An Old mystery ...

John Watkins · 04 Dec 2008, 20:21 · from 2008-December.txt.gz

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From: john.watkins04 at gmail.com (John Watkins)
Date: Thu, 4 Dec 2008 15:21:42 -0500
Subject: (urth) An Old mystery ...
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My main point, in this and others of the conceededly tiresome threads
on this topic, has been to argue that the Gene Wolfe who depicts
non-Christian faiths so empathetically in Long Sun, Short Sun, Latro,
etc., is likely a big believer in so-called anonymous Christianity.  I
very much doubt that he thinks that all of those people on Urth are
going straight to Hell--just try to imagine Silk, for example,
explaining to Horn that everyone who doesn't follow the Outsider will
burn eternally.  It's jarring, and almost certainly not where Wolfe is
going with the destruction of Urth.

Because of this, I don't see Severian's "Christ-like" characteristics
as implying any kind of moral sanction for the Ushas choice unless
there's something deeper going on--a third layer, behind the
Hierogrammates, where the Increate is working some kind of subtle
magic.  What this is, however, is a mystery I haven't solved yet.

And so I get frustrated when, on this list, many who are not
Christians themselves sort of imply that this monstrous act in the
book is something that I should just be gung-ho about because, well,
the Christian God is pretty much a monster Himself.  I don't buy that,
and I don't think Wolfe does, and I think it misses the mark in
understanding the New Sun.

Anyway, that's my take.  I've said it.

On 12/4/08, Jordon Flato <jordonflato at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> >
> >
> > >Not exactly sure that's a fair way to describe the Second Coming...the
> > >End of the Universe is naturally a "mass genocide" in a sense, but a
> > >very limited one...
> >
> >
>
>
> Fair enough.  But, the end of everything is a limited genocide?  I guess you
> can argue that, but there is always the ever present and tiring argument
> that the billions of non-Christians slated to go to hell is about as bad as
> the drowning of most of Urth.  However, that is a surface level and facile
> argument that I'm not going to put forward.  To me, that's about the level
> of "if God is so good, how come he let's kids die" argument, which I also
> think is facile.
>
> I'm going to definitely concede that one area that Severian is very
> UNChristlike is that he isn't aware of his (possible) connection with the
> Divine plan.  Christ certainly knows where his bread is buttered.  Sev
> doesn't.  But again, at root this is all a "Sev has some echos of the Christ
> Myth" not "Sev is actually Christ".
>
> The hair's we are splitting are getting so fine I'm gonna need a bigger
> scalpel.
>
> >
> >
> >
> > >Well, yes, but neither Severian nor, it seems, Tzadkiel is the master
> > >of life and death.  They have no sure knowledge of life "on the other
> > >side," nor any authority over creation the way a divine being does.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > >It'd be nice to have some textual evidence, though, wouldn't it?
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
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