If you're bored of the Biblical ranting, at least skip ahead to the book
recommendations a few lines lower down. Start with "ObSF"
Or, if you're a real sucker for it...
In article <40C24C464D6FD21189090000C0F06ACF3F962D@>, Hanley F <F.Hanley@> wrote:
[...]
Phil wrote - or rather quoted:
Revelations 21 v 27 (Talking about the New Jerusalem - Heaven) "Nothing
impure shall ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful, or
deceitful, but only those names who are written in the book of life"
Gosh, Heaven is going to be one lonely place then. When I was studying RE
at secondary school, it was clearly stated that there is no such thing as a
sin free life. Especially as just thinking certain thoughts counts as sin,
and thus makes you impure. I have forgotten most of what I learned, but I am
sure that Jesus was supposed to have confirmed this at some point, that
living a mortal life (and he was mortal at the time) free of sin is
impossible.
But before the Fall, everyone was living a sin-free life. And the orthodoxy
is that that pre-Fall, Edenic state will be restored to Man by the power of
God.
But before that can happen, you have to accept it. After all, God is not
going to force that sort of transformation on anyone.
Mention of the Edenic state leads me straight to my "featured books"
section, which deal with, among other things, the notion of alien "Gardens
of Eden". Like so...
ObSF: From the Christian perspective, the problems of alien life are rather
thorny. If we assume that there is intelligent life on other worlds (is
your head filling in "'cos there's bugger all down here on Earth"?) then
from a Christian viewpoint, there are three possibilities that are generally
considered. (And, if my sources are correct, have been considered by the
Catholics for at least 100 years.)
a) The first possibility is that they have minds but no souls. If that is
the case, then they should be treated well, but not any better than animals
- because that is what they are.
b) the second is that they have souls, and are living in an Edenic, pre-Fall
state. (In other words, their "Adam" and "Eve" never ate the apple.) If
they are, then Christian astronauts have a big duty to ensure that they do
not bring about that Fall.
c) if they have Fallen, the other question follows (in the Christian mind) -
have they heard Jesus? Perhaps Jesus also visited them. But, if they have
not, then they should be evangelised as soon as possible.
There are a number of SF novels that explore these ideas in the
IFIS
library. I'd particularly recommend the following:-
- C.S.Lewis "Cosmic Trilogy" - "Out of the Silent Planet"; "Perelandria";
and "That Hideous Strength". Written by the same author as the "Narnia"
series, but written for adults, they offer some ideas on a great deal of
these issues, as well as on such things as angels, the Fall, God's Plan, and
the effects of Satanism. They are also brilliant, brilliant fantasy. In
the
IFIS library, they are packaged in a single book. Get it. Read it.
and
- "A Case of Conscience" by James Blish, which describes an alternative to
the above three: a world conceived by Satan specifically with the intention
of corrupting Man and precipitating Armageddon. It's all presented through
the eyes of a Jesuit priest, and as far as I am aware (and from what I have
heard from a Jesuit SF fan of my acquaintance) it is pretty accurate in this
regard. Thoroughly recommended, at least by me.
So, back to the Bible-thumping...
Here is another controversial comment:
Revelations is just the "Bad Cop" to Jesus's "Good Cop". People who wont be
persuaded to join the love and light of eternal life, are scared into
joining to avoid the pain and touchier of eternal suffering. I am rather
disappointed to think of the bible stooping to such a trick, so I'm wrong
please persuade me accordingly.
Err... no. Jesus could "bad cop" with the best of them, as the
moneychangers in Solomon's Temple found out. You want to try actually
*reading* the Bible if you think that. Start, say, with Matthew's Gospel.
There's plenty of "bad cop" in that. (Jesus "going ape" in the Temple
appears in Matthew 21:12-13. It's more dramatically rendered in Mark
11:15-18.)
They tend to leave those sorts of bits out when you are in Sunday school.
But the message of Christianity is not as comfortable a message as they
teach little kids in school.
That's explored in the above books, too. Neither of them are particularly
fluffy in the end, but the C.S.Lewis in particular makes clear that it is
all a question of free will.
Simon
---
"This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind" -Ecclesiastes 4:16
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"I have been asked to point out, as if you couldn't guess, that my rantings
are not the opinions of One Chip Solutions. So now you know, don't you..?"
