Religions, Truth, and the Gospel

The skaa called Sazed holy, but at that moment he realized that he was the most profane of men.  He knew three hundred religions, yet had faith in none of them.
So, when his tears fell -- and nearly began to freeze to his face -- they gave him as little comfort as his religions.  He moaned, leaning over the frozen corpse.
My life, he thought, has been a sham.
-Mistborn - The Well of Ascension

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Hello, October!

Finally finished the book.  It's quite fantastic, really, and quite free of inappropriate scenes.  But the line of thought culminating in today's quote was very thought-provoking.

Sazed is one of the main characters in these books.  As a Terrisman Ferruchemist, he has a role as one of the Keepers among his people.  Ferruchemists use pieces of metal, called metalminds, to store attributes at the cost of a temporary weakening of that attribute.  Some store physical traits, such as senses, strength, and weight.  Copper is very interesting, in that it stores memories.  Keepers store vast amounts of information in their copperminds: books, biographies, events... and religions.  Sazed is notable for knowing over three hundred religions, all long dead, crushed by the Lord Ruler during his thousand-year reign.  Yet he insists on trying to match every person he meets with a religion that would best suit that person.

The hypocrisy in this is incredibly obvious from the start.  Sazed himself claims to hold all religions equally, as each contain 'portions of truth'.  But in doing so, he refutes the truth of all, since all of them would necessarily conflict with each other.  Here, as he finds the dead body of a fellow Keeper he had just fallen in love with (eunuch or not), he realizes the true futility of his life's work.

That's one thing this book tends to probe a lot: what, exactly makes a 'divinity'? The Lord Ruler was considered one, because, for all practical purposes, he was immortal, and was incredibly powerful.  But he was killed when it was discovered he had a simple trick he used to make himself a 'god'.  Kelsier, who had led the skaa rebellion against the Final Empire, let himself be martyred, and throughout the second book, he is considered a 'god' by the skaa people, making a religion to unite an oppressed people.

None of these come as any surprise, given the author's background in the mormon church.  While this does accurately depict the futility of trying to hold on to multiple, conflicting religions, it does not truly confront what would, then, be the source of truth and morality.  Perhaps he'll resolve this in the third book; I'm not sure.  It will be interesting to see how he draws his conclusions.

Back to Galatians!

Paul's statement in the first verse continues.  He notes, as I said in the last post, that he received the gospel from Jesus Christ, not from man.  He also notes another component: God the Father, who raised Christ from the dead.  That act of raising Christ is, in itself, the gospel given to Paul; and, if Christ had not been raised, He could not have given the gospel to Paul anyway.  It's kind of difficult to say you were risen from the dead if you are, in fact, dead.  More evidence for Paul's case, and another blow for those claiming Jesus Christ is not God.

Paul sends this letter, also, with a greeting from 'all the brothers who are with me'.  Either he is, again, in prison, or he is with another church (which seems more likely).  He obviously has the support of those around him in writing this letter.  I'll head back into the thick of the chapter again tomorrow, if I have time.  Which I can make a little of, under the right circumstances.  Just add a little tin to bronze, and mix it with about half again as much aluminum...