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Justin Kissel
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« on: October 31, 2009, 04:41:33 AM » |
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I have really enjoyed reading books by C.S. Lewis in the past, though I disagree with him on some rather important points, and even as a Christian didn't always find his beliefs persuasive. Unfortunately I sold all of the books of his that I owned a few years ago. Anyway, early next year I'd like to write something on him and his beliefs, so I recently bought The Complete C.S. Lewis Signature Classics, a compilation of various of his works, including:
Mere Christianity
The Screwtape Letters
Miracles
The Great Divorce
The Problem of Pain
A Grief Observed
The Abolition of Man
What I want to know is, apart from these books just mentioned, are there any other books by Lewis that you would consider essential to understanding the man and what he believed? I remember reading stuff in the Chronicles of Narnia, e.g. The Last Battle, that sort of gave some insight into his beliefs. For example there were the men sitting around a camp fire (I think) who were oblivious to what was going on around them, which says something about how Lewis might view certain people in the afterlife. Also, the idea of continuing to go "further up and further in" perhaps says something about his view of salvation, even in eternity. (Hopefully I'm not butchering those two examples, it's been 16+ years since I read those books). But apart from those two examples, and obvious stuff like Aslan=Jesus, I can't think of anything else in the Chronicles that would give some hint as to his beliefs. But perhaps others have spotted something in these books, or others, that says something unique about Lewis?
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Alveus Lacuna
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« Reply #1 on: October 31, 2009, 04:50:57 AM » |
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I think that Surprised by Joy is an important work in his catalog.
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Riddikulus
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« Reply #2 on: October 31, 2009, 04:54:41 AM » |
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Til We Have Faces is a must.
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I believe in One God, maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible.
Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution.
Theodosius Dobzhansky, Russian Orthodox Christian (1900-1975)
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Justin Kissel
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« Reply #3 on: October 31, 2009, 05:01:25 AM » |
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Thanks for the two suggestions.  I looked on Amazon.com and found Suprised by Joy in a volume that also has three other works of his (Reflections on the Psalms, the Four Loves, the Business of Heaven), so that's all the better. I also put Till We Have Faces in my cart. |
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Alveus Lacuna
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« Reply #4 on: October 31, 2009, 05:05:32 AM » |
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If you didn't already purchase it, I own a mint copy of that collection that I will sell to you. Just send me a private message.
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Justin Kissel
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« Reply #5 on: October 31, 2009, 05:09:44 AM » |
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Darn. Unfortunately after I posted the last post I decided to just go ahead and purchase them this morning. I probably should have waited (for reasons having to do with paying bills first out of principle), but I'm impulsive like that.
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Feanor
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« Reply #6 on: October 31, 2009, 05:19:16 AM » |
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I've only read 'A Grief Observed' out of the ones on that list. I loved it; Lewis reveals some profound thoughts on God, humanity, suffering and faith. His process of nearly losing faith and then coming to reconcile Joy's death with God's benevolence is quite interesting. Here are some quotes I particularly liked...
“What reason have we, except our own desperate wishes, to believe that God is, by any standard we can conceive, ‘good’? Doesn't all the prima facie evidence suggest exactly the opposite? What have we to set against it? We set Christ against it. But how if He was mistaken? Almost His last words may have a perfectly clear meaning. He had found that the Being He called Father was horribly and infinitely different from what He had supposed. The trap, so long and carefully prepared and so subtly baited, was a last sprung, the cross. The vile practical joke had succeeded.”
People told Lewis not to worry about his wife's death and to take comfort:
“‘Because she is in God's hands.’ But if so, she was in God's hands all the time, and I have seen what they did to her here. Do they suddenly become gentler to us the moment we are out of the body? And if so, why? If God's goodness is inconsistent with hurting us, then either God is not good or there is no God: for in the only life we know He hurts us beyond our worst fears and beyond all we can imagine. If it is consistent with hurting us, then He may hurt us after death as unendurably as before it.
Sometimes it is hard not to say, "God forgive God." Sometimes it is hard to say so much. But if our faith is true, He didn't. He crucified Him.”
This line I put in bold reflects an incredibly important part of my faith personally.
It strikes right to the core of Christianity, that God crucifies God/Christ. To me, this reflects the moment when God finally came to understand the dilemma of Man's existence, when as a man, he too experienced despair. When Lewis describes this moment, he does so in the thoughts and words of a man who is not merely distraught, but who is truly questioning his belief in God or at least in the goodness of God. Lewis' line means so much to me because this concept means a great deal to me. The Crucifixion was two-fold. Not only was God suffering for man, he was suffering with man, as a participant in the despair and suffering of this world whilst simultaneously saving us from it.
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Justin Kissel
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« Reply #7 on: October 31, 2009, 05:29:24 AM » |
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Feanor Thank you for your thoughts, and taking the time to supply those quotes. It seems that, like Lewis, you also have put a good deal of thought into Christianity. |
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scamandrius
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« Reply #8 on: October 31, 2009, 02:59:10 PM » |
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Til We Have Faces is a must.
I second that as well as Out of the Silent Planet and Perelandra as well. If you are interested in knowing my thoughts on Til We have faces, I wrote a review of it on this website but I can't seem to find it to give you a URL. Sorry. |
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I seek the truth by which no man was ever harmed--Marcus Aurelius
Those who do not read history are doomed to get their facts from Hollywood--Anonymous
What earthly joy remains untouched by grief?--St. John Damascene
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