Wolfe as Heretic

Matthew Weber · 19 May 2010, 23:18 · from 2010-May.txt.gz

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From: palaeologos at gmail.com (Matthew Weber)
Date: Wed, 19 May 2010 16:18:26 -0700
Subject: (urth) Wolfe as Heretic
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On Wed, May 19, 2010 at 3:50 PM, Lane Haygood <lhaygood at gmail.com> wrote:

> Remember also that the several writers of Biblical texts came from
> different stages along the evolution of the native Hebrew religion
> from one essentially indistinguishable from the general polytheism of
> the region to one of henotheism (in essence, a cult of Yahweh) to one
> of monotheism.  The work of the scholars and priests of Judaism has
> been to change the religion.  This could be a side effect of
> standardization of practice and teachings, in essence, organizing the
> religion from its tribal roots to one practiced by a priestly caste
> and promulgated through the use of standard texts and "orthodox"
> theology.
>
> The Bible (as well as early Church teachings based on it) represents
> the cultural, social and theological evolution of a people.
>
> LH
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That's one theory, certainly, but it's not uncontroversial even among
comparative religionists.  Judaism was constantly cheek-by-jowl with
paganism, and there was a constant struggle to keep it free of the religious
observances of "the nations".  There is an observable change from the
Pentateuch's language concerning other gods (what Max Mueller termed
"henotheistic") to that of the later Writings and Prophets, but that may not
be as significant as Mueller thought it was.  And Mueller himself was far
from an objective observer, since his teleology leads ultimately to a
non-personal, transcendent God which is inseparable from Nature--familiar to
those who have read widely in late 19th-century liberal Christianity.

I will grumpily admit, however, that "henotheism" is a useful word.

Just a brief comment on Antonio's point earlier : The position of the
Vatican, as far as I'm aware, is that Satan indeed has objective existence,
and power to tempt humanity.  Magic has always been forbidden (despite
Renaissance speculations and hair-splitting), not because it doesn't work,
but because one petitions the wrong forces in using it.  In James Blish's
excellent novel *The Day After Judgment*, the black magician Theron Ware
upbraids a Dominican who practices ritual magic and divination by saying
something like "There is no such thing as 'white magic'.  It is all black,
black, black as the ace of spades."  That's the official RC position as near
as I can figure, and although to believe in the efficacy of sorcery might be
old-fashioned, it ain't heretical.

-- 
Matt +

I feel again a spark of that ancient flame.
Virgil [Publius Vergilius Maro] (70-19 B.C.), Aeneid, bk. IV, l. 23
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