Reflections on God … Man … Life
C. S. Lewis didn’t start out as a great Christian apologist. His imagination didn’t lead him to Narnia at first—that was a later development. In his earliest years, sent away to a boarding school at age nine, he had a kind of Christian faith, but only the kind that called for him to carry out certain duties such as prayer. And he lived in fear of hell. Perhaps that’s why he abandoned that childhood faith in his pre-teen years. One… Read more »
Of all the apostolic letters in the New Testament, I think the book of Hebrews has some of the most challenging comments on the importance of spiritual growth. One comment that stands out to me is the following, as the writer of the letter exhorts his fellow Christians in this way: Although by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to reteach you the basic principles of God’s word. You need milk, not solid food! For everyone… Read more »
Re-reading any work by C. S. Lewis is hardly a waste of one’s time. I go back continually to what he has written because I keep finding new treasures, even in passages that I already know to some extent. For instance, in The Four Loves, there is a part that is often quoted—I have quoted it—yet I forgot the context in which Lewis penned it. It’s in the final chapter, the one on “Charity.” The greater context is the concern… Read more »
Whenever you read Scripture, you never know what might stand out to you—usually something you don’t expect. That’s how the Spirit of God works. This morning I was reading in the Old Testament book of Amos, a prophet who spoke directly to the people of Israel about their sins. They thought they were doing fine and that God accepted their worship. Amos had a different message for them. Chapter five is filled with thoughts and phrases that pierced my own… Read more »
Seventy-one years ago yesterday, one of the most intense political confrontations in American history occurred in the US House of Representatives. August 25, 1948, was the day that the man on the right in this photo, Alger Hiss, was asked publicly whether he had ever known the man standing on the left side of the photo. His name was Whittaker Chambers. What was the controversy all about and why did it captivate the public for the next two years? Chambers,… Read more »
I finished my project of preparing all seven books in the Chronicles of Narnia for teaching this fall and winter at my church. Each one was a joy to develop, but I looked forward the most to doing the final book in the series, The Last Battle. When I teach my basic C. S. Lewis course at the university, this is the one Narnia book I have students read. Most are already familiar with The Lion, the Witch, and the… Read more »
Have you ever noticed how something that was startling at first can become commonplace? Something that once garnered our attention because of its dire nature can later be handled with a shrug of our shoulders and a willingness to look the other way. Like this, for instance: Republicans hammered Obama over the national debt, and rightly so. Where are those Republican voices now drawing our attention to this huge problem? Downplaying it doesn’t make it go away. But don’t worry–there’s… Read more »