I'm curious, do you object to the overtones because they're blatant or because they're Christian, or both?

Athelstan must have been a pretty terrible monk if the only biblical concept he can think of vis-a-vis suffering is "It passes."

Actually, the sixteenth century would probably have been a more "religious" era than the eight/ninth, although less superstitious. In England at the time, you finally have vernacular Bibles (people were actually even stealing them from the churches- to this day, Anglican churches chain their Bibles to the lectern),…

[Opens mouth to object because he is 22]….
[Closes mouth, nods slowly]

Having never been high, I like to assume that every drug user's experience is just a never-ending kaleidoscope of fantastical images, profound, mantra-like epiphanies, and existential terror.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wik…

I've had it with your secondary definitions bullshit. It's number one or it's nothing.

That's not grammar. It's vocabulary and rhetoric.

Frank pretty clearly has some PTSD from his time in the asylum.

That's your right as an American. I may not agree with it- but, dammit, I respect it.

Alright, that sounds more reasonable to me. I really was just mainly concerned about the word choice. I think we might have largely similar things in mind.

Complication is one thing, Ragnar "corrupting" Athelstan (I can only assume this means either getting him to deny his creed or violate his code of ethics in some serious way) is another. To have Athelstan actually convert anyone is probably anachronistic, but the fact is that Christian seeds were sown, however slowly…

I agree. But that does not require Athelstan to go native.

Incidentally, you guys know that they're saying "Earl Haraldson," not "Jarl Haraldson," right? It's true that jarl was the Scandinavian word equivalent to earl, but they're saying the English word.

The problem is that that leaves Haraldson's evident willingness to kill anyone who mildly pisses him off without explanation. If he needs to keep Ragnar et al alive, why does he keep trying to have them killed (even besides the waste of his own henchmen)? Why not just punish them without murdering them?

Agreed, especially on the second point. Respectful coexistence of religious differences are almost never portrayed.

I'm not of the opinion that either needs to give ground to the other. Athelstan can go on being a Christian, Ragnar can go on not being a Christian. I think it would be stronger, dramatically, if they interact despite their religious differences, rather than being required to reduce or exchange those kinds of…

Okay, granted that I am a Christian (and a theology student at that), but why are so many people seemingly so convinced that the show needs to adopt an anti-Christian attitude? I'm not in any way suggesting it needs to make Ragnar convert and Athelstan turn into some kind of missionary superhero, but why is everyone…

@avclub-b08c744482acd39636a8db16c9db3439:disqus Ahem, "It's as egg as the nose on Plain's face."

@avclub-7f538a2a6877984c16a663af38fb84d3:disqus You do realize that that's because we believe there's no such thing as "good enough," right? There's a doctrine called "sin." There's another one if you're a western Christian called "original sin." And then there's a third one called "atonement."