From: Michael Straight <straight@email.unc.edu>
Subject: Re: (urth) re: Are TBOTNS and UOTNS Christian Texts?
Date: Wed, 28 Apr 1999 08:36:30 

On Wed, 28 Apr 1999, Tony Ellis wrote:

> > "[speaking of the Conciliator] Would they not have wished to walk with him,
> > if they could?  Stand beside him when he was in danger?  Care for him,
> > perhaps, when he was ill?  I have been such an acylote, in a creation now
> > vanished.  In that too there was a Conciliator and a New Sun, though we did
> > not use those names."
> >
> > Now, I'm guessing that in a Catholic interpretation of TBOTNS, this would
> > serve to distinguish *our* universe -- in which Jesus existed and the future
> > will play out according to certain prophesies -- and Sev's universe, which,
> > I am disappointed to discover five books into the story, is not ours at all.
> >
> I don't understand why you think Sev's universe can't be ours. The
> "creation now vanished" Tzad is talking about is his own universe -
> which may or may not be the same as ours and Sev's, it doesn't really
> matter. How does its having a Conciliator and a New Sun mean that Sev's
> can't have a Christ? Sorry if I'm being thick.

For most of the series, I assumed that the "Conciliator" was a set of
poorly-remembered stories of Jesus (I forget how I fit Typhon's statements
into that interpretation), so I was surprised in URTH to find that the
Conciliator was Severian, and was someone far in Jesus's future, if there
even as a Jesus in Severian's world.

When I read the passage quoted above, I interpreted it, as Ori does, to be
Wolfe's coy way of refering to Jesus.  If Jesus had existed in Severian's
universe, I'd expect Tzad to say something like, "there was another sort
of Concilator earlier in your world's history, although we didn't call him
that." 

Or are you suggesting that Tzad isn't referring to Jesus at all, but
rather yet another "conciliator" figure in a different universe who is
neither a version of Severian nor Jesus?

-Rostrum


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