So I actually think the class went pretty well on Thursday. But I think at its core, what was making me a bit uncomfortable can be boiled down to this quote of Lewis from the Four Loves:
Emerson has said, "When half-gods go, the gods arrive." That is a very doubtful maxim. Better say, "When God arrives (and only then) the half-gods can remain." Left to themselves they either vanish or become demons.
Let's not worry about whether Emerson meant to say what Lewis suggests he implies (I'm not quite sure he does). When speaking of the natural loves this statement of Lewis makes sense. We sacrifice for love, adore love, fight for love, all the things we might do for God. But without the true God the love will self-corrupt. My question arises not in the context of loves, but in the context of mythology and astrology. Lewis (as evidenced in Planet Narnia) is comfortable using the Greek/Roman gods as reflections of the true God. Hence, their qualities, strengths, even personalities, can be invoked and appreciated as reflections of God Himself.
One of the ideas that emerged from the class is that the Sages, without mentioning the mythology, use the personalities and qualities to characterize astrologically the planets named after the gods. The worship of those planets would clearly be idolatrous but even the suggestion that these can be half-gods makes me uncomfortable.
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