"The Quest for Saint Aquin" is a

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

by the American writer

Anthony Boucher William Anthony Parker White (August 21, 1911 – April 29, 1968), better known by his pen name Anthony Boucher (), was an American author, critic, and editor who wrote several classic mystery novels, short stories, science fiction, and radio d ...

, originally published in 1951 in ''New Tales of Space and Time''. "The Quest for Saint Aquin" was among the stories selected in 1970 by the

Science Fiction Writers of America The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, doing business as Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association, commonly known as SFWA ( or ) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization of professional science fiction and fantasy writers. While ...

as one of the best science fiction short stories published before the creation of the

Nebula Award The Nebula Awards annually recognize the best works of science fiction or fantasy published in the United States. The awards are organized and awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), a nonprofit association of profe ...

s. As such, it was published in ''

The Science Fiction Hall of Fame Volume One, 1929-1964 ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

''.

Plot summary

In a

post-apocalyptic Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; astro ...

technocratic future

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

has been banned and the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

church has gone underground, relying on secret cells and symbols as in the days of the early church. The central character is a crypto-priest named Thomas who is charged by the secret pope with finding the resting place of a semi-legendary figure called Aquin (a hint to Saint Thomas of Aquin). Aquin had been an evangelist of great power who converted all those who listened to him preach, and his body supposedly never rotted after his death. The Pope believes that this miracle, if true, will be a powerful tool in winning new converts. Thomas is provided with an intelligent multi-terrain transportation device called a robass ("robotic

ass Ass most commonly refers to: * Buttocks (in informal American English) * Donkey or ass, ''Equus africanus asinus'' **any other member of the subgenus ''Asinus'' Ass or ASS may also refer to: Art and entertainment * ''Ass'' (album), 1973 albu ...

"), to assist him in reaching the area where Aquin's body supposedly rests. To his surprise, the vehicle is theologically literate and tries to persuade him to abandon his quest, arguing for example that he had not been asked to ''find'' Aquin, but rather to ''report'' that he had so that the pope could begin the process of

canonization Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of ...

. Thomas resists the robass' persuasive arguments in the main, though he does succumb to the temptation to drink and carouse with a pretty half-Martian barmaid in a village. The villagers discover he is a priest, beat and rob him, leaving him for dead. He is ignored by all passers-by, but Abraham, an

orthodox Jew Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses on M ...

, rescues him and nurses him back to health. He is able to return to his quest with the help of several secret believers in God. Various episodes from the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

are echoed as his quest continues. Ultimately, Thomas does locate Aquin, only to find that he was a robot, and that therefore the legend of his incorruptibility was true...in a sense: his body could not possibly have decayed as he was never made of flesh.

Stanislaw Lem Stanislav and variants may refer to: People *Stanislav (given name), a Slavic given name with many spelling variations (Stanislaus, Stanislas, Stanisław, etc.) Places * Stanislav, a coastal village in Kherson, Ukraine * Stanislaus County, Cali ...

comments on this religious quagmire as follows: The monk is enraged: you cannot help the victory of the truth with lies! The holy robot during his missionary work did pretend to be a human, and he even died because he decided not to visit a mechanic, so that not to reveal his robotic nature. Therefore the robot served the Truth to the people with the use of a lie.Stanislaw Lem, "Roboter in der Science Fiction" Robots in Science Fiction" '' Quarber Merkur', 21, November 1969

Notes

This story refers to the short story "Reason" by

Isaac Asimov yi, יצחק אזימאװ , birth_date = , birth_place = Petrovichi, Russian SFSR , spouse = , relatives = , children = 2 , death_date = , death_place = Manhattan, New York City, U.S. , nationality = Russian (1920–1922)Soviet (192 ...

, about a robot on a space station that created a new religion and made itself into a prophet of a non-human creator.

References

Post-apocalyptic short stories 1951 short stories Religion in science fiction Works by Anthony Boucher {{1950s-sf-story-stub

Plot summary

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References