Author Archives: Dr Snyder

C. S. Lewis: No More Pain

In July 1963, C. S. Lewis fell into a coma, and everyone thought that was the end for him. Yet he surprised the medical staff by sitting up and asking for tea. He did die four months later, but shortly after coming out of the coma, he wrote these poignant words to a longtime friend and correspondent: Tho’ I am by no mean unhappy I can’t help feeling it was rather a pity I did revive in July. I mean,… Read more »

An Oasis

As promised, Pondering Principles begins again today. My week away was well worth it. I never even touched a computer the entire time. Cruises are a lot about food, but I tried to limit the intake—somewhat. Working out nearly every morning must have burned some of those calories. At least I’m going to tell myself that. It was my first time back in Puerto Rico in about four years, and I was glad to renew acquaintances. The door is open… Read more »

C. S. Lewis: Death Conquered

Death is bad, but death is also good. How can this be? Read what C. S. Lewis has to say about it: On the one hand Death is the triumph of Satan, the punishment of the Fall, and the last enemy. Christ shed tears at the grave of Lazarus and sweated blood in Gethsemane: the Life of Lives that was in Him detested this penal obscenity not less than we do, but more. On the other hand, only he who… Read more »

Another Personal Reflection

This daily commentary takes stock of current events in light of Biblical truth. It’s just who I am. I don’t have to force or impose a certain meaning on those events because I quite naturally interpret everything through that Biblical prism. Today, I want to step back a bit and simply be thankful for what the Lord has given, and what He has allowed me to do. We should all do this regularly. I’m thankful, above all else, for being… Read more »

C. S. Lewis: Why Only One Chance?

Some people may critique what the Bible says about having only this one life to get things right with God. Isn’t it rather drastic that if we blow it this time around and end up separated from God that we don’t get to try again? Why not multiple opportunities? C. S. Lewis has a rather unique way of explaining the justice of it all: [Some say] that death ought not to be final, that there ought to be a second… Read more »

Hope in a Deteriorating Culture

The culture shift of the past forty to fifty years has been astounding. I remember the late 1960s when it began in earnest. Being in college from 1969-1973, during the height of the Vietnam War, meant interacting with that shift constantly. Yet, even in the midst of such influences, my Christian faith was confirmed and became more real than ever. This is what gives me hope. Today, those influences are more in-your-face than before. We’ve seen radical changes in the… Read more »

C. S. Lewis’s Conversion

As explained in his autobiography Surprised by Joy, C. S. Lewis was not the happiest of all converts. Later, though, he realized a deep truth about the character of God through his conversion experience: In the Trinity Term of 1929 I gave in, and admitted that God was God, and knelt and prayed; perhaps, that night, the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England. I did not then see what is now the most shining and obvious thing; the… Read more »