catholic acceptance of genesis

maa32 · 20 Apr 2002, 16:09 · from urth-v0204.mbox · original

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From: maa32 <maa32 at dana.ucc.nau.edu>
Subject: (urth) catholic acceptance of genesis
Date: Sat, 20 Apr 2002 09:09:13 -0700
Message-ID: <urth-v0204-726 at digest.urth.net>
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A few things I wanted to say that are probably already obvious.  One of the=
m=20
is that the Severian's parallels with Christ are painfully painfully obviou=
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but the one miracle that can't be rationally explained by the power over ti=
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that the other miracles of Severian can be explained by (except in UoTNS)=20
occurs when the water changes to wine at the beginning of Claw.  What is go=
ing=20
on here?  Bringing people back to life can be seen as a reversal of time in=
 a=20
localized area, certainly a power that the hierodules might be able to gran=
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their servant.  However, that is so explicitly different it seems to be=20
transmutation rather than transtemporality. Later in Urth, the return of th=
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child's limb to normal seems to smack of transmutation as well, but I alway=
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assumed it was a return to life of the reproducing and developing cells tha=
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had failed to be completed.  Or is he creating new matter? I think there is=
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big difference between creating matter and controlling time, and an imitato=
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of Christ is not likely to have either of those capabilities (from my=20
experience). Of course, since Gene says Severian is imitating Christ, well=20
then, I guess that's the interpretation we have to go with.

Also, from a Catholic perspective, I don't think the presence of the rainbo=
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is important to Urth of the New Sun's flood.  It is merely a symbol - there=
 is=20
the idea that the first 11 chapters of Genesis or so are simply a story tha=
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helps justify the ways of God to man in a a primitive fashion that primitiv=
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man could understand; its literal truth is not as important as its function=
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truth.  I think this is pretty well accepted by Catholics, who insist that=20
divinely inspired does not equal literal truth, but rather symbolic=20
explanation, or something like that.  I think the Pope's statement that=20
"evolution might be more than a theory" certainly tends to undermine a stri=
ct=20
Catholic adherence to the literal nature of scripture.  (And I think a=20
scientist who works with the textbook definition of "theory" might get an=20
immense kick out of the Pope's statement).

Marc Aramini

--=20

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