(urth) The Wizard

[Gerry Quinn]

From: Lee Berman 


> >>As Dionysus was precursor to Christ on earth, so I think The Outsider and Silk are
> >> the  precursors to Blue/Urth's version of Christianity. We see the signs that He is 
> >> coming but in the narrative we are given, He has not yet arrived.      

> >> Gerry Quinn: Only if we ignore the clear references to Him, e.g. Palm Sunday. Why would 
> >Wolfe have put that in, if he wanted us to think that Christ had not come?  Easier to 
> >leave it out altogether, surely?

> Well, I answered that before, but apparently not suffiently. I take this as Wolfe's
> way of saying that a Jesus-like figure appeared on Urth but it wasn't Christ. The
> concept of Christ does not reside in such material items as a cross or palm fronds or
> even in the flesh and blood body of a guy named Jesus. This makes some sense if Wolfe
> conceives of Christianity to be a principle which is applicable across the unviverse(s),
> not just a utility reserved for the human race on planet earth.

The big problem I see with this interpretation is not the interpretation itself but that Wolfe mentions Jesus and yet seems to give no indication at all that this is the interpretation he is promoting.

Suppose you were writing an alternate history where Hitler became a monk and WWII never occurred.  Would you gratuitously insert a clear reference (and old piece of newsreel, say) to Hitler orating at a Nuremberg Rally, while never ever making any reference to Hitler taking vows?  To me that seems analogous to what you are proposing as a ‘secret history’ behind the Solar Cycle.

Wolfe has a reputation for subtlety, and an (exaggerated) reputation for obscurity.  But I am pretty sure that neither you, Wolfe or anyone else would write the story this way.

Famously, Wolfe once said - in relation to BotNS I think – that he tried to tell the reader everything once and once only.  He did not suggest telling him 0 times.  I also think he rowed back a little from this approach in later work. 


> If Christ had appeared on Urth in the past, where did He go? Where is the spiritual
> salvation He offered? Why is it no longer available to the people of Urth? Why is
> Urth left only with remnants of Christianity? Is Christianity so fragile that it could
> appear for a while then disappear for 90% of the rest of human history?

There are a variety of religions on Urth, and little description of them, and we only see a small part of the planet.  Christianity may well persist underground, or may even have changed its form a little and be all around.  None of the characters in BotNS are very religious except the Pelerines.

Marble seems to indicate that the chems on Urth clung to the older religion in Typhon’s time.  But chems seem to be largely gone, at least from the Commonwealth.


> Also, while to me, The outsider does not resemble our Christian God or the Increate in 
> his actions (possession, allowing multiple gods and monsters to exist with humans, not 
> offering spiritual salvation,etc.) he does more resemble the OT God to me. If we assume 
> that the OT and NT God are the same, then I guess He would be trans-universal and the guy
> Silk was shown really could have been Jesus Christ. But on earth, not on Urth.      

If he can be shown to Silk across universes, it might be argued that the transcendental blessings associated with him should propagate across universes anyway.

As for the Outsider, I disagree with you.  As I’ve noted, the descriptions of him in the character lists are quite analogous to the Persons of the Trinity[*].  He is never shown to possess anyone.  He enlightens Silk, a similar thing but not quite the same.  The supposed possession of Jesus when he threw the 
moneylenders out of the temple is just Silk’s interpretation. 

[*]
Lake: the minor god who enlightened Silk
Calde: the god of the broken and disparaged, whose realm lies outside the Whorl
Exodus: the god of gods

The Calde description fits Christ. The Exodus description can be NT Father or OT Yahweh.  Lake could be the Holy Spirit.

- Gerry Quinn



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