Monthly Archives: June 2017
God is Pleased but Hard to Satisfy
There are moments in Scripture where the closer an individual is to God, the closer he or she is to the dangerous divide between creature and creator. Jesus’ command to be perfect, as Lewis points out, is a reflection of that danger. “I think [Jesus] meant,” he says, “‘The only help …
July 16, 2017 3:00 am Leave your thoughts
This World is Not My Home
In relation to our want of heaven and abandoning the earthly rewards that we once ran after, Lewis writes that it probably will not happen in a day. Rather, he says, “poetry replaces grammar, gospel replaces law, longing transforms obedience, as gradually as the tide lifts a grounded ship.”
June 28, 2017 1:33 pm
From Atheism to Paganism to God
In Surprised by Joy, Lewis recalls his early childhood experiences with Christianity. He remembers the candles and incense, hymns and vestments. None of it offered an invitation. Instead, “What really mattered,” he says, “was that I heard the doctrines of Christianity… taught by men who obviously believed them.”
June 22, 2017 3:48 pm Leave your thoughts
Regarding Church
Over the next few articles, I hope to draw out several observations that Lewis gives to us about church. There are several occasions where he mentions church life generally, but they aren’t frequent, so we should be able to maintain his observations more easily than if we were addressing his thoughts on …
May 31, 2017 10:29 am Leave your thoughts
Why Do We Pray?
Miracles puts forward many questions about the life of faith. Among them is the subject of prayer. Why do we pray? Do we pray because God is likely to change his will? Do we pray because if we don’t, we think that God won’t have the opportunity to change his will? …
May 14, 2017 4:08 am Leave your thoughts
The Centrality of Resurrection
Resurrection is a subject that is central to the Christian narrative. Lewis addresses the idea of resurrection in his stories (Aslan and Eustace come to mind, for example), in his theological works, and in his letters. Here, I want to point out several occasions where Lewis discusses resurrection with hopes …
April 16, 2017 4:25 pm Leave your thoughts
Paradox of Suffering
One of the readings this week in Lewis’s “Preparing for Easter” appropriately talks about suffering and its paradox. During Holy Week, we move from a celebratory entry into Jerusalem to the cruelty of thorns, whips, nails and crosses. The reading is from Miracles, where Lewis explains that suffering is not good, in and …
April 12, 2017 12:52 pm Leave your thoughts
Be Careful
In The Weight of Glory, Lewis says we will be transformed in eternity, whether in Heaven (or Hell). “It’s a serious thing,” Lewis says, “to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, …
March 16, 2017 1:53 pm
Good Infection
We are in the season of death and resurrection, living in the reality of someone paying the wages of our sin and celebrating in the victory of his bodily resurrection from the dead. The natural seasons also celebrate this new birth, as spring opens up and the earth is made …
March 14, 2017 8:05 pm
Preparing for Easter
Preparing for Easter: 50 Devotional Readings from C.S. Lewis just released on February 14 in the lead up to Lent, which begins March 1. I’m grateful to be the editor of this collection. I recently sat down to interview with All About Jack, a podcast hosted and managed by William O’Flaherty. Below are a …
February 22, 2017 3:39 pm Leave your thoughts