M is for Miscommunication

Throughout Eifelheim I was just waiting for the other shoe to drop. From the first moment that the Krenken started becoming interested in Jesus Christ and his proposed return to Earth, it was pretty clear that Dietrich and the Krenken were not on the same page. I was, frankly, surprised when nothing serious arose from this miscommunication. It is a pretty severe difference to see Jesus as the son of God and humanity's savior and to see him as a being from space who can help a group of aliens get back home. The worst part about this confusion was that their interpretation made sense. If you read Dietrich's explanations while imagining that you have no knowledge of Christianity or the One God, but have a good understanding of space travel, the Krenken's assumptions are completely reasonable. Taking religion literally rather than figuratively is a problem even within human society. And misinterpretations of religious ideas and messages are a common source of problems and conflicts.

One example of one such unfortunate misinterpretation can be found here. Basically, a sect of churches in South Korea had predicted that, on a specific day in 1992, the faithful would ascend to heaven. This would then be followed by seven years of trials and, finally, the Armageddon. Clearly, this is a pretty serious claim to make. It led many followers to sell their belongings, leave their jobs, and abandon their families. The church simply apologized, saying that they misinterpreted the Bible. That's one extreme misinterpretation..."Oh, sorry...we thought the world was going to end. Our bad."

It's examples like this that made me think that Eifelheim was going to end badly. I was honestly underwhelmed when the remaining Krenken just stayed peacefully among the villagers. Since most of them were expecting Herr Jesus to appear any day, it seemed that they would become frustrated when that didn't happen. And somehow, the majority of them managed to fly off without the Second Coming. What did that mean to the Krenken believers? In any case, the Krenken who were converted did demonstrate that their manners and attitudes were, to some extent, altered by their newfound religion. However, it still seems that they could never truly understand the Christian belief system because of its basis in human culture, and even human biology. As the book points out, God made humans in his image, and the Krenken clearly do not fit into this image. So, while the Krenken adopt some of the practices and attitudes of Christians, they do not truly understand what it is they are incorporated into. It's impossible because of their vastly different points of reference and cultures.