Reflections on God … Man … Life
God is not the Force of the Star Wars saga. Neither is He some vague “idea” floating around out there. He’s not Ralph Waldo Emerson’s transcendentalist Oversoul. He is a Person; in fact, more of a person than either you or I. In one of his essays, “On Obstinacy in Belief,” C. S. Lewis shows how we need to come face to face with that reality: To believe that God—at least this God—exists is to believe that you as a… Read more »
Man, in his sinfulness, will go to any length to excuse himself for what he has become. One of the favorite hobbies of modern man is to push the blame for the problems of the world onto God. In his essay, “God in the Dock,” C. S. Lewis describes this attitude: The ancient man approached God (or even the gods) as the accused person approaches his judge. For the modern man the roles are reversed. He is the judge; God… Read more »
Here’s a very timely reminder from C. S. Lewis that God is not some convenient prop we can use to achieve whatever else we want in life or eternity. He, in fact, is the goal of life; knowing Him is what it’s all about. As Lewis states it in A Grief Observed, the most personal of all his books, as it deals with the loss of his wife, He [God] can’t be used as a road. If you’re approaching Him… Read more »
One of my all-time favorite C. S. Lewis quotes—and that’s saying a lot, considering there are so many that could qualify—is found in a sermon he gave called “The Weight of Glory.” He preached this in 1942 at the Oxford Church of St. Mary the Virgin. I’ve been to Oxford only once, but on that brief visit, I entered that church and climbed to the top to see spectacular views of the university below. What transpired in its pulpit, though,… Read more »
In his Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis lays out what he believes should be a measuring line for how Christians are to give to those in need. Here is his guideline: Charity—giving to the poor—is an essential part of Christian morality. . . . I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare. In other words, if our expenditures on comforts,… Read more »
C. S. Lewis abounded in friends, those with whom he could spend many hours enjoying their company. In one of his letters, he wrote, “Is any pleasure on earth as great as a circle of Christian friends by a fire?” He also hinted at the value of friendship in an essay on Hamlet, when he said, “The next best thing to being wise oneself is to live in a circle of those who are.” He expressed perhaps his most penetrating… Read more »
Last Saturday, in my weekly C. S. Lewis post, I quoted him on the subject of free will. He had quite a lot to say on that doctrine, and I like what he has said. Therefore, I’m giving him a wide berth today by relating a passage from Mere Christianity that makes the point even more forcefully than the quote I used last week: God created things which had free will. That means creatures which can go either wrong or… Read more »