GENESIS OF THE RELIGIOUS CONSCIOUSNESS IN ROBERT HEINLEIN’S NOVEL ORPHANS OF THE SKY

Abstract

Robert Anson Heinlein is a star of the American mid-20 century social fiction. The themes of his novels and short stories are incredibly diverse. This is so due to the author’s intention to analyze all human values in terms of their significance for the future. One of the most important motives of his works about the future is the motive of reconsidering traditional religious values under the influence of the social structures emerging anew. In the novel Orphans of the Sky, Robert Heinlein recreates the appearance of a new religion, analyzes various aspects of the functioning of religious outlooks in a changing world, and speculates about the idea of divine revelation. It is not a dispute with religious dogmas, but an attempted philosophical understanding of the role of religious consciousness in human society at all stages of its formation.