And now, at the end of his life, his thoughts reverted to the two
subjects which had occupied him more than thirty years previously--
namely, Erewhon and the evidence for the death and resurrection of
Jesus Christ. The idea of what might follow from belief in one
single supposed miracle had been slumbering during all those years
and at last rose again in the form of a sequel to Erewhon. In
Erewhon Revisited Mr. Higgs returns to find that the Erewhonians now
believe in him as a god in consequence of the supposed miracle of
his going up in a balloon to induce his heavenly father to send the
rain. Mr. Higgs and the reader know that there was no miracle in
the case, but Butler wanted to show that whether it was a miracle or
not did not signify provided that the people believed it to be one.
And so Mr. Higgs is present in the temple which is being dedicated
to him and his worship.
The existence of his son George was an after-thought and gave
occasion for the second leading idea of the book--the story of a
father trying to win the love of a hitherto unknown son by risking
his life in order to show himself worthy of it--and succeeding.
Pages:
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82