I found a strong parallel between three novels by CS Lewis and three by James Blish, then tried to find three similar works by Poul Anderson but did not quite manage it. Here are the results.
Lewis
In Out Of The Silent Planet, Elwin Ransom visits Mars.
In Perelandra, Ransom visits a sinless planet.
In That Hideous Strength, demons manifest on Earth.
Blish
In Welcome To Mars, Adolph Haertel visits Mars.
In A Case Of Conscience, Haertel's successors visit a sinless planet.
In Black Easter, demons manifest on Earth.
Anderson
"The Saturn Game": exploration of the outer Solar System.
"The Problem of Pain": I will explain.
Operation Chaos: demons manifest on Earth.
Maybe the only kind of sinless planet in Anderson's works has to be an uninhabited one! - in which case, Gray/Avalon before colonization qualifies. Also, "The Problem of Pain" is relevant because it shares its title with a work of Christian apologetics by Lewis.
The Three Theological Conundra
Lewis' newly created Venerians are as yet unFallen. The theological conundrum is why their creator, Maleldil, allows them to be tempted. (I think that, as an omnipotent creator, He does more than "allow" but we have had this argument before.)
Blish's Lithians are sinless but Godless. The theological conundrum is whether the Devil created them to mislead mankind.
Anderson's Ythrians welcome a difficult death as an opportunity to give God the Hunter a good fight and this is their apotheosis because they do not expect a hereafter. The theological conundrum is whether the same God can have created them and humanity.
Thus, by linking these three works, we have identified three interconnected theological conundra.
8 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
And, of course, during the days of the Terran Empire, Mars was a duchy and we met the Duke of Mars in A KNIGHT OF GHOSTS AND SHADOWS.
I know we have had this argument before, but it still puzzles why you find God/Maleldil allowing the beings he created, both angelic and incarnated in bodies, to be tempted after their creation so hard to accept. I don't agree that God's foreknowledge prevents these beings from making free choices.
If I recall correctly, the Pope in A CASE OF CONSCIENCE suggested to the Jesuit viewpoint character that the problem posed by Lithia could be resolved if the apparently both sinless and Godless planet was not even real, but a lie and snare of Satan. The pope suggested the Jesuit was being tempted by a kind of Neo-Manichaeanism.
As for Anderson's "The Problem of Pain," I disagree with the Ythrian followers of the "New Faith" that there is nothing after death, no afterlife. I can't help but thing that if that was the case, then what point would there be in believing in and following God? In fact, the POV character, Peter Berg, expressed some serious disagreements with the Ythrians about the problem of evil.
Sean
Sean,
But I do not think that it is divine foreknowledge that prevents free will.
While diabolical creation of a planet that is part of this universe is not credible, neither is a planet-sized hallucination.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
Your first point, I know. I should have remembered your chief objection while writing my first comment here.
Since I do believe angels, good or evil, are real beings, I don't think it is totally impossible to think Satan is capable of devising even a huge planet sized delusion. Many Catholic theologians have suggested that if was not for the providence of God in imposing LIMITS on how far Satan could act, we on Earth would be helpless before the Adversary. Because the natural powers of an angel, good or bad, are far beyond of physically incarnate beings.
Sean
Sean,
CS Lewis wrote in LETTERS TO MALCOLM, that, if God died and was unable to give his followers immortality, then the best response would be, "The giants and trolls win. Let us died on the right side with Father Odin."
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
And I'm inclined to agree with C.S. Lewis, granting the impossible premise of God dying. There is much to admire and respect in the grim, bleak nobility to be seen in the best ideas found in Scandinavian mythology.
Sean
Sean,
Lewis did say that this was impossible, of course!
Paul.
Sean,
Maybe the divine limitation on demonic power only applies on Earth. Therefore, astronauts would be subjected to supernatural threats: a combination of sf and fantasy.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
Correct, Lewis proposed an impossible premise simply as a thought experiment.
Hmmm, an interesting idea, space travelers being subjected to supernatural threats off Earth. Some writers might find this worth exploring.
Sean
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