"Tempted" Episodes 25-27 (cont.)
Rafe’s vengeful moralizing lecture to Caleb reminds me of the fire and brimstone theology of 18th century Puritan preacher Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758). In his “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” sermon Edwards, like Rafe, ecstatically describes the anguish of an individual held in captive torment. “The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you,” Edwards writes, “and is dreadfully provoked, his wrath towards you burns like fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire; he is of purer eyes than to bear to have you in his sight; you are ten thousand times more abominable in his eyes, than the most hateful venomous serpent is in ours. . . . You hang by a slender thread, with the flames of divine wrath flashing about it, and ready every moment to singe it, and burn it asunder; and you have no interest in any Mediator, and nothing to lay hold of to save yourself, nothing to keep off the flames of wrath, nothing of your own, nothing that you ever have done, nothing that you can do, to induce God to spare you one moment" http://www.jonathanedwards.com/sermons/Warnings/wsermons.htm).
The thread that suspends the unfortunate soul over the pit of hell and the force that ensnares Caleb in his doom are depicted as just punishments, acts of moral vengeance, which are described in tones of sadistic rapture. Like a vigilante who presumes he is working in the service of God and morality, Rafe acts as if he were a messenger of divine retribution.
Caleb, however, unlike the indoctrinated parishioners listening to Edwards’ sermons, refuses to believe in his vulnerability and guilt. Although Caleb is fascinated with Biblical rhetoric and loves to quote portions of the Bible, usually for sarcastic effect, he seems to have vanquished most of his priestly tendencies with the “death” of his Father Michael aspect. Lingering traces of Father Michael remain, but Caleb is much less susceptible to them than he was in “Tainted Love.”
“I’m too busy enjoying myself right now to look back, Rafe,” Caleb boasts, defying Rafe’s threats. “Have you seen how screwed up the people in this town have become? I guess it’s true what they say—love hurts.”
“Thanks to you. But that all ends tonight,” Rafe threatens.
“You know, it’s a good thing I don’t have my full powers back or I’d be talking and you’d be dying,” Caleb smirks.
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