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The Church Courtyard => Non-Catholic Discussion Subforum => Topic started by: TheReturnofLive on December 04, 2018, 08:02:31 PM

Title: Thoughts on C.S. Lewis?
Post by: TheReturnofLive on December 04, 2018, 08:02:31 PM
In various corners of mainstream Christianity outside of Catholicism - whether it's Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, Anglicanism, Lutheranism, Methodism, Seventh-Day Adventism, Messianic Judaism, etc., people seem to love C.S. Lewis. Indeed, in my own Church, I've heard from several people in my own parish that C.S. Lewis led them to Orthodox Christianity.

In my Roman Catholic grade school, we read and saw the movie of the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and as a kid, I read all the Narnia books, and I think he's a prolific and talented author.

However, I feel that some Catholics may have negative opinions about him, because, for example, some may read the "Great Divorce" as a deviation from Traditional Roman Catholic views on Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory, aside from the fact that he rejected Catholicism in favor of Anglicanism - when it was still somewhat rational in terms of its morality.

I think personally, that whatever his faults, I think that his works have done so much good in bringing people to God - in fact, for me personally, his works have been there when I needed it in terms of when I struggled with Faith - such that I think that there is far more benefit than negatives in his works.

I won't forget Puddleglum's Speech from the Silver Chair for example.

"'One word, Ma'am,' he said... 'One word. All you've been saying is quite right, I shouldn't wonder. I'm a chap who always liked to know the worst and then put the best face I can on it. So I won't deny any of what you said. But there's one thing more to be said, even so. Suppose we have only dreamed, or made up, all those things--trees and grass and sun and moon and stars and Aslan himself. Supose we have. Then all I can say is that, in that case, the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones. Suppose this black pit of a kingdom of yours is the only world. Well, it strikes me as a pretty poor one. And that's a funny thing, when you come to think of it. We're just babies making up a game, if you're right. But four babies playing a game can make a play-world which licks your real world hollow. That's why I'm going to stand by the play-world. I'm on Aslan's side even if there isn't any Aslan to lead it. I'm going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn't any Narnia. So, thanking you kindly for our supper, if these two gentlemen and the young lady are ready, we're leaving your court at once and setting out in the dark to spend our lives looking for Overland. Not that our lives will be very long, I should think; but that's small loss if the world's as dull a place as you say.""

So what are your thoughts?
Title: Re: Thoughts on C.S. Lewis?
Post by: Tales on December 04, 2018, 10:48:36 PM
A great writer, a great mind, a great apologist.  The Great Divorce will always be with me.

Too many greats?
Title: Re: Thoughts on C.S. Lewis?
Post by: Gardener on December 05, 2018, 02:20:47 PM
I never read him until high school. My brother gave me the Narnia series as a kid, but being so into historical fiction and non-fiction, I hated the idea of fantasy literature. I specifically remember trying to read them and thinking, "This is so stupid. Animals don't talk." So I gave them away. Still haven't read them and likely never will.

That being said, The Screwtape Letters is enjoyable, despite being pro-British ww2 propaganda in disguise as spiritual writing. I also read Mere Christianity. Personally, I prefer Chesterton.

I see no reason to waste my time on non-Catholic writers on spiritual matters. That being said, Lewis got more right than he got wrong.



Title: Re: Thoughts on C.S. Lewis?
Post by: Michael Wilson on December 05, 2018, 07:12:34 PM
I just finishes reading J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy when I was in High School, and I was totally enthralled with it. I was looking for "more of the same" and somebody suggested C.S.Lewis' Narnia books; they weren't bad, but since they really were not on the same level as Tolkien's work, I was pretty disappointed. The someone suggested I read the Lewis trilogy: "Out of the Silent Planet" etc. I really didn't like those at all, but I slogged through them.
So I would say, he would be a Christian author who tried to use his stories to convey some of the truths about Christianity in a novel form. Some people love his stories.