Sunday 25 November 2018

The Bible And Beyond

Here, we moved from Shakespearean to Biblical phrases in works by Poul Anderson. Next, we move to a Biblical phrase in a work by Julian May and thence to passages in works by James Blish and Poul Anderson.

The Family Ghost tells Fury:

"Do what you must do..."
-Julian May, Jack The Bodiless (London, 1991), 2, p. 41.

Jesus tells Judas:

"Hurry and do what you must!" (Jn. 13:27)

The Family Ghost, a time traveler, knows that Fury's evil actions cannot be prevented and also tells Rogi to arrange a meeting between a couple who must marry and have children. In Blish's The Quincunx Of Time, the Service, knowing the future, supervises meetings between couples who must marry and have children. Similarly, Anderson's Time Patrol intervenes to ensure that its history comes to pass and therefore would arrange marriages if necessary. If only we could have some foreknowledge...

1 comment:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

This reminded me of the debates I've seen about the predictions Christ made in the Gospels about His coming Passion. With some either accepting or denying that Our Lord made these predictions from divine foreknowledge. Fr. John A. Meir, in his MARGINAL JEW books, seemed to have decided (I have to use "seem," it being years since I've read Meir) that, as a matter of strict history, Christ made these predictions because He knew that His words and deeds would enrage and alarm the Jewish and Roman authorities. And that their hostility could lead to His death.

Sean