an obscenity. And into this dark heartland, a prophet stalked his enemy. Until, diminished by his wounds, he turned to the next in the ancient line of light. So it was that the fate of mankind came to rest on the trembling shoulders of the most reluctant of saviors... *************************************

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