From: Kieran Mullen <kieran@brigit.nhn.ou.edu>
Subject: (urth) Re:  Digest urth.v022.n047
Date: Fri, 19 Feb 1999 12:13:12 


>From: "William H. Ansley" <wansley@warwick.net>
>Subject: Re: (urth) Re:  Digest urth.v022.n046
>Date: Thu, 18 Feb 1999 23:03:50 -0500


>There is a *lot* of Christic imagery in "The Eyeflash Miracles," as I note
>in my first posting. I am deliberately ignoring this, except occasionally
>when it ties in with the Oz imagery. Wolfe manages to combine the two in
>clever and complex ways, as you might expect. 

   Oops!  Sorry.  I forgot that you had said you were limiting your
analysis to Oz stuff in these posts.  My apologies.


>From: Jack Lyons <revjack@Radix.Net>
>Subject: Re: The Eyeflash Miracles
>Date: Fri, 19 Feb 1999 11:51:18 -0500 (EST)

>Is "Christic" really a word? :)

   Yep :-)

>Unfortunately, The Beatles have created music in nearly
>every genre imaginable - rock, heavy metal, classical,
>soul, R&B, ambient, experimental - there's very little that
>they haven't done. So "Beatlesque" doesn't really mean
>anything, if you think about it. What's "Beatlesque"?
>Everything, that's what.

   I don't agree.  It may not be exceptionally well defined,
but that's because it's a range property.  Being tall is a 
range property.  In the context of standard human beings, the
property of being tall is a bit fuzzy: it's silly to say 6'4"
is tall but 6'3" is not.  However, the concept of "being tall"
is still useful.  You can say that Michael Jordan is tall
but Michael Fox is not.  Or that your child is "tall for a 
five year old."   Otherwise language is useless.  

>Likewise Christian/Trinity imagery and metaphor. The Bible
>has so many stories, lessons, admonitions, hints, rules,
>quotes and narrative situations that one could concievably
>apply a Christian interpretation to anything one cares to.
>Name a story - any story - and I'll detail the Christian
>metaphor within.

    It depends upon how silly one wishes to be.  St. Voyager is
like Gun Smoke because they both have guns.   You need to have
more than just a common word or idea.

    Here's your challenge then:  Find the Christic imagery in
Gilligan's Island.  After that, the Beverly Hillbillies.

>(This tends to be where Theists and Atheists part ways,
>with Theists declaring that this means that everything is
>special, and Atheists saying that if everything is special,
>then nothing is special.)

   Hmm... I'm not sure I agree with your statement of the theist
position.  

    I don't mean to be mean about your reply, it's just that I
don't agree with some styles of postmodern analysis wherein all texts
contain anything the reader wishes to see.  I think that there are
interpretations of a text that are wrong, or at least untenable.

>Christian imagery in "The Eyeflash Miracles"? Sure, I'll buy
>that.

   Hmm.... I can sell it to you wholesale.  Let me talk to the boss...

            :-) 

                 Kieran


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