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Lori asked this question about Lincoln in the Bardo:
Just finished this and need a little help: 1) still not sure why Mr. Bevins appears with multiple eyes, legs, etc and 2) still a bit unclear on the reverend's journey--am struggling with why he was turned back to the "Bardo" and what he decided to finally do--more faith, more sacrifice? Any help or speculation appreciated!
Lea Ann I've thought about the reverend question a lot and it's one of my favorite topics to discuss in the book. To understand what happened to The Reverend …moreI've thought about the reverend question a lot and it's one of my favorite topics to discuss in the book. To understand what happened to The Reverend at his time of judgment you need to understand (loosely) the five points of Calvinism (TULIP):
1) Total Depravity - man is dead and cannot be made to live without God. God decides who is born again and who is not.
2) Unconditional Election - God CHOOSES to give some people eternal life, without looking for anything good in them as a condition for loving and saving them
3) Limited Atonement - the benefit of Jesus Christ dying for our sins is ONLY available to the elect (see #2)
4) Irresistible Grace - God's grace for the elect make them willing entrants to heaven.
5) Preservation of the Saints - once you are saved you are always saved (if you are one of the elect that is)

So, see, it doesn't matter what kind of person you are, or what kind of life you live. You are either saved or not saved and only God can determine if you are saved. You and your actions or your thoughts have nothing to do with it. How do we know if we are saved? You don't. Pretty arbitrary?

Now before I get a lot of angry comments from theologians, I'm not saying the above is a full dealing with the nuance of these concepts, I don't have any degrees in religion, philosophy, or theology, I just read a lot. And you don't need to fully understand the above five principles to understand how they work for The Reverend's story in LITB.

Essentially, on earth, The Reverend preached this idea of pre-destination, you are either saved or not saved, so when it's time for his own judgment at the entrance to heaven, he finds that he is not saved. And nothing he can do will in purgatory will ever make it so he can get into heaven. He's trapped by the very theology he preached. So basically, he's responsible for the afterlife he finds himself in. I really liked this concept of our earthly beliefs constraining our ethereal selves.

But then at the end, when he sacrifices himself for Willie, he has the hope that maybe he was wrong and that in understanding he was wrong, he can maybe undo part of the afterlife he has created for himself. But we don't get to discover that if that is real or not. (less)
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Lincoln in the Bardo
by George Saunders
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