Walter M. Miller, Jr. s A Canticle for Leibowitz is a
timeless story about apocalyptic cycles, conflicts
and similarities between religion and science,
religious ethics and secular ethics, sin and
redemption, myth and preternatural innocence.
Canticle is a very religious story about a monastery
dedicated to preserving scientific knowledge from the
time before nuclear war which devastated the world
and reduced humanity to a pre-technological
civilization. The Catholic Church and this monastery
are portrayed as a bastion of civilization amidst
barbarians and a light of faith amidst atheism.
Unfortunately, humanity destroys the Earth once
again, but Miller ends with two beacons of hope: a
starship headed for the unknown to help humanity
begin again and the preternaturally innocent Rachel
who portends a future for similarly innocent human
beings repopulating the Earth. Thus, faith
ultimately triumphs over atheism even in the midst of
almost total catastrophe.
timeless story about apocalyptic cycles, conflicts
and similarities between religion and science,
religious ethics and secular ethics, sin and
redemption, myth and preternatural innocence.
Canticle is a very religious story about a monastery
dedicated to preserving scientific knowledge from the
time before nuclear war which devastated the world
and reduced humanity to a pre-technological
civilization. The Catholic Church and this monastery
are portrayed as a bastion of civilization amidst
barbarians and a light of faith amidst atheism.
Unfortunately, humanity destroys the Earth once
again, but Miller ends with two beacons of hope: a
starship headed for the unknown to help humanity
begin again and the preternaturally innocent Rachel
who portends a future for similarly innocent human
beings repopulating the Earth. Thus, faith
ultimately triumphs over atheism even in the midst of
almost total catastrophe.