solution
The Keys of the Kingdom was written for DOS, and is (probably) © 1988(?) by Peterson Computer Company.
This solution is by David Welbourn, and is based on the version of the game (serial number 11000000000) that's on the IF Archive.
A couple tips:
Closet
You start off empty-handed in the church's closet. Why, I don't know. As you'll learn, you must equip yourself for the upcoming adventure before you can leave the church.
Upstairs from here is the Steeple. You don't need to visit there, but from there you can at least see the lay of the land. You can't take the bell, but it's okay to ring it.
>help. (To learn the basics.)
>i. (You're not carrying anything.)
>e.
Chapel
You may examine the box, coins, book, table, stand, and door. The table is actually the altar. Since the book is a bible, you want the book, so take it.
Although you want the coins too, taking them is a big no-no, and you'll lose them all later when it's time to leave. On the other hand if you leave them alone, you'll get 10 of them when it's time to leave, which should be plenty.
>examine bible. (+10 pts : Not for examining the book, but for referring to it as a "bible".)
>take bible. (+10 pts)
>read bible. (+5 pts : For reading it the first time. "Psalms 119:105" is the default passage, which suggests that you use the word of God to help light your path. In other words, treat the bible like a hint guide. Examine the bible at any time in the game to get a biblical passage reference that's relevant for your current situation.)
>pray. (+5 pts : For praying the first time.)
>n.
Loft
This room is optional, but at least you can take the song book.
>examine song book. take it. sing. s. e.
Study
Examine the mural, if you like, but the sword is the important thing in the room. Note that "unsheath sword" is much the same as "examine sword".
>examine sword. take sword. (+10 pts)
>w.
Chapel
The slick man is the Devil. As you learn here, the sight of the sword will force him to flee. This is what this sword is for; you won't actually be killing anybody or cutting anything with it.
>unsheath sword. (+10 pts)
>knock on door. (+10 pts, and 10 coins. The Star Wars reference is a strange touch.)
>s.
Entry
>s.
Front of Chapel
>w.
Road in the Woods (west of Chapel)
>w.
Evil Army Camp
You won't be able to go west from here until much later.
>take sling. e. e. s.
Market Place
You won't need the bottle, spices, or idol.
>examine food.
>buy coat. buy food. buy lamp. buy oil.
>put oil in lamp.
>n. e.
Road in the Woods (east of Chapel)
>e.
Creek
You may safely drink the water, if you like. I think you only need one stone, really, but well,... you'll see.
Also, north of here is another location called Creek, with a cave you can explore after lighting your lamp. But for this walkthrough, I'm going to ignore the cave for now (even though it is an alternate entrance into the village).
>take five stones.
>e.
Hot Rough Road
You'll need to wear shoes to get further east.
>w.
Creek
Surprisingly, you can't ask John the Baptist to baptize you.
>soldier, John. (+5 pts for recognizing John the Baptist)
>give coat to John. (+10 pts, and a pair of shoes)
>wear shoes. e. e.
Small Village
>ne.
Lake
After the miracle of the loaves of fishes, you may eat or take the food, if you like.
>wait. give food to Jesus. (+10 pts)
>ne.
House
>give one coin to beggar. (+5 pts)
>w. take beggar. u.
Roof
move plank. lower beggar. (+10 pts)
>d.
House
Wait three turns (or do anything else for three turns) until Jesus is led away to be crucified.
>wait. wait. wait. ne.
Golgotha
>examine helmet. take it. (+10 pts)
>examine breastplate. take it. (+10 pts)
>wear helmet. wear breastplate.
>sw. sw. sw.
Small Village
>s.
Valley
>pray. drop sword. (Yes, you must drop it.)
>put one stone in sling. swing sling at giant. (+10 pts)
>take sword. sw.
Den
>wait. man, lion. man, honey. man, Samson. (+10 pts. How do you know all this? From the Bible. Samson leaves; lions enter.)
>pray. (+10 pts, and the lions are now tame)
>se.
Jericho
This is a timed sequence, so you may want to save first.
There's a location called Jericho City Square to the south, but there's nothing to do there; ignore it.
You can't cut the ropes with the sword, so you must untie them. You must leave the contents of the the chest alone, you just want the red rope. (Incidently, the jewelry can't be refered to as "jewelry", but "jewels" works.) You can take the blue rope safely, but you'll lose it anyway when the walls tumble down.
>untie red rope. tie red rope to north window. (The invading army recognizes this as a signal that you sympathize with them. How do you know this? From the Bible.)
>wait. (Repeat waiting until the walls fall, and the army rescues you. +10 pts when they do.)
Ruins of Jericho
>s.
North Bank of River
You cannot swim across, although you can try.
>s. yes. (Have faith. You can walk on water.)
Middle of River
>s. (+10 pts)
Heroes Hall of Faith
>examine shield. take it. (+10 pts)
>wear shield. n. n. n. nw. ne. n.
Small Village
>e.
Archway
>light lamp. e.
Passage Room
Okay, this is a little complicated to explain. This is a two room maze. All paths from one room lead to the other. You can verify this by dropping items. If you pray, you get the hint that you should consult your bible after every move. And you'll notice that the bible passage will be different in the Reading Room.
The theme of the maze is "truth". The central passage (John 8:32) suggests find the truth to be free (of the maze). You can read ten other bible passages in the Reading Room, depending on which of the ten directions you entered from the Passage Room. The passages can be summarized as follows:
So the solution is to visit all of the TRUTH rooms without visiting any of the LIE rooms.
>e. e. s. s. sw. sw. nw. nw. u. (Angel takes you back to Archway.)
Archway
>examine belt. take belt. (+10 pts)
>wear belt. put out lamp. w.
Small Village
Take a moment to make sure that you are wearing the helmet, breastplate, belt, shield, and shoes. And this is a good place to save the game. In fact, get in the habit of saving the game often if you aren't already doing so.
>sw.
Inn
You must be wearing the belt before you can enter the Inn. When the belt tingles, it means that it's detected either a truth or a falsehood that you should pay attention to. Examine the belt and look up in your bible the appropriate verse refered to by the glowing buckle.
>wait. wait. wait. (Your belt is tingling!)
>unsheath sword. (+10 pts, and the Devil is gone again. If you wait too long, the results are disastrous.)
>ne.
Small Village
>se. (+5 pts, and you go directly to Catacombs via Upper Room)
Catacombs
There are six underground rooms called Catacombs. Four of them are arranged like a diamond, connecting at the diagonal corners, and two more head west from the western point of the diamond towards the Creek where the cave entrance is.
You can go up from any of the Catacombs rooms in the diamond. To wit: Up from north Catacombs goes to Inside House. Up from west Catacombs goes to Small Village. Up from east Catacombs goes to Passage Room. Up from south Catacombs (where you are now) goes to Den. You may also go down from Small Village to re-enter the Catacombs.
Anyway, ...
>light lamp. look. ne.
>Peter, yes. examine letter.
>sw. nw. u.
Small Village
>put out lamp. nw.
Thicket
Be careful! Whenever in the game you hear "a sound from the brush... match lighting", RAISE SHIELD! Otherwise, you'll lose all your possessions as you run away.
>raise shield. (+10 pts for first deflection)
>n.
Cappadocia
>examine people. give letter to people. (+10 pts)
>s.
Thicket
>raise shield. se.
Small Village
Except for the locked Palace Gate to the north, we've done everything we can here. Off to the Evil Army Camp.
>w. w. w. w. w. w.
Evil Army Camp
>w.
Thicket
Same drill as in the other Thicket: RAISE SHIELD. You'll get fired on at random for quite some time after this point, so I'm counting on you to RAISE SHIELD on your own when necessary; it takes priority over any other action.
>raise shield. sw.
Dark Tunnel
There are only two Dark Tunnel locations, but the connections are confusing.
>light lamp. ne. (Garbonzo steals your lamp.)
>sw.
Base of Mountain
>u. remove shoes. u. (+5 pts)
Top of Mountain
>d.
Base of Mountain
>wear shoes. e.
Fork in Path
Belt tingling again! By reading the passages on the belt, you'll learn that Thomas is trustworthy and Robin is not. Thomas will suggest that you take the northeast branch; Robin will (if you let him) suggest the southeast branch.
Do not take the southeast branch. It leads thru Dense Jungle to a Sea Coast, where you'll get mugged when you try to return north.
>thomas, yes. unsheath sword. (+10 pts for exposing the Devil yet again)
>ne.
Dense Jungle
>e.
Battle Field
If things go too poorly, you risk capture and you'll be sent to the Sea Coast, which is bad. When you defeat all three forces, Garbonzo flees north.
>axemen, Jesus died. (+10 pts; The axes disintegrate and the axemen run away. How on earth did I guess this? I tried removing the helmet, then after I got pummelled, Jesus explained what the helmet was all about.)
>pray. (+10 pts; Jesus appears and shames the pikemen away.)
>unsheath sword. (+10 pts; The goons, who are really demons, are repelled.)
>n.
Rocky Field
>n.
Cliff
The syntax "beggar, believe in Jesus" was in the game's initial help, so it shouldn't be a surprise that you'd use it somewhere in the game.
>pull Garbonzo. Garbonzo, believe in Jesus. (+10 pts, and Garbonzo heads for the Chapel.)
>e.
Northeast of Chapel
Different chapel, of course. After you've got the keys, go all the way back to the other chapel. Don't forget to keep deflecting those fire arrows with your shield.
>read inscription. open rock. look.
>examine keys. take keys. (+20 pts)
>nw. s. s. w. w. e. sw. ne. sw. e. e. e. n. n.
Chapel
By the way, the lamp is back for sale in the Market Place, but you have no further need of it.
>Garbonzo, Jesus died. (+10 pts, and a map)
>examine map.
>s. s. e. e. e. e. n.
Palace Gate
You may examine the gate and keyhole, if you like.
>unlock gate with keys. open gate. (+10 pts)
>n. (+20 pts)