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Responding to CS Lewis View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by ResearchOnline@ND University of Notre Dame Australia ResearchOnline@ND Theses 2008 Is Pain Really God’s Megaphone? Responding to C.S. Lewis Lisa Moate University of Notre Dame Australia Follow this and additional works at: http://researchonline.nd.edu.au/theses Part of the Arts and Humanities Commons COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA Copyright Regulations 1969 WARNING The am terial in this communication may be subject to copyright under the Act. Any further copying or communication of this material by you may be the subject of copyright protection under the Act. Do not remove this notice. Publication Details Moate, L. (2008). Is Pain Really God’s Megaphone? Responding to C.S. Lewis (Honours). University of Notre Dame Australia. http://researchonline.nd.edu.au/theses/67 This dissertation/thesis is brought to you by ResearchOnline@ND. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses by an authorized administrator of ResearchOnline@ND. For more information, please contact [email protected]. School of Arts and Sciences, Fremantle Is Pain Really God’s Megaphone? Responding to C.S. Lewis Bachelor of Arts (Honours) Philosophy of Lisa Moate Supervised by Dr. Richard Hamilton October 2008 2 DEDICATED TO C.S. “Jack” Lewis (1898-1963) and his beloved wife Helen Joy Davidman (1915-1960) 3 DECLARATION I declare that this Project is my own account of my research and contains as its main content work which has not previously been submitted for a degree at any tertiary institution. ___________________________ __________________________ Name Signature ____________________ Date 4 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would first like to thank my supervisor, Dr. Richard Hamilton, who pushed me to work to the highest standards than I thought I was capable of. I would like to thank Dr. Dawn Darlastan-Jones, the Honours Coordinator, for her patience, advice and support; the staff in the School of Philosophy and Theology for their encouragement and assistance and for giving me the opportunity to work as a sessional tutor; Dr. Henry Novello who was kind enough to provide me with extensive critical feedback of the second draft; Dr. Angeline O’Neill, who read Chapter’s Four and Five; Mark Kingston and Peter Geers who proof read the first chapter; Mr Colin Redmond who was always willing to share his wisdom and offer support; and Ms Judith Schneider whose ‘door was always open’ and who gave incredible and insurmountable support and friendship throughout the year. Thanks especially for all the cups of tea when I needed a shoulder to lean on. Thanks also go to my students, who helped me realise how much I love taking the role of educator in the discipline of philosophy. I would like to thank James Higgins, who gave continual support and understanding over the last two years; and Colette Bell who has always been willing to listen when I needed to talk and who has given the utmost in unquestioning support and understanding through all the ‘ups’ and ‘downs’. I would especially like to acknowledge the late Associate Professor Anthony Imbrosciano whose encouragement, support, and friendship offered me the most significant motivation to begin higher studies and a teaching career in philosophy. 5 ABSTRACT In this study I will defend C.S. Lewis’ claim that people can be morally improved through experiences of pain and suffering and that, as such, attempts to avoid painful experiences are inappropriate. In explaining the context within which Lewis treats pain, a discussion of the nature of pain itself is not necessary since the importance of Lewis’ work lies in its practical application and the role it has in people’s lives; that is, in contributing towards our moral growth. The nature of pain is examined insofar as clarifying the idea it that can only be understood individually due to the distinct uniqueness of the person as a singular entity and the respective individuality of perspective and linguistic interpretation. Because of this individuality, responses to pain differ vastly, and for this reason it is important to emphasise the benefits of endurance and the consequences of avoidance in painful experiences. Furthermore, I have examined the way Lewis deals with the claim in each of his various genres in order to show how his work collectively contributes toward the development of this position. 6 CONTENTS Chapter One – Introductory........................................................................................................................7 1: Introduction...................................................................................................................................7 2: Lewis’ Task as a Writer.............................................................................................................9 3: Putting Pain into Context.......................................................................................................12 Chapter Two – Arguments in The Problem of Pain .........................................................................21 1: Pain is God’s Megaphone to Rouse a Deaf World........................................................21 2: Breaking the Will.......................................................................................................................23 3: Perfection through Suffering at the Hands of Others................................................26 4: Humans are Perfected through ‘Corrective Good’......................................................29 Chapter Three – Theological Arguments............................................................................................32 1: The Human Relationship with God....................................................................................32 2: ‘Heaven’ and ‘Hell’.....................................................................................................................37 3: The Fall of Man...........................................................................................................................40 Chapter Four – Literary Arguments, part one..................................................................................44 1: Spirits in Bondage – A Cycle of Lyrics .................................................................................44 2: A Grief Observed .........................................................................................................................51 Chapter Five – Literary Arguments, part two...................................................................................57 1: The Screwtape Letters ..............................................................................................................57 2: The Chronicles of Narnia .........................................................................................................62 Conclusion........................................................................................................................................................73 Bibliography....................................................................................................................................................75 7 CHAPTER ONE – INTRODUCTORY 1: Introduction In this study I will defend C.S. Lewis’ claim that human beings are improved through experiences of pain and suffering and I will show that Lewis’ work reflects this claim. Lewis writes that “I am only trying to show that the old Christian doctrine of being made ‘perfect through suffering’ is not incredible”. 1 Throughout his work, Lewis uses both the terms ‘improvement’ and ‘perfection’ in relation to this concept. ‘Perfection’ through pain and suffering indicates that these experiences improve people for the purposes of progression towards developing a better moral character. In addition, Lewis’ quote that “pain is [God’s] megaphone to rouse a deaf world” is reflected in the title of this dissertation because it reflects this claim. 2 Although it will be dealt with further in Chapter Two, Lewis uses the quote to explain that pain both indicates hindrances to moral development and motivates people to attend to those hindrances. In this way, moral lessons can be acquired through experiences of pain and suffering. The question of whether or not perfection is ever attained through this process, however, is not one that I will seek to answer in this study, which will be limited specifically to showing that Lewis’ work supports the claim that suffering is a necessary contribution toward the development of one’s moral character. I must also acknowledge that suffering is perhaps not the only means of improvement. Due to the individual and personal nature of these experiences (as part three of this chapter will argue) people respond in different ways, sometimes resulting in negative rather than positive reactions. However, this does not mean that positive results are not possible for these people. I will argue that all experiences of suffering have the capacity to advance people’s moral growth, regardless of their response to it. 1 C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain , 1940, Signature Classics Edn, (HarperCollins Publishers; London, 2002), p.105. 2 Ibid, p.91. 8 Lewis’ work reflects many different questions and issues regarding pain and suffering and its presence in people’s lives. In addition to themes that support the claim of suffering as a means of improvement, The Problem of Pain acknowledges the logical dilemma of why an apparently all-loving, all-powerful God would allow pain and
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