Ted Chiang is a master. If you haven’t I recommend reading at least the rest of the stories in the collection that has that one.
To me, it felt like an extrapolation of a lot of existing beliefs. IF you believe that god causes miracles and sends people to heaven or hell, and ALSO that god is unknowable to lesser beings, this is the kind of world that you get.
Ted Chiang is a master. If you haven’t I recommend reading at least the rest of the stories in the collection that has that one.
To me, it felt like an extrapolation of a lot of existing beliefs. IF you believe that god causes miracles and sends people to heaven or hell, and ALSO that god is unknowable to lesser beings, this is the kind of world that you get.