Slice of PIE: Creating Alien Aliens Part 17 -- How Do the Heptapods in “Arrival” and CS Lewis’ God Perceive Time?

NOT using the Programme Guide of the 2021 World Science Fiction Convention, DisCON III, which I WOULD have been attending in person if I felt safe enough to do so in person AND it hadn’t been changed to the week before the Christmas Holidays…I WILL NOT use the Programme Guide to jump off, jump on, rail against, or shamelessly agree with the BRIEF DESCRIPTION given in the pdf copy of the Program Guide. This explanation is reserved for when I dash “off topic”, sometimes reviewing movies, sometimes reviewing books, and other times taking up the spirit of a blog an old friend of mine used to keep called THE RANTING ROOM…

I was having trouble writing this and couldn’t figure out why. After a six hour interval during which I went to a Celebration of Life for a work friend of mine, I sat down again to try and finish this.

The problem was that I hadn’t defined my goal; my question. I got hold of the question as soon as I sat down again: Why is an altered perception of time OK in an alien and ridiculed in God? Both the original story and the movie won glowing reviews:

“The Story of Your Life”: “won the 2000 Nebula Award for Best Novella, the 1999 Theodore Sturgeon Award; nominated for the 1999 Hugo Award for Best Novella; translated into Italian, Japanese, French and German”; James Gleick wrote: ‘[This] poses the questions: would knowing your future be a gift or a curse, and is free will simply an illusion?’, answering himself, ‘For us ordinary mortals, the day-to-day experience of a preordained future is almost unimaginable’, but Chiang does just that in this story, he ‘imagine[s] it’. It was reprinted ten more times before the movie came out. Besides the awards above it was nominated for a HOMer, a Tiptree / Otherwise Gender-bending SF, a Locus, and won a 2002 Seiun (Japan) for the Best Translated Short Story.

The movie “Arrival”: was “nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay; won the 2017 Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation, Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation”. In addition, “It grossed $203 million worldwide and received critical acclaim, with particular praise…for the exploration of communication with extraterrestrial intelligence. Considered one of the best films of 2016, [it] appeared on numerous critics' year-end lists and was selected by the American Film Institute as one of ten ‘Movies of the Year’… ‘Adams received nominations for a BAFTA, SAG, Critics' Choice, and at the 74th Golden Globe Awards, nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress…The score…was nominated for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media at the 60th Grammy Awards.”

The thing is, I agree with all of the above hype. My question however, is WHY did the story and movie generate so much attention; so much praise; such awe? During a summer school class I teach called ALIEN WORLDS, I have my students watch clips from it. IMDb describes it this way, “A linguist works with the military to communicate with alien lifeforms after twelve mysterious spacecraft appear around the world.”

Really??? What it DOESN’T say is absolutely crucial: The aliens don’t experience time as Humans do. The aliens, whom people call Heptapods (from the Greek: seven + feet (as in podiatry, not units of 12 inches)) may possibly have a similar perception of time that CS speculates God does.

In his Section 3 of his book, MERE CHRISTIANITY, in “Time and Beyond Time”: “…in [this] final section of the book…C.S. Lewis addresses the question of how in the world God can hear all of the prayers in the world at once. In 1945, CS Lewis also addressed the same problem that Ted Chiang did. In his essay, he writes, “Everyone who believes in God at all believes that He know what you and I are going to do tomorrow. But if he know I am going to so so-and-so, how can I be free to do otherwise?...the difficulty comes from thinking God is progressing along the timeline like us…But suppose God is outside and above the timeline. In that case, what we call tomorrow, is visible to him just the same way as what we call today. All the days are ‘now’ for Him. He does not foresee you doing things tomorrow; he simply sees you doing them.’”

The Heptapods in “Arrival” make a similar statement. When Louise is behind the transparent shield and (apparently) breathing the same air as the Heptapods, and after she understands their language, she has a conversation.

Louise: Where is Abbott.
Costello: Abbott is death process.
Louise: I don’t understand.
Costello: Louise has weapon. Use weapon. We help Humanity.
Louise: I don’t understand.
Costello: In 3000 years, we need Humanity help.
Louise: [She experiences another out-of-linear-time event where her seven or eight year old daughter shows her different representations in different media of her mother (Louise) and her father (Ian)]
Costello: There is no linear time.

Chiang and Lewis explore a fascinating concept and somehow, they arrive (no pun intended!) with the same answer as they explore how aliens and God might experience time and how nearly-incomprehensible that seems.

My students were both captivated and confused with the Heptapods (of course, I can’t mention CS Lewis and God…though I suppose I could bring up Lewis’ Space Trilogy and the aliens in THAT).

Hmmm…

The upshot of this post is to bring to light that the question both Chiang and Lewis sought to explore were the same.

The answer they explored was also the same.

Both of them set a tone for future exploration of time -- whether it's perceived and experienced by Humanity...or by God. Oddly enough, the answer is the same...

References: https://friendsofwords.com/2020/04/16/story-of-your-life-ted-chiang-summary-plot-analysis-review/, https://aliens.fandom.com/wiki/Heptapod, https://trueandpure.wordpress.com/2016/03/28/c-s-lewis-god-outside-of-time/, (“Time and Beyond Time”, page 81-83) https://www.dacc.edu/assets/pdfs/PCM/merechristianitylewis.pdf, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrival_(film),
Image: https://img.wook.pt/images/perelandra-viagem-a-venus-c-s-lewis/MXw2NDkyOHw5NDk5NXwxNjQzMDI2NDY5MDAwfHdlYnA=/502x

Slice of PIE: Racist Ideas, Christianity, and Fantasy & Science Fiction

NOT using the panel discussions of the most recent World Science Fiction Convention in San Jose, CA in August 2018 (to which I be unable to go (until I retire from education)), I would jump off, jump on, rail against, and shamelessly agree with the BRIEF DESCRIPTION given in the pdf copy of the Program Guide. But not today. This explanation is reserved for when I dash “off topic”, sometimes reviewing movies, sometimes reviewing books, and other times taking up the spirit of a blog an old friend of mine used to keep called THE RANTING ROOM…

I wrote this a month ago and I am currently at a men's retreat where we studied the book of Jonah. I discovered that THIS is a book for me. Jonah was a normal guy (pun intended); not a king, a rich man, or anything else special. I understand that people argue about whether he was "real" or whether Jonah is a work of "pious fiction". (Funny that, I know lots of people who are neither pious nor fiction writers who use fictions to make a point. You're reading one of them...). I am posting this again because after re-reading it, I think it makes some important points and I found myself agreeing even MORE with my own writing. So if you thought you read this before, you did...

I’ve sort of been doing a lot of non-fiction reading lately.

I’m almost done with STAMPED FROM THE BEGINNING:  A Definitive History of Racist Ideas In America (Ibram X. Kendi); the men’s group at my church have been reading MERE CHRISTIANITY (CS Lewis); and for our upcoming men’s retreat, our pastor recommended THE PRODIGAL PROPHET: Jonah and the Mystery of God’s Mercy (Timothy Keller)…

I’m going to go off on a few tangents here, but I’ll tie it up into a coherent thesis statement shortly (I hope).

I don’t read much fantasy, but with my daughter’s guidance, I’ve been exposed to a fairly broad, strong base that supports the quote I use in my IDEAS ON TUESDAY posts when I suggest fantasy ideas: “I see the fantasy genre as an ever-shifting metaphor for life in this world, an innocuous medium that allows the author to examine difficult, even controversial, subjects with impunity. Honor, religion, politics, nobility, integrity, greed—we’ve an endless list of ideals to be dissected and explored. And maybe learned from.” – Melissa McPhail

I’ve read DR. STRANGE AND MR. NORRELL; (of course) LORD OF THE RINGS; THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA; THE CHRONICLES OF THOMAS COVENANT, UNBELIEVER; CHILDREN OF BONE AND BLOOD is on my “to read” list; the DERYNI books; THE SHADOW SPEAKER; and very few others…

Octavia Butler, without a doubt, was one of the most profound speculative fiction writers of the 20^th Century and she started very young: “At 12, she watched the televised version of the film Devil Girl from Mars (1954) and concluded that she could write a better story. She drafted what would later become the basis for her Patternist novels. Happily ignorant of the obstacles that a black female writer could encounter, she became unsure of herself for the first time at the age of 13, when her well-intentioned aunt Hazel said: ‘Honey ... Negroes can't be writers.’ But Butler persevered in her desire to publish a story, even asking her junior high school science teacher, Mr. Pfaff, to type the first manuscript she submitted to a science fiction magazine.” While obviously a science fiction writer, her work can also be read as fantasy as she wrapped myth and parables in future trappings. Nnedi Okorafor, a relatively new speculative fiction writer wrote, “Wild Seed showed me that the publication of the type of stories I was writing was possible. It showed me that I wasn’t alone and that what I was writing was ok. Octavia gave me strength.” (https://bookriot.com/2017/06/22/writers-inspired-by-octavia-butler/)

OK – now to pull the reigns in all of this together.

Keller mentions in his book, an encounter with Gimli the Dwarf with Galadriel, Queen of the Elves in Lothlorien. Gimli is a foreigner in the land, in fact, a victim of racist ideas – the Elves have long seen the Dwarves as inferior simply because of who they are, that is, ALL Dwarves are ugly, greedy, evil…

Kendi, in his book defines a racist idea as “…any concept that regards one racial group as inferior or superior to another racial group in any way…‘intersectionality’, prejudice stemming from the intersections of racist ideas and other forms of bigotry, such as sexism, classism, ethnocentrism, and homophobia.” (SFTB, Prologue, p5)

In LOTR:FOTR, Galadriel says, “‘Dark is the water of Kheled-zaram, and cold are the springs of Kibil-nala, and fair were the many-pillared halls of Khazad-dum in Elder Days before the fall of mighty kings beneath the stone.’ She looked upon Gimli, who sat glowering and sad, and she smiled. And the Dwarf, hearing the named given in his own ancient tongue, looked up and met her eyes; and it seemed to him that he looked suddenly into the heart of an enemy and saw there love and understanding…” (Chapter 7, “The Mirror of Galadriel”)

CS Lewis writes in MERE CHRISTIANITY, “…whenever we do good to another self, just because it is a self, made (like us) by God, and desiring its own happiness as we desire ours, we shall have learned to love it a little more or, at least, to dislike it less.” (Book 3, Chapter 9)…

*drawing a deep breath*

For me, the speculative fiction community has ALWAYS intersected with my faith, just as it has for Gene Wolfe, Mike Duran, Madeleine L’Engle, Kathy Tyers, Gray Rhinehart, Orson Scott Card…I’m sure there are others I don’t remember. (io9 published this almost ten years ago: https://io9.gizmodo.com/christian-readers-demand-more-science-fiction-books-wh-5574733 and got quite a bit of discussion. I was corresponding with Mike Duran a bit before he was quoted there.)

By reading all of my current books (MERE CHRISTIANITY for roughly the sixth or seventh time) it sparked in me an entirely new idea. I opened myself up to the Holy Spirit, and along with hearing sermons like the  one I heard today in context of what I’ve been studying, (based on Mark 2:1-12, and from which I took the single message: after Jesus told the paralytic first, “Your sins are forgiven.”; then asked the pharisees “Which would be easier?”; then told him, “Get up, pick up your pallet and go home.” Then came the part that I found startling this morning: “…they were all amazed and were glorifying God, saying, ‘We have never seen anything like this.’”), I may have become both a better man and (I hope) a better writer to add this point of view to my stories.

I noted that “…THEY WERE ALL AMAZED AND WERE ALL GLORIFYING GOD…”. Not just the paralytic, not just his friends, not just those listening to Jesus – but the pharisees as well. All of them had witnessed and seen the change and (possibly) believed on Jesus’ name, that he was God (who could forgive sins).

I have never  published a piece of Christian science fiction (not for lack of trying!), but as I reflect on it now, that may be a good thing. It allows me to integrate a number of ideas into my stories. This intellectual journey has given me the foundational paradigm for a set of stories I’m writing and (finally) defined by the question: “What if entry into an interstellar union required a ‘charity’ factor in the entire population of an intelligence?”

Resource: https://www.cafonline.org/docs/default-source/about-us-publications/wgi2018_lozengemap.pdf

Image: http://www.twanight.org/newTWAN/news/6071-12.jpg

Slice of PIE: Alternative Venerations – or Christian vs Not-Christian

Using the Programme Guide of the World Science Fiction Convention in Helsinki Finland in August 2017 (to which I will be unable to go (until I retire from education)), I will jump off, jump on, rail against, and shamelessly agree with the BRIEF DESCRIPTION given in the pdf copy of the Programme Guide. The link is provided below…

Religious Diversity in Fiction

Religious quests are often used in science fiction and fantasy and - very often - they draw on Christianity. But how about other religions? How are they used in fiction?

Naomi Libicki: a science fiction and fantasy short fiction writer who lives in Jerusalem

Mrs. Philippa Chapman: Authority on eldercare and religious diversity, Church of England

T. Thorn Coyle: writer of science fiction, fantasy, and alternative history; understands pagan practice

Brad Lyau: science/fiction historian (http://www.rawbw.com/~mikeb/BL_SFList.html)

This is a strange statement. What kind of proof does the person who generated the subject of this panel offer for the statement that “religious quests…in science fiction and fantasy…very often…draw on Christianity.”?

Certainly Lewis’ CHRONICLES OF NARNIA, Tolkien’s LORD OF THE RINGS, and Donaldson’s THOMAS COVENANT books do (though only tangentially), Steele’s COYOTE books certainly (but, IMO, only to create sympathetic dramatic attention between oppressive conservatives and heroic…non-conservatives) as do David Weber’s SAFEHOLD series which draw on Christian hymns (but my objection is the same for Steele’s COYOTE books); but Pullman’s HIS DARK MATERIALS, Herbert’s DUNE books, Rowling’s HARRY POTTER books (though there may be pseudo-Christian architecture and ritual), and Alastair Reynold’s REVELATION SPACE novels, have markedly not-Christian worldviews. Quite a few feature no gods at all – the STAR TREK universe is the best-known a-theist society, after that, Cherryh’s ATEVI books, McDevitt’s several universes, Czerneda doesn’t touch on religion as far as I can remember.

While none of the above (except the Lewis and Tolkien books) are specifically “quest” series, certainly all of them contain characters who set off on quests of one form or another.

So what was this discussion like? Was it Christian-bashing?

I DO have a friend who was there and he had this to say: “I did make it to that one, but I'm afraid I don't remember much. Looking at the names of the panelists, I remember one was a pagan, one was a lay minister in the Anglican Church, and the moderator was an Orthodox Jew. There was one other, but I don't remember what, if any, his affiliation was. It was a decent conversation, but nothing new or earth-shattering. – Paul Foth, 10/15/17”

WHEW! It was good to hear they didn’t waste time in venerational hair-splitting (as in, “Paganism is WAY better than Christianity” or “If there was no Christianity there would be no war on Earth” or “Christians stole all of their pathetic religion from the druids, indigenous peoples, and Babylonian pantheons”…)

So then, after poking around at the books listed above, I thought I’d add the following from my collections: While Robert A. Heinlein himself was not a Christian, strictures of publishing for young people in the 1950s dictated at least a non-aggressive attitude (his adult novels are different stories); the Pern books of Anne McCaffrey have no religion at all; the UPLIFT books of David Brin have multiple religions and are THE driving forces in the series; the DERYNI series by Katherine Kurtz are deeply intertwined with Christianity; Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s THE DISAPPEARED science fiction mystery novels occasionally use alien religions but not (that I can recall) Christianity; Tobias Buckell’s XENOWEALTH books seem rooted in Mesoamerican religion; Zelazney’s CHRONICLES OF AMBER have some Christian threads, but more “Celtic...Norse mythology, and Arthurian legend…Philosophical texts...Plato's Republic…and the classical problems of metaphysics, virtuality, solipsism, logic, possible worlds, probability, doubles and essences are also repeatedly reflected on.” (From the Wikipedia article) As well, the science fiction of some writers has been heavily influenced by the decidedly a-Christian worldview of the Singularity (the works of Charles Stross, Iain M. Banks, Vernor Vinge); Peter F. Hamilton’s next series will feature aliens in search of their god, though the VOIDSHIP series didn’t seem to have much to do with Christianity.

So – while it’s true that several novels and series draw from Christianity, I’d say that in my experience it’s far more evenly split and may in fact, lean more toward what I would call alternative venerations…

Program Book: https://sites.grenadine.co/sites/worldcon75/en/w75/schedule

Image: https://dhilipkumarek.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/christianity-vs-non-christians1.jpg

Slice of PIE: “NEW OBSERVATION SHOWS CHRISTIANS BETTER PREPARED FOR ALIEN FIRST CONTACT THAN MATERIALIST SCIENTISTS!”

*snicker*

Now that I have your attention, let me continue in a slightly more serious vein and offer you some evidence for the statement above.

What sparked this was the song, “Be Still” by the band Storyside :B. Follow the link, listen to the Youtube and then come back here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5PgheXxLqQ&feature=related

The chorus reiterates over and over that “we are not alone”.

*ninety degree turn*

World-class astronomer, space popularizer and the author of the book that became the hit movie, CONTACT, believed in his heart of heart and “…spent [his life] trying to establish links between strange phenomena and the existence of life in outer space…Carl Sagan theorized that alien life such as bacteria exist not only in our planet but throughout the universe. He also insisted that it is impossible that no other intelligent life exists in the universe other than on Earth.” http://www.buzzle.com/articles/aliens-are-there-aliens.html (I note that this statement is not a direct quote as I could not find out when or where it originated. Many websites repeat this statement.) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Sagan. Based on some 138 quotes attributed to Carl Sagan’s writings (http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/10538.Carl_Sagan), I think it is safe to say that he was a materialist. Materialism is a position that believes that all things that are real have a material or physical substance. It discounts any metaphysical reality. www.postmodernpsychology.com/Postmodernism_Dictionary.html

Yet Sagan – and all the other materialist science fiction readers and writers have no evidence whatsoever that life exists off of Earth. Yet they do not hesitate to say that they “believe” that there is such life. I submit that based on their previous track record of non-belief in the unseeable and an inability to accept anything that does not have physical substance, that scientific materialists are intellectually, culturally, and spiritually UNPREPARED to believe in alien life and will be poor choices for First Contact.

Christians on the other hand, have plenty of experience with the belief that we are NOT alone in the universe. Hebrews 12:1 states: “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us…”

Romans 8:38 also intimates the Christian belief that we are not alone in the universe: “For I am convinced that neither…angels, nor principalities…nor powers…will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Christians – and others of deep faith – KNOW that they are not alone in the universe. We have contemplated it, believed it, lived it, prayed it and for us, “others out there” is a matter not only of faith, but of incontrovertible, EVERY DAY fact.

Materialist scientists can only IMAGINE really, really hard that there is intelligent life in the universe and hope that it’s possible that their imagination is factual.

Who would you rather have talking to the Klingons the first time – someone who has always known that that they were not alone and spoken regularly and intelligently with those Others. Or would you like someone who just found out that their imagination wasn’t anywhere near weird enough and are now tongue-tied or babbling incoherently as the Other is suddenly standing in front of them?

I know who I would pick.

image from: http://www.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/280288/2/istockphoto_280288-alien-handshake.jpg

POSSIBLY IRRITATING ESSAY: One Holy Klingon and Apostolic Church

Maybe it’s just me, but I can see on cursory inspection several similarities between the Roman Catholic Church and the religion created for the imaginary, fictional aliens called the “Klingons”:
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Catholics: THE BIBLE: As in all Christian Churches, the Bible is the source of doctrine and provides a “roadmap” to following the tenets of Christianity. As well, it offers a history of events that led up to the establishment of both Judaism and Christianity as well as commentary on those events, stories of the heroes and heroines of the faith and expectations of what is to come.

Klingons: PAQ’BATLH: The Paq'batlh is a large series of ancient Klingon scrolls and religious texts, that, among other things, passes on the stories of Kahless. Along the side of the scrolls are icons of the Klingon culture, such as bat'leths, d'k tahgs, and the emblem of the Empire. Among the scrolls in the paq'batlh are Klavek's tomes. The Eleventh Tome of Klavek describes how Kahless came back from the afterlife, and had kept a scar to show that what he'd experienced was real, so that he may save the soul of his brother. (VOY: "Barge of the Dead")
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Catholics: CREATION: God created the Heavens and the Earth and gave them and all that was in them to Adam and Eve with a single exception – they couldn’t eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Adam and Eve did so anyway, earned the punishment for disobedience: being cast out of God’s presence. (See Genesis 2:1-3:24)

Klingons: CREATION: "With fire and steel did the gods forge the Klingon heart. So fiercely did it beat, so loud was the sound, that the gods cried out, 'On this day we have brought forth the strongest heart in all the heavens. None can stand before it without trembling at its strength.' But then the Klingon heart weakened, its steady rhythm faltered and the gods said, 'Why do you weaken so? We have made you the strongest in all of creation.' And the heart said... 'I am alone.' And the gods knew that they had erred. So they went back to their forge and brought forth another heart. But the second heart beat stronger than the first, and the first was jealous of its power. Fortunately, the second heart was tempered by wisdom. 'If we join together, no force can stop us.' And when the two hearts began to beat together, they filled the heavens with a terrible sound. For the first time, the gods knew fear. They tried to flee, but it was too late. The Klingon hearts destroyed the gods who created them and turned the heavens to ashes. To this very day, no one can oppose the beating of two Klingon hearts."
A version of this creation myth is told during the traditional Klingon wedding ceremony: DS9: "You Are Cordially Invited")
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Catholics: ANGELS/FALLEN ANGELS: St. Augustine says: "'Angel' is the name of their office, not of their nature. If you seek the name of their nature, it is ‘spirit'; if you seek the name of their office, it is ‘angel': from what they are, ‘spirit,' from what they do, ‘angel.' With their whole beings the angels are servants and messengers of God. Because they "always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven" they are the "mighty ones who do his word, hearkening to the voice of his word." As purely spiritual creatures angels have intelligence and will: they are personal and immortal creatures, surpassing in perfection all visible creatures, as the splendor of their glory bears witness. From the Incarnation to the Ascension, the life of the Word incarnate is surrounded by the adoration and service of angels. They will be present at Christ's return, which they will announce, to serve at his judgment. (Cf. Acts 1:10-11; Mt 13:41; 24:31; Lk 12:8-9) For more information, see the Catechism of the Catholic Church, sections 328 and following: http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt1sect2chpt1art1p5.htm

Klingons: FALLEN ANGELS: In Klingon mythology, the kos'karii are pale, serpent-like creatures which inhabit the blood-red waters crossed by the Barge of the Dead on its way to Gre'thor. They attempt to lure dishonored souls to them with voices of friends and loved ones, and then drag them into the water. (VOY: "Barge of the Dead") ___________________________________________

Catholics: UNIQUENESS OF THE CHURCH: Belief that the Church is the vessel and deposit of the fullness of the teachings of Jesus and the Apostles from which the Scriptures were formed. This teaching is preserved in both written scripture and in unwritten tradition, neither being independent of the other.

Klingons: UNIQUENESS OF THE KLINGON PEOPLE: “Early in the 23rd Century…the Klingons trumpeted their superiority over the physically inferior and comparatively docile humans…”
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Catholics: JESUS the CHRIST: Belief that Jesus Christ is Divine, a doctrine officially clarified in the First Council of Nicea and expressed in the Nicene Creed.

Klingons: KAHLESS: Kahless awaits all Klingons in Sto-vo-kor: the life, which lies beyond this life. His teachings of honor and tradition form the basis of modern Klingon philosophy and culture. Kahless is still worshipped as a divine figure by the Klingons. (VOY: "Day of Honor")
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Catholic: THE SECOND COMING: Few truths are more often or more clearly proclaimed in Scripture than that of the general judgment. To it the prophets of the Old Testament refer when they speak of the "Day of the Lord" (Joel 2:31; Ezekiel 13:5; Isaiah 2:12), in which the nations will be summoned to judgment. In the New Testament the second Parusia, or coming of Christ as Judge of the world, is an oft-repeated doctrine. The Saviour Himself not only foretells the event but graphically portrays its circumstances (Matthew 24:27 sqq.; 25:31 sqq.). The Apostles give a most prominent place to this doctrine in their preaching (Acts 10:42; 17:31) and writings (Romans 2:5-16; 14:10; 1 Corinthians 4:5; 2 Corinthians 5:10; 2 Timothy 4:1; 2 Thessalonians 1:5; James 5:7). Besides the name Parusia (parousia), or Advent (1 Corinthians 15:23; 2 Thessalonians 2:19), the Second Coming is also called Epiphany, epiphaneia, or Appearance (2 Thessalonians 2:8; 1 Timothy 6:14; 2 Timothy 4:1; Titus 2:13), and Apocalypse (apokalypsis), or Revelation (2 Thessalonians 2:7; 1 Peter 4:13). The time of the Second Coming is spoken of as "that Day" (2 Timothy 4:8), "the day of the Lord" (1 Thessalonians 5:2), "the day of Christ" (Philemon 1:6), "the day of the Son of Man" (Luke 17:30), "the last day" (John 6:39-40).

Klingon: THE SECOND COMING: Upon his death, Kahless promised he would return one day and lead the Empire again. Since his death, it is said that Kahless awaits all Klingons in Sto-vo-kor: the life, which lies beyond this life. His teachings of honor and tradition form the basis of modern Klingon philosophy and culture. Kahless is still worshipped as a divine figure by the Klingons. (VOY: "Day of Honor") Kahless later invented the forms of what would become the Mok'bara when he went to the Underworld in search of his father. Kahless showed him the forms, and his father was able to remember his body and return to the world of the living. (TNG: "Birthright, Part II") When Kahless united the people and gave them the laws of honor, he saw that his work was done. So one night he gathered his belongings and went to the edge of the city to say good-bye. The people wept, they did not want him to go. And Kahless said, "You are Klingons. You need no one but yourselves. I will go now, to Sto-Vo-Kor. But I promise one day I will return." Then Kahless pointed to a star in the sky and said, "Look for me there, on that point of light." (TNG: "Rightful Heir") The story of "The Promise" indicated that Kahless was to reappear in the lava caves on the planet of Boreth. The Followers of Kahless, or "Guardians", waited there for his return. To Klingons, there was no more sacred place. For over 1,500 years, Klingons came to Boreth to ask questions. According to the Clerics, the only way a Klingon warrior could find the answers they sought was to: "Open your heart to Kahless, ask him your questions, let him speak to you with your mind unclouded by doubt or hesitation. Only then can you find what you are looking for." (TNG: "Rightful Heir")
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Catholics: PURGATORY: Pope John Paul II used his Wednesday general audience during the period of late 1999-JUL to early 1999-AUG to discuss topics related to life after death. He had described heaven and hell; at his AUG-4 audience, he described Purgatory. He affirmed Roman Catholic theology that: "Before we enter into God's Kingdom, every trace of sin within us must be eliminated, every imperfection in our soul must be corrected. This is exactly what takes place in purgatory." But he continued by stating that Purgatory "does not indicate a place but a condition of life. Those who, after death, live in this state of purification are already immersed in the love of Christ which lifts them out of the residue of imperfection." Like Hell, Purgatory is not a physical place. He urged Christians to pray and do good works on behalf of those in purgatory, so that the latter will be released earlier than they would otherwise be.

Klingons: PURGATORY: Sto-vo-kor is, in Klingon mythology, the afterlife for the honored dead, where all true warriors go after they die to fight an eternal battle against great enemies. The halls of Sto-vo-kor were said to be guarded by Kahless the Unforgettable. A Klingon can enter Sto-vo-kor by dying in battle or while performing a heroic deed. In addition, they may enter Sto-vo-kor by allowing themselves to be killed by another Klingon. (DS9: "Children of Time"). Alternatively, the relatives of the deceased can also perform such a deed in the name of the fallen to ensure their arrival in the halls. In 2375, Worf destroyed the Monac shipyards in the name of Jadzia Dax, in order to gain her entry into Sto-vo-kor. (DS9: "Image in the Sand", "Shadows and Symbols")
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SOURCES OF RESEARCH

http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/features/documentaries/article/1614.html
http://startrek.wikia.com/wiki/Paq'batlh
http://www.klingon.org/smboard/index.php/board,37.0.html
http://www.sub-space-9.com/ie/kfile02.html
http://www.religioustolerance.org/purgatory1.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Catholic

GALILEO WAS A CHRISTIAN AND MAYBE ALIENS ARE, TOO!

In this five part series, we’ve looked at what I’ve started to call…

The Four Gospels of Science Fiction

The First: Humanity can connect with a universal, non-personified force
The Second: Humanity is ultimately perfectible
The Third: Humanity can transcend its Humanity
The Fourth: Humanity will leave earth, its religion and philosophies behind

I think these gospels are both dangerous and actively promoted by the SF/scifi community.
The basis for this critical observation is Psalm 73:8-9: “They mock and speak wickedly of oppression. They speak from on high. They have set their mouths above the heavens and their tongues parade through all the earth.” I believe that many SF/scifi writers have set themselves up as the promoters of an “updated” form of religion that people find easier to swallow than Christianity. They do this through stories and movies. It’s easy to slip philosophy into SF/scifi. C. S. Lewis, himself a science fiction and fantasy writer said, “…any amount of theology can now be smuggled into people’s minds under the cover of romance [SF was known at first as “scientific romance”] without their knowing it.” (LETTERS OF C. S. LEWIS)

There is, however, one other possibility. Any mathematician has to grant that there is some probability – however infinitesimal – that Jesus will not only survive the trip off Earth, but that there might be other life Out There that believes that God’s Incarnate Son came to Earth so redeem sinful Humanity. Even so, before we reach those aliens, we’ll colonize near space, the Moon, Mars and the other planets, moons and perhaps even the atmosphere of Jupiter or Saturn. We will obviously have to answer some tough questions about the promulgation of our faith in the colonies and on the worlds of the Solar System. We will have to defend our requests and choices to commanders, administrators, councils, kings or presidents when they ask, “It costs money and materiel to make the crosses, provide air, give space and provide time for you to do something that gives no physical benefit to the colony. Why should I grant you a permit to start a Christian Church here? It provides no physical advantage to the colony and probably even promotes division among the people!” However, I think that those questions were already answered when Humans spread across Earth. The Church followed – and at times led – the exploration of the frontiers on this planet. Despite the intense secular focus on slavery, smallpox and slaughter – occasionally the Church did it RIGHT and brought transcriptions of unwritten languages, medical care, education and a vision of a broader world. We know what Humans did with their faith on Earth. What will we do with it in space?

So – what if we meet intelligences in the skies of Jupiter – aliens in our own star system? Seeing that they’re local, did Jesus die for them? An intriguing possibility might be posed by Ezra 9:6, which says, "O my God, I am too ashamed and disgraced to lift up my face to you, my God, because our sins are higher than our heads and our guilt has reached to the heavens.” Does this mean that the sins of Humanity fell on ALL of creation – the heavens (stars, planets, galaxies, the universe), causing it all to Fall? If that were true, would the redemption of Jesus Christ have spread “to the heavens” from Earth? I think it’s at least a possibility…

Hang with me for a moment and suspend whatever disbelief you have and agree that God created other aliens. Join C.S. Lewis and me and agree that there is a possibility that there are unfallen aliens Out There. These aliens faced their Obedience Test. They passed and have remained in perfect communion with God. “The doctrine of the Incarnation would conflict with what we know of this vast universe only if we knew also that there were other rational species in it who had, like us, fallen and who needed redemption…and had not been vouchsafed it…It may be full of life that needs no redemption. It may be full of life that has been redeemed. It may be full of things quite other than life which satisfy the Divine Wisdom in fashions one cannot conceive.” (“Dogma and the Universe”, GOD IN THE DOCK) Lewis explores this in PERELANDRA. I will be exploring it more in my own fiction.

Finally, when we DO open a Discover Church (http://www.discoverchurchnetwork.org/ ) in the International Space Station or on the Moon or on Mars or in the clouds of Jupiter – and if we meet aliens, then Psalm 57:10 perhaps speaks most hopefully: “For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.”

The question I ask the brethren – and the sistern ;-) is: Do you think we’ll do better reaching aliens than we did reaching Muslims and Jews during the Crusades or reaching out to science fiction readers today?

{Post Script: An ancillary Gospel to the 4GoSF might be summarized as: Smear The Church And Chance You Get! In testament to this, I offer the following: “DAVA SOBEL (Author, Galileo's Daughter): Galileo was honest when he said that the Bible was the true word of God. He just didn't think it was a good astronomy textbook.” (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/transcripts/2912_galileo.html) SO! The great Galileo believed in God! Not ONLY did he believe in God but apparently that the Bible is God’s word. All I’ve ever heard from the science media is that the Church was stupid, hateful, small-minded and hated Galileo. It may have been all that, but by extension, the scientific establishment has allowed us to believe that Galileo hated the Church in return. And that appears to NOT be true, either. Hmmmm….how many other hatreds are both sides willing to propagate?}

JESUS DIED FOR ALIENS, TOO...BUT HOW?

As a Christian, I was surprised to discover how many of my fellow Believers resist the idea that God could redeem other intelligences. There are websites devoted to the belief that Jesus came to Earth because Earth was the only place there were people and we were the only ones who were worth saving. God could have redeemed them through one sacrifice on Earth (assuming they needed redeeming) or He could have manifested himself on their world to do whatever needed to be done.

It’s strange, but I find exclusivity reasoning somewhat sickening. By it, the Son of God came to Earth for the Jews (oops, there’s another faux pas – most of those Christians that deny God could make, love and give His life (if that was necessary) for aliens also believe that He came for the Gentiles ALONE (in complete denial of Scripture…but it fits an elitist world view), was rejected by them and tortured; tortured some more by Gentiles, then murdered by Gentile decree and Jewish permission. Even so, He forgave us ALL – Jews and Gentiles alike, rose from the dead and now sits in glory with the Father. But according to “them”, He CAN’T love anyone as much as He loved Humans. So, Humans slaughtered the Only Son of God – and that’s something we should be proud of, that we should feel exclusive about? Does that mean that in all the Universe, we’re as bad as it gets? That’s something we claim is OUR PRIVILEDGE AND OUR PRIVILEDGE alone, right?

That makes me feel ill.

By their human logic, God is a Humans-Only God. In all of Creation, we’re it. Nothing else anywhere engages the Divine Creator of the Universe the way Humans do? God didn’t make anyone else, anywhere – in an infinite Creation? I find that extremely hard to believe as well as unsupported by Scripture. God repeatedly says that we are to love the alien (I’m sure KJV-Onlies will try to argue out of that one as well, but “alien” is mentioned eight times). Jesus said that we aren’t His only flock (John 10:16). The Bible is God’s Word to us. (KJV-Onlies will tell you God’s Word is INFALLIBLE – except when it doesn’t fit their interpretation of the Universe. Their interpretation doesn’t include aliens living on other worlds.)

CS Lewis would disagree with them. He wrote PERELANDRA, in which the Venusian Eve must make her Obedience or Disobedience choice. I happen to believe that this is the ONLY real choice we have, but I'm willing to be persuaded. Venusian Eve chooses to Obey, despite temptation. Thereafter, Venusians would live in constant communion with God.

Which is what should have happened to US, but God chose to redeem Humans whom He loved, because of Adam and Eve’s disobedience , through humiliation, pain and death. (Are we to be PROUD of that?) Evangelical Christians (who have published SF on just about every other subject) still shy away from aliens from other worlds in their mainstream for this reason – they don’t believe there’s anyone else out there. And if there were fallen people out there, then God must have only DIED ONCE, HERE, ON EARTH, BECAUSE WE WERE…not better than anyone else, surely?...BUT WORSE THAN ALL THE REST.)

With CS Lewis, I happen to disagree.

CHRISTIANITY: ANTHROPOCENTRIC OR UNIVERSAL (Part II)

Any accusation or argument that Christianity is anthropocentric is inherently indefensible. There is no evidence that it is as we cannot compare the Bible to an alien scripture.

So until we can actually do that, a critical judgment of whether Christianity is anthropocentric will have to wait until we have that alien version of the Bible/Koran/Bhagavad Gita/Analects/Talmud/Tao-te-ching, etc.

As to the universality of Christianity, it’s not even common to all members of humanity – how can it be common to anyone off Earth? On the other hand, Christianity is FOR everyone. Matthew 11:28 says, “Come to me ALL who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.” Christianity is for any intelligences we meet in space.

Christianity has adapted to a number of human cultures. There’s no reason to think that it can’t adapt to alien cultures. Christians have been adapting their faith for 2000 years – but have kept the essential tenets of Christianity: humans broke their relationship with the Creator through disobedience; Jesus came to restore the relationship by paying the penalty for disobedience—which was death – for us; He dies, but returned to life because His was the sacrifice of an innocent life. That humans can return to a right relationship with God through Jesus is logical because He was the one who paid the penalty. How can anyone return to a right relationship with God except through the one who bought them passage back?

Christianity is the only religion to claim that God came to Earth in human form with the express purpose of replacing us in receiving punishment for something he didn’t do – though the punishment was undeniably OWED. It is a type and can be universal. Who’s to say that God did not incarnate on any world where its people rebelled against the Creator of the universe? Who’s to say He didn’t die a thousand deaths and experience a thousand resurrections for a thousand intelligences? Who’s to say that Jesus didn’t die once for ALL on an obscure planet in an obscure galaxy – it would certainly fit the motif of being born to humble parents in a stable in a non-world-power among an obscure people!

God made the universe before he made humans – Scripture is very clear on this in Genesis 1:14-15. If Christians are acting as if they were here first and are foremost, that is a very different story than assuming that the document from which the doctrine was derived directed them to believe that way. Genesis 2:1 says, “the heavens and the earth were completed and ALL their hosts.” God made it all, cares for it all and will redeem any part of it that falls. C.S. Lewis posits that not all created beings failed their obedience test in his SF book, PERELANDRA.

In conclusion, I believe that Christianity is not anthropocentric but universal. The Bible itself is, indeed anthropospecific; and Jesus Christ, the Son of God is universal when he says, “Come to me ALL who are weak and heavy laden and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28