(urth) Wolfe as Heretic

[James Wynn]

I made a mess of Paul's quote, let me try again:

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

On Wed, May 19, 2010 at 3:43 PM, James Wynn <crushtv at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 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.
>