Complex Numbers

Revisited: "I Wood Knot"

We're only going back two years in today's trip to the past, to a brief entry that linked an Atlas Obscura article: "I Wood Knot" 

Short one today, to balance out yesterday's.

Yeah, I looked, and indeed, I'd written an entire encyclopedia entry the day before.

Quote from the article: In the Cathédrale de Saint-Pierre in Geneva, Switzerland, a high-backed wooden chair sits in a place of honor. It’s roped off so that nobody can sit in the seat, where the French preacher John Calvin sat more than 500 years ago.

I've looked more into Calvin since then, and there's almost nothing about his philosophy or theology that sits right with me. (Pun intended. Chair? Sits right? Yeah, baby, I'm BACK.)

Me: At least they're not claiming it's made of wood from the True Cross.

At least one of the innumerable churches, cathedrals, basilicae, shrines, whatever that I saw in Europe claimed to have such a splinter.

Article: From the pulpit at St. Pierre Cathedral, he preached about the importance of religious scriptures and the concept of predestination, which held that certain people were set on a path for salvation from the very beginning of their lives.

Regardless of my rejection of the theology, there's no denying that he was a major influential figure. Perhaps he was predestined to be so.

Article: The chair of Calvin is a plain-looking wooden chair with a trapezoidal base and narrow backrest.

Appropriate that it's not all gilded and ornate. Credit to him for not being too hypocritical.

Me: I just wanna know one thing:

Did it have room for Hobbes, too?

I have no doubt whatsoever that John Calvin would disapprove of that bit of levity. Any worldview that doesn't put a sense of humor high on the list of important traits is not one I can ever accept.