God is not dead; He's just Regenerating.

 

                                      Regeneration scene of the 3rd God.


         Ever since He appeared in his first adventure thousands of years ago on Saturday the 23rd November*, God has been a hugely popular character thanks to his mastery of time and space, his interactions with his mainly human companions and, of course, his battles with the evil of the universe. Spanning the generations as parents pass on their love of Him to their children, His fans continue to praise and laud the show whilst arguing over the finer details of the stories. It's not surprising that a story as long in the telling as that of God's has often had armies of fans disagreeing over what is or isn't canon.
         A lot of the problem's in God's continuity come from the simple fact that His stories had so many writers in the early days. Also, this was a long time before the modern concept of a showrunner. Consequently, certain of His episodes seem to directly contradict another and it is also widely acknowledged that a lot of the earliest episodes were simply wiped, as archivists of the time had little inkling of how much continuing interest there would be in the future.
        However, thanks to the efforts of His many fans, including many of the professionals who have worked on the show, we now have a generally accepted continuity for the God-universe.**
      
       The first complete episode, entitled Ahura Mazda, introduced the basic story concepts that people still love today. God appears as the guardian of justice and wastes no time telling the humans he encounters of the errors of their ways. His seemingly magical ability to appear anywhere in time and space quickly caught the imaginations of people far and wide, but it was  the climax of the first episode that really had audiences eager for more. For God chose a human companion to help him in his adventures.

                                                  Zarathustra. He Spake.
        

          It was with the introduction of Zarathustra*** as the first companion that the show really took off. Now, the viewing public could identify with a character whose general demeanor appealed to many, while that same character would pull off the dramatic feat of explaining the main character while keeping the main character compulsively elusive.
       In the second episode, entitled Asha,  Zarathustra would utter the immortal lines: "No guide is known who can shelter the world from woe, None who knows what moves and works Thy lofty plans." With this one line was established the show's long tradition of dramatic legerdemain. The star of the show is brought into focus whilst, at the same time, it is inferred that He remains too bright, too majestic to allow anyone a long, close examination. The characterisation of the 1st God was also vague enough to open the door for many other writers to bring their own interpretation. And one of those writers, the brilliant creative spark Ibrahim Millat, would stun the audience by not only kicking down the door, but demolish the entire house as he introduced the concept of Regeneration, and a new  God.
 
   
     Millat's genius lay in performing story surgery that, although commonplace today, was breathtaking in its audacity at the time. Very simply, Millat retconned the origins of the main character to include scenes and concepts that had never been mentioned before. Suddenly, people were presented with such overwhelmingly operatic scenes as the creation of the world and, in the hugely popular The Ark in Earth, the destruction of mankind! 
      The  audience went mad for this second regeneration of God. Gone was the rather vague and occasionally dotty grandfather figure of previous series, and in came a much more three-dimensional character who was only too pleased to inform all and sundry, in writing if necessary, of what exactly was what, and what the rules were. He strode the stage because he owned it. He was both the good cop and the bad cop in the same uniform . There can be few more compelling characters in history, and the audience simply couldn't get enough of it.
      The Genesis episodes are the bedrock on which the Classic Era of God was built. It was this story arc that brought in a huge number of new fans, but it is the excellence of individual episodes such as Count The Stars, Eyes Ne'er Closed; Eyes Ne'er Opened, and the legendary Sturm und Drang of the 2nd God classic And He Called that really ensured that people's passions would be stirred by this new series of God as never before.

Classic era 2nd God companion Abraham.

        In Count The Stars, God promises that He will give wonderful gifts to Abraham and his family, and that Abraham's offspring would be as numerous as the stars in the night sky. This might seem laughable to a modern viewer, but for the viewers at the time, who all identified with Abraham, this episode was a sensation with some fan groups immediately declaring it: best episode ever.  
        This kind of attitude toward the, admittedly hackneyed, story-line has coloured it in the eyes of many fans of newer era God. However, although it has slipped down the best-of polls over the years, the continuing popularity of Abraham ensures its core compelling images will endure.
        Ibraham Millat's tenure would also see the introduction of God's most famous adversary in  Eyes ne'er closed; Eyes ne'er opened. Who could forget the great tragedy of the 2nd God's companions Adam and Eve succumbing to the machinations of The Adversary having cunningly adopted the guise of a Squamate?
       Although first appearing in Genesis, the character of The Adversary would prove to be God's finest foil, and an enduring love/hate character. Taking various forms through the history of the show, many critics believe his dramatic high-point occurred with John Milton's celebrated ret-conning of the evil one's origin story, showing a largely unexplored relationship with God that the adversary had in his youth; a revelation that excited fans the world over.
        The entirety of the classic era of the show has been criticised for over-reliance on violence, war-stories and simplistic moral shading. An episode as once revered as And He Called, 
is often ridiculed for the way its dramatic pay-offs are clearly engineered to appeal to the audience of the time, an audience that the writers of the show knew kept them in the life-style that they had grown accustomed to.    
       It is this kind of ouroborosian pact that ensured that, at the end of its run, the classic-era God would feel increasingly stale and repetitive, with episodes like My Holiday and Stew being sad echoes of former glories like Bowels Boiled.+
        And it would also be a reaction to the old cycles of violence that would see a new group of writers take the 3rd generation of God into exciting and experimental territory.

 

The watcher appears to Mary in this scene from the first episode of The Gospel Era

        Gospel era God kicks off with the announcement of its own incredible dramatic conceit in a scene with one of God's Watcher companions announcing to a human female that she is to bear the son of God.
        At the time, a lot of the audience were confused by this new story line. Indeed, some fans would abandon the show at this point. Others would simply remain unconvinced of the validity of this 3rd regeneration.
        As usual, it would be the strength of the writing that would win over new converts, with many viewers stunned by the magnificent first 2-parter of the Gospel era:  The House of Bread/ The House of Meat
      In a deliberate shift in narrative tone, the new God, unlike the old, was extremely vulnerable at first, and it was not at all clear to the audience that He would even survive. Viewers gasped as the maniacally infanticidal, but hugely popular, new villain Herod went about his grisly business.
      This bloody rampage allowed the creative team the necessary breathing-room to spin a series of quiet contemplative episodes concerning the new God. Whereas the classic era indulged in Manichean power plays, the gospel era began to challenge its audience as they followed the new God's struggles with the authorities' natural conservatism. Episodes such as The Universe Next Door, introduced new themes while the spectacular return of The Adversary in All The Kingdoms of the World kept up the more expected story-telling traditions of God. 
        What also drew fans' interest were the new companions known as The Apostles. Not only were people impressed by their number, they were excited by the 3rd God granting these companions super-powers of authority over all devils in 5+2=5000. (Although we are also clearly reminded in the same episode of His own mighty abilities.)
        Of course, Gospel era God reached its incredible and beloved climax with the story arc known as A Crossmaker.
       Starting with scenes of great optimism as He enters Jerusalem, where it looks as though the 3rd God is finally being triumphant in his battles, the writers are simply setting the audience up for the devastating events to follow. Slowly and surely, the world slips from under Him as parochial powers do their worst, and he is betrayed by those who were once most dear to Him in the heart-rending episode 30 Easy Pieces.
       Even some 2000 years later, the events that unfold in A Place of a Skull have a resonance that only the finest story-telling can manufacture. It is not difficult, even at this remove, to imagine the effect on fans of seeing the 3rd God mocked, spat upon and finally horribly tortured to death. As a character who had promised something more than the oft dull cul-de-sacs of the 2nd God, to then see him destroyed without that same 2nd God materialising to save him would, could, only draw great and sustained passion from the audience.
        The following episode would be much more traditionally exciting and action-oriented, although certain critics see it as being a sop to certain groups of fans. The Harrowing of Hell  remains controversial to this day.

     The penultimate episode of the Gospel-era would see the writers bring out the twist that people remember and celebrate even today: the 3rd God came back from the dead. The plot of Carry thy Myrrh Home has often been criticised as muddled and a convenient deus ex sepulcrum.   It was this episode, however, along with the following The Key of the Bottomless Pit that made a great many fans proclaim the 3rd God and the entire Gospel-era to be the best ever. 

       

        After the Gospel era, the next high point in a time when the show seemed, far from resting on them but actively cultivating bigger and better laurels, came from the creative partnership of  The Council of Nicaea producing one of the all-time favourite episodes: The 2 Gods which was the first adventure to show 2 regenerations of God together. Later writers would build on this work to produce the The 3 Gods, which was the dramatically logical culmination of the earlier adventure. 

Mecca at the time of Muhammad. (Muhammad not pictured.)

     
       
        The next great sustained period of God would come about when the new creative partnership of Praise and Desire took over. Immediately, they ret-conned the 3rd God and proceeded to take the show in a new  direction that would eventually prove immensely popular. As well as the 4th God, the new regeneration's new companion Muhammad also gained legions of fans, and the writers used the superb dramatic conceit of this being God's final regeneration to great effect.
        Many new fans were drawn in by Muhammad's many scenes where he would explain his own conversations with God in newer quieter episodes like: Shahada as well as the crowd-pleasing and reassuring Zakat. Also, as there was a general insistence to respect the work of Ibrahim Mittal and a debt owing to some of Zarathustra's stories, fans of other Gods were  often also charmed by these episodes.
        It was also during this period that more hard-core fans would be inspired by the episode Hajj to set up the first regular fan convention where people can happily mingle in costume with kindred spirits who also share a love of God.
       However, older fans, and many hard-core devotees of the 2nd God, would find much more of interest in the 4th God's adventures when the Mother of All Settlements story-arc began to catch fire as it gradually adopted more aggressive themes. Here, Muhammad's trials, battles and eventual success would provide compelling viewing, especially in episodes like Conquest of the House of God.
        With quality like this, it was no wonder that so many fans happily submitted to the Recitation-era of the 4th God.
       

      Although starting brightly with the 4 part Rashidun, the Caliphate-era adventures that featured the 4th regeneration of God and the Caliph companions would ultimately prove disappointing. The seeds of the potential fascinating story-arcs which may be glimpsed in Rashidun went largely unfulfilled as successive teams of writers simply started repeating dramatic themes from both earlier and later God stories, often with a paticular emphasis on the 11th God.

5th regeneration: The War God.

      In order to get back on track and excite the audience again, writers came up with the 5th regeneration, who is often referred to as The War God.
      His first appearance in Dieu Et Mon Droit established the general tone of what would become known as The Martian arc, the lengthiest story arc of any of the Gods. It was in the climactic scenes of this episode that we can see how the 5th God's new companion Henry V offers the poisoned grail directly to the audience with his Elysian promise of "we few, we happy few, we band of brothers".       
       It would be this poisoned grail that would turn wine to blood and bread to burned flesh. It would be one of the most popular runs of God.
       The War God would be insanely popular for the next few hundred years that would include some of God's most violent stories, including the massively experimental 11,349 part The New World.

       When the 5th God finally regenerated into The 6th God (also known as The British God), viewers were treated to the full debut of Science as a regular companion to God. Having appeared in bit parts since the very start of the show, it is surprising now to consider just how angry many fans felt at Science being given a major part. Fortunately, thanks to story-lines concocted by the likes of Isaac Newton, who cleverly played out challenging new themes with old-school images from classic episodes such as Eyes Ne'er Closed, Eyes Ne'er Opened, Science's role in the show only went from strength to strength.

Joseph Smith- young writing talent.

       The characterisation of the 6th God was never as strong as it might have been, and in the 19th Century fandom was split as the very young Joseph Smith assumed writing duties on the series. Bringing fresh new ideas and what certain commentators considered to be a bold and hugely entertaining new approach, Smith's 7th God episodes would prove tremendously popular with some, while others, annoyed by Smith actually writing himself in as a companion, would sniffily dismiss these episodes as fan fiction. Whatever you think, it's hard to deny the genius of an episode like Returned To an Angel .

Fred und Karl: Young Turks.

       Although the thirst for new episodes of God showed no strong signs of diminishing, experimental and highly controversial episodes written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Nietzsche would lay the groundwork for new approaches to God as the 20th Century rolled around.
       This pair of writers had previously only shown contempt for the show, so it was a big surprise when they both wrote a couple of episodes. Unsurprisingly, Marx's Alien Nation, and Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra would usher in new directions for God, with Nietzche's episode famously ret-conning the old Zarathustra adventures as both stories laid down themes that would have a profound influence on the writers and producers of God for the next hundred years.
       As a reaction to these themes, the writer Peter Keys would ensure that the regeneration of the 8th God would result in a more traditional main character for the show. The 8th God's relationship with his new companions The Leiter Brothers and certain fascinating episodes like The City in The City ensured a solid foundation for the adventures of the 8th God that would reach their apex with what was to come.
     
        The long Martian Arc would eventually culminate in the famous and shocking 249 part story of The 5 War Gods. Astonishingly, but grippingly, the 9th regeneration: The God that Failed would align itself with the 6th God as well as an antimatter version of the 6th God to do battle with the 8th God that had forged an alliance with the 10th regeneration: The God Emperor.
        Fans of the classic era flocked back to the show, but this story burnt so brightly that only a new direction, using new dramatic fuel, could possibly keep the audience's interest.

Plenty of interest: the 11th God, Mammon.

          The simple fact that the 11th regeneration of the long-running and beloved character is Mammon causes hackles to rise far and wide throughout the fan community. Clearly, a lot of the controversy results from the fact that a character that looked a lot like, and even shared the name Mammon was introduced in one of the 3rd God's adventures: The 2 Masters.
          But it is exactly this controversial energy that writers have used to such amazing effect, in order to pull off one of the greatest narrative feats in history. In short, large parts of the audience and even some of the writers seem to be unaware that Mammon, is, in fact the 11th God!
          It was thanks to the elements of The 5 War Gods, the confusion about whether The War God himself should be counted as the 5th regeneration, and whether The Antimatter War God was, in himself a new regeneration, that a potential dramatic smoke-screen blew up around continuity that later writers would seize upon.
          Margaret Thatcher, writing at a time when female presences were very rare in the production of the show, produced a lot of popular episodes including the famed The Price of Everything and The Value of Nothing, but it is probably the less well-known Managed Decline, that exemplifies a lot of her basic philosophy about the character. Some argue that a large part of Thatcher's skill with the 11th God was due to her own mis-reading of the character, so that her own ideas were never in synch with the reality of the story that played out, resulting in stories that made little sense and often polarised fans even while they made for compelling viewing.
        
        Excellent writers such as Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins also provided popular and challenging episodes for the show, but both Hitchens' Toxic Medicine and Dawkins' The Naked Leprechaun put the companion Science so front and centre, that the true nature of the relationship between Science and the 11th God lacks clarity and can leave viewers with the impression that the 11th God isn't even part of the show, just part of the scenery. 
     
        Never topping any polls, but those fans who love it maintain that it has changed their entire relationship with the show, is the recent story arc Morningstar. Here, writers such as Aleister Crowley, Anton LaVey and Charlie Daniels built on the earlier work of Marx and Nietzsche and ret-conned the entire history of The Adversary. The most popular episodes, Crowley's Count The Stars (+1) and LaVey's The Best Friend of God, while not widely loved, have their own devoted fans. Some fan groups even go as far as to insist that The Adversary has been the star of the show from the beginning.
       
        With increasing amounts of ret-conning, and the flurry of new themes, it is easy to sympathise with those who complain that the show is becoming increasingly difficult to watch. Indeed, new viewers can be bewildered by the sheer volume of back-story, although, as it ever was, audience members usually retain a great deal of nostalgic affection for the first God they enjoyed.

        But, as God himself said in The City in The City: "That is enough of the past. What of the future?"

The Universe (possibly.) - The 12th God?

         Increasingly derided as a story for children, if the show is to continue to be popular it must do what it has always done; innovate and evolve while retaining the beating heart that fans the world-over love. There has been talk of ideas like a female God as well as discussion as to whether the show is becoming stale enough to warrant the end of its run. 
        
         Here's what the British-Indian physicist and cultural critic (and God fan since she was a little girl)  Wash Sukh Jana has to say on the subject of The 12th God:

                 As an 8 year old watching the adventures of God (from behind the back of the Sofa, of course), I loved all the classic themes of Love and sacrifice; of fighting for your land and your loved ones, and standing up for what you truly believed in. I cowered as the monsters threatened our heroes (The Adversary's wings! The Leviathan's wake!), but it was when the stories centered upon the young (female!) companion called Science that the show really began to speak to me. And it is now, as an adult, that I can see that across the totality of all the adventures of God there is one huge story arc. I would expect the 12th God to reflect this, and, as the story of God would be nothing without revelation, I would expect something big from the adventures of this regeneration.

    　　I'm a fan, so here's my theory: Each regeneration of God has allowed us a glimpse at different facets of what, obviously, is the same character. We know that He is the Lord Of Time and Space who helps and loves humans, yet is often mysteriously unable to help in certain times and places. We know that He drifts from Father to Mother to Son to Ghost to Adversary and seldom provides any clear statement about what all of this might ultimately mean. He embraces science and he embraces war. We complain about Him as much as we love Him.
       In short then, we can conclude that God is the universe.
       Now, as we all are part of the universe, this necessarily means that we are all aspects of God. Like the character of Science, our increasing understanding of God is our increasing understanding of the universe. Like Science, and her character arc with God, our science is basically an increasingly fruitful conversation with the universe, with our interlocutor being, at times, irascible, mean, vicious, unbearable, nightmarish, horrific, comforting, extraordinary, miraculous and occasionally incredibly taciturn. Now, does that sound like anyone we know?
       With God as the universe there will certainly never be any shortage of future episodes. After all, the most basic way the universe works is what allows so many ideas about God; what allows Him to regenerate and pushes for the inevitable change that provides us with new stories. It is the way things work.
       For that basic gift, we can thank God. Whichever one may be your favourite.
          

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*  According to legend the original broadcast was delayed by the untimely slaying of a beloved goat.

** Often referred to by fans as: The Universe.

*** Or Zoroaster, as some fans prefer.

+ Contains the now-classic line from The Adversary: "Bowels boiled hot, bowels boiled cold,  bowels boiled in the pot, nine years old!"