Do Holy Writings lead the way to science fiction?
dsharavi
Can science fiction be part of Jewish culture? From fantasy we know?
As I think of it, it begins to seem to me that it is and we do know.
And the source? From where else? From the Hebrew source for every-
thing. From the Bible.
We have but to look through the Bible and see for ourselves.
At the very start, with the first verse, we have, "In the beginning
God
created the heavens and the earth," or, as Moses our Teacher put it,
"B'rayshith buru Elohim ayth hashomayim v'ayth ho'ortes."
Right there, we've got something. We've got imagination.
The legends of other people also describe the creation, but with
total
lack of imagination. For instance -- a god kills a giant monster,
tears it
in half, makes the sky out of one half, the earth out of the other
half,
fashions the seas from the monster's blood, the mountains from his
teeth, the trees from his hair, and who knows what else.
It's a plain lie, the whole story, and completely implausible. A
junior
high student wouldn't believe it; not even one with low marks, God
forbid.
But how does God do it? A question!
In the third verse, it stands written, "And God said, Let there be
light: and there was light."
It was clearly the use of advanced science. God obviously has mastery
over the laws of nature to an extent we have no conception and, as
Arthur C. Clarke (the Defender of Israel should be good to him) says:
"Any science sufficiently advanced beyond ours would seem like magic
to us."
To a caveman, if you say, "Let there be light," just as you quietly
touch a contact so that suddenly there IS light, would not that be to
him
a powerful magic? He would fall on his face and worship you lie a
god.
Right? Of course, right.
And if you stop to think of it, what is God but an extraterrestrial?
On Earth he certainly doesn't live. He might if he wanted to, but he
ex-
isted before there was an Earth. He lives in Heaven, which, as every-
body knows and admits, is in outer space somewhere. Probably in hy-
perspace.
So you see, out of logical reasoning, we come to the conclusion that
the Holy Writings lead the way to science fiction.
You want more? In chapters 2 and 3 of Genesis, you have the story of
Adam and Eve, which, it is clear to anyone, is the first story ever
told in
good detail of how human beings colonized a new world.
Adam and Eve even had to fight an alien intelligence -- the serpent.
That the serpent was intelligent leaves no room for doubt, for in
chapter 3, verse 1, it stands written, "Now the serpent was more
subtil
[intelligent] than any beast of the field..."
Right away, the serpent proves it because in that same verse he
speaks. And not just English -- but good first-class Hebrew.
Which in itself is a proof that the serpent was alien. Did you ever
hear
an Earthly serpent speak? In fact Earthly serpents are stupid.
They're reptiles (and trayf too -- feh!). Believe me, the serpent in
the
Garden was an alien.
There's a theory in the Apocrypha (see Revelation 12:9, 20:2) that
the
serpent was really Satan the Adversary (may the Lord protect us from
him at every step) but if so, what is Satan? Not an alien? Of COURSE
an alien.
You can go on and on. There's a tantalizing little story in the first
four
verses of chapter 6 of Genesis which clearly describes not only an ex-
traterrestrial invasion but a little bit of lusting after Earth-women,
just
the way we used to have it on the covers of science fiction maga-
zines in the 1930s and 1940s. The Bible doesn't say whether the extra-
terrestrial invaders were bug-eyed, but I suspect they were.
And what about the Flood, in chapters 6 to 9 inclusive? It's not a
story about a world catastrophe and the survivors? Of course it is!
And who can do it better even today? The whole world under water!
Everybody killed! What a spectacle!
The Tower of Babel in the 11th chapter? Clearly a sophisticated
technological society that proceeds forward without considering envi-
ronmental and ecological consequences and gets into deep trouble.
Very timely!
Nor is Genesis the only book that represents source material for sci-
ence fiction and fantasy. In the Book of Exodus, the battle of Moses
versus the Egyptian magicians is an example of advanced technological
warfare.
And how about the parting of the Red Sea at the last minute with the
hosts of Pharaoh in hot pursuit, and the turning back of the water to
drown that host? Is that ingenuous or not? You've got to give Moses
credit. Kimball Kinnison could not have done it better with one of
his
last-minute inventions.
The story of Samson is sword-and-sorcery, right? He's a regular
Conan the Cimmerian, right? Samson had the same kind of weakness
for ladies who are, you should excuse the expression, plain chippies.
And Delilah (the Angel of Death should only take her into the Pit)
finally got him. And the real surprise ending? I won't spoil it for
you in
case you don't know, but you'll find it in Judges 13-16.
The first chapter of Ezekiel is a nice UFO account with extraterres-
trials at the controls. We can still learn from it today.
[...]
Enough, already. The case is convincing. I see now why there are
so many Jewish writers of science fiction and fantasy, and why so
many
Jewish themes are used.
[...]
Excerpts from Isaac Asimov, The Hebrew Source; Introduction to More
Wandering Stars, Jack Dann ed. (1981).
Deborah
DoD
Dennis
> At the very start, with the first verse, we have, "In the beginning
> God
> created the heavens and the earth," or, as Moses our Teacher put it,
> "B'rayshith buru Elohim ayth hashomayim v'ayth ho'ortes."
>
> But how does God do it? A question!
>
> In the third verse, it stands written, "And God said, Let there be
> light: and there was light."
>
> It was clearly the use of advanced science. God obviously has mastery
> over the laws of nature to an extent we have no conception and, as
> Arthur C. Clarke (the Defender of Israel should be good to him) says:
> "Any science sufficiently advanced beyond ours would seem like magic
> to us."
Yup. Steven Hawking says that at the original Big Bang, the whole
universe was energy; only later did some condense into matter. Think
about it: if it was matter, space and time curve around massive objects,
so it would have been trapped!
> Adam and Eve even had to fight an alien intelligence -- the serpent.
>
> That the serpent was intelligent leaves no room for doubt, for in
> chapter 3, verse 1, it stands written, "Now the serpent was more
> subtil
> [intelligent] than any beast of the field..."
>
> Right away, the serpent proves it because in that same verse he
> speaks. And not just English -- but good first-class Hebrew.
Well, that ET had advanced tech to speak an earthly language at
all! Otherwise it would use whatever native means of communication it
had in the first place. And how does a snake have organs to produce
human speech, anyway? Maybe it was really telepathy?
> You can go on and on. There's a tantalizing little story in the first
> four
> verses of chapter 6 of Genesis which clearly describes not only an ex-
> traterrestrial invasion but a little bit of lusting after Earth-women,
> just
> the way we used to have it on the covers of science fiction maga-
> zines in the 1930s and 1940s. The Bible doesn't say whether the extra-
> terrestrial invaders were bug-eyed, but I suspect they were.
I suppose those are the Nephilim. Maybe they were Greys, and now
we're all Hybrids?
> And what about the Flood, in chapters 6 to 9 inclusive? It's not a
> story about a world catastrophe and the survivors? Of course it is!
>
> And who can do it better even today? The whole world under water!
> Everybody killed! What a spectacle!
Indeed! Where did all that water come from, and then subsequently
go? Sounds like advanced matter transmission.
> The Tower of Babel in the 11th chapter? Clearly a sophisticated
> technological society that proceeds forward without considering envi-
> ronmental and ecological consequences and gets into deep trouble.
> Very timely!
They didn't have to file Environmental Impact Statements back then.
Paper hadn't been invented yet. Clearly translation engines hadn't been
either!
> Nor is Genesis the only book that represents source material for sci-
> ence fiction and fantasy. In the Book of Exodus, the battle of Moses
> versus the Egyptian magicians is an example of advanced technological
> warfare.
Especially how advanced the Egyptians were then!
> And how about the parting of the Red Sea at the last minute with the
> hosts of Pharaoh in hot pursuit, and the turning back of the water to
> drown that host? Is that ingenuous or not? You've got to give Moses
> credit. Kimball Kinnison could not have done it better with one of
> his
> last-minute inventions.
Nope. Maybe they had Iron Man's repulsors?
> The story of Samson is sword-and-sorcery, right? He's a regular
> Conan the Cimmerian, right? Samson had the same kind of weakness
> for ladies who are, you should excuse the expression, plain chippies.
> And Delilah (the Angel of Death should only take her into the Pit)
> finally got him. And the real surprise ending? I won't spoil it for
> you in
> case you don't know, but you'll find it in Judges 13-16.
Some things never change.
> The first chapter of Ezekiel is a nice UFO account with extraterres-
> trials at the controls. We can still learn from it today.
Maybe people have noted that one.
> [...]
>
> Enough, already. The case is convincing. I see now why there are
> so many Jewish writers of science fiction and fantasy, and why so
> many
> Jewish themes are used.
I don't think Frank Herbert was Jewish, but he has Jews in his Dune
series at some point!
> Excerpts from Isaac Asimov, The Hebrew Source; Introduction to More
> Wandering Stars, Jack Dann ed. (1981).
>
> Deborah
Oy veh!
Dennis
Herman Rubin
>> At the very start, with the first verse, we have, "In the beginning
>> God
>> created the heavens and the earth," or, as Moses our Teacher put it,
>> "B'rayshith buru Elohim ayth hashomayim v'ayth ho'ortes."
>> But how does God do it? A question!
God knows, and He isn't telling.
>> In the third verse, it stands written, "And God said, Let there be
>> light: and there was light."
>> It was clearly the use of advanced science. God obviously has mastery
>> over the laws of nature to an extent we have no conception and, as
>> Arthur C. Clarke (the Defender of Israel should be good to him) says:
>> "Any science sufficiently advanced beyond ours would seem like magic
>> to us."
> Yup. Steven Hawking says that at the original Big Bang, the whole
>universe was energy; only later did some condense into matter. Think
>about it: if it was matter, space and time curve around massive objects,
>so it would have been trapped!
One can interpret "light" as energy. Again, no problem.
Also, interpret "waters" as "plasma".
Where it says that God gathered the waters together, and
the dry land appeared, I read that God started the separation
of matter from the plasma. I read "eretz" to mean the domain
appropriate at the time.
--
This address is for information only. I do not claim that these views
are those of the Statistics Department or of Purdue University.
Herman Rubin, Department of Statistics, Purdue University
hru...@stat.purdue.edu Phone: (765)494-6054 FAX: (765)494-0558
cindys
snip
>
> > Adam and Eve even had to fight an alien intelligence -- the serpent.
>
> > That the serpent was intelligent leaves no room for doubt, for in
> > chapter 3, verse 1, it stands written, "Now the serpent was more
> > subtil
> > [intelligent] than any beast of the field..."
--------------------
That's because it was a Goa'uld ;-)
Best regards,
---Cindy S.
Dennis
>>> At the very start, with the first verse, we have, "In the beginning
>>> God
>>> created the heavens and the earth," or, as Moses our Teacher put it,
>>> "B'rayshith buru Elohim ayth hashomayim v'ayth ho'ortes."
>
>>> But how does God do it? A question!
>
> God knows, and He isn't telling.
Probably because ha-Shem knows what we'd do with it! Look at what
we did with such lesser mysteries as the curve of binding energy for the
atomic nucleus.
>>> In the third verse, it stands written, "And God said, Let there be
>>> light: and there was light."
>
>>> It was clearly the use of advanced science. God obviously has
>>> mastery over the laws of nature to an extent we have no conception
>>> and, as Arthur C. Clarke (the Defender of Israel should be good to
>>> him) says: "Any science sufficiently advanced beyond ours would seem
>>> like magic to us."
>
>> Yup. Steven Hawking says that at the original Big Bang, the
>> whole
>>universe was energy; only later did some condense into matter. Think
>>about it: if it was matter, space and time curve around massive
>>objects, so it would have been trapped!
>
> One can interpret "light" as energy. Again, no problem.
>
> Also, interpret "waters" as "plasma".
>
> Where it says that God gathered the waters together, and
> the dry land appeared, I read that God started the separation
> of matter from the plasma. I read "eretz" to mean the domain
> appropriate at the time.
You got it! "God separated the light from the darkness" was when
He caused matter to condense; the "dark matter" we're still trying to
figure out was left behind.
Dennis
Dennis
>> > Adam and Eve even had to fight an alien intelligence -- the serpent.
>
>>
>> > That the serpent was intelligent leaves no room for doubt, for in
>> > chapter 3, verse 1, it stands written, "Now the serpent was more
>> > subtil
>> > [intelligent] than any beast of the field..."
> --------------------
> That's because it was a Goa'uld ;-)
That sounds like a good one! Would someone explain for someone who
doesn't know Hebrew? :-)
What do you call an ET in Hebrew? An 'alien' as in
'extraterrestrial'? Are there terms for 'Grey', etc.?
Does anyone think the Nephilim were ETs? (I believe I've seen
crackpot theories to that effect.)
Dennis
Susan S
<cst...@rochester.rr.com>:
Indeed [nobody understands you but me].
Susan Silberstein
Amitai
> In soc.culture.jewish.moderated I read this message from cindys
>
> >On Nov 19, 3:24 pm, Dennis <tsalagi18NOS...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> >snip
>
> >> > Adam and Eve even had to fight an alien intelligence -- the serpent.
>
> >> > That the serpent was intelligent leaves no room for doubt, for in
> >> > chapter 3, verse 1, it stands written, "Now the serpent was more
> >> > subtil
> >> > [intelligent] than any beast of the field..."
> >--------------------
> >That's because it was a Goa'uld ;-)
>
> Indeed [nobody understands you but me].
>
know whether it is shown in Israel. However, I do have access to
Wikipedia:
"The Goa'uld (pronounced [ɡoˑɑˈʔuːld], commonly shortened to /ɡoʊ
ˈuːld/ go-OOLD or /ˈɡuːld/ goold) are a fictional extraterrestrial
race of parasites from the American-Canadian military science fiction
television franchise Stargate."
Amitai
> Susan Silberstein
lee
> In soc.culture.jewish.moderated I read this message from cindys
>
> >On Nov 19, 3:24 pm, Dennis <tsalagi18NOS...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> >snip
>
> >> > Adam and Eve even had to fight an alien intelligence -- the serpent.
>
> >> > That the serpent was intelligent leaves no room for doubt, for in
> >> > chapter 3, verse 1, it stands written, "Now the serpent was more
> >> > subtil
> >> > [intelligent] than any beast of the field..."
> >--------------------
> >That's because it was a Goa'uld ;-)
>
> Indeed [nobody understands you but me].
>
> Susan Silberstein
& google
cindys
> In soc.culture.jewish.moderated I read this message from cindys
>
> >On Nov 19, 3:24 pm, Dennis <tsalagi18NOS...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> >snip
>
> >> > Adam and Eve even had to fight an alien intelligence -- the serpent.
>
> >> > That the serpent was intelligent leaves no room for doubt, for in
> >> > chapter 3, verse 1, it stands written, "Now the serpent was more
> >> > subtil
> >> > [intelligent] than any beast of the field..."
> >--------------------
> >That's because it was a Goa'uld ;-)
>
> Indeed [nobody understands you but me].
>
> Susan Silberstein
It's okay. Sometimes, I just post things to amuse myself. But there's
gotta be more posters who get the reference (besides you and me).
Best regards,
---Cindy S.
cindys
There's a nice picture of the symbiote at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goa'uld
Best regards,
---Cindy S.
Susan S
<chr...@techunix.technion.ac.il>:
>On Nov 22, 1:23 am, Susan S <otoeremovet...@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
>> In soc.culture.jewish.moderated I read this message from cindys
>> <cste...@rochester.rr.com>:
>>
>> >On Nov 19, 3:24 pm, Dennis <tsalagi18NOS...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>> >snip
>>
>> >> > Adam and Eve even had to fight an alien intelligence -- the serpent.
>>
>> >> > That the serpent was intelligent leaves no room for doubt, for in
>> >> > chapter 3, verse 1, it stands written, "Now the serpent was more
>> >> > subtil
>> >> > [intelligent] than any beast of the field..."
>> >--------------------
>> >That's because it was a Goa'uld ;-)
>>
>> Indeed [nobody understands you but me].
>>
>Not any more. I have never seen an episode of Stargate; I don't even
>know whether it is shown in Israel. However, I do have access to
>Wikipedia:
>"The Goa'uld (pronounced [?o????u?ld], commonly shortened to /?o?
>?u?ld/ go-OOLD or /??u?ld/ goold) are a fictional extraterrestrial
>race of parasites from the American-Canadian military science fiction
>television franchise Stargate."
>
But I did not have to look it up and Cindy knows that.
Susan Silberstein
cindys
> In soc.culture.jewish.moderated I read this message from Amitai
> <chr0...@techunix.technion.ac.il>:
Correct, and I would happily host a symbiote if I could be one of the
Tokr'a.
Best regards,
---Cindy S.
Dennis
>> > Adam and Eve even had to fight an alien intelligence -- the serpent.
>
>>
>> > That the serpent was intelligent leaves no room for doubt, for in
>> > chapter 3, verse 1, it stands written, "Now the serpent was more
>> > subtil
>> > [intelligent] than any beast of the field..."
> --------------------
> That's because it was a Goa'uld ;-)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goa%27uld
"The word "Goa'uld" means "children of the gods". So there you
have it!
Actually there's a very old story by Isaac Asimov, "Hostess," where
an alien non-physical parasitic intelligence inhabits humans and non-
human intelligent aliens. Asimov refers to the story of the snake in the
Garden of Eden.
Wiki: "Humanity has spread out into the Galaxy and made contact with four
other intelligent non-human races. Harg Tholan, a medical doctor and
researcher from the planet known as Hawkin's Planet arrives on Earth and
visits Rose Smollett, a research biologist and her husband Drake,
ostensibly a police officer but in fact an agent of a secret government
organisation.
Dr Tholan is researching a disease known as Inhibition Death, unknown on
Earth, and reveals his theory that a sixth parasitic non-physical
intelligence exists that lives in the minds of the humans.
Drake, whose bureau already knows about this disease and the plans of the
Hawkinsites, kills Tholan and disappears with the body."
Dennis
Bob S
>
> - Show quoted text -
I did not miss an episode in 10 years. The new guys just don't have
the chemistry
Jaffa !!!
Bob S
cindys
--------------
Which "new guys?" You mean the ones that were on Atlantis or the ones
that are currently on The Destiny?
Best regards,
---Cindy S.
Bob S
I apologize for my slow response; I haven't been on a lot. The
Destiny crew is the one, but now I am finding several character's
development interesting; the asian actress from SG1 , Col Young.and
Dr. Rush (usually a psycho ?)
My best to you and your family.
BobS