Mere Christianity Discussion Questions
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Mercy Vs. Law and Justice: a False Dichotomy”
“Mercy vs. Law and Justice: A False Dichotomy” Speaker Series for St. Catherine Laboure Parish Glenview, Illinois March 12, 2017 † Most Reverend Thomas John Paprocki Bishop of Springfield in Illinois My dear brothers and sisters in Christ: It is good to be back with you here at St. Catherine Laboure Parish, where I served as deacon from the summer of 1977 until my ordination as a priest in May of 1978. It is hard to believe that forty years have passed since then, but this parish and many of the parishioners still have a special place in my heart. The topic of my presentation is, “Mercy vs. Law and Justice: A False Dichotomy.” Specifically, I will address the questions: how can God be just and merciful at the same time? Can there be mercy without judgment? I will describe how a well-formed conscience enables us to experience God’s mercy. I will also look at how moral law, canon law or church law and civil law bind us and how they free us. 2 By way of introducing these themes, I start by recalling one of my favorite movies, “Shadowlands,” the 1993 film about the British author and Oxford University scholar C.S. Lewis, starring one of my favorite actors, Anthony Hopkins, who played the part of Lewis. After I saw that movie for the first time in the theater, I rented the video and did something that I had never done before and have never done since: I watched the video in my living room with a note pad and jotted down quotes from the profound theological insights that were being spoken by the character of Lewis in the movie, which was based on his real life experiences dealing with the terminal illness of his wife Joy, who was dying of cancer. -
Utopia in Deep Heaven: Thomas More and C.S. Lewis's Cosmic Trilogy
Volume 35 Number 2 Article 8 4-15-2017 Utopia in Deep Heaven: Thomas More and C.S. Lewis's Cosmic Trilogy Benjamin C. Parker Northern Illinois University in De Kalb, IL Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore Part of the Children's and Young Adult Literature Commons Recommended Citation Parker, Benjamin C. (2017) "Utopia in Deep Heaven: Thomas More and C.S. Lewis's Cosmic Trilogy," Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature: Vol. 35 : No. 2 , Article 8. Available at: https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol35/iss2/8 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Mythopoeic Society at SWOSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature by an authorized editor of SWOSU Digital Commons. An ADA compliant document is available upon request. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To join the Mythopoeic Society go to: http://www.mythsoc.org/join.htm Mythcon 51: A VIRTUAL “HALFLING” MYTHCON July 31 - August 1, 2021 (Saturday and Sunday) http://www.mythsoc.org/mythcon/mythcon-51.htm Mythcon 52: The Mythic, the Fantastic, and the Alien Albuquerque, New Mexico; July 29 - August 1, 2022 http://www.mythsoc.org/mythcon/mythcon-52.htm Abstract Teases out parallels to Thomas More’s Utopia the solar system of Lewis’s Cosmic Trilogy, to show how Lewis’s scholarly engagement with this text informs his depictions of Malacandra, Perelandra, and the smaller world of the N.I.C.E. -
The Tao of Screwtape: Sender/Receiver Pairs and Objective Values in C.S
Estetisk- Filosofiska fakulteten Bob Wallace The Tao of Screwtape: Sender/receiver pairs and objective values in C.S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters. English Literature C-level thesis Date/Term: Ht 2009 Supervisor: M. Ullén Karlstads universitet 651 88 Karlstad Tfn 054-700 10 00 Fax 054-700 14 60 [email protected] www.kau.se Title: The Tao of Screwtape: An examination of sender/receiver pairs for awareness of and relationship to a doctrine of objective values in C.S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters. Author: Bob Wallace Eng C, HT 2009 Pages: 15 Abstract: The purpose of this essay is to identify the various sender/receiver pairs from C.S. Lewis’s novel The Screwtape Letters and, once identified, to examine these pairs within the context of the concept of a doctrine of universal values which is expressed in Lewis’s The Abolition of Man. For the sake of clarity and simplicity the essay begins with a definition of terms and concepts that will be used throughout, including basic terms used when discussing a communicative act: sender, receiver and message. I then explain the essays central concept which is taken from another one of Lewis’s works The Abolition of Man regarding a doctrine of objective value. The idea that a set of universal values exists is often central to secular writing and C.S Lewis, a Christian apologist, makes it clear that he believes that there exists an ethical way of living that is common to all men, Christian and non- Christian alike. He dubs this set of basic morals the Tao. -
Myth in CS Lewis's Perelandra
Walls 1 A Hierarchy of Love: Myth in C.S. Lewis’s Perelandra A Thesis Submitted to The Faculty of the School of Communication In Candidacy for the Degree of Master of Arts in English by Joseph Robert Walls May 2012 Walls 2 Liberty University School of Communication Master of Arts in English _______________________________________________________________________ Thesis Chair Date Dr. Branson Woodard, D.A. _______________________________________________________________________ First Reader Date Dr. Carl Curtis, Ph.D. _______________________________________________________________________ Second Reader Date Dr. Mary Elizabeth Davis, Ph.D. Walls 3 For Alyson Your continual encouragement, support, and empathy are invaluable to me. Walls 4 Contents Introduction......................................................................................................................................5 Chapter 1: Understanding Symbol, Myth, and Allegory in Perelandra........................................11 Chapter 2: Myth and Sacramentalism Through Character ............................................................32 Chapter 3: On Depictions of Evil...................................................................................................59 Chapter 4: Mythical Interaction with Landscape...........................................................................74 A Conclusion Transposed..............................................................................................................91 Works Cited ...................................................................................................................................94 -
Joy Davidman Lewis: Author, Editor and Collaborator
Volume 22 Number 2 Article 3 1998 Joy Davidman Lewis: Author, Editor and Collaborator Diana Pavlac Glyer Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore Part of the Children's and Young Adult Literature Commons Recommended Citation Glyer, Diana Pavlac (1998) "Joy Davidman Lewis: Author, Editor and Collaborator," Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature: Vol. 22 : No. 2 , Article 3. Available at: https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol22/iss2/3 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Mythopoeic Society at SWOSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature by an authorized editor of SWOSU Digital Commons. An ADA compliant document is available upon request. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To join the Mythopoeic Society go to: http://www.mythsoc.org/join.htm Mythcon 51: A VIRTUAL “HALFLING” MYTHCON July 31 - August 1, 2021 (Saturday and Sunday) http://www.mythsoc.org/mythcon/mythcon-51.htm Mythcon 52: The Mythic, the Fantastic, and the Alien Albuquerque, New Mexico; July 29 - August 1, 2022 http://www.mythsoc.org/mythcon/mythcon-52.htm Abstract Biography of Joy Davidman Lewis and her influence on C.S. Lewis. Additional Keywords Davidman, Joy—Biography; Davidman, Joy—Criticism and interpretation; Davidman, Joy—Influence on C.S. Lewis; Davidman, Joy—Religion; Davidman, Joy. Smoke on the Mountain; Lewis, C.S.—Influence of Joy Davidman (Lewis); Lewis, C.S. -
The Theme of Desire in the Writings of CS Lewis
Inklings Forever Volume 6 A Collection of Essays Presented at the Sixth Frances White Ewbank Colloquium on C.S. Lewis & Article 8 Friends 5-29-2008 The Theme of Desire in the Writings of C.S. Lewis: Implications for Spiritual Formation Connie Hintz Loyola University Follow this and additional works at: https://pillars.taylor.edu/inklings_forever Part of the English Language and Literature Commons, History Commons, Philosophy Commons, and the Religion Commons Recommended Citation Hintz, Connie (2008) "The Theme of Desire in the Writings of C.S. Lewis: Implications for Spiritual Formation," Inklings Forever: Vol. 6 , Article 8. Available at: https://pillars.taylor.edu/inklings_forever/vol6/iss1/8 This Essay is brought to you for free and open access by the Center for the Study of C.S. Lewis & Friends at Pillars at Taylor University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Inklings Forever by an authorized editor of Pillars at Taylor University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INKLINGS FOREVER, Volume VI A Collection of Essays Presented at the Sixth FRANCES WHITE EWBANK COLLOQUIUM on C.S. LEWIS & FRIENDS Taylor University 2008 Upland, Indiana The Theme of Desire in the Writings of C. S. Lewis Implications for Spiritual Formation Connie Hintz Abstract: If we remain faithful to the path of desire, steadfastly refusing all that fails to satisfy, and holding fast to our deepest longing, we can trust it to lead us to life in all its fullness. Drawing on his own experience of following the path of desire to its ultimate destination in God, C. S. -
The Perils, Pitfalls, and Pleasures of Writing a New Biography of Lewis
Inklings Forever: Published Colloquium Proceedings 1997-2016 Volume 10 A Collection of Essays Presented at the Tenth Frances White Ewbank Colloquium on Article 56 C.S. Lewis & Friends 6-5-2016 The Perils, Pitfalls, and Pleasures of Writing a New Biography of Lewis Devin Brown Asbury University Follow this and additional works at: https://pillars.taylor.edu/inklings_forever Part of the English Language and Literature Commons, History Commons, Philosophy Commons, and the Religion Commons Recommended Citation Brown, Devin (2016) "The Perils, Pitfalls, and Pleasures of Writing a New Biography of Lewis," Inklings Forever: Published Colloquium Proceedings 1997-2016: Vol. 10 , Article 56. Available at: https://pillars.taylor.edu/inklings_forever/vol10/iss1/56 This Essay is brought to you for free and open access by the Center for the Study of C.S. Lewis & Friends at Pillars at Taylor University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Inklings Forever: Published Colloquium Proceedings 1997-2016 by an authorized editor of Pillars at Taylor University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Perils, Pitfalls, and Pleasures of Writing a New Biography of Lewis by Devin Brown Devin Brown is a Professor of English at Asbury University. He has written ten books, including the most recent biographies of Lewis and Tolkien. He has taught in the Summer Seminar program at The Kilns and recently wrote the script for Discussing Mere Christianity which was shot on location in Oxford with host Eric Metaxas. In 2013, I published A Life Observed: A Spiritual Biography of C. S. Lewis. The increased interest in Lewis generated in 2013 by the fiftieth anniversary of his death and the unveiling of the Lewis memorial in the Poets’ Corner of Westminster Abbey helped make it possible for Brazos, my publisher, to release another book about Lewis. -
Mere Christianity
Welcome to Dr. Kerry Irish’s study guide of C. S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity. This study guide is unique in that it begins with an introduction that explains how Mere Christianity came into being, and also how Lewis became a Christian. I have divided Mere Christianity into six discussions. Each of the discussions is labeled according to the Book and Chapters it includes. I did not use page numbers as there are many editions of Mere Christianity each with its own pagination system. However, my study guide retains the four books and chapter titles that Lewis used. The chapters are all about four to six pages long so finding the answers to the study questions should not be too hard. May the God who pursued C.S. Lewis bless your study. Introduction: C.S. Lewis: Reluctant Convert The unfolding of your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple. Psalm 119:130 It is August, 1941 London, England. Great Britain has been at war against Nazi Germany and the Italian Empire for nearly two years. The British people stand virtually alone against the greatest combined aggressive power the world has ever seen. These stalwart people have survived the fall of France and Germany’s attempted invasion of England itself the previous year. In that autumn of 1940, their young men answered the siren call, ran to their aircraft, and flew into the clouds to face the overwhelming numbers of the German air force. Almost miraculously these few hundred men saved the British Empire, and perhaps the world, as they traded their blood for time, time for Great Britain to arm and respond to Adolf Hitler’s attempt to rule Europe. -
The Great Rival: the Loves in Lewis' the Magician's Nephew (1955)
1 The Great Rival: The Loves in Lewis’ The Magician’s Nephew (1955) “Christ says, “Give me All. I don’t want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work: I want You. I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it. No half-measures are any good. I don’t want to cut off a branch here and a branch there, I want to have the whole tree down. I don’t want to drill the tooth or crown it, or stop it, but to have it out. Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires which you think innocent as well as the ones you think wicked—the whole outfit.’”—Mere Christianity “The Rivalry between all natural loves and the loves of God is something a Christian dare not forget. God is the great Rival, the ultimate object of human jealousy; that beauty, terrible as the Gorgon’s, which may at any moment steal from me—or it seems like stealing to me—my wife’s or husband’s or daughter’s heart.”--The Four Loves The Magician’s Nephew is a tale which explores different kinds of love: friendship, affection, familial love, sexual desire, and sacrificial love. It also explores the dangers of curiosity, temptation, and power. While the novel sets out the Narnian creation, it also brings together aspects of the pagan and Christian fall: the Garden of Hesperides, the Garden of Eden, Pandora’s box, and so on. Jadis the Witch Queen is based on both the witch Circe from Greek mythology and the demon Lilith from medieval Jewish mythology. -
Mere Christianity Book 3 Chapters 11 & 12
Mere Christianity Book 3 Chapters 11 & 12 Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis Book 3 Chapters 11 & 12 Book 3. Christian Behaviour Chapter 11. Faith Chapter 12. Faith (In the Second Sense) Book 3. Christian Behaviour Chapter 11. Faith I must talk in this chapter about what the Christians call Faith. Roughly speaking, the word Faith seems to be used by Christians in two senses or on two levels, and I will take them in turn. In the first sense it means simply Beliefaccepting or regarding as true the doctrines of Christianity. That is fairly simple. But what does puzzle peopleat least it used to puzzle meis the fact that Christians regard faith in this sense as a virtue, I used to ask how on earth it can be a virtuewhat is there moral or immoral about believing or not believing a set of statements? Obviously, I used to say, a sane man accepts or rejects any statement, not because he wants or does not want to, but because the evidence seems to him good or bad. If he were mistaken about the goodness or badness of the evidence that would not mean he was a bad man, but only that he was not very clever. And if he thought the evidence bad but tried to force himself to believe in spite of it, that would be merely stupid. Well, I think I still take that view. But what I did not see then and a good many people do not see stillwas this. I was assuming that if the human mind once accepts a thing as true it will automatically go on regarding it as true, until some real reason for reconsidering it turns up. -
Mere Christianity by George Marsden Professor of History Emeritus at University of Notre Dame
KNOWING . OING &DC S L EWI S I N S TITUTE Spring 2017 A Teaching Quarterly for Discipleship of Heart and Mind A Biography of Mere Christianity By George Marsden Professor of History Emeritus at University of Notre Dame IN THIS ISSUE biography of a book may sound like Lewis’s presentations were successful enough an unusual concept, but books do have for the BBC to invite him back for some addi- 1 A Biography of Mere their own lives, and some books have tional broadcasts. Eventually he offered four Christianity A shaped the world profoundly. That is especially such series. He collected and edited the first by George Marsden true of religious books. Recognizing this, the re- two series into a little paperback, titled simply 2 Notes from the ligion editor of Princeton University Press insti- Broadcast Talks. These were soon published also President: Looking for tuted a series called the Lives of Great Religious in the States with the catchier title The Case for Adventure? by Joel S. Books. So far, the volumes include The Book of Christianity. Lewis had suddenly become well Woodruff Genesis, The Book of Job, The Book of Mormon, The known for The Screwtape Letters, first published 3 The Emergence Tibetan Book of the Dead, Augustine’s Confessions, in book form in 1942. During the next couple of of Evangelical Thomas Aquinas’s Summa Theologica, John Cal- years, he published the third and fourth sets of Discipleship by Tom vin’s Institutes, among others published or forth- BBC talks, adding a few extra chapters. -
CS Lewis and the Poverty of Naturalism
Mere Economic Science: C. S. Lewis and the Poverty of Naturalism David J. Theroux Founder and President, The Independent Institute Independent Institute Working Paper Number 67 March 6, 2007 100 Swan Way, Oakland, CA 94621-1428 • 510-632-1366 • Fax: 510-568-6040 • Email: [email protected] • http://www.independent.org Mere Economic Science: C.S. Lewis and the Poverty of Naturalism Page 2 “Good is indeed something objective, and reason the organ whereby it is apprehended.” —C.S. Lewis1 “Religion without science is lame, but science without religion is blind.” —Albert Einstein For many years, much of the sciences, both natural and social (including economics), has been dominated by a naturalist (or modernist or structuralist) worldview that generally assumes that the universe and life are purposeless and that mankind is simply a more complex, material version of all else in the natural world. In other words, an individual human is viewed as no more and no less than a system of molecular processes determined by natural physical laws. In this system, all human endeavor and ideas are determined solely as the product of a mechanistic, causal process of physical events. The philosopher Dallas Willard describes naturalism as a form of monism: “It holds, in some order of interdependence, that reality, knowledge and method . are of only one basic kind. That is, there are not two radically different kinds of reality or knowledge or method. [Naturalism] is fundamentally opposed to Pluralism, and most importantly to Dualism as traditionally understood (Plato, Descartes, Kant).” True to this form of monism, “[t]he one type of reality admitted by it is that of the sense-perceptible world and its constituents.