(urth) Wolfe as Heretic

[James Wynn]

> Church Fathers did not in general make a point of saying pagan gods didn't
> exist. I don't think any considered them divine, but instead of angelic
> nature, though either fallen or miscontrued by their worshippers.

For pagans, the difference between divine and merely "higher" is
probably splitting hairs. It is only an important difference for
monotheists.

Paul's opinion was that: "Idols are truly divine and what is offered
to them does not dow any good.. But the gentiles sacrifice to demons,
not to God." (1 Cor 10:20)

He was glossing from Deuteronomy: "They sacrificed to demons, which
are not God. Gods they had not known, gods that recently appeared,
gods your fathers did not fear."

Wolfe differs in accepting that the ancient gods might not always be
malevolent, but potentially even good. He might have received this
from (or had it confirmed by) the Anglican C.S. Lewis who said almost
the same thing. (And in "That Hideous Strength" he portrayed the gods
Venus and Mercury as powers not positively aligned to the rebellious
Lord of Earth,) This all sounds like something Chesterton might have
opined, but I can't find anywhere he did.

But then again, CS Lewis's view of pagan gods portrayed in "The Last
Battle" is certainly at odds with Paul's. So maybe it is all
heretical.

The Fathers and the Biblical Prophets seem to have all agreed that
sacrifices to these powers is without practical value. This is
different from Latro's world.

Is it heretical to believe that that magic (defined as prayers and
sacrifices powers who are not God) *works" even if you believe it is
something that is wrong or hurtful to do? .I met a Christian erstwhile
fortune-teller who said it definitely did work for him. But he wasn't
a theologian and his opinions on the source of its efficacy were more
like Paul's than Wolfe's; so, I guess that doesn't really prove
anything.

I suppose we'd have to drill down farther into what Wolfe truly
believes and how strongly he believes it to know if he's a heretic or
not. Put him on the rack.

J.