Chapter 2
Less than a week later it was time for Wilfred to defend his doctoral dissertation at the seminary. With Beth there in the audience, as well as some fellow students and professors, besides the professors doing the defense, it was quite an enjoyable time, for a defense, anyway. With everyone dressed up in robes, except for the few people there that were not clerics, who were dressed nicely anyway, it was also a very formal occasion. The attention was focused on Wilfred and the people asking him the requisite questions.
"We are here to determine if Wilfred Smith is qualified to receive his doctorate in Theology from this institution," the chief cleric said. "We have read his thesis already, and are now going to ask him questions on it."
"What was the most difficult part of your research?" a cleric asked Wilfred.
"It was most difficult finding proper scholarly sources for the early time that my topic was about. While there were many speculative books present in libraries around, to find good primary documents was quite challenging, as I had to visit the Viceroy's Palace in order to finish my research," Wilfred replied.
"What was the biggest surprise in your reasearch?" the thesis advisor said.
"The biggest surprise to me was that the mages were not given immortality. I thought at the beginning of my research that the mages were actually human beings from the beginning of time who had been given special powers over the forces of the world. The truth was more subtle than that, though. It turns out that the original mages, and those following, were given long, but not infinite lives, and when they near death they search for the clerics closest to their personality, and train them for the job. I do not know exactly how they get such a long life, but I am sure there is some kind of magic involved," Wilfred replied.
"What sort of histories did you use to support your discussion of the early history of mankind?" the chief cleric asked.
"I mainly used the ecclesiastical annals, which were accurate enough for my purposes. However, for the earliest information on humanity, I used an anonymous parchment which used the oldest script of Fenian I have ever seen," Wilfred replied.
"So you do not know who wrote the ancient text you used?" the chief cleric asked.
"I wish I did. The author must have been a witness, or alive to hear witnesses of the time, given the detail that the author uses in discussing the early events of humanity," Wilfred answered.
"Is there any area of future study that you think could be done in this area?" the thesis advisor asked.
"There is always more research that can be done about ancient history. I think that I have covered the mages pretty well, at least I would hope so. I think that more attention needs to be paid to the people of ancient times. From what I saw in the library of the Viceroy's Palace, there were a lot of ancient diaries that have been preserved. It would be interesting to show the personal lives of people back at the dawn of time. They are not so different from us," Wilfred replied.
"Did you get to meet the mages personally?" an old cleric asked.
"Yes, I did get to meet them after finishing my thesis," Wilfred replied.
"So you did not let your meeting the mages affect your dissertation?" the cleric replied.
"No, of course not. My thesis was an academic paper on the events surrounding the beginning of the mages at the beginning of human history. My conversation with the mages was about my work, but in no way did it affect my work. Had I been able to transcribe my conversation with them I might have asked them questions and used them as sources, but since I was unable to do so I did not use my conversations with them in any way in my paper," Wilfred replied.
"Alright, I just wanted to know that," the old cleric said.
"What do you think the results of your research will be?" the chief cleric asked.
"I would hope that people would be less superstitious about the mages. They are powerful, and they are representatives of God, that much is true, but they are still human beings. The mages are not perfect, and each of them has their own personality quirks. It has always been so. They, in many ways, are around to keep the world in some kind of order and to provide a theocratic government that rises above petty national politics. However, they are not mediators between ourselves and God, and they are not all-powerful. People tend to be, in my opinion, far too inclined to worship the mages than to worship God, which is a severe problem. I would hope that people return to the true belief and not persist in these childish illusions," Wilfred replied. "If my work can help people worship God in the true way according to the Holy Book, I will be greatly gratified."
"Well said. You would consider yourself a reformist cleric then?" the thesis advisor queried.
"Yes, I would consider myself a reformist cleric. I do not know how one could be true to the calling and be anything else," Wilfred replied.
"Do you think your confessional bias affects your work?" the chief cleric asked.
"I try to overcome whatever biases I have, but I suppose that there is always some reminder in what I write of the way I believe. I think, to some extent, that a little bias is unavoidable, though I made very clear in the introduction to my thesis what my background and focus is, which should be enough to let people know where I am coming from. I would hope that there is no bias I pass off as truth, though, as that would be a grave problem," Wilfred replied.
"Alright, I have nothing else to ask you. You will now receive your doctorate in theology," the chief cleric said.
"Thank you very much," Wilfred replied.
"You are quite welcome," the chief cleric answered. Everyone cheered as he received his doctorate and became an offical cleric. "Come back in one week's time and we will discuss where you will serve."
"That I will do," Wilfred replied with a big smile on his face.
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