You Don't Know Jack
- Thread starter MovieBob
- Start date
I always found it mean that because Susan liked to go out dancing and wear lipstick she was shut out from their final reunion in Narnia (the rapture). I thought Susan was hot 
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Oh yeah, and thanks for the wonderful article.
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Oh yeah, and thanks for the wonderful article.
As a huge fan of all of Lewis's writings, and of the man himself, I have a few minor nitpicks with your article, which are not really worth getting into. But, on the whole, I think it was quite a good article, and I'm happy to see it here. I agree with the others who are calling for more articles like this.
That's about as far away from "No one comes to the Father but through me!" as you can get.
See, this has always been one of the biggest put-offs I've had over Christian(and, to be fair, any religious) philosophy.
If God is all-loving and completely benevolent, why should He care if we feed the hungry, clothe the cold, or heal the sick in the name of some other god? Shouldn't the mere fact that we do good unto others be enough to please him? To think otherwise would imply that God is very vain, a trait unbecoming the ultimate good of the universe.
But Lewis's philosophy is one I can get behind. Jesus(and, by extension, God) doesn't care why you did those good deeds, only that you did them.
See, this has always been one of the biggest put-offs I've had over Christian(and, to be fair, any religious) philosophy.
If God is all-loving and completely benevolent, why should He care if we feed the hungry, clothe the cold, or heal the sick in the name of some other god? Shouldn't the mere fact that we do good unto others be enough to please him? To think otherwise would imply that God is very vain, a trait unbecoming the ultimate good of the universe.
But Lewis's philosophy is one I can get behind. Jesus(and, by extension, God) doesn't care why you did those good deeds, only that you did them.
S'funny, I am a Christian and I read that passage a little different to what it's being thrown about as here.
"Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
Taken out of context we're looking at a pretty cut and dried statement, believe in Christ and you recieve the Grace of God. All fairly simple so far, except that belief in the sacrifice of Jesus covers that fairly neatly. Through that our sins are washed away and we can have a relationship with God once more. I.e. through Jesus we can get to the Father. As for the way and the life parts, again fairly simple (at least to my mind) Jesus led as perfect a life as it was possible to lead, he fed the hungry, clothed the poor, healed the sick, ultimately gave his life for folks he'd never know and never meet and did it all for God. If anyone emulates that, in any way, if anyone can even meet a tenth of that then they are leading a life that's going to be okay with God. Just cut down on the bad shit and do our level best not to do it, we'll be fine. We're human so mistakes are allowed. God's kinda awesome like that.
OT: Awesome work, Bob, well written and researched. Thoroughly enjoyable read.
"Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
Taken out of context we're looking at a pretty cut and dried statement, believe in Christ and you recieve the Grace of God. All fairly simple so far, except that belief in the sacrifice of Jesus covers that fairly neatly. Through that our sins are washed away and we can have a relationship with God once more. I.e. through Jesus we can get to the Father. As for the way and the life parts, again fairly simple (at least to my mind) Jesus led as perfect a life as it was possible to lead, he fed the hungry, clothed the poor, healed the sick, ultimately gave his life for folks he'd never know and never meet and did it all for God. If anyone emulates that, in any way, if anyone can even meet a tenth of that then they are leading a life that's going to be okay with God. Just cut down on the bad shit and do our level best not to do it, we'll be fine. We're human so mistakes are allowed. God's kinda awesome like that.
OT: Awesome work, Bob, well written and researched. Thoroughly enjoyable read.
Well written piece. You should like totally get a job as a writer or something!
In my serious voice though, I think it's a good look at someone who is certainly considered one of the pillars of modern fantasy. I wasn't aware of who C.S. Lewis was really, though I have read his books. I feel... educated. Thank you.
It's always interesting to find out more about an author and really try to delve into the layers of a story. To get into the author's mind really. Some books take on new meanings and directions. For example, read some Heinlein, then read it again when you know who he was. Yeah, ok some of his stuff is pretty "preachy" (anti-preachy?), and maybe too obvious a comparison, but I think he's a similar case of values and morality that can be examined through the author's work.
In my serious voice though, I think it's a good look at someone who is certainly considered one of the pillars of modern fantasy. I wasn't aware of who C.S. Lewis was really, though I have read his books. I feel... educated. Thank you.
It's always interesting to find out more about an author and really try to delve into the layers of a story. To get into the author's mind really. Some books take on new meanings and directions. For example, read some Heinlein, then read it again when you know who he was. Yeah, ok some of his stuff is pretty "preachy" (anti-preachy?), and maybe too obvious a comparison, but I think he's a similar case of values and morality that can be examined through the author's work.
Isn't The Chronicle's of Narnia seven books long?MovieBob said:
The Magician's Nephew
The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe
The Horse and His Boy
Prince Caspian
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Silver Chair
The Last Battle
I was actually expecting a look at C.S. Lewis' actual Sci-Fi story: the Ransom trilogy:
Out of the Silent Planet
Perelandra
That Hideous Strength
The first two are set on Mars and Venus respectively (the third, I;m pretty sure is set here on Earth) and looks at them as complete inhabitable worlds, which although dates them immediately, are still engaging. The interesting one, in my opinion is Perelandra, essentially the Genesis story set on a new world. In these books, the religious overtones are far more overt than they are in Narnia, and they read at times as essays on morality, especially the internal monologue of the character Ransom where C.S Lewis makes the case for a just war. They are worth a read, if you can find them...
I do like how we've reached ninety posts 'before the flame war' as the above post suggests...