Aeternus, Eternus

Daneel Rush is an incredible author.

Yeah, it's Him who wrote the amazing Tamers Forever series. And is now writing the Gospel series.

I'm in utter awe of the mind behind the plot. Of the amount of time, preparation and dedication he has put into the whole project. I stand completely cowed by that display of determination and brilliance. There's no way I can approach that kind of standard at my current level...

Just finished reading the updates I missed of his Gospel series. He has finished Book 0 of the Gospels, and the first chapter of Book 1 is up. It's probably going to be a ridiculously long time until his next update, but I have a feeling that it's going to be worth it. It's always worth the wait for one of Daneel-sama's chapters. Yeah it is that good.

I can see the plot clicking into place with every chapter. It's amazing how he makes everything fit perfectly together, no matter how disconnected or seemingly random a certain fact is. An incident here, a gesture there; it all slots neatly into the great tapestry that he has woven.

The whole Biblical/Judaism influence is a little hard to miss. Talking about the Sefira, Yggdrasil...not to mention the blatantly obvious allusion to the ascension of Jesus with Takato's disappearance at the Day of Revelation. And let's not forget the little side note with Nonaka Arisu, daughter of Nonaka Rika, who states that she has "no father", when it is obvious that if she DID have a father, it had to have been Takato considering all the hints they have been dropping. This almost leads to a Virgin Mary-like situation, not quite the same, but the suggestion is there.

Sacrifice. It's a big theme in the whole of Gospels, and was too in Tamers Forever. In fact, I would say that it was THE central theme in Gospels. There can be no victory without sacrifice. Wise words indeed.

I'm beginning to suspect that Taichi is also one of the Takato-clones in the Gospel arc, if Takako's words mean anything, and also his ability to biomerge easily betrays a lot about him.

The amount of thought behind each character is immense. Character development is central to the story, but so are the battles and everything else. Nothing is left out. I reel at the battle descriptions, the careful scripting of the strategic moves in battle situations.......and I collapse in helpless laughter at the humour. Takato and Alice are hilarious together...and so are Takato and Rika. DC and BlackTerriermon are also a hoot. I have not yet met any other author that has made me laugh, cry, think and chew on my nails all at the same time. Sure, good authors can make me to do one or two of the above, but never all in one chapter.

Yeah, one chapter and I feel the urge to scream at the unfairness of it all, laugh at the sheer hilarity, cry at the devastating pain, want to puke at the horror, and consider the philosophy behind every decision. All these in a single chapter. You can imagine just how strongly the whole darn series has impacted me then.

It makes me feel inadequate. I've never grasped plot development very well. I usually have a general idea of what I want and where I'm going with the plot, but I never really sit down and plan it out, do my research, and generally spend time laying the groundwork and making sure that everything fit together. It's time I started.

It's these series that got me interested in the Hebrew mythology in the first place. I don't have the TIME now to explore it (obviously), but I would like to. And by Hebrew mythology, I don't mean the Bible. The Bible is only one viewpoint, one segment expanded from the original web of ideas and wealth of characters that zoomed in to focus on the lives of certain people.

I can see people glaring daggers at me right now.

But I'm right. You can't deny that. If you're Christian, you would believe that the Bible is the Word of God, and that God is speaking to you through the hands of the men who penned the documents making up the Bible. But there are many references in the Bible itself, names mostly, that has origins in Hebrew mythology, among other things. It only makes sense, since much of the Old Testament was written in Hebrew, the other languages spanning the Bible being Latin and Greek. It wouldn't be too far of a stretch to have linguistic references that has origins in "pagan" mythology. In fact, I think it's rather normal to see such a phenomenon, language being the tool of expression, and I wouldn't be surprised to know that "pagans" would have had to use language to express their ideas, and some of the words would have become mainstream with prolonged usage.

Names, for example. I've read the Bible about twice, skimming through some of the more boring books, I'll admit. I've come across plenty of names, mostly either Greek or Hebrew in origin, and the footnotes usually note its derivative meanings and/or spellings. A quick check on the internet though, reveals that some of the fancier names, like Astaroth (or Asteroth, Ashtaroth, Astarte etc) have rather interesting, even pagan beginnings. I did a search on google and found a rather detailed information page with regards to demonology, but I digress.

Yes I admit that my interests have rather dangerous, even heretical leanings. But do I care? Nope. It helps me learn actually. Learning how each culture deals with the existence of evil, how they explain it, classify it, define it. How, in some cultures, gods and demons are simply embodied in the same deity, just with different aspects shown at different times. Think Hinduism's Kali, the destructive aspect of the goddess Devi. Kali is an agent of destruction, yet her devotees see her as a loving mother, probably one of the other aspects of Devi. It's an interesting contradiction, or should I phrase it as 'contrast'? It's definitely a fascinating idea we have here.

In Judeo-Christianity we have God and the Devil, opposing forces of Good and Evil respectively embodied in these two representatives. That's an oversimplistic view though. If you follow the strict interpretation the Bible gives, then God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and the Devil is simply a pretender who tempts mankind. They were never equals to begin with, since Lucifier was originally an angel serving under God, before he fell from grace.

Which brings us to the problem with Evil. Surely, one such as Lucifier, the corrupt fallen angel, whose power would not even make a dent on God, could not be the embodiment of Evil itself. Lucifier could be an agent of Evil, a convenient vehicle of representation, the caricature of the concept of Evil for us to villify and attack. But he is not Evil itself, simply a puppet perhaps, or more succinctly, someone who has taken on Evil's mantle to challenge the "Good".

Then what is Evil? Where did Evil come from? Is Evil a true antithesis to Good? What is Good anyway? What does it mean? Is there a source for these two conflicting concepts? Is there a single source, or are there two different sources? If there are different sources, would that mean that the two opposing forces are equal in strength, at least theoretically? Would that mean that hypothetically, there is an ultimate image of Good, and an ultimate image of Evil?

Obviously, Judeo-Christianity does not embrace the above view, which incidentally, is derived from a Manichean view of dualism. No, I'm not going to explain it, go google it yourself. Or go to Wikipedia, I found my source there.

On a side note, the Catholic Church found Manicheaism heretical and rejected it. They would, wouldn't they? After all, the whole basis of the theory does rest upon the fact that Good and Evil are equal, opposing forces. Note I highlighted the word 'equal' quite prominently. It is, after all, against their theology to admit that the Devil is in any way equal to the omniscient God, the all-powerful Creator. I don't blame them, after all, to admit that the Devil is equal in strength to God means to admit the possibility that they are not necessarily safe from the Devil's influence even after embracing God's power and protection. Equality between the Good and Evil forces pretty much negates any visible advantage, doesn't it?

So, going back to my previous point, if dualism is NOT accepted, then the other possibility is that both Good and Evil originated from the same source. *cue gasp and shocked looks*

Have you grasped the implications? No? Well, if you haven't, I'll explain it...ninny.

There are several possible implications to this. The most obvious one is that Good and Evil, having sprung from the same source, are possibly just reflections of the same thing. Incidentally, such a concept is quite commonly and popularly used in anime and other shows. For some reason, Dark and Krad from Dn Angel keeps springing to mind. Heh.

Do you see the implication there? It means that Good and Evil are the SAME THING. Just different interpretations and viewpoints. But essentially the same thing. Think of it like siblings coming from the same set of parents, with different personalities, but their DNA lineage is closely related.

Then, in a sense, the battle between Good and Evil could simply be characterised as the greatest sibling rivalry of all time. Lol.

Laying the joke aside though, I shall proceed to the other possible implications. It really isn't much different from the above analysis, but considering that Good and Evil originated from a single source, it makes a certain amount of sense that at one point in time, they had been One, united in their birth, before going their separate ways. Think of it like twins in the womb before they are birthed.

I would like to explore the possibilities implied in my speculation, but my knowledge is sadly limited on this topic. I can think, theorise, but I do need some concrete facts to base speculation on, otherwise it would all be meaningless. So I'm leaving some of the possibilities unexplored, for now.

That and the fact that it's getting late, and my dad's getting mad at me for staying up. He doesn't even understand that I'm actually thinking, reflecting, on serious things. Of course, if I showed him this, he wouldn't even understand half of what I'm saying. Figures.

There's actually another possible angle to the situation. One that is probably not beneficial towards the maintainence of my general well-being. One that I might possibly be stoned and/or burned at the stake for. Providing that such archaic methods are still used. I don't really fear for my life though, considering I'm a small fry with limited reach to the masses. And I do live in a generally stable country that's noted for sensibility (otherwise known as kiasi-ness). Haha.

So, what is that grand theory? Actually, its none too grand. It's not even particularly new in terms of ideas on this blog. I think I've touched on it before in one of my older posts a long time ago. Seeing that I'm still alive to this day, evidently I stand a good chance of surviving even if I air my honest opinion.

Simply put, the idea of the Judeo-Christian God as an all-powerful, supreme being. If He is indeed supreme and all-powerful, that He knows all things, is it not possible that instead of a purely Good force that the Bible makes Him out to be, He is simply a force complete with Good AND Evil? That He embodies both in His being, He as the supreme Creator, the impartial judge, the one that rains destruction on the unworthy, the one who protects those who believe.

In the Old Testament, the Book of Genesis states that God alone knew what was Good and what was Evil. He alone had the perfect knowledge of both Good and Evil, and Adam and Eve had no idea...at least not until they ate from the Tree of Knowledge at the behest of the serpent. But even then, humanity only gained AWARENESS of the existence of Evil with the forbidden fruit, and not KNOWLEDGE of Evil.

Why do I make that distinction? Is not awareness and knowledge linked? Yes, as a matter of fact, they are. You sort of have to be aware of something before you can find out more about it. It's amusing really. We know about Evil, we have seen its manifestations in the physical world (at least, what we believe is evil), but we do not know what it is. We do not truly understand what it means, what it entails, what it IS.

Let me explain. Some people claim to understand Evil, or at least its forms. Understanding the forms that Evil can take isn't too difficult, after all, you do have something to countercheck it with, that is, the existence of the physical manifestations of Good. But don't you realise something inherently flawed within that argument already? Good and Evil are relative to each other in this aspect, you need to to balance off the other.

And if you got the pun in that above statement, kudos to you.

But what do we know of the absolute forms of Good and Evil? Is there even an absolute? The world has many grey areas, many different shades of grey coloring all facets of life. Is there an essence that is completely Good, a singular meaning or definition that explains the reality of Good? Is there the same for Evil? Can there be one?

Humanity is aware of Good and Evil. That is a fact...well, more or less as much as I can verify. We know there is a difference. We know they are there. But the definitions have been pretty hazy, even as we seek out ways to explain what Good and Evil are, and to give them form. Thus the whole idea of gods and demons. Man created these symbols to try and explain Good and Evil, to give them a meaning, a reason for their existence. We are a strange species indeed.

Back to my original argument though. The Judeo-Christian God, with his perfect knowledge of what Good and Evil means and entails, is the perfect embodiment of BOTH concepts. I can hear and see the gasps and horrified expressions. Heresy! Ain't that fun?

Hey, you do have a God that on one hand, is the perfect loving Father who's the epitome of love and patience and all things understanding. On the other hand, He is also capable of jealousy and wrath against his creations, though not without reason one might argue, but the fact that He is in fact capable of such terrible deeds is ample proof that Evil is a part of Him. I'm not saying He is Evil, simply that He understands it. You can't exactly have a good Judge who doesn't understand both sides of the argument. So don't complain or glare at me.

I know I know, in Judeo-Christianity, the Devil is the embodiment of Evil. That's a myopic view really. The Devil is simply Temptation. God, according to the Bible, gave humanity free will to choose whether or not to love Him. Because He understands true love is not forced or coerced nor submissive. Love is a gift, it is about giving willingly without thought. He gave free will to humans because He wanted us to make that choice on our own. A test, so to speak. *chuckles*

What makes the Devil evil anyway? Is it because he defied God, thought himself more powerful than his Maker? Possibly. Then why didn't God just get rid of him? He could, but he didn't. Why? Because, evidently, the Guy Upstairs thinks long range. He knew that He would create humans in his own image someday, allow them a choice whether or not to come to Him, but what's the point of creating a bunch of people with free will when they had no alternative anyway? The Devil thus becomes here a part of the test, a temptation, making the test more difficult, more challenging. Making it a real test. Heh.

I would like to state here that this is solely my own opinion here. I derived ideas from concepts like dualism and other various schools of thought, but the primary synthesis of ideas here is my own.

Oh, before I forget, here are a few lines of wisdom to ponder over:

What is Right may not be what is Good.
What is Good for the many may not be Good for the individual.
What is Good for the individual may harm the many.
What is Justice? What do we do when the pursuit Justice causes the suffering of the many?
Is it Evil to kill to protect the Good?

And lastly...

Utopia...is it the ultimate expression of Good? Where all traces of Evil are wiped out, and no longer exist?
Is Heaven a kind of Utopia, where only Good exists, and nothing else?
And if only Good exists, then what meaning does it have if it is anything and everything?
A Utopia where only Good exists, and nothing else...is that true Utopia, or just a rigid reality where there is only One interpretation with no room for argument?

Ok, I lied, there's still one more.

Utopia, for me, is about Harmony. Harmony between all things, Good and Evil, Light and Dark. Where no one judges, where there is no need to judge. Where there is Acceptance, and Understanding. Where everyone can live, is allowed to live. Allowed to believe, to think what they want, yet understanding what binds everything together and respecting it.

Harmony.
Balance.
Peace.

That is all I ask for my Utopia.

And I recognise the impossibility, since even the religious view of Heaven already contradicts one of the requirements I just set down. I leave it to you to understand what I mean. It might be good for your brain. Who knows, you might actually learn something. Like how to think.

Think, as in to consider. Think, as in to understand. Can you think? I'm not even sure if I can.

And that's life for you in the end.