C S Lewis required reading for our sad times

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puzzleannie

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CS Lewis in his prophetic science fiction trilogy predicted the very situation our culture is facing today. My brother reminded me to re-read Out of the Silent Plante, Peralandra and That Hideous Strength, written during and after WWII. Chillingly pertinent to current events and trends in politics, the courts, and the culture of death. Strong recommend to all of you to pick these up at the library, or I got paperbacks and B&N. Amazon probably has used books for sale. Part of it read like Narnia for adults, you can see the same themes being developed. He states specifically it is not a religious allegory, and refers the reader to the as yet unpublished work of his friend Prof. Tolkien for further development of theme and explanations of some concepts.
 
I second that. That Hideous Strength is especially worth a read or re-read these days.

Ordinarily, I find Lewis irritating. (His fiction has a bit of a Protestant aesthetic/bent sometimes and I dislike his perspective on gender differences.)

But he was dead-on about where the forces of evil would like to lead us and the role of euphemisms and distorted language in our descent down the slippery slope. I heard George Felos (ugh) on the radio yesterday and he sounded exactly like a member of the N.I.C.E. - all this saccharine garbage hiding a completely evil aim.
 
While I respect the Peregrinator’s opinion, I love Lewis. Screwtape, The Great Divorce, the Problem of Pain, Mere Christianity, The Abolition of Man. . .he along with Chesterton (in my mind) are the great 20th Century Christian apologists.
 
it pretty much goes without saying that i agree. lewis is my fav author - and his book ‘the last battle’ is my fav book. and i read ALL of the time. i’ve read the last battle a dozen times. i’ve read the sci fi trilogy twice, and til we have faces twice. most of his other stuff once.

his wisdom is scintillating - and i agree wholeheartedly with his gender views. when heavy theological or philosophical questions arise, i find myself quoting lewis over and over and over…
 
Well, I haven’t had the chance to read much of his stuff, but I did read some of the Screwtape Letters, and I liked it. I guess I’ll just start making my summer book list right now.

Eamon
 
Well, I loved all his Narnia books (and have read then so many times, I cannot even count anymore!) and enjoyed Screwtape letters… Possilby, during my Spring Break, I can read a few more and see if they are good. He has some pretty good advice and a neat way of captivating a young audience. I guess I am biased b/c I did a term paper on his ability to integrate Christianity in his books to a very anti-Christian socitey very successfully… well… I like his works!

God Bless–JMJ
Laura
 
I love the Narnia books and the ‘Screwtape letters’ . The ‘Silent Planet’ trilogy I found very good too. I would recommend his ‘Mere Christianity’ to anyone thinking about the Christian faith. 😃
 
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garfield:
I love the Narnia books and the ‘Screwtape letters’ . The ‘Silent Planet’ trilogy I found very good too. I would recommend his ‘Mere Christianity’ to anyone thinking about the Christian faith. 😃
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I absolutely enjoyed the Silent Planet Trilogy.
And it’s been a while, so thanks for the reminder. I think I’ll pick them up again.
 
I read the trilogy in high school. My son read it last summer.

We’ve both read the Narnia series, too, and are looking forward to the first movie in the series.

The Lewis book that touched me the greatest was The Screwtape Letters – it revealed so many of my own failings to me. As a result of reading that book, I have returned to saying morning and evening prayers on my knees.

John Cleese has an audio recording of *The Screwtape Letters * which is just amazing – you can find it at Audible.com. Only Cleese can do that book justice!

'thann
 
I’ve only read ‘Mere Christianity’ and ‘The Great Divorce.’ Both extremely good!

Still have to read all the others. 🙂
 
The writings of C. S. Lewis helped me get out of a Pentecostal sect and back into liturgical Christianity and so on to the Catholic Church. For that I will be eternally grateful, however, as an apologist, he is like a candle next to the sun of G. K. Chesterton (who I knew nothing about until I’d been Catholic for a few years). Lewis took many of Chesterton’s ideas without any acknowledgement, btw. If you read Chesterton, you’ll see what I mean.
 
Well, G. K. Chesterton and George MacDonald were his formative Christian influences. I unconciously borrow from all three all the time- it’s hard to think without them. I am particularly dependent on Orthodoxy.

I love the Space Trilogy, The Great Divorce, and Narnia. I expect, somewhere in the back of my mind, to go to a combination of Dante’s Paradisio and Aslans’s Country when I die. If you haven’t read Till We Have Faces, I strongly, strongly recommend it. It’s one of my favourite books of all time
 
Lewis took many of Chesterton’s ideas without any acknowledgement, btw. If you read Chesterton, you’ll see what I mean.
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alot of what they wrote came from the same source, rather than one from the other. george macdonald, esp.

i would heartily contend with the notion that chesterton was a better apologist than lewis. chesterton was great, certainly. but his works are a bit opaque to the modern reader - he dated himself with his allusions. lewis’s works, on the other hand, are just as easily approachable today as they were the day he wrote them. the mark of a great apologist, i would say, is making things CLEAR to the audience - which i say lewis did far better than chesterton.

if comparative sales are any indication (which they often are not), lewis is apparently the better apologist. mere christianity continues to make the top 10 list, not only in the christian market, but in secular lists as well. chesterton usually doesn’t make the top 100.
 
The questions relate to:

  1. *]The infalibility of the Pope/Church
    *]The immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary
    *]Transubstation
    1. If the Popes have been right on the major problems of the 20th century would you consider their teachings on morals as infalible. Consider the lies we believed overpopulation and birth control, the recent popes have been right on. Infalible and more. My country has just made a 10 thousand dollar tax credit to reverse the population decline.
    2. Could God spend 9 months where there had been sin or could he have made the Virgin immaculate.
    3. If you are a Christian you must believe in the Christ rising from the Dead, as C.S. Lewis suggests. What miracle is impossible if you belive that. We Catholics are the miracle church. See the bread is God is the first step to see Jesus in every person, miracle indeed.
 
Lissla Lissar:
Well, G. K. Chesterton and George MacDonald were his formative Christian influences. I unconciously borrow from all three all the time- it’s hard to think without them. I am particularly dependent on Orthodoxy.
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Oh, me too. But then I’m not writing theological works as Lewis did in which he never acknowledged what he got from Chesterton, only what he got from others. I wonder why–and think it might have been because Chesterton was such a strong advocate of the Catholic Church.
I love the Space Trilogy, The Great Divorce, and Narnia. I expect, somewhere in the back of my mind, to go to a combination of Dante’s Paradisio and Aslans’s Country when I die. If you haven’t read Till We Have Faces, I strongly, strongly recommend it. It’s one of my favourite books of all time
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I love all these books by Lewis, as well. Till We Have Faces was his most deeply spiritual work of fiction, IMHO. Very good and well constructed. Still, all in all, it doesn’t quite satisfy. It lacks a dimension that Tolkien’s fiction had lots of–heart. Not sentimentality, but a real understanding of the deepest needs of the human heart that one who practices a truncated form of Christianity cannot perceive.
 
i would heartily contend with the notion that chesterton was a better apologist than lewis. chesterton was great, certainly. but his works are a bit opaque to the modern reader - he dated himself with his allusions. lewis’s works, on the other hand, are just as easily approachable today as they were the day he wrote them. the mark of a great apologist, i would say, is making things CLEAR to the audience - which i say lewis did far better than chesterton.
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I would say this is true of Protestant Christians in particular. But, Chesterton was the deeper thinker, the wittier writer, and the more brilliant. It’s worth anyone’s time and effort to read him.
if comparative sales are any indication (which they often are not), lewis is apparently the better apologist. mere christianity continues to make the top 10 list, not only in the christian market, but in secular lists as well. chesterton usually doesn’t make the top 100.
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Lewis was trumpeted in the 20th century in a way that Chesterton wasn’t. Also, Lewis, being a Protestant, is less controversial to the average American. I think it a great shame that Chesterton isn’t as well known or acknowledged when he was so influential on so many of our greatest 20th century apologists, most of whom were effusive in their praise of him, such as Fulton Sheen, who was also a great popular apologist.
 
for the record, I like Chesterton, Fr. Brown is the greatest fictional detective of all time, and also a great exponent of moral issues, misuse of language, the illogic of sin and the inherent contradiction of atheism.
 
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jeffreedy789:
alot of what they wrote came from the same source, rather than one from the other. george macdonald, esp.

i would heartily contend with the notion that chesterton was a better apologist than lewis. chesterton was great, certainly. but his works are a bit opaque to the modern reader - he dated himself with his allusions. lewis’s works, on the other hand, are just as easily approachable today as they were the day he wrote them. the mark of a great apologist, i would say, is making things CLEAR to the audience - which i say lewis did far better than chesterton.

if comparative sales are any indication (which they often are not), lewis is apparently the better apologist. mere christianity continues to make the top 10 list, not only in the christian market, but in secular lists as well. chesterton usually doesn’t make the top 100.
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As a huge Lewis fan and new reader of Chesterton, I would be inclined to agree with you. Chesterton’s writing is a bit more challenging to make it through than Lewis. Reading Chesterton’s book on Aquinas currently, which seems slow to get out of the starting gate. On the other hand, Chesterton’s book on St. Francis was really wonderful. If you haven’t read it, I recommend Lewis’ Weight of Glory. Wonderful collection of religious essays.
 
It is unfair to judge a writer by book sales.
If we did that Dan Brown should be considered the better theologian than either Chesteron or Lewis.
Chesterton takes more work to get the gold. ANd Lewsi can be more approachable and less controversial for protestants in fact they don’t carry Chestron in protestant bookstores precisely because he became catholic. IF Lewis was catholic I don’t think he would be as popular in protestant circles. For the life of me John Paul 2 is pure genius and easy to understand yet few protestants dare cross the line and read him. I mean they think George Bush came up with the phrase the Gospel of Life.
Oh Please its borrowed catholcism. WEll than again so is the Bible.
 
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