Category: The Christian Spirit

Reflections on living as a disciple of Christ.

The Chambers Lesson: From the Negative to the Positive

  

I discovered Witness by Whittaker Chambers back in the 1980s as I was working diligently on my doctorate in history. From my first reading, the book took hold of my spirit. More than thirty years after that encounter, it has never released its hold. I’ve used it in classes since the late 1980s, and one of my greatest teaching joys is to offer a full-semester course called “The Witness of Whittaker Chambers.” I’m teaching the course once again this semester…. Read more »

My Journey–And C. S. Lewis’s Role in It

  

My walk with the Lord has led me to an unexpected place, and God has used C. S. Lewis to play a significant role. I began as a Lutheran, although not until second grade when neighborhood friends invited me to their church. I loved it from the start. One feature that has stayed with me throughout my life, no matter what type of church I attended, was the effect of the Lutheran church’s stained-glass windows. They told stories to a… Read more »

Prayer for Sound Government

  

I’ve been perusing the Anglican Book of Common Prayer and finding it to be (as the picture describes) a genuine treasure chest of spiritual devotion. I’m actually surprised by the depth of some of the prayers recorded within. I’ve never been one for written prayers because I couldn’t quite believe they come from the heart when you read them. I now realize that the wisdom of the ages in the form of written prayers can speak directly to each one… Read more »

Correcting Our Blurred Vision

  

“There is no neutral ground in the universe: every square inch, every split second, is claimed by God and counterclaimed by Satan.” That’s a rather stark statement by C. S. Lewis in his essay “Christianity and Culture.” Yet it is starkly true. And since it is so starkly true, we need to be sure we have a very clear image of who God is and what He expects of us as we live in a universe where the cosmic battle… Read more »

The Pilgrimage Known as Life

  

“If only life would get back to normal!” Have you ever said that during times of exceptional distress? If you are human, you undoubtedly have expressed that, or something similar, at times. C. S. Lewis, in an essay called “Learning in War-Time,” found in the series of essays collected under the title of The Weight of Glory, helps us to reorient our thinking on this subject. He wrote that essay, obviously, during WWII. If ever anyone might long for a… Read more »

Eyes That Do Not See

  

C. S. Lewis may be from an earlier generation, but he never goes out of style. I’m always impressed with how his writings remain relevant, regardless of the cultural changes that have occurred since his death. That’s because he wrote about the “big” themes that never go out of style either. Lewis survived into the early days of the space age, which, for someone who wrote a space trilogy, was probably quite interesting to him. Yet the spirit of that… Read more »

The Real God: Not Made in Man’s Image

  

Mankind doesn’t mind having a god of some kind, as long as that god can be made into the image that mankind prefers. Men, in general, will accept a certain type of god that meets their requirements, which normally means that he/she/it doesn’t require too much of them. Yet God—the real God—is not a product of man’s fevered imagination. “It is always shocking to meet life where we thought we were alone,” C. S. Lewis wrote in his book Miracles…. Read more »