10 AUG 2011 by ideonexus
God Ages Through the Bible
“Well, where is God,” said Mrs. Coulter, “if he’s alive? And why doesn’t he speak anymore? At the beginning of the world, God walked in the Garden and spoke with Adam and Eve. Then he began to withdraw, and he forbade Moses to look at his face. Later, in the time of Daniel, he was aged, he was the Ancient of Days. Where is he now? Is he still alive, at some inconceivable age, decrepit and demented, unable to think or act or speak and unable to die, a rotten hulk? And if that is his ...Need to factcheck this, but in this passage, Coulter describes an Old Testament god who grows older and older, so that, if he still lives, death would be merciful for him.
10 AUG 2011 by ideonexus
The Republic of Heaven
“But what does Lord Asriel intend? What is this world, and why has he come here?” “He led us here because this world is empty. Empty of conscious life, that is. We are not colonialists, Mrs. Coulter. We haven’t come to conquer, but to build.” “And is he going to attack the Kingdom of Heaven?” Ogunwe looked at her levelly. “We’re not going to invade the Kingdom,” he said, “but if the Kingdom invades us, they had better be ready for war, because we are prepared. Mrs. C...The rebels in Pullman's book intend to overthrow the Kingdom of Heaven and replace it with a Republic.
10 AUG 2011 by ideonexus
The General Oblation Board
“Oh, yes,” said Lyra. “I’m safe from everyone here. Where I used to live, in Oxford, there was all kinds of dangerous things. There was gyptiansthey take kids and sell ‘em to the Turks for slaves. And on Port Meadow at the full moon there’s a werewolf that comes out from the old nunnery at Godstow. I heard him howling once. And there’s the Gobblers….” “That’s what I mean,” the man said. “That’s what they call the Oblation Board, don’t they?” Lyra felt Pantala...And how it relates to the people giving their children to the church to become "oblates."