Reflections on God … Man … Life
Seeing is not always believing. Presuppositions rule. Jesus heals people and the Pharisees claim he is doing it by the power of Satan. He raises Lazarus from the dead and they decide to kill Him. Their presuppositions said that since He was not one of them, this cannot be allowed. In the story of Lazarus (a different Lazarus) and the rich man, Jesus has the rich man saying from hell that he wants someone to go tell his relatives the… Read more »
My 27th year of teaching at the college level begins today. I’m a little out of practice, though, after a year’s sabbatical. I’ll have to change my mental outlook and reorient myself. The sabbatical year was a real blessing. When some people picture a sabbatical, they probably think of someone relaxing for a year, playing golf, etc. Well, I haven’t played golf since I was 18 (that was at least a couple of years ago) and for me, relaxation consists… Read more »
Is it really merciful not to carry out justice? Is the concept of justice too harsh? Should a Christian believe in punishment for crimes? C. S. Lewis thought through this issue in an essay he published in 1949 called “The Humanitarian Theory of Punishment.” If we go by feelings, we may think we are being humane in forgiving without real punishment. Lewis disagrees. The essential act of mercy was to pardon; and pardon in its very essence involves the recognition… Read more »
As much as C. S. Lewis said he didn’t like to discuss politics, my research into his writings, both published and unpublished, reveals a deep interest in the subject of governing and political philosophy. What he didn’t like were the day-to-day mundane activities and arguments of politics—who is going to win the next election, etc. Political philosophy, though, was another matter entirely. For instance, in a little-known but highly readable essay called “Modern Man and His Categories of Thought,” written… Read more »
A Hobbit, a Wardrobe, and a Great War. What a great title. And what a great book. Joseph Loconte, professor of history at the King’s College in New York City, has crafted a masterpiece that weaves knowledge of the impact of WWI on a generation, and then offers an insightful analysis of how the war affected the thinking and writing of both C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien. For me, as a professional historian, the book was a… Read more »
What is the proper relationship between one’s love for God and love for others? C. S. Lewis warns us that it’s very easy to want to see someone else as the focus of our love, but that we will always be disappointed. As he puts it in The Great Divorce, Human beings can’t make one another really happy for long. . . . You cannot love a fellow-creature fully till you love God. . . . No natural feelings are… Read more »
The word “love” is being tossed around these days in a loose manner. We’re now informed we have to apply it to same-sex marriage, even while the Scripture is perfectly clear that depravity is not to be equated with love. Love is not a fleeting emotion, nor even a lifelong affection. Yes, you might differentiate between types of love, as C. S. Lewis does in his book The Four Loves, but when we are talking about God’s love—the kind of… Read more »