From: utzoo!decvax!microsof!uw-beave!emma Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers Title: Re: C.S. Lewis Trilogy Article-I.D.: uw-beave.111 Posted: Mon Sep 20 09:03:10 1982 Received: Tue Sep 21 06:33:24 1982 References: inuxd.158 It is highly inaccurate to represent Christ as rejecting the "accepted religions of his day" and preaching a new way of life. He clearly accepted the Jewish faith, and saw in himself the fulfillment of the "hoary old stories from the past". Further, the "new way of life" he preached was primarily a reinterpretation of the central maxim of the Jewish faith, that we ought to love (1) God and (2) each other. While I am always happy to be challenged by non-christians, I prefer that the discussion maintain some resemblance to real life. As to the more general question of "blasphemous" scince fiction, it occurs to me that it is a question that should be considered separately from the question of the overall worth of the story. Secular fiction, almost be definition, is concerned more with the nature of man than with the nature of God. It is possible, even in stories containing a "God" character, to deal with the story apart from its representation of God-- much as hyperdrive and time travel do not invalidate the quality. In regard to questions as to the possibility of "Christian" science fiction with soul-less elves and resurrecting lions, one must carefully separate out the author's intent from his/her phrasing. Did C.S. Lewis actually intend to produce a lion-centered faith? If so, he was blaspheming. Did he intend to represent some facets of Christ through allegory? Then the representation of Christ as Lion is no more blasphemous than John's representation of Satan as dragon. Finally, if this keeps up, maybe there should be a subnet sf-lovers.religious or something. -Joe Pfeiffer.