Reflections on God … Man … Life
The ongoing problem with humanity is not that we are so heavenly minded that we’re no earthly good; rather, it’s the opposite: we’re so earthbound that we’re no good to heaven. We keep thinking that this world that we see around us, and those who populate it, will fulfill all our hopes. If we think that, we are terribly off-base. “The settled happiness and security which we all desire,” remarked C. S. Lewis, “God withholds from us by the very… Read more »
In a letter to lifelong friend Arthur Greeves, C. S. Lewis expressed his deep appreciation for the blessing of true friendship. How highly did he value it? “Friendship is the greatest of worldly goods,” Lewis declared. “Certainly to me it is the chief happiness of life.” He continued with advice to young men who were contemplating where to live: “I think I shd. say, ‘sacrifice almost everything to live where you can be near your friends.’ I know I am… Read more »
What do you really believe? I’m not talking about to what you give your intellectual assent, but what you really believe. “In ordinary times,” mused Dorothy Sayers, “we get along surprisingly well, on the whole, without ever discovering what our faith really is.” We tend to shove that question to the background and give ourselves over to activities that help us put off the answer. The question, “What do we believe?” is the title of one of Sayers’s insightful essays…. Read more »
Midterm elections mercifully come to an end tomorrow evening. That means we will be spared from the constant barrage of criminal charges against one’s political opponent. Although I’m no longer surprised by the extremely nasty nature of most political ads, I think they’ve raised the nasty factor a few notches this year. I don’t needs ads anyway. My voting decisions are not based on ads that I know are designed to mislead. My vote is based on the principles that… Read more »
Our God is a righteous God. His righteousness demands that sin be punished; it’s only “right,” “just,” and “fair” that each person is treated according to his deeds. Yet He is also a God of mercy, another aspect of His righteous character. The Cross is how God is able to be both just and merciful at the same time. Some people emphasize God’s wrath over sin; others go in the opposite direction and see only mercy, thereby downplaying judgment. I… Read more »
It’s nice to be back at the Marion E. Wade Center at Wheaton College for a C. S. Lewis conference this week. Because of that, I didn’t intend to write any blogs for the week, but the instruction has been so invigorating that I would like to share a little bit of what we’re receiving here. It’s been four years since I came here to investigate Lewis’s connection to Americans, an investigation that led to my book, America Discovers C…. Read more »
Let’s talk Christian unity. Let’s focus on what we all have in common if we name the name of Christ as our Savior and Lord. I am not a Roman Catholic. There are doctrines and practices of the Catholic church with which I am not in agreement. I don’t consider the pope to be my spiritual authority, I don’t adhere to a belief in transubstantiation when I take Communion/Lord’s Supper/Eucharist. I’m concerned about the adoration given to Mary quite often…. Read more »