Some problems if the Pancreator/Outsider is the

At 11:45 AM 6/9/2002 -0500,Steve S. wrote: The lapsing of the church and of the sacraments would be more troubling, theologically, I agree. But it hasn't necessarily happened in Wolfe's world. For one thing, the race of mankind has spread to other stars. That the Christian church may have died on one planet would not preclude the possibility that a remnant remains. Part of what Wolfe is writing about is a society caught up in idolatry and the breaking in of the Outsider (as a thief) into that world; the lapse of the church into idolatry and the diminution of the Outsider's role in the culture's worldview is an component of that endeavor.

Don't know if I have anything to add to your point about the flood. Maybe, the idea is that the world was already destroyed, had run down, and the New Sun is its rebirth, not destruction.

At 03:33 PM 6/12/2002 -0400, Rostrum wrote: I assumed that these were deliberate parodies of Islam, Judaism, Christianity, etc. by Typhon et. al. But since Typhon thought it was all bunk, he inadvertently incorporated bits that connect to the real God - references to Jesus, the Outsider, etc.

I think the only out is to either assume this is an earlier universe or that we're not supposed to try to literally fit Severian's adventures into Christian Salvation History -- they are an icon of God's work in our world, rather than literal speculation about how our story might continue.

Well, if I recall, Tzad is a Hierogrammate. But I could be wrong.

P.S. -- Can't resist sharing this: my wife was telling our three-year-old twins stories from the Bible and they pointed to the story of the Plagues of Egypt and wanted to hear it. When she got to the part about Passover and the Angel of Death, one of girls screwed up her face and said, "Angels not do that."