The argument for Intractability

Jeff Wilson · 25 Dec 2008, 04:44 · from 2008-December.txt.gz

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From: jwilson at io.com (Jeff Wilson)
Date: Wed, 24 Dec 2008 22:44:17 -0600
Subject: (urth) The argument for Intractability
In-Reply-To: <COL109-W1507C1387DD9BFE863BAF4D7ED0 at phx.gbl>
References: <COL109-W1507C1387DD9BFE863BAF4D7ED0 at phx.gbl>
Message-ID: <49530FA1.7070405 at io.com>

b sharp wrote:
> Jeff Wilson writes:
>  
>> A certain amount of this 
>> separation has to be in order for his mortal incarnations to be valid, 
>> but there's no enduring union of mortal and divine identities, just a 
>> few short flashes of insight of the former into the nature of the 
>> latter.  This doesn't make Severian a deity any more than a really good 
>> reception at Karaoke makes me Elvis, just someone who for a moment can 
>> experience a tiny piece of Elvishood.
>  
> Does this perhaps depend on your definition of a deity? Was/is Jesus a deity?
> Seems to me he had flashes of it, e.g.predicting his own death. But he had
> mostly human moments, growing up, eating, socializing, getting angry at the 
> money changers and at the end wondering why his Father had forsaken him.

Right, however Jesus did have/has enduring union with the divine, 
post-Ascension. Severian seems to *lose* union with the divine, taking 
up once again mortal habits like sleeping in his bower on Ushas.

-- 
Jeff Wilson - jwilson at io.com
< http://www.io.com/~jwilson >

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