Colonial theology (1978 edition)
Posted: Thu Feb 25, 2016 1:13 pm
I have read (not having watched the thing) that Ron Moore's series gives Colonial society an explicitly polytheistic belief system, as opposed to the allegedly "inconsistent" theological expressions of original BSG. The implication is that the 1978 series expressed polytheism at times and monotheism at other times.
Looking back through my memory, though, I'm not recalling any dialogue in the classic series that explicitly suggested the Colonials were anything but monotheistic. (Examples: "My God!" - Tigh; "Good Lord!" - Starbuck; "Not even God?" - Adama) There may have been expressions like "Thank the Lords of Kobol," but that doesn't prove the Lords of Kobol were considered deities. Likewise, Apollo's "If what you're saying is true, then this man is some kind of a god," while reflecting an awareness of polytheistic systems, doesn't imply Apollo necessarily believes in such a system. When Starbuck meets the Seraphs, he asks if they are "angels," not "gods."
The only place I can recall the word "gods" used with the implication that it reflects Galactican cosmology is in those two episode titles, "Lost Planet of the Gods" and "War of the Gods." That implication, though, was never borne out in the actual dialogue of those episodes. And I'm trying to avoid forcing any kind of external Mormon formulations onto the show, relying instead on the characters' own expressions of their concept of divinity.
Am I missing anything, though? Do any characters in original BSG speak as if they believed in a plurality of gods?
What about novelizations? Did they go into any detail on this question?
Could both types of systems have existed side by side in the Colonies? What the heck is the Otori sect, anyway?
Looking back through my memory, though, I'm not recalling any dialogue in the classic series that explicitly suggested the Colonials were anything but monotheistic. (Examples: "My God!" - Tigh; "Good Lord!" - Starbuck; "Not even God?" - Adama) There may have been expressions like "Thank the Lords of Kobol," but that doesn't prove the Lords of Kobol were considered deities. Likewise, Apollo's "If what you're saying is true, then this man is some kind of a god," while reflecting an awareness of polytheistic systems, doesn't imply Apollo necessarily believes in such a system. When Starbuck meets the Seraphs, he asks if they are "angels," not "gods."
The only place I can recall the word "gods" used with the implication that it reflects Galactican cosmology is in those two episode titles, "Lost Planet of the Gods" and "War of the Gods." That implication, though, was never borne out in the actual dialogue of those episodes. And I'm trying to avoid forcing any kind of external Mormon formulations onto the show, relying instead on the characters' own expressions of their concept of divinity.
Am I missing anything, though? Do any characters in original BSG speak as if they believed in a plurality of gods?
What about novelizations? Did they go into any detail on this question?
Could both types of systems have existed side by side in the Colonies? What the heck is the Otori sect, anyway?
