Chapter XVII
Many Waters
In Chapter XVII, I wanted to be sure to make a literary reference. While writing these books about time travel and the time of Noah, I felt it important to read other books that deal with these subjects. Thus, I had Adam make a comment that the Flood was a time of “many waters.” I added this in in honor of Madeleine L’Engle, who in 1986 wrote a book entitled Many Waters, which is part of her “A Wrinkle in Time” series. In this book, two brothers from the Murray family go back in time to before the Great Flood. Personally, I am neither a fan of L’Engle’s thick prose nor of how the plot of Many Waters progresses (and L’Engle messes up many of the details regarding the Genesis patriarchs). However, because it was a story of time travel to pre-Flood times, I felt it was worth noting. More importantly, a subsequent book that series, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, provides the most fascinating understanding of time travel I have ever read (even though her prose is still way too thick!). Her powerful charterer, Charles Wallace Murray, bounces through time in his mind fighting a generations-long struggle that must be won against the forces of evil. Fascinating!
Romans 5
Hopefully you noticed the text Adam and Logan spoke back and forth to each other is taken from Romans 5. I have thought it would be interesting to consider what would Adam think of how he centered so prominently in Paul’s arguments the beginning chapters of book of Romans. By allowing Adam to know everything Logan knows–which includes the book of Romans–I got to play that out a bit.
A Severe Mercy
I have been interested in this term, a “severe mercy,” ever since I encountered an old book by that title written by Sheldon Vanauken. It is story about a pagan couple the comes to Christ and writes letters back and forth to C.S. Lewis about their journey and some tragic events that occur in their life. The term “severe mercy” seemed the perfect term for what Adam would see in the mind of Logan.
