In one of the most interesting (and, for me, most personal) stories of his time in Cyprus, St. Lazarus missed his family and friends so deeply that he sent a boat to get the Virgin Mary and others to come visit him. On their journey to Cyprus, a storm blew them off course and they ended up on Mt. Athos (a peninsula in northern Greece). The locals were converted to Christianity and today the mountain is the spiritual center of Orthodox monasticism (it has twenty monasteries, a dozen sketes and several hermitages and the monks there still have a very special relationship with the Virgin Mary).
The Gospel According to John makes a very big deal out of the fact that Lazarus had been dead four days prior to being raised from the dead. This was important, because at four days, the body began to stink — someone was really dead and beyond the hope of resuscitation. This is why Christ rose on the third day — He was not to see any corruption (decay, putrefaction, etc.). In other words, the only way that Lazarus could have been raised from the dead was if God Himself had done so.
This is in stark contrast to the various editions of D&D, which place the number of days a person could be dead prior to the casting of Raise Dead at either 4 days + 4 days/level above 8 of the spell caster or 1 day/level of spell caster. Thus, for those who worry about the ramifications of a world with Raise Dead readily available, Scriptural tradition actually provides for a bit of control — 3 days or nothing.
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1 comment:
Excellent compromise for folks who don't like raise dead...why should a cleric be more proficient than the Christ (not that the man Jesus couldn't have raised Laz after a month if he'd wanted...).
: )
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