#ACaseOfConscience | Reviews of A Case of Conscience in English Books| Hashreview

#ACaseOfConscience

A Case of Conscience is a science fiction novel by James Blish, first published in 1958. It is the story of a Jesuit who investigates an alien race that has no religion yet has a perfect, innate sense of morality, a situation which conflicts with Read More..

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Hash title	A Case of Conscience
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Description	A Case of Conscience is a science fiction novel by James Blish, first published in 1958. It is the story of a Jesuit who investigates an alien race that has no religion yet has a perfect, innate sense of morality, a situation which conflicts with Catholic teaching. The story was originally published as a novella in 1953, and later extended to novel-length, of which the first part is the original novella. The novel is the first part of Blish's thematic "After Such Knowledge" trilogy, followed by Doctor Mirabilis, Black Easter, and The Day After JudgmentThe story is unusual in several respects. Few science fiction stories of the time attempted religious themes, and still fewer did this with Catholicism. (Compare Walter M. Miller, Jr.'s Hugo Award-winning post-apocalyptic science fiction novel A Canticle for Leibowitz.)Many reacted negatively to the story, but surprisingly few educated Catholics were among them. One even sent James Blish a copy of the actual Church guidelines for dealing with extraterrestrials.Blish 1999, p.8. These are not detailed, but merely suggest overall strategy based on whether the beings have souls or not, and if they have them, whether they are fallen like humans, or exist in a state of grace.
Description	A Case of Conscience is a science fiction novel by James Blish, first published in 1958. It is the story of a Jesuit who investigates an alien race that has no religion yet has a perfect, innate sense of morality, a situation which conflicts with Catholic teaching. The story was originally published as a novella in 1953, and later extended to novel-length, of which the first part is the original novella. The novel is the first part of Blish's thematic "After Such Knowledge" trilogy, followed by Doctor Mirabilis, Black Easter, and The Day After JudgmentThe story is unusual in several respects. Few science fiction stories of the time attempted religious themes, and still fewer did this with Catholicism. (Compare Walter M. Miller, Jr.'s Hugo Award-winning post-apocalyptic science fiction novel A Canticle for Leibowitz.)Many reacted negatively to the story, but surprisingly few educated Catholics were among them. One even sent James Blish a copy of the actual Church guidelines for dealing with extraterrestrials.Blish 1999, p.8. These are not detailed, but merely suggest overall strategy based on whether the beings have souls or not, and if they have them, whether they are fallen like humans, or exist in a state of grace.

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Name	A Case of Conscience
Name
Authors	James Blish
Authors
Translator
Translator
Genre	Science fiction novel
Genre
Series	After Such Knowledge trilogy
Series
Number in series
Number in series
Language	English
Language
Country	United States
Country