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What the heck is henotheism?
In the first exciting installment of Dave’s Guest Blog ™, I talked about how DUNE inspired some of the religion-as-power ideas that occur as a theme throughout The Osserian Saga. The Prophet of the One God is a figure introduced in THE WORDS OF MAKING who believes he was visited by a divine messenger who told him there was a single god above the pantheon of gods those in his country worship, a “god of gods” who created all things in the world.
The Prophet does not disbelieve in the pantheon of his kingdom. He merely says that there is One God above them, and that worship of Him is vital to defeat the growing might of the Adversary. That is the essence of henotheism: “There is one god for us, but you may worship others.” Moses was not a monotheist – he was a henotheist. He did not disbelieve in the gods of Egypt. He merely said those gods were not for the Hebrews. The Egyptian priests are able to turn their staffs to snakes precisely because their gods existed. What that passage in the Bible shows is that the Hebrew god is more powerful than the Egyptian deities, not that they don’t exist at all.
So that’s henotheism, and that is indeed what the Prophet of the One God believes. It’s a transitional state between polytheism and monotheism.
In THE AMBER WIZARD, Gerin is told by a divine messenger (who has appearances in later volumes), “Even a prophet may not understand everything he is shown.” This does have resonance through the rest of the books, and will form an integral part of Gerin’s character arc as the series progresses.
And for those interested in other elements of the story, there’s lots of cool magic, ancient creatures of great power, and some really kickin’ battles in which lots of stuff gets obliterated. I can’t wait for the movie!
-- David Forbes
David Forbes's second book, THE WORDS OF MAKING, is just out, and he's guest-blogging at Eos this week:
I'm still a new enough writer that it's very cool to see my work in print, especialy in the "Featured Books" sections of various bookstores. I get a certain little thrill inside that says, Hey, that's me! I did that!
The genesis of the Osserian Saga started with my love of DUNE. I thought Frank Herbert was really on to something when he had Paul become the head of the Fremen religion, which enabled him in turn to depose the Emperor and take his place. But the question I always had was, did Paul really believe? Was he truly a follower, or was he using the Fremen religion as a means to consolidate power? It’s been years since I read the books, but I don’t think this question is ever answered with any certainty. I think that is one of the (many) brilliant conceits in Herbert’s DUNE works, and it repeats itself in GOD EMPEROR OF DUNE, with Paul’s son Leto II. Does the God Emperor truly believe in the religion he created, in his own godhood, or is it all window dressing to keep humanity on “the Golden Path,” Leto’s three-thousand-year-long enforced peace?
I thought those were interesting questions, and I wanted to explore them in a fantasy setting. While the religious elements in THE AMBER WIZARD are relatively scarce – Gerin has two unexplained encounters with divine power that seems interested in him personally – they become more overt in THE WORDS OF MAKING with the appearance of the Prophet of the One God and his nascent religion. Gerin becomes a hesitant follower, struggling with his resistance to being manipulated by outside forces, divine or otherwise, to wanting to understand more of it because his natural curiosity leads him to believe this religion might hold important answers for him, both personally and in the coming struggle against the Adversary.
The idea of a “god of gods” was something I wanted to explore as well, and will talk about in the next exciting installment of Dave’s Guest Blog! (Coming to a PC near you in glorious Smell-O-Vision!)
Next up: the concept of henotheism.
-- David Forbes