I would want to know about:
their theologies;
the interactions between their mythologies, theologies and philosophies;
the relationship between their philosophies and the growth of empirical science.
Poul Anderson did address precisely these issues in the Terrestrial context. However, when writing fiction, much of it action-adventure fiction or space opera, he told us just enough about Merseian attitudes to the God and about the Ythrian response to God the Hunter. There are tantalizing hints like the Secret Prayers of the Vach Urdiolch. We know that there must have been a lot more but it is left to us to imagine it.
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
SECRET Prayers unique to the Vach Urdiolch strikes me as rather odd! That is certainly not how Jews and Christians prefer to do it, our prayers being in public for anyone to see, read, or use. Ranging from shared prayers like the Book of Psalms to prayers distinctively used by Jews (such as the Kaddish) or the "Dies Ira" of the Catholics. Or even Poul Anderson's poem "Prayer in War."
Ad astra! Sean
"our prayers being in public"
Despite Matthew 6:5-6
“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Kaor, Jim!
Of course! I agree. But what I thought Our Lord was condemning was the hypocritical use of prayers by frauds who use prayers to pretend to look better than they are.
Ad astra! Sean
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