Seems about right, at least in its portrayal of the thinking behind the new "orthodoxy" of Joy. But it doesn't strike me as an entirely compelling account of why these fates were thought of as being distinct enough to require rebadging, and not just updating ("New, Improved Solace!"). One is tempted to wonder whether there wasn't some more "material" difference. Such as what? I dunno. The following spring to mind, which I'll mention at least so's you can all reassure me as to why they're wrong:
Solace of the Body wasn't an "afterlife" at all, but is simply a polite way modern Malkioni refer to the inconvenient fact that their Prophet was himself a Brithini, and like his people, immortal. This explains why we know so little about the "post-Malkion, pre-Hrestol non-Brithini Malkioni": there weren't any. Just Good Brithini, Dead Brithini, and Pagans. Anything you've ever heard different is a Hrestolist RetCon.
Solace of the Body was an afterlife, but a "provable" one. Either it was Manifest in some way, so you know who went there, after the fact, or one could use Logic to determine who got lucky. Either way, lots of people were falling by the wayside, due to breach of the Law. Tad bad for morale. So Hrestol promises a "transcendental" afterlife, beyond even Law and Logic, which can only be reached by a pure heart, and by faith.
Like option 2), but backwards. The Hrestoli "invented" an afterlife after the pagan model, thus providing a more direct reassurance to their people that there was life after death. Yup, this would require a not-so- invisible Invisible God (or other in his stead, such as newly-Sainted Hrestol).
The second sounds almost reasonable, but I certainly reserve the right to believe none (or all) at a later date.
> Loskalm, Seshnela, Safelster and Umathela [...] share
> essentially the same Holy Writ
I might sign up to "essentially", in its literal sense, but I doubt "substantially" is the most Interesting or Reasonable option. The key gospels of the whole Hrestol Incident are likely to vary markedly between Tanisor and Loskalm, notably. Divergence of this sort will come not just from fresh Revelation, but from rediscovery of pre-GL stuff.
> Seshnela The Book would include the "Life of Rokar", any
> theses he nailed to wherever it may be, the
> "Acts of Bailifes the Hammer", etc.
Doubtless also some (purported to be) "pre-Hrestolic" material. Don't ask _me_ where they got them from...
> [the Sedalpists have] "Meditations on Silence" of the Wordless
> Prophet, read aloud in church every Godsday.
Presumably John Cage would feel right at home during these.
> the very nature of the selective, reductive God
> Learning process (which takes in a vast body of comparable material and
> distills it down to its core Truths).
And failing which, makes them up out of whole tablecloth.
> (BTW, any perceived parallels between God Learner scriptural methodology and
> Frank Herbert's "Orange Catholic Bible" are wholly intentional).
Tsk. Don't you just hate all this gratuitous Jrustela/Arrakis analogydrawing ? I mean, one of them is practically redundant!
Alex.
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