Books, Brochures, and Chapters>Book: Pullman , Philip (2002-09-30), The Amber Spyglass, Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers, Retrieved on 2011-08-10
Folksonomies: fiction fantasy Memes
10 AUG 2011
A Deceptive God
Balthamos said quietly, “The Authority, God, the Creator, the Lord, Yahweh, El, Adonai, the King, the Father, the Almighty, those were all names he gave himself. He was never the creator. He was an angel like ourselves, the first angel, true, the most powerful, but he was formed of Dust as we are, and Dust is only a name for what happens when matter begins to understand itself. Matter loves matter. It seeks to know more about itself, and Dust is formed. The first angels condensed out of Dust,... 1 
notes
notesUsually a fake god is described as someone with special powers, but Pullman's god is merely an angel that preceded other angels into existence and lied to them about their origins, when, in fact, we are all products of the natural world.
10 AUG 2011
The Assassin Seeks Preemptive Grace
The President held up his hand. Preemptive penance and absolution were doctrines researched and developed by the Consistorial Court, but not known to the wider Church. They involved doing penance for a sin not yet committed, intense and fervent penance accompanied by scourging and flagellation, so as to build up, as it were, a store of credit. When the penance had reached the appropriate level for a particular sin, the penitent was granted absolution in advance, though he might never be calle... 1 notes
notesBefore committing a sin, a mercenary hired by the church does penance beforehand, so they may know they are still in grace after the crime.
10 AUG 2011
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. Coulter, I am a king, b... 1 notes
notesThe rebels in Pullman's book intend to overthrow the Kingdom of Heaven and replace it with a Republic.
10 AUG 2011
A Drop of Water to a Miniature Person
“Are there big people on your world, or are they all small like you?” Lyra said.
“We know how to deal with big people,” Tialys replied, not very helpfully, and went to talk quietly to the Lady. They spoke too softly for Lyra to hear, but she enjoyed watching them sip dewdrops from the marram grass to refresh themselves. Water must be different for them, she thought to Pantalaimon: imagine drops the size of your fist! They’d be hard to get into; they’d have a sort of elastic rind, like a ball...Folksonomies: perspectives
Folksonomies: perspectives
1 notes
notesWould have an elastic rind from the surface tension that would need to be broken before drinking.
10 AUG 2011
Nonexistence is Preferable to the Afterlife
“What will happen? When we leave the world of the dead, will we live again? Or will we vanish as our daemons did? Brothers, sisters, we shouldn’t follow this child anywhere till we know what’s going to happen to us!”
Others took up the question: “Yes, tell us where we’re going! Tell us what to expect! We won’t go unless we know what’ll happen to us!”
Lyra turned to Will in despair, but he said, “Tell them the truth. Ask the alethiometer, and tell them what it says.”
“All right,” she said.
... 1 notes
notesIn Pullman's vision of the afterlife, things are dreary and static, the dead long to dissipate and have their atoms return to the world and become other things. An atheist alternative to the boredom of heaven.
10 AUG 2011
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 condition,... 1 notes
notesNeed 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
Pass Along Wisdom
“Understand this,” said Xaphania: “Dust is not a constant. There’s not a fixed quantity that has always been the same. Conscious beings make Dust, they renew it all the time, by thinking and feeling and reflecting, by gaining wisdom and passing it on.
“And if you help everyone else in your worlds to do that, by helping them to learn and understand about themselves and each other and the way everything works, and by showing them how to be kind instead of cruel, and patient instead of hasty, a...Folksonomies: enlightenment wisdom
Folksonomies: enlightenment wisdom
1 notes
notesWhat to evangelize in absence of religion.
Parent Reference
His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, The Amber SpyglassBooks, Brochures, and Chapters>Book: Pullman , Philip (2011-12-06), His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass, Everyman's Library, Retrieved on 2011-08-10
Folksonomies: atheism fantasy 