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Matt, I admire the elegance of your phraseology. Thank you.<br>Bob<br>> <br>> Christology as a focus of controversy has cooled a great deal since the 5th century, but most Christian bodies consider it an essential part of the faith; the catechisms of the largest Christian churches all address it. Clearly, quite a few people consider it important.<br>> <br>> Simple arithmetic suffices for most of my mathematical needs. I find complex geometry obscure, but that's not justification for me to conclude that it's useless. Math, like religion, is bigger than my experience and my special feelings.<br>> <br>> -- <br>> Matt +<br>> <br>> To which I must reply, "Well said".<br>> <br>> ~have a nice weekend y'all.<br>> ~Witz<br>> <br>> <br>> >-----Original Message-----<br>> >From: Roy C. Lackey [mailto:rclackey@stic.net]<br>> >Sent: Friday, February 6, 2009 03:35 PM<br>> >To: 'The Urth Mailing List'<br>> >Subject: Re: (urth) Indescribable Christ?<br>> ><br>> >"Son of Witz" wrote:<br>> >>>> I completely agree. I've understood it as GOD, the Godhead, is<br>> >indescribable, but that inaccessibility is the main reason for Jesus to be.<br>> >To give us a path. This is where the Logos comes in as that which<br>> >reconciles God and Man. What's Jesus say about finding the Father only<br>> >through me, or such. The Logos is the bridge. And we've been comparing texts<br>> >and exegesis about to characters that may or may not be incarnations of the<br>> >Logos.<<<<br>> >--------------------------<br>> ><br>> >This subject is tiresome and has been done to death over the years, and<br>> >leads nowhere. People are talking past each other, as ever. I should stay<br>> >out of it. But I will make an appeal to the text.<br>> ><br>> >At issue here is whether or not Severian is in any meaningful sense a<br>> >manifestation of the Christ, rather than someone who merely has Christ-like,<br>> >or Christic (as I believe someone here once termed it) qualities. The<br>> >difference is unimportant to some, but to Christians (which I am not) it is<br>> >paramount.<br>> ><br>> >In the Christian mythos, the life, death and resurrection of Jesus was, and<br>> >ever will be, a *unique* event. As such, it can never be replicated--to do<br>> >so would cheapen the magnitude of the supreme sacrifice. This distinguishes<br>> >Jesus from the many cyclical dying-and-resurrecting gods we are familiar<br>> >with.<br>> ><br>> >While it is true that there are correspondences between the lives of Jesus<br>> >and Severian, it is equally true that Severian manifests the qualities of<br>> >a -- well, duh! -- generic sun god, but that doesn't make him Mithra, or any<br>> >of the others.<br>> ><br>> >As for Severian the Conciliator being the same as Jesus, the "bridge" that<br>> >reconciles Man and God, he is *not*. He is a conciliator between Man and the<br>> >Hierogrammates, as the text makes clear.<br>> ><br>> >Shortly after his being returned to Urth in Typhon's era, the villagers<br>> >complained to Severian about the cold weather (occasioned by the sun's<br>> >recent decline) that had ruined their crops in recent years, saying "The sky<br>> >people are angry with us." He explained:<br>> >_________________<br>> >"The sky people-the Hierodules and Hierarchs-do not hate us. It is only that<br>> >they are remote from us, and they fear us because of things we did before,<br>> >long ago when our race was young. I have gone to them." I watched the<br>> >villagers' expressionless faces, wondering whether any of them would believe<br>> >me. "I have effected a conciliation-brought them nearer us and us nearer<br>> >them, I think. They've sent me back." (URTH, chap. XXIX, p.-204)<br>> >__________________<br>> ><br>> >It can be argued -- and it has been -- whether or not the Hierogrammates<br>> >were acting on orders from On High, or even that they only *believed* they<br>> >were doing God's will, willingly or unwillingly, but the textual fact of the<br>> >matter is that Severian, the Conciliator, was a bridge between Man and the<br>> >Hierogrammates, not Man and God.<br>> ><br>> >-Roy<br>> ><br>> >_______________________________________________<br>> >Urth Mailing List<br>> >To post, write urth@urth.net<br>> >Subscription/information: http://www.urth.net<br>> ><br>> <br>> <br>> _______________________________________________<br>> Urth Mailing List<br>> To post, write urth@urth.net<br>> Subscription/information: http://www.urth.net<br><br /><hr />Windows Live™: Keep your life in sync. <a href='http://windowslive.com/howitworks?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_t1_allup_howitworks_022009' target='_new'>See how it works.</a></body>
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