Here we are for day 2 of the CSFF Blog Tour, this month highlighting the incredible work of Chris Walley. It’s been interesting to read many of the other bloggers’ commentaries about Chris and his writings. Some love it–some, not so much–but one thing is clear: Walley’s works are creating a bit of a stir among everyone. From discussions on differences in theology to whether or not his slow-moving intro (of about 135 pages) was an act of genius or poor-writing, it’s clear that we have a lot to blog about with this guy!
Interestingly enough, my father just emailed me a link to one of NASA’s streaming web pages (NASA TV) of the current shuttle flight (Atlantis) to the International Space Station. It dawned on me that these images would be archived in the “ancient libraries” of the Assembly under humanity’s first fledgling space exploration endeavors. Not sure what you’ll be seeing by the time you click on this, but I’m listening to the shuttle disembark from the space station, communicating between the shuttle, the station and Houston.
You can catch up on yesterday’s post below. Right now I’d like to continue to the discussion about the suppositions of what sin would do to humanity if reintroduced into a pre-Fall, futuristic society. Here’s the question I’d like you to comment on:
If evil and sinful thinking was asserted upon an advanced futuristic culture that was naive and virtually unaware of its presence, what would it affect in the natural realm? What environments, technologies and infrastructures would show the first sings of exposure and how would it be registered by humanity?
Thanks for spending some time in thought about this. I look forward to your comments. And please make sure to check out Chris’ blog, website and books on Amazon, as well as what the other CSFF tour members are saying.
CH
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Timothy Wise
That’s kind of a hard one. I’m going to have to think about that and come back!
That Nasa thing is pretty boring, But it is also awesome…..live feeds from space are amazing!
cya man
-John
I didn’t get a chance to read the book, but this is a really interesting question.
I guess I’d have to assume that Christ returned and we’re sort of starting over (otherwise how did we get all innocent again?). I actually had a premise similar to this for a post-millenium book I had in mind. Not so far into the future as 11,000yrs, but it’s always made me wonder: why is Satan released again, after the 1,000yr reign?
See, I think the key missing link here was that sin was released into the world through humanity, not through evil itself being evil. It wasn’t until after Eve ate from the tree–gaining “knowledge” that sin grew into a reality. So, basically sin didn’t exist for us until we had knowledge of it. It was there. It lived among them in the garden. But Eve and Adam were immune to it until they ate from the tree. I’m not sure exactly what it is, but something about that moment was key. Did we adopt it into ourselves, where before hand we were protected by God? Or did God having to leave us cause the sin to explode inside us? He put the tree there. He knew what would happen. Just as he knows what will happen after the 1,000yr reign to cause Satan to be released again. What sin will creep back into the heart of man? What will unlock the door?
But on a strictly elementary level, I think sin being introduced to innocence would leave stains on everything. But it’s how humanity would spread it, not how it would spread. Evil is. Always will be (after all God never says he’ll destroy it–only that he’ll lock it away).
Black and Red show an interesting version of sin infecting an innocent society. I would also think it wouldn’t be gradual. The lack of knowledge would perpetrate a huge outflow of sinfulness, like an atomic explosion. That’s my theory anyway. I can tell it doesn’t line up with the book in question, but this is a cool idea to think about. Really gets those juices flowing.
Pixy: I love this one line you wrote:
“But it’s how humanity would spread it, not how it would spread.”
I’m going to use that! It indeed needs a vehicle. One of Watchman Nee’s big points was in “Latent Power of The Soul,” when he said (and I’m paraphrasing), “Satan has no power accept for that which we give him.”
So when’s this book of yours coming out, hmmm?
Thanks for contributing!
CH
LOL…thanks, Cris. You’re question was really great. It got me thinkin’ all kinds of ways–dangerous stuff. So, you inspired me to put my own question up on my blog today.
“Satan has no power accept for that which we give him.”
Totally! Hey, see, I know stuff. lol…
And my book…umm…ask God.
The long The Shadow and Night intro reminded me at first of Asimov’s Foundation series. There wasn’t a lot of action with Foundation, but you had a sense of a long building culture that went on and on.
Walley created a world and characters that reader could relate to, and maybe wonder what life might be like if evil were held in check for so long. It didn’t take long for evil to gain a foothold and begin corrupting mankind once more. Evil does need to win immediately when a series of small victories serve the same purpose.
I’m a little late to this party, though I did manage to get my post up by Wednesday.
What a question, Christopher!
I’m thinking about how Adam and Eve responded. First, they sinned by wanting the knowledge of God. Its the Greek sin of hubris basically. So I’d guess that people would start using technology to explore things that should only be explored by God. Creating new universes. Creating perversions of life. That’s the first step.
Then, they would quickly realize their shame. In attempt to cover their shame, they would begin to destroy things. Just like Adam and Eve cut the leaves to cover their bodies.
That’s my take. It’s a good thought experiment for generating plot ideas…
So I seem to be jumping into this mid-stream. It sounds like an interesting setting for a book.
But don’t you guys know, there already is a futuristic race living on the moon and they are Quakers (please pass the oats).
At least so says Joseph Smith.
On another note, I saw a book. The God’s Demons by Wayne D. Barlowe. It is not a Christian book, but the premise is incredible.
What if one of Satan’s fallen begins to desire being reunited with God?