Severian / Christ / Logos / Apocatastasis

John Watkins · 25 Nov 2008, 22:34 · from 2008-November.txt.gz

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From: john.watkins04 at gmail.com (John Watkins)
Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2008 17:34:08 -0500
Subject: (urth) Severian / Christ / Logos / Apocatastasis
In-Reply-To: <W4990719975228091227651867@webmail41>
References: <W4990719975228091227651867@webmail41>
Message-ID: <93d4039f0811251434l7997bd70gf80243df2b5dc83e at mail.gmail.com>

Let's not overstate the "ballsiness" required for a Christian to
recognize the mythic elements of Christianity and apply them to
speculative fiction.  It's been going on for a very long time.

> Frankly, I've met very few Christian's who consider it myth.
> yet it is most evidently myth. It's our modern conception of myth that's screwed up. Myth does not mean "Old incorrect legend" AT ALL (yes, I'm yelling there)  The plot of the bible could be all literal fact, and it would still be myth. It's a myth about God in the language symbols of Man.  A HUGE portion of the Christian myth is about Resurrection and Death, the reconciliation of debased man with divine God, and Exile and Return.  All the same can be said of Book of the New Sun.

...

> It really matters not if the conflation of the flood and the saving of Urth (and Briah, right?) from death makes it different from the myth of the flood and the myth of salvation.  In fact the conflation is one of the more interesting aspects.
> > I say Bravo to Wolfe for having the balls to do something this audacious. Risking Christian disapproval and secular disinterest/rejection at the same time is no safe game.  He stands to alienate either audience at the outset.
> Perhaps that's why he's so sly about it all.
>
> ~witz
>
>
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