Severian as reverse Christ (or something)

Jordon Flato · 21 Nov 2008, 21:32 · from 2008-November.txt.gz

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From: jordonflato at gmail.com (Jordon Flato)
Date: Fri, 21 Nov 2008 13:32:12 -0800
Subject: (urth) Severian as reverse Christ (or something)
In-Reply-To: <217603.46334.qm at web37602.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
References: <W7358323250311227301220@webmail41>
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	<217603.46334.qm at web37602.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <273409710811211332p23fe6152o80a7caf23b991854 at mail.gmail.com>

I have a feeling this has been beaten to death in posts I haven't yet read
from years past, but the wiping out of nearly all life on earth has been
something undertaken by the Increate before, in our own Judeo-Christian
tradition, so there is plenty of basis for it not being Evil.  Also, what is
Revelations but the wiping of the old order and the creation of a new.
Cataclysm is nearly always the consequence in the renewal of Earth, in
either a temporal or spiritual sense.

If one is a Christian, it's something one has to be reconciled to, otherwise
you have to ignore large swaths of the Bible's teaching.

And I am in full agreement that we should keep Wolfe's faith squarely in
mind when analyzing the book.  I'm not Catholic myself, but I find knowing
that about Wolfe helps me immensly in thinking about this text.

Oh wait, I just realized you are speaking of the end of the Short Sun, not
Urth of the New Sun.  Hmmmm.  Now I can't say I follow you....

On Fri, Nov 21, 2008 at 1:25 PM, Craig Brewer <cnbrewer at yahoo.com> wrote:

> >2)  Severian is not Christ, but is propped up as a sort of
> Christ-figure by the (by this theory, anyway) villianous
> Hierogrammates.  He may be either their half-innocent dupe, in which
> case he's basically Puzzle, or he may be their willing accomplice, in
> which case he's basically the Anti-Christ.
>
> This idea in particular has always seemed particularly compelling to me
> given what happens at the end of the Short Sun. I've always thought that we
> were supposed to contrast Silk and Severian at some very deep level.
>
>
>
>
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