“The pagan hates the idea of creation because of the divine sovereignty that follows from it, but he loves the idea of morphing—rearranging stuff . . . In anti-Christian thought, matter is this eternally existent Play-Doh-type stuff that can be re-arranged creatively by other bits of stuff called artists or scientists. This is possible because the splendor is thought to be resident within the matter. The autonomous artist assumes he is the point on the surface of the chaos where the gods spring forth.”
The Cultural Mind, p. 238