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Post by rwley on May 8, 2008 12:31:55 GMT -5
Picture this; a scientist who is convinced that belief in God is confined to humans and to earth. He's tired of the religious garbage he's heard all his life and is determined to find a place where God does not exist and no one has ever heard of religion.
He has all the high tech space travel capabilities he needs to travel to any number of other universes, galaxies, whatever else is out there. He has an atheistic crew, with maybe one shaky agnostic among them; gotta have that one that always, "Yeah, but what if. . .?"
What are some of the things he would find that would ulitmately show him that God is eternal not only in time but in space as well? Other civilizations that have a similar theology? Worlds that know Christ even though He lived and died and rose on Earth?
I picture the story as a constant chase scene; the scientist is running and God is pursuing, just as He pursues us. Some input would be welcome. Not real sure just where I'm going with this yet, just sort of speculating . . . after all, that's what we do here.
Thanks
Robi
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Post by Divides the Waters on May 8, 2008 12:43:37 GMT -5
"Hound of the Heavens" ?
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Post by rwley on May 8, 2008 12:46:58 GMT -5
Not sure what that is. Enlighten me please?
RWL
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Post by mongoose on May 8, 2008 14:13:45 GMT -5
The C.S. Lewis Space Trillogy and Stephen Lawhead's Empiryon books address similar issues from an alegorical approach.
I'm hoping to do something like that with an RPG based on Stargate SG1, in season 4. The PC, Kihn again, is an agnostic or closet Christian at that point. They're already set up to search for "God" since all these technologically advanced aliens posed as gods throughout human history, both on earth and beyond. If Thor, Ra, Loci, Seth, and the animal spirits were all aliens after all, what about the Hebrew God? The Hebrew God was generally fair and just to his people, so if they could find this "alien" they might be able to form an alliance with him, as they had done with the Asguard.
Of course, they wouldn't find the Hebrew God himself, in physical form, but they would find plenty of people worshiping him. They have a bad history with such groups, often being condemned as servants of the devil, but Kihn would convince them it was worth continued efforts. I figure, eventually, he'd become convinced that the power being used on behalf of the faithful was not based on alien technology, after all. He might actually go into a temple or some such and demand an audience with this Yhwh. I guess if he were desparate enough, maybe lost his team, wounded, or whatever, God would respond, right? I haven't given that part much thought yet, but I'm sure it would be interesting.
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Post by strangewind on May 8, 2008 16:10:14 GMT -5
Here's another thing - what if, in the course of the scientist "running" from God [which he of course describes as "a relentless pursuit of exploration and intellectual freedom] he ends up doing something horrible?
For example, maybe he develops all sorts of technologies to propel him to new civilizations, but his very act of landing on a planet ends up killing hundreds or thousands of innocents? Perhaps his discoveries directly equip a facist regime to crush inquiry and imprision millions. Perhaps his ambition leads to the death of a loved one.
Something really awful is what I'm thinking of - something so powerful and causing such despair that the scientist finally repents. In the process of repentance, he comes to hear the clear voice of God, his former zeal for flight broken.
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Post by Jeff Gerke on May 8, 2008 21:17:31 GMT -5
If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me.
Psalm 139:8-10, NASB
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Post by Divides the Waters on May 8, 2008 23:46:21 GMT -5
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Post by seraphim on Dec 8, 2008 19:09:32 GMT -5
Someone...maybe Cordwainer Smith wrote a story many years ago about a rich man in the future chasing Christ through space always just missing Him by narrower and narrower margins as He visited and taught other worlds...sort of a steeper and steeper approach to infinity as it were.
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Post by Jeff Gerke on Dec 9, 2008 9:09:10 GMT -5
Good note, seaphim. And welcome to The Anomaly!
Jeff
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