The Way of Cross and Dragon
Encyclopedia
"The Way of Cross and Dragon" is a science fiction
short story
by George R. R. Martin
. It involves a far-future priest of the One True Interstellar Catholic Church of Earth and the Thousand Worlds (with similarities to the Roman Catholic hierarchy) investigating a sect that reveres Judas Iscariot
. The story deals with the nature and limitations of religious faith.
The story originally appeared in the June 1979 issue of Omni
.
disputes efficiently, is sent as Knight Inquisitor
, despite spiritual exhaustion, by his alien
archbishop to deal with a particular cult
that has made a saint
of Judas Iscariot.
The sect follows a religious text, The Way of Cross and Dragon, that describes the life of Iscariot, and revises
his place in Christianity. The text describes how, born of a prostitute
, Iscariot mastered the dark arts
to become a tamer of dragon
s and the ruler of a great empire. After torturing
and maiming Christ, Iscariot repented
and relinquished his empire to become the penitent
Legs of Christ, the first and best-beloved of the Twelve Apostles. Returning from proselytising
to find Christ crucified
, an enraged Iscariot then destroyed the perpetrating empire and strangled St. Peter
for renouncing Christ, only to discover, too late, Christ's Resurrection
. Rejecting Judas' violence, Christ restored St. Peter to life and gave him the keys of the kingdom
. St. Peter then suppressed the truth about Judas, vilifying his name and exploits. Seeking redemption
for his wrath, Iscariot became the thousand-year-old Wandering Ju
, before finally rejoining Christ in the Kingdom of God
.
Perusing the materials of the sect, Har Veris finds himself enjoying the fanciful, creative, but ultimately ridiculous narrative, finding it far more interesting than the more mundane heresies that have developed around power, money and doctrinal quibbles.
Arriving on the sect's distant planet
, Har Veris confronts its heresiarch
, Lukyan Judasson, creator of the Way of Cross and Dragon narrative, but finds that he is already expected. Questioning Judasson, Har Veris uncovers a conspiracy of nihilistic
Liars, who see Truth as entropy
and despair, and who wish to soften and color the ultimately meaningless lives
of others by creating belief in carefully crafted Lies — they create faiths. They have perpetrated this Judas cult as well as others, and now want Har Veris to join them. Despite his spiritual exhaustion, he realizes that though he may be losing his faith, he has not lost his passion for truth. When he refuses to join the Liars, Judasson wishes to have him silenced, but his senior in the conspiracy, a misshapen psionic
mutant
, senses the impending Liar in Har Veris, and allows him to go.
Har Veris then uses political manipulation and the public's fear and distrust of psychic
powers to turn the tide on the Judas cult, resolving yet another heresy with dispatch. When, much later, he fully acknowledges that he has lost his faith, his superior is indifferent: results are what is needed, and Har Veris is to continue in his role as inquisitor. The priest accepts this, realizing that the psychic was right: he is himself a consummate Liar, perpetuating a faith in which he no longer believes.
However, departing on his next Inquisition, he has named his new ship
Dragon.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
short story
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
by George R. R. Martin
George R. R. Martin
George Raymond Richard Martin , sometimes referred to as GRRM, is an American author and screenwriter of fantasy, horror, and science fiction. He is best known for A Song of Ice and Fire, his bestselling series of epic fantasy novels that HBO adapted for their dramatic pay-cable series Game of...
. It involves a far-future priest of the One True Interstellar Catholic Church of Earth and the Thousand Worlds (with similarities to the Roman Catholic hierarchy) investigating a sect that reveres Judas Iscariot
Judas Iscariot
Judas Iscariot was, according to the New Testament, one of the twelve disciples of Jesus. He is best known for his betrayal of Jesus to the hands of the chief priests for 30 pieces of silver.-Etymology:...
. The story deals with the nature and limitations of religious faith.
The story originally appeared in the June 1979 issue of Omni
Omni (magazine)
OMNI was a science and science fiction magazine published in the US and the UK. It contained articles on science fact and short works of science fiction...
.
Plot summary
Damien Har Veris, a priest skilled in resolving hereticalHeresy
Heresy is a controversial or novel change to a system of beliefs, especially a religion, that conflicts with established dogma. It is distinct from apostasy, which is the formal denunciation of one's religion, principles or cause, and blasphemy, which is irreverence toward religion...
disputes efficiently, is sent as Knight Inquisitor
Inquisitor
An inquisitor was an official in an Inquisition, an organisation or program intended to eliminate heresy and other things frowned on by the Roman Catholic Church...
, despite spiritual exhaustion, by his alien
Extraterrestrial life
Extraterrestrial life is defined as life that does not originate from Earth...
archbishop to deal with a particular cult
Cult
The word cult in current popular usage usually refers to a group whose beliefs or practices are considered abnormal or bizarre. The word originally denoted a system of ritual practices...
that has made a saint
Saint
A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...
of Judas Iscariot.
The sect follows a religious text, The Way of Cross and Dragon, that describes the life of Iscariot, and revises
Historical revisionism
In historiography, historical revisionism is the reinterpretation of orthodox views on evidence, motivations, and decision-making processes surrounding a historical event...
his place in Christianity. The text describes how, born of a prostitute
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
, Iscariot mastered the dark arts
Black magic
Black magic is the type of magic that draws on assumed malevolent powers or is used with the intention to kill, steal, injure, cause misfortune or destruction, or for personal gain without regard to harmful consequences. As a term, "black magic" is normally used by those that do not approve of its...
to become a tamer of dragon
Dragon
A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...
s and the ruler of a great empire. After torturing
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
and maiming Christ, Iscariot repented
Repentance
Repentance is a change of thought to correct a wrong and gain forgiveness from a person who is wronged. In religious contexts it usually refers to confession to God, ceasing sin against God, and resolving to live according to religious law...
and relinquished his empire to become the penitent
Penance
Penance is repentance of sins as well as the proper name of the Roman Catholic, Orthodox Christian, and Anglican Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation/Confession. It also plays a part in non-sacramental confession among Lutherans and other Protestants...
Legs of Christ, the first and best-beloved of the Twelve Apostles. Returning from proselytising
Proselytism
Proselytizing is the act of attempting to convert people to another opinion and, particularly, another religion. The word proselytize is derived ultimately from the Greek language prefix προσ- and the verb ἔρχομαι in the form of προσήλυτος...
to find Christ crucified
Crucifixion
Crucifixion is an ancient method of painful execution in which the condemned person is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross and left to hang until dead...
, an enraged Iscariot then destroyed the perpetrating empire and strangled St. Peter
Saint Peter
Saint Peter or Simon Peter was an early Christian leader, who is featured prominently in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. The son of John or of Jonah and from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee, his brother Andrew was also an apostle...
for renouncing Christ, only to discover, too late, Christ's Resurrection
Resurrection
Resurrection refers to the literal coming back to life of the biologically dead. It is used both with respect to particular individuals or the belief in a General Resurrection of the dead at the end of the world. The General Resurrection is featured prominently in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim...
. Rejecting Judas' violence, Christ restored St. Peter to life and gave him the keys of the kingdom
Keys of the kingdom
The keys of the kingdom is a Christian concept of apostolic authority present in some denominations, such as the Roman Catholic Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and The Family International. Its origins can be traced to a passage in the New Testament where Jesus gives St....
. St. Peter then suppressed the truth about Judas, vilifying his name and exploits. Seeking redemption
Redemption (theology)
Redemption is a concept common to several theologies. It is generally associated with the efforts of people within a faith to overcome their shortcomings and achieve the moral positions exemplified in their faith.- In Buddhism :...
for his wrath, Iscariot became the thousand-year-old Wandering Ju
Wandering Jew
The Wandering Jew is a figure from medieval Christian folklore whose legend began to spread in Europe in the 13th century. The original legend concerns a Jew who taunted Jesus on the way to the Crucifixion and was then cursed to walk the earth until the Second Coming...
, before finally rejoining Christ in the Kingdom of God
Kingdom of God
The Kingdom of God or Kingdom of Heaven is a foundational concept in the Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.The term "Kingdom of God" is found in all four canonical gospels and in the Pauline epistles...
.
Perusing the materials of the sect, Har Veris finds himself enjoying the fanciful, creative, but ultimately ridiculous narrative, finding it far more interesting than the more mundane heresies that have developed around power, money and doctrinal quibbles.
Arriving on the sect's distant planet
Planet
A planet is a celestial body orbiting a star or stellar remnant that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity, is not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion, and has cleared its neighbouring region of planetesimals.The term planet is ancient, with ties to history, science,...
, Har Veris confronts its heresiarch
Heresiarch
A heresiarch is a founder or leader of a heretical doctrine or movement, as considered by those who claim to maintain an orthodox religious tradition or doctrine...
, Lukyan Judasson, creator of the Way of Cross and Dragon narrative, but finds that he is already expected. Questioning Judasson, Har Veris uncovers a conspiracy of nihilistic
Nihilism
Nihilism is the philosophical doctrine suggesting the negation of one or more putatively meaningful aspects of life. Most commonly, nihilism is presented in the form of existential nihilism which argues that life is without objective meaning, purpose, or intrinsic value...
Liars, who see Truth as entropy
Entropy
Entropy is a thermodynamic property that can be used to determine the energy available for useful work in a thermodynamic process, such as in energy conversion devices, engines, or machines. Such devices can only be driven by convertible energy, and have a theoretical maximum efficiency when...
and despair, and who wish to soften and color the ultimately meaningless lives
Meaning of life
The meaning of life constitutes a philosophical question concerning the purpose and significance of life or existence in general. This concept can be expressed through a variety of related questions, such as "Why are we here?", "What is life all about?", and "What is the meaning of it all?" It has...
of others by creating belief in carefully crafted Lies — they create faiths. They have perpetrated this Judas cult as well as others, and now want Har Veris to join them. Despite his spiritual exhaustion, he realizes that though he may be losing his faith, he has not lost his passion for truth. When he refuses to join the Liars, Judasson wishes to have him silenced, but his senior in the conspiracy, a misshapen psionic
Telepathy
Telepathy , is the induction of mental states from one mind to another. The term was coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Fredric W. H. Myers, a founder of the Society for Psychical Research, and has remained more popular than the more-correct expression thought-transference...
mutant
Mutant
In biology and especially genetics, a mutant is an individual, organism, or new genetic character, arising or resulting from an instance of mutation, which is a base-pair sequence change within the DNA of a gene or chromosome of an organism resulting in the creation of a new character or trait not...
, senses the impending Liar in Har Veris, and allows him to go.
Har Veris then uses political manipulation and the public's fear and distrust of psychic
Psychic
A psychic is a person who professes an ability to perceive information hidden from the normal senses through extrasensory perception , or is said by others to have such abilities. It is also used to describe theatrical performers who use techniques such as prestidigitation, cold reading, and hot...
powers to turn the tide on the Judas cult, resolving yet another heresy with dispatch. When, much later, he fully acknowledges that he has lost his faith, his superior is indifferent: results are what is needed, and Har Veris is to continue in his role as inquisitor. The priest accepts this, realizing that the psychic was right: he is himself a consummate Liar, perpetuating a faith in which he no longer believes.
However, departing on his next Inquisition, he has named his new ship
Starship
A starship or interstellar spacecraft is a theoretical spacecraft designed for traveling between the stars, as opposed to a vehicle designed for orbital spaceflight or interplanetary travel....
Dragon.
See also
- Gospel of JudasGospel of JudasThe Gospel of Judas is a Gnostic gospel that purportedly documents conversations between the Disciple Judas Iscariot and Jesus Christ.It is believed to have been written by Gnostic followers of Jesus, rather than by Judas himself, and probably dates from no earlier than the 2nd century, since it...
- Sea of FaithSea of FaithThe Sea of Faith Network aims to explore and promote religious faith as a human creation.-History:The SoF movement started in 1984 as a response to Don Cupitt's book and television series, both titled Sea of Faith...