The Shocking Alternative by C.S. Lewis Doodle (BBC Talk 8, Mere Christianity, Bk 2, Chapter 3) CSLewisDoodle 2017-08-21 | Notes: This is an illustration of C.S Lewis’ third talk of the third radio series called ‘What Christians Believe’. This became Chapter 3 of Book 2, in the book called ‘Mere Christianity’. Notes below...You can find the book here: http://www.amazon.com/Mere-Christianity-C-S-Lewis/dp/0060652926 (0:05) This radio talk was given in February 1942 during some of Britain's darkest days in WWII, with major cities having experienced a series of bombing blitzes and about to experience more. The Axis powers were at the zenith of their power. Step up to the microphone, C.S. Lewis... (This radio talk was the first to be heard by the American G.I.’s who arrived in Britain the week before).(3:06) If you would like to think more about thought itself, see other doodles on the subject such as 'The Foundation of 20th Century thought' (youtube.com/watch?v=DH53uFBOGbw), and 'The Poison of Subjectivism' (youtube.com/watch?v=Lgcd6jvsCFs).(6:27) At this time there was fuel rationing in wartime Britain. Many people tried to run their cars on alternatives to petrol – using different alcohols – and this inevitably failed as the engines overheated.(8:03) In English folklore, John Barleycorn is a character who represents the crop of barley harvested each autumn. The character grew healthy and hale during the summer, was chopped down and slaughtered in his prime, and then processed into beer and whiskey so he lived once more. This ‘dying god' myth, copied into folklore from the patterns of nature, Lewis actually led C.S. Lewis to Christ - nature's Creator, as he explains here: youtu.be/Uv4kx2QP4UM?t=3m59s(8:47) See John 10.30 (biblehub.com/john/10-30.htm), John 8.58 (biblehub.com/john/8-58.htm), Matt 9:2 (biblehub.com/matthew/9-2.htm), and Mark 14:62 (biblehub.com/mark/14-62.htm). Take a read of these chapters to see Jesus confronting hostile crowds, seeking to execute Him.Jesus Christ - 'the Son of', 'One with', 'equal to', 'the image of', and 'the only way to' God, the Father. (12:13) This shortened version of the argument “Divine, deluded or demonic” included another two non-Christian hypotheses, “deified by followers" or "dramatic literature/legend”, in Lewis' other writings. This armchair-psychologist's argument (that gospel writers were lunatics) and the literary non-scholar's argument (that the gospels were just novelettes) are usually based on unthinking atheistic assumptions that the existence of God or the miraculous is impossible based on "one of the sciences". Based on these assumptions, Jesus’ shocking acts or statements can not be true, and therefore some way, however implausible, is sought to remove or discredit the offending sayings and acts. However, these are not strong arguments in themselves without the false assumption fueling them and are based on scant evidence. Lewis counters these basic philosophic errors (illustrated in doodle form) in ‘Religion and Science’ (youtu.be/AJu0oYvi-cY) and ‘Miracles -The Introductory Chapter' (youtu.be/BboJqrW8a8U). Once the unthinking atheistic assumptions are dealt with, these two less likely possibilities can be addressed. Lewis' voluminous arguments against them can be found in the essays ‘What are We to Make of Jesus Christ’ (drive.google.com/file/d/0B9MmcPqIiEnKckRMZW8tVmxpeFk/view?usp=sharing), ‘Fern-Seed and Elephants’, ‘Myth became Fact’, ‘The Grand Miracle’, ‘Christian Apologetics’, 'Is theology poetry?', and other works.
Meditation in a Toolshed by C.S. Lewis Doodle CSLewisDoodle 2024-09-05 | We must, on pain of idiocy, deny from the very outset the idea that looking AT is, by its own nature, intrinsically truer or better than looking ALONG. One must look both along and at everything. The period of scientific or ‘expert’ intimidation has got to end...This article is in a series of five fantastic newspaper articles written for the 'Coventry Evening Telegraph' from January to May 1945, that closed out the final months of Britain's war with Nazi Germany and addressed typical atheist arguments: (1) ‘Religion and Science’ (3 Jan. 1945); (2) ’Who was Right? Dream Lecturer or Real Lecturer’ (21 Feb. 1945 - youtu.be/8t0UDoKImBs ); (3) ‘The Laws of Nature’ (4 Apr. 1945 - youtu.be/ahskyQCRmZo ); (4) ‘Work and Prayer’ (28 May 1945 – youtu.be/xJ6Nho6LC6A ); and(5) ‘Meditation in a Toolshed’ (17 Jul. 1945 - youtu.be/htIt8ENZ6F8 ). You can find the playlist of these doodles here: youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9boiLqIabFjN-KekXScLphAw3Pa9-sJi(2:49) Before plastics, the faces of dolls were made of wax (or china) that was skin coloured and extremely life-like, but which would shatter if dropped and could be rather traumatic for the child concerned. Wax is still used at Madame Tussauds, which displays life-like waxworks of famous and historical figures. Atheists were trying to "debunk" the moral duty of women to look after their own children, by decrying that duty as "merely maternal instinct". Communism in Russia had made stay-at-home mothering illegal, as they must work for the Communist state within 3 months of any birth, and young children were then sent to the wolves; Socialist daycare. This reductive side-on-view is employed today also by reducing a baby to "simply a lump of cells", to somehow justify abortion. See youtu.be/l_VYCqCexow(2:55) Nascent: just beginning, budding, developing. (3:45) See Lewis’ talk on the love between the sexes or 'Eros' (youtube.com/watch?v=WReLIE08Dnc). (3:54) See Lewis' essay on chivalry called: 'The Necessity of Chivalry', written at the height of the Battle of Britain in 1940. (4:00) See 'Men without Chests': "I had sooner play cards against a man who was quite sceptical about ethics, but bred to believe that ‘a gentleman does not cheat’, than against an irreproachable moral philosopher who had been brought up among sharpers [cardsharks, swindlers]. In battle, it is not syllogisms [logical arguments] that will keep the reluctant nerves and muscles to their post in the third hour of the bombardment." (4:12) To browbeat: "To intimidate (someone), typically into doing something, with stern or abusive words or disconcert by a stern manner or arrogant speech." The browbeater’s cry ”We are more intelligent than you!” or “We are the experts!” is well explained in his essay “The Humanitarian Theory of Punishment” ( youtu.be/vJYU0RPVbVc ) and “On Punishment” ( youtu.be/bqlwGskmtqM ). On metaphysical subjects (such as God, love, morality, honour, and politics) scientific training gives no added value to a man's opinion. (4:31) A ‘wiseacre’ is a know-it-all, a smart-alec; one who pretends to knowledge or cleverness. (9:42) See the last chapter of the book the 'Abolition of Man': "It is no use trying to ‘see through’ first principles. If you see through everything, then everything is transparent. But a wholly transparent world is an invisible world. To ‘see through’ all things is the same as not to see." (9:50) See Acts 14:15 -17 which contains Barnabas and Paul's message to the men of Lystra on idol worship and crops: biblehub.com/acts/14-15.htmScriptures mentioned in doodle:1 Samuel 12:21 (biblehub.com/1_samuel/12-21.htm)Isaiah 44:6-23 (biblehub.com/niv/isaiah/44.htm)Jeremiah 10:5 (biblehub.com/jeremiah/10-5.htm)Matthew 6:7 (biblehub.com/matthew/6-7.htm)1 Corinthians 3:7 (biblehub.com/1_corinthians/3-6.htm)1 Corinthians 10.19-20 (biblehub.com/1_corinthians/10-20.htm)More on prayer and gardening here: "The two methods by which we are allowed to produce events may be called work and prayer. Both are alike in this respect - that in both we try to produce a state of affairs which God has not (or at any rate not yet) seen fit to provide "on His own"...what we do when we weed a field is not quite different from what we do when we pray for a good harvest. But there is an important difference all the same. You cannot be sure of a good harvest whatever you do to a field" (Lewis, 'Work and Prayer').
Equality by C.S. Lewis Doodle CSLewisDoodle 2024-08-09 | C.S. Lewis sets out why he believes in democracy, or "a political system of voting" ('Screwtape Proposes a Toast'). Believing in God, that is 'hierarchy' or ‘inequality within’, is the foundation stone of 'equality without' – that is, legal and political equality. Notes below in the video description...This is an illustration of C.S Lewis’ article published in the British magazine called 'The Spectator' on 27 August 1943. The Spectator was a weekly magazine and is the oldest continuously published magazine in the English language. (0:07) When C.S. Lewis says he is a 'democrat', he means with a small 'd'. (i.e. a person who believes in democracy - a political system of government with elected representatives, not a member of the Democratic Party of the United States). Much more on this distinction in the article 'Screwtape Proposes a Toast'. (0:16) Rousseau’s great lie was that: “People in their natural state are basically good. But this natural innocence, however, is corrupted by the evils of society.” This view is held almost universally in the world today, which clings to its own 'righteousness'. Christianity claims, by contrast, that we were once innocent but are now fallen and corrupted. Yet even in their innocent state in a perfect paradise, Eve could be deceived, and Adam couldn't hold to the truth under pressure. They committed an act of betrayal, not just a mistake (Hosea 6.7). Satan's method is still the same, to vilify God's character whenever He says "no" to some desirable thing.Once this lie of our “inherent goodness” is abandoned, the truth does not lead to the wrong kind of hopelessness as was feared, but for the first time opens the door to the need of a Saviour. Leaving that rickety raft of our inherent goodness, and swimming for Christ's righteousness, is the only real safety. Rousseau is called as the 'father of the totalitarians' (Lewis, 'On the Transmission of Christianity'). When you believe in the self-righteousness of man, you believe in the supremacy of government over God. (0:52) See "The Screwtape Letters" #1 and #25 for ‘catch words’ and the use of jargon. (1:12) Lewis thought himself a natural non-leader (also see Judges 9.11): ‘…I don't think there are in fact any people who stand to the rest of us as adult to child, man to beast or animate to inanimate. (Note: this is really the same objection as that which I would make to Aristotle's theory of slavery (Politics 1254A et seq.). We can all recognize the "natural" slaves (I am perhaps one myself) but where are the “natural” masters?’ (Lewis, ‘The Humanitarian Theory of Punishment’).(1:51) Some high forms of unequal statuses (and burdens) like kingship and the Levitical priesthood were also medicines or corrections, not ideals. See 1 Samuel 8.1-7, Exodus 4.10-14, and even in Deuteronomy 5.25-28. But as Lewis points out, the basic headship or 'shepherdships' were ideal and began even before the fall of mankind. Before kingship also, God’s ideal system was to raise up leaders and appoint saviours for each individual crisis. In fact the judges refused kingship – mastership - they only took a shepherd’s role. In English history, we would call these military men the ‘Churchills’ I suppose (i.e. the Duke of Marlborough or Winston Churchill) who saw the gathering danger much earlier than others, came from obscurity and disregard, and led the British nation to outstanding, unlikely, victory over powerful enemies.(5:21) Lewis mentions the feminist writer Naomi Mitchison, author of "The Home and a Changing Civilisation" (London, 1934, Chapter I, pp. 49-50). “Everybody minds being owned economically, even when they acquiesce; nobody minds being owned in love (or, more accurately, everybody wants to be owned in love). But when the two things are mixed there is the devil to pay…”. See more on this aspect in 'The Four Loves, Eros' - youtu.be/WReLIE08Dnc(6:19) Friendship love, erotic love, family affection - See youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9boiLqIabFjljx2sUeqOz_0QDlYL_Hoi(7:35) In music, polyphony is one type of musical texture. A polyphony consists of 2 or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to: (a) a musical texture with just one voice, a monophony, or (b) a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords, a homophony. I have used the classic wedding music, Canon in D by Pachelbel, which starts with two identical tunes with each hand on the piano, a homophony (friendship), that then becomes richer with two different melodies with each hand, a polyphony (marriage). Husband and wife play a contrasting tune which is much harder to play, but they balance each other and help each other's weaknesses with their individual strengths. (8:17) 'I'm as good as you' - See the demon’s instruction about the word democracy in 'Screwtape Proposes a Toast'. The original article had certain words italicised: *real* (3:06, 4:03), *erotic* (5:31), and *wear* (9:05).
On Ethics by C.S. Lewis Doodle CSLewisDoodle 2024-07-12 | The lighthouse of Christianity shines because it is based on the reality of an objective & universal Moral Code that we mysteriously know & have broken. It is this truth which makes Christianity's offer of forgiveness, & its gift of supernatural help towards keeping that Moral Code, so remarkable. In this foundational doodle, Lewis shows that the conscience is as old as Adam & Eve. It is not an invention of civilisation or of great human teachers, but has always been there, witnessing away in the human soul. See Romans 2.14-15: “Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the Moral Law [God gave to Moses], do by nature things required by the Moral Law, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the requirements of the Moral Law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, & their thoughts sometimes accusing them & at other times even defending them.”(1:15) This essay had much more detail in this paragraph, which was sacrificed here for brevity. (2:51) "A mystery hidden from all eternity" - See Col. 1.6, 1 Cor. 2.7.(4:08) "A deepening in the Moral Code" (& a way to obey the Moral Law). See Romans 8.4 "That the righteous demand of the Moral Law might be fulfilled in us, the ones not walking according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit" & John 3.3 "You must be born again." ‘The idea of reaching 'a good life' without Christ is based on a double error. Firstly, we cannot do it; & secondly, in setting up 'a good life' as our final goal, we have missed the very point of our existence. Morality is a mountain which we cannot climb by our own efforts; & if we could we should only perish in the ice & unbreathable air of the summit, lacking those wings with which the rest of the journey has to be accomplished. For it is from there that the real ascent begins. The ropes and axes are 'done away' & the rest is a matter of flying’ (C.S. Lewis, ‘Man or Rabbit’).See doodle MC21 youtu.be/_RAsb3lv968(4:08) "An internalisation of the Moral Code" - See Matthew 6.1 "Take care not to do your merciful deeds before men in order to be seen by them. Otherwise, you have no reward from your Father in heaven." See also Mat. 5.28 on one's private thought life.(4:08) “A few changes of emphasis in the Moral Code” - In Christianity, perfect morality and correct treatment of your neighbour is not enough, you need also to follow Christ. The rich young ruler had to give up what he had irrecoverably and follow Christ. We may not be rich, be we all have something we have, that we must give up to follow Christ. It is not till we are asked to follow, that we discover where our idols hide.(9:05) In the mid-20th century, attempts to get away from objective morality, meant that atheists tried to make ‘the preservation of society’ simply an instinct, rather than a moral duty. In these days of globalisation, special 'love of family or country’ are likely to be disregarded by calling them “merely” instincts. The preservation of man as a whole was, & still is, used as a tool to neglect special duties, such as to family or nation. Lewis' incisive criticism of the instinct theory applies then & now. (12:53) Written 1940-2.(18:25) "Excogitate" means to think out, plan, or devise.(18:57) In the Kaiser's and Hitler's Germany, the national anthem declared "Deutschland über alles" which did not mean the moral command of "One's own nation first" but rather "We are the master nation over all other nations".(21:09) Progress at the expense of nature (animal, vegetable, mineral & human) for the good of future generations was once the humanists' moral maxim until it was realised that destroying the earth did not benefit future generations. Now certain parts of nature have become sacrosanct, & should not be consumed to benefit the current generation, and even to impoverish them, in the name of "future generations". (22:10) On Nazism and its injustice in breaking its treaties with its neighbours. See youtu.be/QmHXYhpEDfM?t=6m23s(27:18) "...Culture after culture" - see Lewis’ summary of the Moral Law from his book 'The Abolition of Man’ categorised as follows:I. The Law of Goodwill towards Humanity Generally.2. The Law of Goodwill towards Specific Persons (God, Relatives, Friends & Citizens). 3. Duties to Parents, Elders, Ancestors.4. Duties to Children & Posterity.5. The Law of Justice 6. The Law of Good Faith & Truthfulness 7. The Law of Mercy 8. The Law of Magnanimity/Courage drive.google.com/file/d/1HkHEBgXDPIOZhNMahUfWADYaCGckjIO0/view?usp=sharingSee the comments section for Lewis' replies to some common objections.A quick version of this essay here: youtu.be/l_VYCqCexow
The Funeral of a Great Myth (of Universal or Popular Evolution) by C.S. Lewis Doodle CSLewisDoodle 2024-05-03 | In this doodle, C.S. Lewis gives us his eulogy of a great origin myth or the fairy tale of cosmic evolution (the rival to the Creation account in Genesis 1 where God, not time, is the most important factor), & then buries/damns evolution with high praise. Very academic, but very worth your while if you can persevere to the end! Notes:(1:17) Lewis echoes a famous Shakespearean phrase “Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears; I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.” The speech curiously, brilliantly does the opposite and enrages the Roman crowd against Caesar's conspirators.(3:48) There was a drought on one of the Galapagos Islands, it is thought that due to this event the average finch beak size became larger. However, this proved not to be the end of the story. When the drought stopped, average finch beak size became smaller again.(5:55) Keats was very much attuned to the spirit & cause of the French Revolution. He thought that people were sacrificing their lives [& it turns out murdering] for the cause of equality and liberty. His sympathies were with those whom he thought were making an untiring struggle for the replacement of the tyrannical old order by a new one based on 'brotherhood, liberty & equality'. Keats wanted to bring home the message that the old order must yield place to the new, & it is this struggle between two systems that Keats represents through the struggle between Titans and Olympians, whereby the poem assumes an allegorical significance. Keats makes use of the Titan, Oceanus, to give expression to the philosophy of old order versus new. Oceanus puts it in very unambiguous terms before the fallen Titans that they must accept the supremacy of the new order that has established its superiority over the old. (J. Ash).(12:32) The actual theorem of biological evolution makes no metaphysical statements, i.e. statements about whether there is a God beyond Nature. (14:19) “Sidereal” (Sidereal from Latin: ‘stars’) i.e. the distant stars (the constellations or fixed stars, not the sun or planets). S/b pronounced, "Sye-DEER-ee-ul".(15:30) Molecular Biology has progressed since 1944, they show the evolution of even one useful individual DNA protein is so unlikely as to be impossible: “It’s easy to see that the total number of possible sequences is immense. It’s easy to believe (although non-chemists must take their colleagues’ word for it) that the subset of USEFUL sequences—sequences that create real, usable proteins—is, in comparison, tiny. But we must know how immense and how tiny. The total count of possible 150-link chains, where each link is chosen separately from 20 amino acids, is 20 to the power of 150. In other words, many. 20 to the power of 150 roughly equals to 10 to the power of 195, & there are only 10 to the power of 80 atoms in the universe” (Giving up Darwin, David Gelernter). Practically macroevolution is impossible.(24:04) New Humanist Paul More’s insight into the "enormous error" of secular humanists was that when the religious impulse is replaced by the "mere 'brotherhood of man,' fratricide is not far distant."(24:35) "How has it come about that we use the highly emotive word 'stagnation', with all its malodorous & malarial overtones, for what other ages would have called 'permanence'? Why does the word 'primitive' at once suggest to us clumsiness, inefficiency, barbarity?" ('De Descriptione Temporum'). See also the 'Poison of Subjectivism' on the use of the word "stagnation". (30:10) For "the nation", I’ve shown a Communist board, which is essentially a violent mob which took undemocratic control of the whole Russian nation, but I could have shown a violent mob of any sort. The contrast in the doodle is between a lawless ‘Minority Violent Mob’ & a 'Majority Rule Democracy’ & Rule of Law.
On Obstinacy in Belief by C.S. Lewis Doodle CSLewisDoodle 2024-03-03 | "There are cases between us where we should all bless those who have not seen & have believed".This is an illustration of C.S. Lewis' paper that was read to the Oxford Socratic Club in 1955. Notes below...You can find the paper published most recently in the following book: amazon.com/Screwtape-Proposes-Toast-Lewis-author/dp/0008192537(0:51) "There are two questions the apologist will naturally ask himself [about his private reading]. (1) Have I been 'keeping up', keeping abreast of recent movements in theology? (2) Have I stood firm (super monstratas vias) [Jer. 6.16, Eph. 4. 14, 1 Cor. 16.13*] I want to say emphatically that the second question is far the more important of the two. Our upbringing and the whole atmosphere of the world we live in make it certain that our main temptation will be that of yielding to winds of doctrine, not that of ignoring them. We are not at all likely to be hidebound: we are very likely indeed to be the slaves of fashion..." (Lewis, 'Christian Apologetics').* 'Thus says the LORD': “Stand in the ways and see, And ask for the old paths, where the good way is, And walk in it; Then you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’ Jeremiah 6.16 ( biblehub.com/jeremiah/6-16.htm )"...We should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting..."Ephesians 4.14 ( biblehub.com/ephesians/4-14.htm )"Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong." 1 Corinthians 16.13 ( biblehub.com/1_corinthians/16-13.htm )(8:33) Apologia: a formal defense especially of one's beliefs, position or actions.(20:22) “... But Jesus said to them, ‘A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house.’ Now Jesus could *do no mighty work there,* except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. And He marveled because of their unbelief." (Mark 6:4-6, biblehub.com/mark/6-4.htm )(21:06) Ipso facto: "by the fact itself", which means that a specific phenomenon is a direct consequence, a resultant effect, of the action in question, instead of being brought about by a previous action.(21:48) A priori: literally, "from what is earlier." (26:02) In Vacuo: in a vacuum or in isolation.(27:25) This was a fire at the French-Canadian Laurier Palace Theatre in Montreal.(30:38) "...they overcame him [the accuser of our brethren] by the blood of the Lamb and *by the word of their testimony,* and they did not love their lives to the death" ( biblehub.com/revelation/12-11.htm ).The closing music track is from the Easter musical "The Witness" by Jimmy and Carol Owens: youtube.com/watch?v=kODAQojdfkY&list=PLDA3A01C151ECF610&index=1
Work and Prayer by C.S. Lewis Doodle CSLewisDoodle 2023-10-16 | In an atheistic society that values work and 'social action', and despises prayer to God, C.S. Lewis introduces us to a new take on an old maxim – 'prayer IS work' ('prayer is powerful action'). This article is in a series of five fantastic newspaper articles written for 'The Coventry Evening Telegraph' from January to May 1945 and addressed typical atheist arguments:‘Religion and Science’ (3 January 1945); ’Who was Right? Dream Lecturer or Real Lecturer’ (21 Feb. 1945 - youtu.be/8t0UDoKImBs ); ‘The Laws of Nature’ (4 April 1945 - youtu.be/ahskyQCRmZo ); ‘Work and Prayer’ (28 May 1945 – youtu.be/xJ6Nho6LC6A ); and ‘Meditation in a Toolshed’ (17 July 1945 - youtu.be/htIt8ENZ6F8 ). (0:06) The phrase ‘Pray & Work’ ('ora et labora') refers to the monastic practice of physically inactive praying & physically active working, which is the motto summary of the Rules of St. Benedict (prayer being of 1st rank). Lewis reverses the phrase to “Work & Prayer” as explained below. In a Christian society, monks were putting too much emphasis on prayer, and neglecting practical duties in the monastery (perhaps to avoid physical work also). The new maxim “Work IS prayer” emphasized that doing the physical duties God has called you to were important also – cooking, cleaning, gardening & teaching were holy tasks as well as prayer. C.S. Lewis reverses the meaning. In an atheistic society that has no value for spiritual things or patient faith, 'work' (especially cunning attempts to control and manipulate events) is supreme & in such a society, prayer loses its shine. So Lewis takes this other meaning (6:22), & says “Prayer IS work” also (prayer is a powerful form of causality). Prayer can change and affect events - just like work – & can be far more dramatic, because it is unlimited by time and space. He then outlines the important difference in the two types of causality. (1:51) Verses where petitionary prayer in the Bible were encouraged by God and His anointed:For daily bread, forgiveness, guidance, deliverance: biblehub.com/nkjv/matthew/6.htmFor healing: biblehub.com/james/5-14.htmFor protection from enemies: biblehub.com/romans/15-31.htmFor conversion of the outside world: biblehub.com/romans/10-1.htmFor the Holy Spirit: biblehub.com/luke/11-13.htmFor wisdom, and guidance as to God's will: biblehub.com/james/1-5.htm, biblehub.com/colossians/1-9.htmFor strong faith: biblehub.com/luke/22-32.htmFor boldness: biblehub.com/acts/4-29.htmFor persecutors: biblehub.com/matthew/5-44.htm(3:57) A sentence from the play ‘Macbeth’ by William Shakespeare, spoken by Lady Macbeth, the wife of the title character. Her husband has killed the king of Scotland at her urging, but her guilt over the murder gradually drives her insane. When she speaks this line she is sleepwalking, & she imagines that a spot of the king's blood stains her hand.(4:57) As Lewis says: ' "God," said Pascal, "instituted prayer in order to lend to His creatures the dignity of causality." But not only prayer; whenever we act at all He lends us that dignity. It is not really stranger, nor less strange, that my prayers should affect the course of events than that my other actions should do so. They have not advised or changed God's mind - that is, His over-all purpose. But that purpose will be realised in different ways according to the actions, including the prayers, of His creatures (Essay, 'The Efficacy Of Prayer').'(7:42) “I should be thankful that we were safe from that cruel mercy [of their gods] which the wiser Pagans had to dread, numinibus vota exaudita malignis ['enormous prayer which Heaven in vengence grants']. Even as it is I must often be glad that certain past prayers of my own were not granted” ('Petitionary Prayer').More on prayer: The interesting thing is that God can prompt you to ask Him for certain things, say, a prayer for the protection of someone you didn’t know was in danger, and you find out the next day that at that moment they were in terrible danger, and they were miraculously saved. Prayer for things like this are according to His will, and when prayed in this gifted and certain faith are certainly answered. God prompted you to pray, therefore it is already according to His will, and then God answers the prayer, that He himself seeded. God seems to like us to be involved in the faith adventure.See Philippians 4.6: “Be ANXIOUS about nothing, but in everything by prayer and by petition with thanksgivings, let your requests be made known to God; and the PEACE of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Note: An atheist has to constantly try to be in total control of important events and this is extremely stressful.It is possible to pray selfishly –“You ask, and receive not, because you ask amiss, that you may consume it upon your lusts” (James 4.3).
The Origin (or 1,2,3,4) of Christianity by C.S. Lewis Doodle (Introduction to The Problem of Pain) CSLewisDoodle 2023-08-03 | In this doodle, C.S. Lewis describes 'the spiritual preparation of humanity' from the introductory chapter of his book ‘The Problem of Pain’. Notes below:0:11, 15:48 The climbing rope at the end showing four “strands” within it, is a link to the introductory rope illustration of 'Developed Religion'. 0:56, 6:09 See the following quote on this uncanny or "peculiar feeling" in regards to the dead & ghosts: "I am not so much afraid of death, as ashamed because of it; it is the very disgrace & ignominy of our human natures that, in a moment, can so disfigure us that our nearest friends, wife, & children stand afraid and start (=recoil) at us" (Thomas Brown). See Chapter 14 of 'Miracles'.8:24 Parricide is the killing of a parent. Our conscience is there first. The act of murder could not produce a sense of guilt, unless our conscience was already saying ‘you ought not’.9:01 The ancient texts are as follows: 'And surely proper behaviour to parents & elder siblings is the root of goodness' (Ancient Chinese, Chinese Analects, i. 2/Respect of parents & seniors consider right). 'I have not slain men' (Ancient Egyptian, from the Confession of the Righteous Soul, 'Book of the Dead'/Murder considered wrong). 'I saw in Nástrond (= Hell) . . . beguilers of others' wives' (Old Norse, Volospá 38, 39/Adultery considered wrong). 'Whoso takes no bribe . . . well pleasing is this to Samas' (Babylonian, List of sins/Stealing considered wrong). 'Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour' (Ancient Jewish, Exodus 20.16/Perverting justice considered wrong). [See appendix to the 'Abolition of Man' by Lewis] 12:18 Genesis 12:1-3: "And in you [Abram] shall all families of the earth be blessed". 12:51 A paradox is a situation or statement that seems difficult to understand because it contains two opposite facts or characteristics. Conflicting with expectation, literally beyond belief or thought.14:22 Examples of 'non-moral worship' are explained in the following chapters & essays: Sexuality - See essay called the 'The Grand Miracle': "The nature religions are those of the old, simple pagan sort that you know about...you actually committed fornication in the temple of Aphrodite." The Life-Force - More on this in chapter 4 of 'Mere Christianity'. "The Life-Force is a sort of tame God. You can switch it on when you want, but it will not bother you. All the thrills of religion & none of the cost. Is the Life-Force the greatest achievement of wishful thinking the world has yet seen?" The Worship of the Future - See Letter #15 of 'Screwtape Letters': "But we (demonic forces) want a man hag-ridden by the Future — haunted by visions of an imminent heaven or hell upon earth—ready to break the Enemy's commands in the present if by so doing we make him think he can attain the one or avert the other—dependent for his faith on the success or failure of schemes whose end he will not live to see. We want a whole race perpetually in pursuit of the rainbow's end, never honest, nor kind, nor happy now, but always using as mere fuel wherewith to heap the altar of the future every real gift which is offered them in the Present." 14:42 Pagan Myths - See doodle called 'The Grand Miracle' (youtube.com/watch?v=j0VxljSppWk). "The principle (of death & rebirth) is there in Nature because it was first there in God Himself." 14:58 Entropy means that disorder increases over time & this means time has an actual direction from order to disorder. Up until the mid-20th century, scientists maintained the universe/matter was eternal (no creation or ending) & then, with a better understanding, changed its position & held that it was continuously self-creating (infinity creations & infinity ends). But these ideas were killed off when we learnt that the universe is irreversibly getting old, & will 'wear out', with one real creation & one real end. Science has moved, quite uncomfortably for many, much closer to a Bible/theistic point of view held from the get-go. Cosmologists have tried to get rid of the need of God in both ways - by pretending the universe is eternal (& therefore needing no eternal Creator) and by pretending the universe is self-creating.14:52 Pantheism is the belief that God IS Nature. Atheism is the belief that there is Nothing But Nature. Theism is the belief that God Is Outside Nature and created it. "Pantheism is in fact the permanent natural bent of the human mind; the permanent ordinary level below which man sometimes sinks, under the influence of priestcraft and superstition, but above which his own unaided efforts can never raise him for very long" (Miracles, Chapter 11). 14:53 A PRIORI: Being without examination or analysis; presumptive. LUCIDITY: The quality of being easily understood, i.e. “Presumptive obviousness” of Pantheism and Newtonian Physics.15:25 ANFRACTUOSITY: A winding, circuitous, or intricate passage, surface, process, etc.
C.S. Lewis on Evolution: Who was Right – Dream Lecturer or Real Lecturer? by C.S. Lewis Doodle CSLewisDoodle 2023-07-08 | Development or descent? Imperfect & crude origins or perfect & complex origins? C.S. Lewis attends a lecture on Evolutionism, and then goes home and has a curious dream. Lewis' conclusion: "Is it not reasonable to look for the real origin of nature somewhere outside the sequence of natural events altogether?" Notes below:This is C.S. Lewis' ‘take away’ version of his talk on evolution, or rather ‘evolutionism’. If you would like to see Lewis' 'banquet version' or full critique of popular evolution in doodle form you can find it in the essay 'The Funeral of a Great Myth' (of Popular Evolution): youtube.com/watch?v=NgoEKnuCuJEC.S. Lewis looks to have attended the lecture on Evolution and had the revelatory dream around October 1944. The dream affected two other academic essays written in November 1944 - ‘Is Theology Poetry’ and 'The Funeral of the Great Myth’ as well as the article shown above submitted in February 1945. This article is in a series of five fantastic newspaper articles written for the Coventry Evening Telegraph from January to May 1945 that closed out the final months of the European war for Britain and addressed typical atheist arguments: ‘Religion and Science’ (3 January 1945); ’Who was Right? Dream Lecturer or Real Lecturer’ (21 Feb. 1945 - http://youtu.be/rUV2A5G7QEs ); ‘The Laws of Nature’ (4 April 1945 - youtu.be/ahskyQCRmZo ); ‘Work and Prayer’ (28 May 1945 - youtu.be/xJ6Nho6LC6A ); and‘Meditation in a Toolshed’ (17 July 1945- youtu.be/htIt8ENZ6F8 ).(0:21) “Inchoate” - just begun and so not fully formed or developed; rudimentary.(5:27) The original article had italics on “ *HISTORICAL* past” (or "recorded history") as opposed to the PRE-HISTORIC past. See more on the subject in 'The Funeral of the Great Myth', and the quote below: “I find that the uneducated Englishman is an almost total sceptic about History. I had expected he would disbelieve the Gospels because they contain miracles: but he really disbelieves them because they deal with things that happened 2000 years ago. He would disbelieve equally in the battle of Actium [Note 1] if he heard of it. To those who have had our kind of education, his state of mind is very difficult to realise. To us the Present has always appeared as one section in a huge continuous process. In his mind the Present occupies almost the whole field of vision. Beyond it, isolated from it, and quite unimportant, is something called 'The Old Days' - a small, comic jungle in which highwaymen, Queen Elizabeth, knights-in-armour etc. wander about. Then (strangest of all) beyond The Old Days comes a picture of 'Primitive Man'. He is 'Science', not 'history', and is therefore felt to be much more real than the Old Days. In other words, the Pre-historic is much more believed in than the Historic…” (Christian Apologetics).[Note 1 The battle of Actium was a naval engagement between Octavian (Roman Emperor Augustus) and the combined forces of Mark Antony and Cleopatra, on 2 September 31 B.C.](6:47) "Prima facie" means “at first view”, accepted as correct until proved otherwise. In common law jurisdictions, prima facie denotes evidence that, unless rebutted, would be sufficient to prove a particular proposition or fact.Music: The Main theme from 'The Bible - In the Beginning' by Toshiro Mayuzumi (youtube.com/watch?v=uDrSn0wrJTU ).
On Punishment: A Reply by C.S. Lewis Doodle (HT Part 2 of 2 - Utilitarianism debunked) CSLewisDoodle 2023-06-09 | This is the sequel to ‘The Humanitarian Theory of Punishment’ doodle, an essay where Lewis described the supposedly 'merciful' modern crime & punishment theory as a man-eating weed. C.S. Lewis replies to the 2 different criticisms of his essay: (a) that “usefulness”, not proportionality or conscience, should determine laws; & (b) that proportionality & conscience should take 2nd place behind “the protection of the community”. Lewis knocks them down delightfully, one shot to a pigeon.(2:09) ‘Nomoi’ – by law or custom, ‘haplôs’ – simply, & ‘physei’ – by nature. For ancient usages see Aristotle's: Athenian Cons. Ch. 16 [10]; Ethics 1094b; & Politics 1254a.(2:18) For more simple explanations of Natural/Moral Law, see Chapter 1 & 2 of ‘Mere Christianity’ doodled here: youtu.be/l_VYCqCexow (Convention vs Moral Law)(2:28) During the 1700’s, highwaymen (ex-King Charles I supporters), pirates & thieves were glamourised by poets, in song, in the press & by fiction writers, which led to a contempt for the law & a serious crime wave. This then led to an over-correction by the State. In 18th Century England, deterrence soon became the be-all-and-end-all of 'modern' crime theory - thieves were now to be executed. Juries did not like this & would often reduce the value of the goods stolen to prevent capital punishment for this crime. By the early 1700's, the law soon allowed judges to commute the death sentence for theft to transportation to the criminal colonies in Australia.(4:52) By choosing “happiness/survival of the community” at all costs, Prof. Smart is making a personal preference, & by asking others to do so also, he is establishing a petitio – an assumed moral standard of “happiness” or “survival” that all people should accept as correct. The inconveniences he declared solved are still there. All Prof. Smart has done is offer us a fanatically narrow/truncated moral code, instead of a healthy & full one.(5:07) This saying is often taken to mean "the welfare of an individual yields to that of the community", which indeed happens in war (e.g. WW2), when the able-bodied are lawfully & temporarily drafted for the crisis. Nevertheless, 'the welfare of the people' law may not (& can not) be secured by acting outside of law. (5:48) See Lewis' footnotes in his original article. (7:23) 'Eye-for-an-eye' or ‘ox-for-an-ox’ in the Bible meant 'proportional restitution for victims'. If you look at every single biblical example, it did not ever mean rape-for-rape, evil-for-evil, punch-for-punch or even 1-for-1 (Rom. 12.18-21, Deut. 32.35). Depending on the crime & the motive, it sometimes meant cash-for-injury, execution-for-murder, 5-to-1, 4-to-1, 2-to-1, 1⅕-to-1. For instance, if you stole goods to resell, the victim compensation required was 4x the value of the goods stolen. If you stole to use the items it was 2x the value of the stolen goods, as the goods could be returned to the owner. If you falsely testified in court & were discovered, ‘eye-for-an-eye’ meant whatever sentence you intended the court to give your victim by your false testimony, it was given to you. See bit.ly/2wGrUKX(8:06) Note that God’s definition of marriage & the State’s idea may differ remarkably. In ancient Israel, due to isolation, couples were married by their small village, & the marriage contracts were not written down until months later when an itinerant Levite or priest finally arrived. Children conceived during this period were not considered illegitimate. Unions & childbirth were not delayed for lack of a priest. In Nazi Germany, marriages that God ordained were forbidden by the State on the basis of evolutionary theories. In the Bible, divorce for legitimate grounds such as adultery, abuse or neglect could be almost instantaneous (Deut. 24:1, Exd. 21.10), but in many States there were very long waiting periods before remarriage was allowed, which made God-ordained remarriages unrecognised by the legal system. In these cases of inconvenience or delay, righteous couples often ignored the legal system, & swapped tokens & verbal vows until the State’s law did allow marriage, rather than wasting child-bearing years.(9:02) The age of responsibility has varied certainly – in old codes it was around puberty - but there always seems to have been the distinction in British Law between adult & child. Note that as monarchs became stronger & took over the English law codes, the codes became more gruesome, & less based on financial compensation, & much less like the system of the Old Testament. In a big change from earlier English & biblical law, fines now were payable to the Crown or State, rather than the victim of the offence. The final change in English Law occurred in the 1800’s - prisons did not simply hold you until your trial & punishment, it became THE punishment itself. The emphasis now was cure by a kind of secular monasticism or extreme isolation.(12:48) "Larn" = dialect form of learn ("school him").
The Humanitarian Theory of Punishment by C.S. Lewis Doodle (HT Part 1 of 2) CSLewisDoodle 2023-06-05 | Mercy, detached from justice, grows unmerciful. An illustration explaining a theory of Crime and Punishment that C.S Lewis described as 'a man-eating weed'. Notes below in video description:(16:15) "The new Nero will approach us with the silky manner of a doctor." Nero (37-68 A.D.) was the Emperor of the pagan Roman Empire and the greatest persecutor of the early Church. He fed Christians to lions in the Colosseum. He also dipped them in oil and set them on fire in his palace garden at night as a source of light.(16:20) “All will be as compulsory as the tunica molesta or Smithfield or Tyburn. A 'tunica molesta' was a shirt/tunic impregnated with flammable substances such as coal tar, used to execute people by burning in pagan Rome. The Smithfield Gallows and the Tyburn Hanging Tree (Marble Arch) were for centuries the main sites for the public execution of heretics and dissidents in London. (19:35) Psalm 141:5: “Let the righteous one smite me; It shall be a kindness:And let him reprove me; It shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head…”The implication Lewis draws from this verse is that just as there is sternness that saves, there is also a niceness that destroys. A friend who rebukes your wrongs, will not do you serious damage – his rebukes or ‘strikes’ will actually heal you in the end - if you listen. See Revelation 3.9. An enemy, however, will drown you with niceness, flattery & oily selection initially (Prov. 7.15,21,27), but will give you, in the end, total destruction (i.e. an enemy's pretend kindnesses and soft treatments [healing balms] will break your head).(19:40) A quote from Faithful, a character in Pilgrims Progress (section IV) by John Bunyan:"Christian: Did you meet with no other assault as you came?Faithful: When I came to the foot of the Hill called Difficulty, I met with a very aged Man, who asked me, What I was, and whither bound? I told him, That I was a Pilgrim, going to the Celestial City. Then said the old man, Thou lookest like an honest fellow; wilt thou be content to dwell with me for the wages that I shall give thee? Then I asked him his name, and where he dwelt? He said his name was Adam the First, and I dwell in the Town of Deceit. I asked him then, What was his work? and what the wages that he would give? He told me, That his work was many delights; and his wages, that I should be his Heir at last. I further asked him, What House he kept, and what other Servants he had? So he told me, That his House was maintained with all the dainties in the world; and that his Servants were those of his own begetting. Then I asked how many Children he had? He said that he had but three Daughters: The Lust of the Flesh, The Lust of the Eyes, and The Pride of Life, and that I should marry them all if I would. Then I asked him how long time he would have me live with him? And he told me, As long as he lived himself.Christian: Well, and what conclusion came the old man and you to at last?Faithful: Why, at first, I felt myself somewhat inclinable to go with the man, for I thought he spake very fair; but looking in his forehead, as I talked with him, I saw there written, Put off the old man with his deeds.Christian. And how then?Faithful: Then it came burning hot into my mind, whatever he said, and however he flattered, when he got me home to his House, he would sell me for a slave. So I bid him forbear to talk, for I would not come near the door of his House. Then he reviled me, and told me that he would send such a one after me, that should make my way bitter to my Soul. So I turned to go away from him; but just as I turned myself to go thence, I felt him take hold of my flesh and give me such a deadly twitch back, that I thought he had pulled part of me after himself. This made me cry, O wretched Man! So I went on my way up the Hill [of Difficulty]."You can find this essay in a book called 'Compelling Reasons'.Full subtitles are available by pushing the cog button and selecting "English (UK)". This is the full original version, with all missing sentences restored.Part 2 here: "On Punishment: A Reply by C.S. Lewis" (HT Part 2 of 2): Coming Soon! youtube.com/watch?v=bqlwGskmtqM
The Grand Miracle by C.S. Lewis Doodle (Part 2 of 2) CSLewisDoodle 2023-04-07 | This is an illustration of the second half of C.S. Lewis' sermon 'The Grand Miracle', which was a quick summary of Chapter 14 of his Book called ‘Miracles’. What new light does Christianity throw on death, selectiveness, and vicariousness that is very different from those attitudes the human mind naturally adopts? The sermon was given during Easter Season in the final year of WW2 in 1945. Notes below:(0:16) “Every year God makes a little corn into much corn: the seed is sown and there is an increase. And men say, according to their several fashions, ‘It is the laws of Nature,’ or ‘It is Ceres, it is Adonis, it is the Corn-King’. But the laws of Nature are only a pattern: nothing will come of them unless they can, so to speak, take over the universe as a going concern. And as for Adonis, no man can tell us where he died or when he rose again. Here, at the feeding of the five thousand, is He whom we have ignorantly worshipped: the real Corn-King who will die once and rise once at Jerusalem during the term of office of Pontius Pilate” (Chapter 15, Miracles, C.S. Lewis).(0:29) Bergson's Modern and Western Type of 'Nature' religion or 'Life Force' religion: "We take over the existing trend towards 'development' [popular evolution] of increasing complexity in organic, social, and industrial life, and make it a god" (Miracles, Chapter 14). "In much modern thought about the survival of the human species, Death is the greatest of all evils" (Miracles, Chapter 14). (1:16) Lassitude (physical or mental tiredness), delicacy (fragility or politeness), and compassion (empathy with others).(1:49) "I am not so much afraid of death, as ashamed thereof; 'tis the very disgrace and ignominy of our natures that, in a moment, can so disfigure us that our nearest friends, wife, and children stand afraid and start [are startled or alarmed] at us" (Thomas Browne, 1642).(1:55) “We are baptized into the death of Christ, and it is the remedy for the Fall. Death is, in fact, what some modern people call 'ambivalent.' It is Satan's great weapon and also God's great weapon: it is holy and unholy, our supreme disgrace and our only hope; the thing Christ came to conquer and the means by which he conquered” (The Grand Miracle, ‘Miracles’ book).(3:08) Romans 8.19-25 "The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration...in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies..."What are the first fruits? Before machine planting, corn was sown by hand so only some corn seeds would start life at a perfect depth and would ripen at a slightly earlier date than the bulk of the crop. Also fruit trees produce some of their crops much earlier than the bulk of the harvest. So this fruit was your first ‘sample crop’ of the coming harvest year.(3:36) Christ applies Psalm 82.6 ('You are gods, you are all sons of the Most High') as being said by God to those "to whom the word of God came" (John 10.35) – and this is a direct reference to all the Children of Israel in 1Kings 18.31: "Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the LORD came saying, 'Israel shall be your name' ". So we can’t then limit "you are gods" to just the judges or leaders mentioned in the Psalm, as the word of God came to the entire nation at Mt. Sinai and they all heard it with their own ears. But, of course, those 'gods' who rejected and disbelieved the word of God (both leaders and people alike) died shamefully like men (Ps. 82.7, Jer. 16.4). Christ for a little time, having been made less than the angels because of the suffering of death, tastes death for every son who believes - bringing many sons to glory, to make Himself complete with us (see Heb. 2.8-9, and in 2 Peter 1:3-4 “they become partakers of the divine nature”).(3:51) Crocuses are small white, yellow, or purple flowers that grow in English gardens in the early spring.(4:17) Summer 'pomps' are summer's 'splendours'. Think of a wild English garden or the countryside in Oxfordshire in midsummer.(4:47) Handel's "Messiah", 'The Trumpets shall Sound' by Phil Driscoll. "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed" (1 Corinthians 15.52-53).
The Grand Miracle by C.S. Lewis Doodle (Part 1 of 2) CSLewisDoodle 2023-04-04 | Christians claim that the incarnation: the conception, birth, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ is the central chapter of world history. How do you measure such a one-off event? The writer, C.S. Lewis, develops a reliable test: Does this 'Grand Miracle' fit in with the rest of the Author's other work - nature itself? Does this event illuminate and add meaning to the rest of creation? Notes below:This is an illustration of the first half of C.S. Lewis' sermon 'The Grand Miracle', which was a quick summary of Chapter 14 of his Book called ‘Miracles’. You can find fuller explanations there. The sermon was given at Eastertide in the final year of WW2 in 1945. I have broken it up into two parts.Part 2 doodled here: youtube.com/watch?v=3EV4s7-VV-4You can find the book here: amazon.com/God-Dock-C-S-Lewis/dp/0802871836(0:25) This reductive effort is nothing new. The most famous example of this stripping attempt is the Thomas Jefferson Bible where he tries to reduce the New Testament to 'God and Morality' and exclude the miraculous, that is, any interference by God into the normal course of nature. Lewis thought this 'a form of godliness, but denying the power of God' to intervene and save in naturally hopeless situations (1 Timothy 3.5, Isaiah 53.1, Psalm 18.17).(1:20) God 'incarnate' means God 'made flesh'. 'Carn' is the same root word behind the word Carnation (flesh-coloured flower).(1:50) “All the other well-established Christian miracles are part of the Incarnation; they all either prepare for, or exhibit or result from the Incarnation.” By this I take it Lewis means that all the miracles from Genesis to the miraculous conception of John the Baptist prepare us for Christ's coming, all the miracles during Christ’s time on earth reveal Christ as the Son of God, and all those performed by the Apostles and later believers result from Christ's incarnation. See Chapter 15 of 'Miracles' for more details on this 'revealing' aspect. (3:09) For the 'Symphony of Nature' I have used a movement in Holst's 'The Planets' based on the medieval solar system. Just imagine, the majestic middle 'section D' had been lost from the Jupiter piece of the Holst manuscript, and this movement had become famous simply for the opening and closing repetitions of sections A - C (which are brilliant in themselves). Say then, a person claims to have found section D in Holst's attic many years later. How could we tell that 'section D' was original to the whole? What would give it away as authentic? Where do you hear the echoes of section D in the rest of the work? Are there some things in the character of the piece that section D brings out more clearly?(5:47) The original paragraph is this: "This thing is human nature but associated with it, all nature, the new universe. That indeed is a point I cannot go into tonight, because it would take a whole sermon - this connection between human nature and nature in general. It sounds startling, but I believe it can be fully justified". Lewis has more on this in 'Miracles', the essay: "God raised one man (the man who was Himself) from the dead because He will one day raise all men from the dead. Perhaps not only men, for there are hints in the New Testament that all creation will eventually be rescued from decay, restored to shape and subserve the splendour of re-made humanity".(6:23) Christ was not myth with a man added, nor was Christ just a man with myth added, He was myth that became fact (See Lewis' essay 'Myth became Fact').(8:33) Lewis asks how it is that the ‘dying god’ myth, so often found in pagan religions, actually became a historical fact in that one religion in the entire ancient world that did not have any hint of nature worship. How very curious. (9:37) “The Lamb (of God), slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8).(13:05) Vicarious - performed or suffered by one person as a substitute for another or to the benefit or advantage of another.
Let’s Pretend by C.S. Lewis Doodle (BBC Talk 23, Mere Christianity, Bk 4, Chapter 7) CSLewisDoodle 2023-03-07 | C. S. Lewis asks the question, have we got rats in the basement of our soul that seem to pop out when we least expect it? What to do? C.S. Lewis has a stab at what it means to 'put off the old behaviours' & 'clothe ourselves in the new' - in Christ. Notes below...(0:38) The second fable, whose title I made up, is one I can’t find, perhaps it's a medieval story given Lewis' reading. It’s a common truth though, repeated by many authors, either for good or for ill, that "he wears a mask, and his face grows to fit it”.(4:02) See verses below on clothing yourself in Christ. Some clothing is done by God, some we are instructed to do ourselves (see Romans 13.14, Col 3.5-15, Matthew 5.3-12, Gal 3.27, Eph 4.24). The Spirit of God also clothed some of the Old Testament saints to do mighty deeds (Gideon, Amasai & Zechariah).'Clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ & do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh' - biblehub.com/romans/13-14.htm'Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness & patience' - biblehub.com/colossians/3-12.htm 'You who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ' - biblehub.com/galatians/3-27.htm 'Put on the new self which was created according to God in true righteousness and holiness' - biblehub.com/ephesians/4-24.htm'Put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth; put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator; put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness & patience; & beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity' - biblehub.com/context/colossians/3-8.htmSee also the parable about the man without wedding clothing (usually meaning repentance) in Matthew 22.12 - biblehub.com/matthew/22-11.htm(4:29) The Holy Spirit can do things that seem unexpected. For instance, once the disciples sent to preach were “forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the Word” in a certain place. See biblehub.com/acts/16-6.htm(5:08) There are many things that are not wrong (e.g. taking a particular career path), but it may be contrary and wrong for what the Holy Spirit plans for your life. (6:20) There is not a saviour besides Christ, every salvation is either Christ-sent or will fail to actually save (see Isa. 34.11 “there is no Saviour besides Me”). See also the comments section for more real examples.(7:03) Christ referred to the nature He created to teach us. "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow." biblehub.com/matthew/6-28.htm(7:50) Lewis' conversion to Christianity occurred over a period of time and he went from popular realism (only physical matter exists) to philosophical idealism (something other than the physical things exist, things like beauty, truth, reason & morality exist aside from matter), from idealism to pantheism (there's got to be some sort of mind behind the universe, & values alone can't just exist without some mind conceiving them), from pantheism to theism (God is separate from nature), then from theism to Christianity (Christ is God’s Saviour). If you want a concise treatment of these steps, go to ‘Mere Christianity’. The outline of Books 1 & 2 are in fact the story of Lewis' conversion from a 3rd Person’s point of view. Lewis discusses various truths as concepts that we can observe, but these were the observations that changed him spiritually, so think of ‘Mere Christianity’ as a version of Lewis' own testimony which is why it has been so successful (see Dr. Harry Lee Poe’s latest book on the subject). (8:14) The original broadcast included an additional line to the book: “If a 3rd Christian joins, there is 81 times as much”. You plus the Three-Person-God is to the 4th power. So it is you, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit – 4 distinct persons working together. I.e. not 1, 2, 3 but (1x1x1x1)= 1(2x2x2x2)= 16(3x3x3x3) = 81(8:50) Christ, like us, did not rely on the flesh. See John 2.23 “Many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did. But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man."The original broadcast had the following words italicised which add to understanding (shown in CAPS): "OUR FATHER", “in the place of a SON of God”, “you realise you are NOT a son of God”, “where the pretense is there INSTEAD of the real thing”, “which AT THAT VERY MOMENT the pretense”, “to ‘inject’ His kind of life and thought, his ZOE, into you”, “but I often HAVE been helped by other human beings”, “sometimes through experiences which seem (at the time) ANTI-Christian”, the spirit of Christ is probably nearer to him THEN than it ever was before”, and “I have been talking as if it were WE who did everything’. Sub-titles in the 'Listener' article: “Recognising the Real Giver” & “Making Pretense into Reality.”
The Laws of Nature by C. S. Lewis Doodle CSLewisDoodle 2023-01-26 | C.S. Lewis reaches a dazzling conclusion: *In the whole history of the universe, the laws of nature have never produced a single event!* The laws of nature are the pattern to which events conform: the source of events must be sought elsewhere. Notes below:A live-action illustration of a C.S. Lewis essay in the 1920-1940's style of 'Art Deco'.This article is part of a series of five, fantastic newspaper articles, written for the Coventry Evening Telegraph from January to May 1945, which closed out the final months of the European theatre of war for Britain and addressed typical, usually scoffing, atheist arguments:‘Religion and Science’ (3 January 1945); ’Who was Right? Dream Lecturer or Real Lecturer’ (21 Feb. 1945 - http://youtu.be/rUV2A5G7QEs );‘The Laws of Nature' (4 April 1945 - youtu.be/ahskyQCRmZo); ‘Work and Prayer’ (28 May 1945 - youtu.be/xJ6Nho6LC6A) &‘Meditation in a Toolshed’ (17 July 1945 - youtu.be/htIt8ENZ6F8 );(1:24) An 'amalgam' is a mixture, or blend, or alloy of mercury & another metal.(2:20) A bullet trajectory is affected by side wind and gravity, but also many other relevant factors as Lewis alludes to. For instance, a bullet path is also affected by humidity and air resistance, the angle of the gun, air pressure, altitude, air temperature, muzzle velocity, bullet shape & drag.(2:51) Newton’s 3rd law states that for every action (force) in nature there is an equal and opposite reaction.(4:00) "We are in the habit of talking as if the laws of nature caused events to happen; but they have never caused any event at all. The laws of motion do not set billiard balls moving: they analyse the motion after something else (say, a man with a cue, or a lurch of the liner, or, perhaps, supernatural power) has provided it...For every law of nature, in the last resort, says ‘If you have A, then you will get B’. But first catch your A: the laws won’t do it for you. (Chp. 9 'Miracle and the Laws of Nature', in 'Miracles').(6:35) Lewis: '[The historical incarnation of Jesus Christ] has the seemingly arbitrary and idiosyncratic character which modern science is slowly teaching us to put up with in this wilful universe... where irreversible entropy gives time a real direction & the cosmos, *no longer static or cyclic, moves like a drama from a real beginning to a real end.* If any message from the core of reality ever were to reach us, we should expect to find in it just that unexpectedness, that wilful, dramatic anfractuosity [winding path] which we find in the Christian faith. It has the master touch—the rough, male taste of reality, not made by us, or, indeed, for us, but hitting us in the face ('The problem of Pain', Introduction).'(8:31) The unabridged essay ended with this paragraph: 'In [Shakespeare's] Hamlet, a branch breaks and Ophelia is drowned. Did she die because the branch broke [i.e. because of the laws of nature] or because Shakespeare wanted her to die at that point in the play [i.e. because of the influence of the author on the character]? Either - both - whichever you please. The alternative suggested by the question is not a real alternative at all - once you have grasped that Shakespeare is making the whole play.'The original article had the following words italicised which add to understanding (shown in CAPS): “I had been thinking (vaguely enough) that the bullet's flight was CAUSED by the laws of Nature”, “But then the pressing of the trigger, the side wind, and even the earth, are not exactly LAWS”, “This is a LAW. That is, this is the pattern to which the movement of the two billiard balls must conform", "And here comes the snag. The LAW won't set it in motion”, “And that wave, though it certainly moved ACCORDING to the laws of physics, was not moved by them”, “The dazzlingly obvious conclusion now arose in my mind: IN THE WHOLE HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSE THE LAWS OF NATURE HAVE NEVER PRODUCED A SINGLE EVENT”, ”The LAWS are the pattern to which events conform: the source of events must be sought elsewhere”, “To ask this is not exactly the same as to ask where THINGS come from”.
Nice People or New Men by C.S. Lewis Doodle (BBC Talk 24B, Mere Christianity, Bk 4, Chapter 10) CSLewisDoodle 2022-12-12 | Notes below:(2:35) "God's name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you." ( biblehub.com/romans/2-24.htm ).(3:59) When someone from another religion comes to accept Christ, they quite often recognise that God has been leading them for some time, leading them toward truth. Probably Cornelius in Acts 10 is a good guide here, He was a Roman who had a deep reverence for God...and God saw it & helped him to find Christ.(14:04) "Brothers & sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were noble. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world & the despised things—& the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before Him" ( biblehub.com/1_corinthians/1-26.htm ).(14:32) The blessing for the poor is directed to those who follow Christ. “Now when Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on a mountainside and sat down. *His disciples came to him,* & He began to teach them” (Matthew 5:1). *“Looking at His disciples,* He said: Blessed are the poor...” (Luke 6.20).(14:33) The Luke 6 account of the Sermon on the Mt. has the same take, except more of an emphasis on the immediate, on the “now” – those hungering “now”, those weeping “now”, rejoice “in that day” of reproach, those laughing “now”.(14:35) The words “in spirit” is specifically mentioned in the gospel of Matthew, and therefore implied in Luke. The Greek word 'poor' means someone bowed down with poverty, i.e. beggars in spirit. Note you can be poor in wealth and yet not poor in spirit. Christ blessed the poor in spirit, that is, those who choose humility BECAUSE OF CHRIST, for they shall be made to exalt in spirit by God Himself. These particular verses were directed to Christ's disciples (see above), & don’t promise an inheritance to the poor or bread to fill the hungry resulting from greed or drunkenness or foolishness, nor even bread to fill the poor resulting from war or famine or plague where many starve. As Christ said, “There were MANY widows in Israel when there was a severe famine for 3-and-a-half years” ( biblehub.com/luke/4-25.htm ), but the prophet of God was only sent to help that one, believing, foreign widow who trusted and obeyed the word of God. It was she who was filled (1 Kings 17:7-16). And it was the faithful woman of Shunammite who inherited (2 Kings 8.6). “These are the ones I look on with favor: those who are humble & contrite in spirit, & who tremble at My word” (Isa 66.2). These are those who He came to fill both spiritually and naturally, those who look to God & believe. See Psalm 37.25 “I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread”. It is humility FOR CHRIST'S SAKE and for HIS WILL for you that will not go unrewarded in the end, nor left without provision. (14:37) But Jesus said again [to His disciples], “Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God!" Lewis adds to this, “How hard for those who trust in natural strengths”. ( biblehub.com/mark/10-24.htm ).Ps. 62.10, Prov. 11.28, & 18.11.Then Peter said in reply, “See, we have left everything & followed You...” biblehub.com/matthew/19-27.htm ).(15:45) dipsomania (a term no longer in technical use): an irresistible, periodic, craving for alcohol.(16:30) "Thin-blooded" is often used to describe someone lacking robustness and passion, someone restrained and dispassionate, lacking vitality, energy or courage.(18:42) The narrow and constricted road, which is the will of God, is one that includes some kind of humiliation which is why so few choose it rather than personal glory. (19:11) “Listen, my beloved brethren: has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?” ( biblehub.com/james/2-5.htm ). (20:30) "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!" ( biblehub.com/2_corinthians/5-17.htm )The original broadcast had the following words italicised which add to understanding (shown in CAPS): “Christians & non-Christians IN THE MASS”, “WHAT IS BEING MANAGED” (x2), “Give me ALL”, “I’ll explain WHAT sense in a moment ”, “He CANNOT produce it by a mere act of power”, "this is a needle that can CHOOSE. It CAN point to its true North", "to CREATE NICE THINGS: but to CONVERT REBELLIOUS WILLS cost Him the crucifixion”, “the only things we can KEEP are the things we freely give to God”, “YOU’RE not one of those wretched creatures”, “they learn, in double quick time, that THEY need help!”, “if you WANT an argument against Christianity” & “you are, in a sense, ALONE with Him.”Subtitles in the article: “No Half-Measures” & “The Whole of Christianity”.
Counting the Cost by C.S. Lewis Doodle (BBC Talk 24A, Mere Christianity, Bk 4, Chapter 9) CSLewisDoodle 2022-10-15 | “Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to re-build that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He’s doing. He’s getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and which doesn’t seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of...” (C.S. Lewis).(3:15) I have shown Jesus throwing all our earthly works into a fiery furnace, and the good works that survive will be only those deeds done in accordance to His will for us so I added the scripture: https:\\biblehub.com/luke/8-21.htm(3:51) "That no keeping but a perfect one will satisfy God, I hold with all my heart and strength; but that there is none else He cares for, is one of the lies of the enemy. What father is not pleased with the first tottering attempt of his little one to walk? What father would be satisfied with anything but the manly step of the full-grown son?" (George MacDonald, 'The Way', in 'A Sermon in Unspoken Sermons, Series II').(4:26) "God is very easy to please, but very hard to satisfy. If you will but let Him in, and you have not much to put on the table. You cannot share much of life because you have not got it, He will be so pleased, if it be but a cup of cold water that you can give him. Let it be something genuine, something real” (George MacDonald - “The Father’s Appeal”, preached in Westminster Chapel).(8:11) Check out one of the few rescues made on 9/11 in the documentary ‘One Day In America’ (Season 1, Episode 6 “It’s all gone kid”) by National Geographic as an example of God bringing salvation through anyone He chooses. All the rescuers had been told to leave the 9/11 site due to the tremendous danger, but God then sent in Chuck Sereika. He was a lapsed paramedic and drug addict, depressed, with no desire to help anyone at all that day, and had only dragged himself out of bed and gone to the 9/11 site to look, in order to satisfy his step-sister that he was there helping (but had no intention really). In spite of all this, something amazing took place that day: he went into the rubble and helped rescue one of the last remaining survivors crying out to God. See the full interview in the documentary episode above, but here is a short clip from the interview: youtube.com/watch?v=kbM4EMI0vwM (8:18) ‘First shall be last’ scripture: “People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last” (biblehub.com/luke/13-29.htm). Other uses and contexts: Matt. 20.16, Matt. 19.30, Mark.10.31 & Mark 9.35.(9:30) "Too eager I must not be to understand.How should the work the Master goes aboutFit the vague sketch my compasses have planned?I am His house - for Him to go in and out.He builds me now - and if I cannot seeAt any time what He is doing with me,'Tis that He makes the house for me too grand.The house is not for me - it is for Him.His royal thoughts require many a stair,Many a tower, many an outlook fair,Of which I have no thought, and need no care.Where I am most perplexed, it may be thereThou mak'st a secret chamber, holy-dim,Where thou wilt come to help my deepest prayer."-- George MacDonald(9:35) The idea that God comes to dwell in the human heart is found in the scripture mentioned in Isa. 66.2, but also 1 Cor. 3 “For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building”, and 1 Cor. 6 "Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?". See also the famous Charles Wesley hymn from Queen Elizabeth II's Funeral:'Love divine, all loves excelling,Joy of heaven, to earth come down,Fix in us Thy humble dwelling,All Thy faithful mercies crown.Jesu, Thou art all compassion,Pure unbounded love Thou art;Visit us with Thy salvation,Enter every trembling heart.'(10:48) The remarkable thing is that Satan bribed man with the idea of “being like God”, and yet God Himself had a kind of divinity planned for us already, the Christ-self, that continually pours out God to others (see comments section below).The original broadcast had the following words italicised which add to understanding (shown in CAPS): “without getting something MORE I did not want”, “every father is PLEASED at the baby’s first attempt", "no father would be SATISFIED with anything less than a firm, free, manly walk”, “OF COURSE we never wanted”, “How should WE know what He means us to be like?”, “He means to get us AS FAR AS POSSIBLE before death”, “but why NOW?”, “but He is building a PALACE”, “that CAN obey”, “for we CAN prevent Him” and “which reflects back to God PERFECTLY (though, of course, on a smaller scale)”.
Is Christianity Hard or Easy? by C.S. Lewis Doodle (BBC Talk 24, Mere Christianity, Bk 4, Chapter 8) CSLewisDoodle 2022-09-03 | How can we produce Godly results from our natural desires? As Job says “Who can produce a clean thing from an unclean thing? No one can” (Job 14:4). C.S. Lewis says: “If you remain a thistle you won’t grow figs. If I am a crab-apple tree all my apples will have the bitter crab taste. If you want to grow eating apples, I must allow myself to be turned into a different kind of tree. The real change must come at the roots, in the sap; it’s not much good hacking away at the branches.” The change must go deeper than the surface. The Natural Self must be given to God. We must be plowed up and resown with the new Seed - Christ and His desires for you.You can find the book here: http://www.amazon.com/Mere-Christianity-C-S-Lewis/dp/0060652926(0:02) The introductory plowing poster is one from WW2. The caption read “Food Comes First” (before victory), i.e. the farmers produce the food, that the army runs on, which produces the military advances. A good illustration of the Christian life. Christ is sown, and stunning victories become possible in your life.(1:50) Ten points if you recognise the old 1990 computer game from which I grabbed the sound effect. Hint: The greatest guitar solo ever heard on skiis. (2:33) As the conscience cleans up one area, in terms of motives, it expects the same standards in other dirty areas. It begins beautifying one messy table in the soul, and then wants to clean the entire house.(4:04) Some of the innocent desires we have must be sacrificed, other innocent desires are sacrificed and are given back in a new, uncanny, exciting, and clean form. "For when God rules in a human heart, though He may often have to dismiss some of the native authorities, He often continues some in office, and by subjecting their offices to Him, gives them for the first time a firm and durable basis". But not all your old talents are necessarily put under new management - some are dismissed. There is the testimony of two Christian women. One was allowed by Christ to carry on with her love, embroidery, and the other was not. The one forbidden asked the Lord why, and Lord spoke to her and said of the other Christian woman the difference is that “She takes me into every stitch”. Their skill and passion took them away or closer to the Lord. Let God judge your passions, talents, interests, and desires and let Him give them back to you as He sees fit. (4:43) Verses mentioned:2 Corinthians 4.8-11 biblehub.com/2_corinthians/4-8.htmMatthew 5.11 biblehub.com/matthew/5-11.htmJohn 16.2 biblehub.com/john/16-2.htmHebrews 10.34 biblehub.com/hebrews/10-34.htmMatthew 10.36 biblehub.com/matthew/10-36.htmMatthew 11.30 biblehub.com/matthew/11-30.htm(5:43) The crossroads charge was made by the U.S. 101st Airborne Division, led by Dick Winters as shown in the series “Band of Brothers”. Finding themselves in a position which would eventually lead to them being outflanked, outgunned, & surrounded, they abandoned the position & boldly charged across an open field. What seemed to be a dangerous and suicidal type charge was actually the safest option - it caught the Germans off guard. The SS unit & another Company fled at the surprise attack & were destroyed or captured in what turned out to be an easy 'turkey shoot'. But the U.S. soldiers had first to ‘lose their lives’ & charge bravely, WW1-style, across open ground, in order to save their unit. Staying where they were in fear would have led to the complete destruction of their unit. (5:54) The Southern route of that famous mountain is much steeper than that of the Northern route, but it turns out to be technically easier in the end. It's a lot like that with our metaphorical mountains or difficulties also. (5:57) “Funk” means to avoid (something) out of fearThe original broadcast had the following words italicised which add to understanding (shown in CAPS): “ONE of the jobs”, “it will NOT have enough left”, “Give me ALL”, “I want YOU”, “I will give you MYSELF”, “the whole universe was made FOR Christ”, “us IN him”, “when WE are drawn in” and “will be MORNING”. Sub-titles in the Listener article: “No Half-Measures” and “The Whole of Christianity”.The title and closing tracks are from David Meece's albums "7" (1985) and "Are you Ready" (1980): youtu.be/qF49oLjSZlI & youtube.com/watch?v=zyrpND4eSagTyping error in the lyrics I copied. It should be "Travel anywhere You LEAD (not need) me to"
Obstinate Toy Soldiers by C.S. Lewis Doodle (BBC Talk 22, Mere Christianity, Bk 4, Chapter 5) CSLewisDoodle 2022-03-01 | “Think how delighted any child would be if he knew some magic word that would turn all the wooden animals out of his Noah’s Ark into real little animals, and all his toy soldiers into little real men; all walking about on the nursery table. I want you to get that picture well fixed in your minds before I go on” (‘The Listener’, 1 March 1944).You can find the book here: http://www.amazon.com/Mere-Christianity-C-S-Lewis/dp/0060652926(4:17) Jesus’ poverty did not just include not owning a home, but also other types of poverty. He was unmarried, and died childless - "who can count Christ’s spiritual descendants?" (Isaiah 53.8) They are million upon millions... (6:36) This section below was spoken in the original broadcast but was removed from the book version of the broadcasts and then expanded and made into a new chapter (‘Two Notes’). I have not re-added the below paragraph to the soundtrack, but have added the new and improved chapters in the comments section. “...is ‘keeping him going’. *When I say that humanity is a single organism you must not imagine that I mean the individuals are unimportant. In politics, we have to neglect individuals and deal with people in bulk. And then the make up for that, in our private life we tend to think of ourselves and our friends as things quite separate from humanity in general. Both those points of view are reallyfalse. Individual people are immensely important, but are not separate. God intended them to work in together as the different organs in one body work in together; but also to be different as the different organs are, as your lungs are different from your liver. Being different has nothing to do with being separate. Twenty pennies are all the same and quite separate. A root, a branch & a leaf are quite different but may all belong to one tree. A mother, father, and child are much more closely bound together than three men sitting in the same ‘bus; but they may be much less alike. When God entered the human race He entered a thing of that sort – a thing like a tree or a family or an orchestra, an organism of different parts which all ought to make one thing. And what He formed inside it was again a thing of the same sort – the Christian brotherhood – the first patch of the new life beginning to spread.* Consequently, when Christ becomes man...” ('The Listener', 1944).(7:05) See Christ's effect on those before his birth, as well as on those who saw the Messiah prophetically: "I see him but not near, I behold him, but not now" (Numbers 24.17). Also 1 Peter 3 "He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits— to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built". biblehub.com/niv/1_peter/3.htm(8:34) "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me" (Revelation 3.29). biblehub.com/revelation/3-20.htm(9:49) The music here was taken from “Toymaker and Son”, a drama, dance & mime which was the story of the creation of Toyland and its toys, its descent into Sorrowland, and its saving through the Toymaker’s Son. The production has a similar theme to this talk from C.S. Lewis. Below is the link to the interpretive dance recalling the creation of Adam, where the Toymaker and Son create the first toy in Toyland - and who could not do with more 70's interpretive dance in their lives?Video: http://y2u.be/z5T7qFlPH1k Text Summary: drive.google.com/file/d/1Jv4_N2Q6mSKaso5uwQ2XBTFXS9Tezpqg/view?usp=sharingThe original broadcast had the following words italicised which add to understanding (shown in CAPS): “...fight tooth and nail to avoid THAT”, “He WON’T be made into a man if he can help it”, and “For the first time we saw a REAL man. One tin soldier – REAL tin, just like the rest of us – had come fully and splendidly alive”. Sub-Titles in 'The Listener' article: “For the First Time – A Real Man” and “Appropriating Salvation”
The Great Sin by C. S. Lewis Doodle (BBC Talk 16, Mere Christianity, Bk. 3, Chapter 8). CSLewisDoodle 2021-12-23 | A very happy Christmas to you all. Take a moment. Could this be your biggest problem in life? 'There is one vice of which no man in the world is free; which every one in the world loathes when he sees it in someone else; and of which hardly any people ever imagine that they are guilty themselves.' What could it be? A new doodle from the pen of C.S. Lewis. You can find the book here: http://www.amazon.com/Mere-Christianity-C-S-Lewis/dp/0060652926(2:03) Pride leads to every other vice. There are three elements necessary for sin - (1) the carnal "lust of the flesh", (2) "the lust of the eye" (i.e. seeing an opportunity), but also (3) "the pride of life" to complete the snare (1 John 2:16). That is, when the voice of God says "no" to us, sin needs that proud inner statement "Why shouldn't I have it?" or "I deserve it!" to be enacted. This appeal to pride is as old as the Garden of Eden. When Satan there said "be like Gods" (Genesis 3.5), he knew it meant "be entrapped like a slave". (3:00) The proverb “two in a trade never agree” means that people involved in a particular line of business always believe that they know better than their colleagues or competitors. See the remarkable Ecc. 4.4: “And I saw that ALL toil and ALL achievement spring from one person’s envy of another. This too is "meaningless" [literally the temporary smoke after you put out a candle), and a chasing after the wind” ( biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/4-4.htm ).(4:30) See Isaiah 5.8: “Woe to you who add house to house and join field to field till no space is left and you live alone in the land” ( biblehub.com/isaiah/5-8.htm ).(7:09) See James 4.6: "But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: 'God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble'” (biblehub.com/james/4-6.htm). (8:26) See Psalm 16.2 “My goodness is not apart from you” (biblehub.com/psalms/16-2.htm).(10:50) See Matthew 25.21: "His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord" (biblehub.com/matthew/25-21.htm).(15:03) Lewis is probably not saying that the indignity was not felt by God (or still felt), nor implying shame did not need to be corrected in glory, but the fear of shame and reproach of man did not prevent Christ from completing God’s plan to the end, and ‘drinking the cup’. ‘For the joy set before him, He *despised* [counted as nothing] the shame’ like each of us have to do ( biblehub.com/hebrews/12-2.htm ).(15:07) Jesus: "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me” (biblehub.com/revelation/3-20.htm).(17:31) "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall" (biblehub.com/proverbs/16-18.htm).The original broadcast had the following words italicised to match the broadcast which add to understanding (shown in CAPS): “Pride is ESSENTIALLY competitive”, “The sexual impulse MAY drive two men into competition...greed MAY drive men into competition”, “how is it that people...with pride can SAY they believe in God?”, “it comes DIRECT from hell, for Pride IS spiritual cancer”, “that...chap who took a real interest in what YOU said to HIM”, and “If you DO dislike him it will be because you feel a little envious”.Song: "Humble Yourself" by 2nd Chapter of Acts, made up of sisters Annie Herring and Nelly Greisen and brother Matthew Ward.
Morality and Psychoanalysis by C.S. Lewis Doodle (BBC Talk 13, Mere Christianity, Bk 3, Chapter 4) CSLewisDoodle 2021-10-31 | In this doodle, C.S. Lewis considers what the Christian idea of a good man is – the Christian specification for the human machine. Additionally, since Christian morality claims to be a technique for putting the human machine right, how is it related to another technique which seems to make a similar claim—namely, psychoanalysis. An abridged YouTube version of the broadcast.You can find the book here: http://www.amazon.com/Mere-Christianity-C-S-Lewis/dp/0060652926(1:44) Carl Jung's work on himself and his patients convinced him that life has a spiritual purpose beyond material goals. Unlike Freud's materialist worldview, Jung's pantheism led him to believe that spiritual experience was essential to our well-being. Sorry about the spelling in the illustration, I did know the German name started with a "J", but must have been thinking with my English mind.(2:13) For more detail from C.S. Lewis on Freud (and Jung) on language and literature, see the essay ‘Psycho-Analysis And Literary Criticism’ and also ‘Bluspels And Flalansferes: A Semantic Nightmare’.Sometimes, Lewis noted, that psychology can be a poor humanistic substitute for theology, the depths of the mind replace the depths of God for the atheist. “For the general effect of materialism [atheism] is to give you, where you expected an indefinite depth of reality, a flat wall only a few inches away. Psycho-analysis offers you some kind of depth back again - lots of things hidden behind the wall. Hence those who have once tasted it feel that they are being robbed of something if we try to take it from them” (Psycho-Analysis And Literary Criticism). An interesting story from the day that Freud introduced psychoanalysis for the first time to America. Sailing into New York Harbor, Sigmund Freud stood on the deck with Carl Jung and gazed out at the Statue of Liberty illuminating the world. Freud turned to his disciple and whispered, “They don’t realise we’re bringing them the plague.”(4:23) Interestingly, in the Old Testament scared soldiers were used on the front lines, but could opt out of war lest they destroy the army's morale by fleeing in battle: biblehub.com/deuteronomy/20-8.htm . See also Judges 7:3 ( biblehub.com/judges/7-3.htm ). "Shell shock" was a traumatic stress disorder first discovered in WWI.(6:45) The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded to members of the British Armed Forces for valour "in the presence of the enemy". Ever since the first awards were presented by Queen Victoria in 1857, two-thirds of all awards have been personally presented by the British monarch (= Medal of Honour in the USA). (8:45) Revelation 22.14 biblehub.com/revelation/22-14.htm(8:53) See Matthew 25.21 ( biblehub.com/matthew/25-21.htm ) and Malachi 3.2 ( biblehub.com/malachi/3-2.htm ). (13:09) The closing scene is from 'The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe', and is an enlightening recounting of the psychology of bitter Edmund as he walks to the White Witch’s castle in a snow storm. A brilliant piece of writing, where one relives the previous chapter, and gains a completely different perspective of the positive events when seen through corrupted eyes.The original broadcast had the following words italicised to add to understanding (shown in CAPS): “which are the RAW MATERIAL of his choice”, “To be the one kind of creature IS heaven”, “Good people know about good AND evil”.
Social Morality by C.S. Lewis Doodle (BBC Talk 12, Mere Christianity, Bk 3, Chapter 3) CSLewisDoodle 2021-09-03 | C.S. Lewis here addresses all the subjects you shouldn’t discuss in polite conversation, if you want to remain friends - Christianity, politics & money! Study notes in the video description below...You can find the book here: http://www.amazon.com/Mere-Christianity-C-S-Lewis/dp/0060652926(0:49) Nietzscheism is essentially self-worship or the worship of strength, talent & ambition. In the Bible, while we “reap what you sow” in terms of hard work, we have got to sow in the right field and build on the right foundation (God's will). We can't do anything of real consequence without God. Mere strength or mental determination is not nearly enough. “Again I saw that under the sun that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but proper time and events happen to them all” (Ecc. 9.11). No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by his great strength (Psalm 33:16). “You (God) rescue the poor from those *too strong* for them” (Ps. 35.10) and only “the name of the Lord is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe. The wealth of the rich is their fortified city; they imagine it a wall too high to scale [but it is not unscalable]” (Ps. 18.10-11). " 'Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, Let not the mighty man glory in his might, Nor let the rich man glory in his riches; But let him who glories glory in this, That he understands and knows Me, That I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these, I delight' says the LORD" (biblehub.com/jeremiah/9-23.htm).(4:37) Two scriptures to keep in mind regarding work: "A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest — and your poverty will come upon you, like a thief or vagabond" ( biblehub.com/proverbs/24-33.htm ). And there is also a spiritual kind of laziness (not spending time in God's company) that can destroy all. But see also the Parable of the Labourers where willing workers were ready, but no paid work was available to them ( biblehub.com/matthew/20-7.htm ).(4:52) Lewis talks about "the production of objects [or services] which are rotten in quality and which, even if they were good in quality, would not be worth producing” in his essay 'Good Work and Good Works'.(5:03) “side” (informal British) - a boastful/proud attitude, or display intended to impress others.(5:27) biblehub.com/ephesians/5-33.htm The word “love” or "cherish" here is the greek word agape. The word for prize means to “honour” or “value, reverence, revere, or fear”, even to “be amazed” (i.e. be amazed at the things he does, which you can’t or don’t want to do).(7:14) Martin Luther interpreted Bible passages about usury, especially those that condemned charging interest to the poor, as calls to act generously. Usurers commit a sin, Luther wrote, only when their actions violate the do-unto-others principle – that is, only if ‘they do not want to be treated this way in return by others’. This reciprocity meant merchants & wealthy families were allowed to charge each other interest. Luther asked Christians to offer the needy charity rather than loans – but he still accepted interest rates under 5%.One interesting little story out of history is John Calvin, the reformer. The Catholic Church had said on the basis of biblical teachings, that you can't lend money to someone charging interest - that was called “usury”, because the poor would borrow money & be charged high interest & would end up as slaves as happens today throughout Africa & Asia still. So the Catholic Church said no interest should be charged on money to anyone Christian rich or poor. John Calvin the Reformer, reasoned that if I owned a piece of land worth this many dollars, I can rent it out - so why can't I take this same amount of money & rent the money out? Perhaps, if it's to a poor person for food, money should be lent at no interest, but if it's to someone who wants to start a business, why can't I rent money out like I can rent out land? The problem was how do you define how much interest you would charge? And this is the point that Plato was making, the system’s not going to work because of human selfishness. Like Luther, Calvin, said, "I've got an answer". He said that you define the amount of interest charged by the Golden Rule that we all know at heart - 'Do to others as you would have them do to you' - & this idea released the lending of money & actually enabled a whole lot of capitalistic investment, which has produced wealth for individuals and a better standard of living for the poor throughout society. (10:17) See the movie 'Shadowlands' by the BBC available on YouTube.The original broadcast had the following words italicised which add to understanding (shown in CAPS): “The real job of every teacher is to keep on bringing us BACK...to the same old principles.
Charity, II. Love by C.S. Lewis Doodle (BBC Talk 16A, Mere Christianity, Bk 3, Chapter 9) CSLewisDoodle 2021-06-28 | Good and evil both increase at compound interest. This is why the little decisions you and I make every day are of such infinite importance. The smallest good act today is the capture of a strategic point from which, a few months later, you may be able to go on to victories you never dreamed of. An apparently trivial indulgence in lust or anger today is the loss of a ridge or railway line or bridgehead from which the enemy may launch an attack otherwise impossible. Lewis wrote a broadcast on Charity which never made it to radio in full – here is the missing section in doodle form. C.S. Lewis wrote a broadcast on Charity for 15 minutes, but the BBC cut his segment to ten minutes, so he could only cover that part of Charity which deals with ‘forgiveness’. Nevertheless, the radio talks ended up being printed & expanded to include his original broadcast notes, & the subject of Charity now became two separate chapters in the book ‘Mere Christianity’ – ‘Forgiveness’ & ‘Charity’. (5:47) The idea of improving the human population through selective breeding or elimination was initially inspired by Darwinism & its theory of natural selection, & was very popular right across the world in the late 19th & early 20th century. Galton, the father of Eugenics, sought to explain the development of plant & animal species, & desired to apply it to humans. Based on his biographical studies, he believed that desirable human qualities were hereditary traits. With the introduction of genetics, eugenics became associated with genetic determinism, the belief that human character is entirely or in the majority caused by genes, unaffected by knowledge or belief or behaviour. This kind of popular racialism was something “which Christianity (biblehub.com/kjv/acts/17-26.htm) and science equally forbid”.“Once the old Christian idea of a total difference in kind between man and beast has been abandoned, then no argument for experiments on animals can be found which is not also an argument for experiments on inferior men. If we cut up beasts simply because they cannot prevent us and because we are backing our own side in the struggle for existence, it is only logical to cut up imbeciles, criminals, enemies or capitalists for the same reasons. Indeed, experiments on men have already begun. We all hear that Nazi scientists have done them. We all suspect that our own scientists may begin to do so, in secret, at any moment.” (Vivasection, 1940s)(6:47) Sedan was the point in the French Ardennes, where the Nazi forces broke through the French defensive lines, and caused the general collapse of French forces in 1940. Remagen was the famous German bridge across the Rhine, that was detonated by the German defence forces in 1945, but it simply rose into the air and remarkably landed exactly back onto its own foundations. The American army saw the error and rushed more troops across the Rhine river which established the first bridgehead into German heartland, before the bridge could be destroyed by German aircraft. Hitler had the German troops in charge of this bridge executed, but the failure to destroy the bridge began the collapse of the German army in the West.(8:40) Much more from C.S. Lewis on this kind of tough love of God here: “By the goodness of God we mean nowadays almost exclusively His lovingness; and in this we may be right. And by the Love, in this context, most of us mean kindness — the desire to see others than the self happy; not happy in this way or in that, but just happy. What would really satisfy us would be a God who said of anything we happened to like doing, “What does it matter so long as they are contented?” We want, in fact, not so much a Father in Heaven as a grandfather in heaven — a senile benevolence who, as they say, “liked to see young people enjoying themselves” and whose plan for the universe was simply that it might be truly said at the end of each day, “a good time was had by all”.Not many people, I admit, would formulate a theology in precisely those terms: but a conception not very different lurks at the back of many minds. I do not claim to be an exception: I should very much like to live in a universe which was governed on such lines. But since it is abundantly clear that I don’t, and since I have reason to believe, nevertheless; that God is Love, I conclude that my conception of love needs correction..." (The Problem of Pain, Chp 3 - Divine Goodness)The original broadcast had the following words italicised which add to understanding (shown in CAPS): “Giving to the poor is one of the most OBVIOUS things he does”, ” 'rhyme’ is the most OBVIOUS thing about poetry”, “that state of the will which we have NATURALLY about ourselves and must LEARN to have about other people”, “does not mean we LIKE ourselves”, “act AS IF YOU DID”, “yet it LEADS TO affection”, “increase AT COMPOUND INTEREST”, “act AS IF YOU DID”, “If I WERE sure that I loved God”, “He will give us FEELINGS of love”.
Charity, I. Forgiveness by C.S. Lewis Doodle (BBC Talk 15, Mere Christianity, Bk 3, Chapter 7) CSLewisDoodle 2021-06-10 | Is there anything more painful than forgiveness, when you feel like they don’t deserve one scrap of it? Even if you do forgive, does forgiveness mean stopping their due proportional punishment from an authority? Here Lewis continues to look at those parts of Christian morality which are the most unpopular. Notes below...Lewis wrote a broadcast on Charity for 15 minutes, but the BBC cut his segment to ten minutes, so he could only cover that part of Charity which deals with ‘forgiveness’. Nevertheless, the radio talks ended up being printed and expanded to include his original notes, and the subject of Charity became two separate chapters in the book ‘Mere Christianity’ – ‘Forgiveness’ and ‘Charity’. You can find the book here: http://www.amazon.com/Mere-Christianity-C-S-Lewis/dp/0060652926(1:43) You can find the quick links to the scripture references in the comments section below.(4:08) Many people seem to think forgiving means excusing: “They think that if you ask them to forgive someone who has cheated or bullied them, you are trying to make out that there was really no cheating or no bullying. But if that were so, there would be nothing to forgive. They keep on replying 'But I tell you the man broke a most solemn promise.' Exactly: that is precisely what you have to forgive. (This doesn't mean you must necessarily believe his next promise. It does mean that you must make every effort to kill every trace of resentment in your own heart - every wish to humiliate or hurt him or to pay him out)” ('On Forgiveness').(7:24) "In so far as you are simply an angry man who has been hurt, mortify your anger and do not hit back", but “in so far as you are a magistrate struck by a private person, a parent struck by a child, a teacher by a scholar, a sane man by a lunatic, or a soldier by the public enemy, your duties may be very different, different because there may be then other motives than egoistic retaliation for hitting back...” ('Why I Am Not a Pacifist').(1:50) A Christian's forgiveness of others, because of God’s forgiveness of our own sins, differs from the worldly variety that forgives: 'for Me'; or 'for my own health and well-being'; or because it 'reduces ones own stress'; or 'for one's own benefit'; or 'because I have a generous nature'; or 'because it creates unity' (no doubt it does, but that is not why we forgive). The world at times seems to revel in forgiving the unrepentant and condemning the innocent. Lewis talks about this "humanistic forgiveness" here: “…If we judge the 19th century from the books it wrote, the outlook of our grandfathers (with a very few exceptions) was quite as secular as our own...most striking of all is the 33rd chapter of ‘The Antiquary’ [i.e. The Amateur Historian], where Lord Glenallan forgives old Elspeth for her ìntolerable wrong. Glenallan has been painted by [Walter] Scott as a life-long penitent and ascetic, a man whose every thought has been for years fixed on the supernatural. But when he has to forgive, no motive of a Christian kind is brought into play: the battle is won by "the generosity of his nature". It does not occur to [the author Walter] Scott that his fasts, his solitudes, his beads and his confessor, however useful as romantic "properties", could be effectively connected with a serious action which concerns the plot of the book. I am anxious here not to be misunderstood. I do not mean that Scott was not a brave, generous, honourable man and a glorious writer. I mean that in his work, as in that of most of his contemporaries, only secular and natural values are taken seriously. Plato and Virgil are, in that sense, nearer to Christianity than they…” ('The Decline Of Religion').(8:53) “Those who would reject patriotism entirely do not seem to have considered what will certainly step—has already begun to step—into its place. For a long time yet, or perhaps forever, nations will live in danger. Rulers must somehow nerve their subjects to defend them or at least to prepare for their defence. Where the sentiment of patriotism has been destroyed this can be done only by presenting every international conflict in a purely ethical light. If people will spend neither sweat nor blood for “their country” they must be made to feel that they are spending them for justice, or civilisation, or humanity. This is a step down, not up. Patriotic sentiment did not of course need to disregard ethics. Good men needed to be convinced that their country’s cause was just; but it was still their country’s cause, not the cause of justice as such.”The original broadcast had the following words emphasised (italicised in the book) which add to understanding: (shown in CAPS): “But all depends on REALLY WANTING”; "So loving my enemies doesn’t apparently mean thinking THEM nice either”; “the ordinary word to KILL and the word to MURDER”; and “Christ used the MURDER one in all three gospel accounts”.
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis Doodle (VI) CSLewisDoodle 2021-05-02 | In this episode, the demon Screwtape gives advice to his junior tempter on the art of re-directing his patient’s thoughts from the appointed cross to hypothetical future fates, from God to Self, and from being self-aware of undesirable states of mind to being consumed with the danger itself...Screwtape also teaches his protégé how to direct his patient's kindnesses away from his immediate neighbours to people he has never met, while directing his hatred to those around him, and pushing virtues into the realm of his fantasy only.(0:31) “My age and profession…”. During WW2, you could fall into three categories:a)"Called up" - On 1 January 1940, Britain called up two million 19- to 27-year-olds for military service. As the war progressed badly, this age limit would increase during the following years.b)"Reserved Occupations" - Determined not to repeat the mistake of the First World War, when indiscriminate recruiting of men for the forces left a serious shortage of labour in the war industries, the British government prepared a reserved occupation scheme in January 1939. It covered some five million men in a wide range of occupations, from boiler-makers and lighthouse-keepers to teachers and doctors, with engineering having the most exemptions. Men in reserved occupations were to be exempt from military service, sometimes after a certain age. In fact, young men were unable to join the armed forces in certain professions without their employer’s approval. The scheme had to be revised, with fewer exemptions being allowed in 1941. c)"Medically Unfit" - Men could also be rejected on medical grounds for a wide variety of reasons for minor heart defects, migraines or flat feet that could hamper his fellow soldiers or be disastrous in combat situations.Later in this story the main character, John Hamilton, ends up joining the Air Raid Wardens (ARP) which was a part-time volunteer force who carried out their ARP duties as well as full-time jobs. This means the character was one of the five million men involved in reserved professions when the war began, but then volunteered in the local service out-of-hours. Part-time wardens were supposed to be on duty about three nights a week, but this increased greatly when the bombing of London was heaviest. (3:06)”You remember how I explained...”. See Screwtape Letter 4:Screwtape: “Whenever they [the humans] are attending to the Enemy Himself [God] we [demons] are defeated, but there are ways of preventing them from doing so. The simplest is to turn their gaze away from Him towards themselves. Keep them watching their own minds and trying to produce FEELINGS there by the action of their own wills. When they meant to ask Him [God] for charity, let them, instead, start trying to manufacture charitable feelings for themselves and not notice that this is what they are doing. When they meant to pray for courage, let them really be trying to feel brave. When they say they are praying for forgiveness, let them be trying to feel forgiven. Teach them to estimate the value of each prayer by their success in producing the desired feeling; and never let them suspect how much success or failure of that kind depends on whether they are well or ill, fresh or tired, at the moment."(3:00) The 'important spiritual law" text is as follows:(Right side) DEMONIC LAW No. 6613a(ii). REGARDING PRAYER & WORSHIP: ENCOURAGE YOUR HUMAN PATIENT TO BE SELFCONSCIOUS - TO FOCUS ON HIMSELF RATHER THAN GOD.(Left side) DEMONIC LAW No. 6613a(i). REGARDING FEAR, LUST & ANGER: ENCOURAGE YOUR HUMAN PATIENT TO BE UN-SELFCONSCIOUS - TO FOCUS ON THE OBJECT (THE DANGER, WOMAN’S BODY, OR INSULT).(4:47) Joy Lewis talks about this aspect in her testimony: "With my few scraps of knowledge, I was accepted almost at once as a jornalist and critic on the American Communist Party's semi-official magazine 'New Masses'. And I began to learn. I learned the "love of the people" made it all right for us to lie to the rank and file of the Party; still worse, that in practice our vague "love of the people" turned into quite specific hatred of the people's enemies, and that the enemies of the people were all those of every class and opinion who happened to disagree with the Party. Hatred, to us, was a virtue..." (Joy Lewis, 'The Longest Way Round').You can find the original book here: http://www.amazon.com/The-Screwtape-Letters-Proposes-Toast/dp/0060652896#reader_0060652896And the audio dramatisation here: amazon.com/The-Screwtape-Letters-Dramatization-Diabolical/dp/1589973240
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis Doodle (VII) CSLewisDoodle 2021-05-02 | Senior demon Screwtape and his nephew Wormwood discuss how to produce their 'perfect work' - the person closed to belief in God, yet worshiping demons under other names.My very dear human, my poppet, my pigsnie! Wishing you a very sumptuous Hell-oween. Yours increasingly and ravenously, Screwtape (1:35) Depicted here are the cultic magicians who contended against Moses in Exodus: biblehub.com/exodus/7-11.htm . These were NOT fake miracles, but demonic ones. (1:39) More on Popular Evolution or Developmentalism in doodle form here: youtube.com/watch?v=rUV2A5G7QEsYou can find the original book here: http://www.amazon.com/The-Screwtape-Letters-Proposes-Toast/dp/0060652896#reader_0060652896And the audio dramatisation here: amazon.com/The-Screwtape-Letters-Dramatization-Diabolical/dp/1589973240
Faith (‘Faith and Works’) by C.S. Lewis Doodle (BBC Talk 18, Mere Christianity, Bk 3, Chapter 12) CSLewisDoodle 2021-04-05 | C.S. Lewis broadcast second talks on Faith, entitled ‘The Problem of Faith and Works’. Notes below...You can find the book here: http://www.amazon.com/Mere-Christianity-C-S-Lewis/dp/0060652926(2:51) “If you are right with God, you will inevitably be right with all your fellow creatures”. I should point out that ‘right’ here does not necessarily mean ‘at peace’ with all your fellow creatures. Being in a right position to others can mean, at times, you are in a position of war with those against God, e.g. David was in a right position to Goliath in his Holy Spirit-inspired anger “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”.(5:41) The story of Bunyan’s conversion: 'Bunyan says, "I did set the commandments before me for my way to heaven; which commandments I did also strive to keep, &, as I thought, did keep them pretty well sometimes, and thus I should have comfort; yet now and then should break one, and so afflict my conscience; but then I should repent, and say I was sorry for it, and promised God to do better next time, and there get help again; for then I thought I pleased God as well as any man in England. Thus I continued about a year; all which time our neighbors did take me to be a very godly man, a new and religious man, and did marvel much to see such great and famous alteration in my life and manners; and, indeed, so it was, though I knew not Christ, nor grace, nor faith, nor hope." But one day, after Bunyan had removed to Bedford, as he was passing down the street, he noticed a few poor women in conversation in a doorway. He drew near, and listened a while to their talk. They were speaking of the new birth, and the work of God's Spirit in their souls, and their personal experiences of the saving power of God's grace through Christ. He stood amazed, and realized that they possessed something of which he was entirely ignorant. He then began to perceive that salvation is not from anything that comes from man, or that man can do, but that it is from God, and that to possess it he must have to do with God Himself—that it was something new he must possess in his soul which none but God can give, a forgiveness of sins which none but God can administer. These poor women were basking in the sunshine whilst he, with all his doings, was shivering in the cold.” (C. Knapp)(6:20) “I think we must introduce into the discussion a distinction between two senses of the word Faith. This may mean (A) a settled intellectual assent. In that sense faith (or 'belief') in God hardly differs from faith in the uniformity of Nature [that Nature behaves in the same way from the remotest nebula to the shyest photon] or in the consciousness of other people. This is what, I think, has sometimes been called a 'notional' or 'intellectual' or 'carnal' faith. It may also mean (B) a trust, or confidence, in the God whose existence is thus assented to. This involves an attitude of the will. It is more like our confidence in a friend. It would be generally agreed that Faith in sense A is not a religious state. The devils who 'believe and tremble' (Note James 2.19) have Faith-A. A man who curses or ignores God may have Faith-A…”“I doubt whether religious people have ever supposed that Faith-B follows automatically on the acquisition of Faith-A. It is described as a 'gift' (Note: biblehub.com/ephesians/2-8.htm , biblehub.com/1_corinthians/12-9.htm ;). As soon as we have Faith-A in the existence of God, we are instructed to ask from God Himself the gift of Faith-B…” (‘Is Theology Important?’ [i.e. Are Theological Proofs of God Important to Faith?])(11:02) “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,' but you must have it in you before you can work it out.” Trembling" I notice but not "sweating", i.e. not doing good works in order to be saved.(12:16) Similar principle here, in the saying ‘you can give without love, but you cannot love without giving’. (12:44) “Morality is a mountain which we cannot climb by our own efforts; & if we could we should only perish in the ice and unbreathable air of the summit, lacking those wings with which the rest of the journey has to be accomplished. For it is from there that the real ascent begins. The ropes and axes are 'done away' & the rest is a matter of flying (Man and Rabbit).”The original broadcast had the following words italicised which add to understanding (shown in CAPS): "if one COULD understand it now, it would only do one harm", “because it MAY be a help”, “I mean REALLY discovered”, “will soon learn to SAY that we have nothing to offer to God that isn’t already His own”, “it MUST follow that you are trying to obey Him”, “wouldn’t BE good actions but only commercial speculations”, “or trust IN HIM, but only intellectual acceptance of some theory ABOUT Him.”
Faith (Belief as a Virtue) by C.S. Lewis Doodle (BBC Talk 17, Mere Christianity, Bk 3, Chapter 11) CSLewisDoodle 2021-02-28 | C.S. Lewis as an atheist used to ask himself ‘How on earth can faith or belief be a virtue? What is there moral or immoral about believing or not believing a set of statements?’ Now as a Christian he explains what a good many people do not see about faith... During WWII C.S. Lewis broadcast two talks on Faith entitled ‘Faith as a Virtue’ and ‘The Problem of Faith and Works’. These were cut down from their original scripts for the radio broadcasts, but the original talks ended up being printed in full and expanded in the book version of the talks which later became the book ‘Mere Christianity’. (0:35) C.S. Lewis talks about four kinds of faith. Faith A1 - Simply belief – accepting or regarding as true the doctrines of Christianity.Faith A2 - The art of holding on to things your reason has once accepted, in spite of your changing moods.Faith B1 - Trust that Christ will somehow share with you the perfect human obedience which He carried out from His birth to His crucifixion: that Christ will make you more like Himself and, in a sense, make good your deficiencies ( youtu.be/56HO390emvc ) . Faith C1 - Adherence to God, and His Christ, that is no longer proportioned to every fluctuation of the apparent evidence ( youtu.be/imvy3EXJ5E0 ).The first three types are covered in the book 'Mere Christianity'. The last one in Lewis' other essays.(1:23) More on reason and authority here: youtu.be/k2xY2k26HFo. See also comment section on this video.(4:57) “Blessed is he who is not offended/tripped up because of Me.” biblehub.com/matthew/11-6.htm (5:19) “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?” biblehub.com/2_corinthians/6-14.htm (Exception: 1 Corinthians 7.12).This is the Old Testament picture of an ox yoked to a donkey rather than to another ox, i.e. the combination of different species in work creates special pressures on each creature. This principle applies to the unequal pairing of believers with unbelievers in marriage relationships. "Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds" biblehub.com/colossians/3-9.htm"Instead, you ought to say, 'If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that.' But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil." biblehub.com/james/4-16.htm Also 2 Corinthians 10.17 "Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord" biblehub.com/jeremiah/9-24.htm "Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need"biblehub.com/ephesians/4-28.htm(7:33) The sermon here is on biblehub.com/matthew/15-5.htm(10:08) biblehub.com/niv/luke/4.htm, biblehub.com/niv/matthew/4.htm "The more opportune" mentioned here being the leadup to and carrying out of the crucifixion where Christ would be tested with the same three temptations as in the desert at the start of His ministry. The original broadcast had the following words italicised which add to our understanding: "and leaves HIM unsupported in the water", “if Christianity were NOT true”, “any real new REASONS”, “the fact that you HAVE moods”, “simply DRIFT away?”, “give ME sixpence to buy YOU a birthday present”.The bombing sounds were actually recorded during the London blitz. The closing music is based on the credits of the Churchill film 'The Darkest Hour'.
Hope by C.S. Lewis Doodle (BBC Talk 16B, Mere Christianity, Bk 3, Chapter 10) CSLewisDoodle 2020-12-05 | In this doodle C.S. Lewis talks about the Christian virtue called 'Hope', the continual looking forward to the eternal world (notes below).During one of the blackest years of WWII, C.S. Lewis wrote a BBC radio talk on ‘Hope & Faith as Virtues’. He originally wrote the radio address for 15 mins, but afterwards the BBC changed the formula & only allowed him 10 mins on "For the [Armed] Forces" radio station. So this talk had the section on ‘Hope’ cut from the broadcast, & it became simply a talk on ‘Faith’. This missing section ended up being printed in the book version of the talks called ‘Christian Behaviour’ (1943) & later became Chapter 10 of Book 3, in the book called ‘Mere Christianity’. This section on ‘Hope’ you are about to hear, was never broadcast by the BBC. (0:03) This view of the Golden Valley is reputed to be the most beautiful viewpoint in all Britain. It was made famous by the movie 'Shadowlands', as Lewis’ nursery picture he thought was a view of heaven (whether or not the picture really existed in his childhood, I do not know). The painting used in the movie is from Symonds Yat Rock & provides a fabulous viewpoint of the River Wye, Herefordshire. Lewis thought our best earthly pleasures are meant to arouse our desire for another world, & our earthly pleasures are only painted copies, or echoes, or mirages of the real joy of Heaven.(0:47) Alfred the Great, the English King, codified three prior Saxon codes – those of Æthelberht of Kent (c. 602 A.D.), Ine of Wessex (c. 694 A.D.) & Offa of Mercia (c. 786 A.D.) – to which he prefixed the 'Ten Commandments' of Moses & also incorporated rules of life from the Mosaic Code & the Christian code of ethics. Alfred the Great is also famous for defeating the Vikings, who had invaded England, & for being magnanimous in his great victory. (1:53) Lewis on civilisation: “You can't get second things by putting them first; you can get second things only by putting first things first. From which it would follow that the question, "What things are first?", is of concern not only to philosophers but to everyone. It is impossible, in this context, not to inquire what our own civilisation has been putting first for the last thirty years. & the answer is plain. It has been putting itself first. To preserve civilisation has been the great aim; the collapse of civilisation, the great bugbear [obsessive fear]. Peace, a high standard of life, hygiene, transport, science & amusement - all these, which are what we usually mean by civilisation, have been our ends. It will be replied that our concern for civilisation is very natural & very necessary at a time when civilisation is so imperilled [by Nazi conquests]. But how if the shoe is on the other foot - how if civilisation has been imperilled precisely by the fact that we have all made civilisation our summum bonum (highest good)? Perhaps it can't be preserved in that way. Perhaps civilisation will never be safe until we care for something else more than we care for it.""The hypothesis has certain facts to support it. As far as peace (which is one ingredient in our idea of civilisation) is concerned, I think many would now agree that a foreign policy dominated by desire for peace is one of the many roads that lead to war [written in 1942 about Chamberlain's British policy of 'peace at all costs'). And was civilisation ever seriously endangered until civilisation became the exclusive aim of human activity? There is much rash idealisation of past ages about, & I do not wish to encourage more of it. Our ancestors were cruel, lecherous, greedy & stupid, like ourselves. But while they cared for other things more than for civilisation - & they cared at different times for all sorts of things, for the will of God, for glory, for personal honour, for doctrinal purity, for justice - was civilisation often in serious danger of disappearing?""At least the suggestion is worth a thought. To be sure, if it were true that civilisation will never be safe till it is put second, that immediately raises the question, second to what? What is the first thing? The only reply I can offer here is that if we do not know, then the first, & only truly practical thing, is to set about finding out…” (‘First & Second Things’, June 1942).(8:48) See Matt.10.6, Ezek. 34.8.The original broadcast had the following words italicised (shown in CAPS). "You want other things MORE"; "There are all sorts of things in this world that OFFER to give it to you"; "But SOMETHING has evaded us"; "probably earthly pleasures were never MEANT to satisfy it."See 'The Problem of Pain' (Chp.10) & 'The Weight of Glory' for more.
Good Infection by C.S. Lewis Doodle (BBC Talk 21, Mere Christianity, Bk 4, Chapter 4) CSLewisDoodle 2020-11-03 | Good infection! A third doodle on the Trinity from the pen of C.S. Lewis looking at the Holy Spirit. “God is Love” but this does not mean “Love is God”. It may not mean that all our feelings of love are necessarily godly...This is an illustration of C.S. Lewis’ third talk from his fourth radio series called ‘Beyond Personality: Or First Steps in the Doctrine of the Trinity’. This became Chapter 4 of Book 4 in his book called ‘Mere Christianity’...You can find the book here: http://www.amazon.com/Mere-Christianity-C-S-Lewis/dp/0060652926(0:06) Tuberculosis (also called consumption) is a potentially serious infectious bacterial disease that mainly affects the lungs & caused widespread public concern in the 19th & early 20th centuries as the disease became more common. In 1815 one in four deaths in England was due to "consumption". In the 1880s the infected poor were "encouraged" to enter sanatoria that resembled prisons. (4:36) ". . . When people try to get rid of manlike, or, as they are called, 'anthropomorphic,' images, they merely succeed in substituting images of some other kinds. 'I don't believe in a personal God,' says one, 'but I do believe in a great spiritual force.' What he has not noticed is that the word 'force' has let in all sorts of images about winds & tides electricity & gravitation. 'I don't believe in a personal God,' says another, 'but I do believe we are all parts of one great Being which moves & works through us all'—not noticing that he has merely exchanged the image of a fatherly & royal-looking man for the image of some widely extended gas or fluid. A girl I knew was brought up by 'higher thinking' parents to regard God as perfect 'substance.' In later life she realized that this had actually led her to think of Him as something like a vast tapioca pudding. (To make matters worse, she disliked tapioca.) We may feel ourselves quite safe from this degree of absurdity, but we are mistaken. If a man watches his own mind, I believe he will find that what profess to be specially advanced or philosophic conceptions of God are, in his thinking, always accompanied by vague images which, if inspected, would turn out to be even more absurd than the manlike images aroused by Christian theology. For man, after all, is the highest of the things we meet in sensuous experience" (Lewis, Time magazine, 1947).(6:53) “At this point we must remind ourselves that Christian theology does not believe God to be a person. It believes Him to be such that in Him a trinity of persons is consistent with a unity of Deity. In that sense it believes Him to be something very different from a person, just as a cube, in which six squares are consistent with unity of the body, is different from a square. (Flatlanders, attempting to imagine a cube, would either imagine the six squares coinciding, & thus destroy their distinctness, or else imagine them set out side by side, & thus destroy the unity. Our difficulties about the Trinity are of much the same kind.) (The Poison of Subjectivism).(6:01) There are some instances where love of self, love of a friend, love of a child, love of a king & love of family had to be rebuked in Scripture to some degree, & these rebukes can still apply today. See scriptural rebukes of love:-God's rebukes of self-love ( biblehub.com/job/32-2.htm , biblehub.com/job/40-8.htm )-God's rebuke of friendship love ( biblehub.com/2_chronicles/19-2.htm )-A commanders rebuke of parental love ( biblehub.com/2_samuel/19-6.htm )-God's rebuke of love for a King ( biblehub.com/1_samuel/16-1.htm )-Christ's rebuke of his mother Mary & brothers ( biblehub.com/matthew/12-48.htm , biblehub.com/luke/8-21.htm , or even of maternal bonds when required: biblehub.com/luke/11-28.htm)More on this in Lewis' talk on Agape love: youtu.be/gaVaGGpeQKM?t=425 (7m 6sec). More from Lewis on making a god of romantic love also: Eros youtu.be/WReLIE08Dnc?t=1393 (7m 5sec)(12:04) John 1.1-5 "In the beginning was the Word, & the Word was with God, & the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, & without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, & the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, & the darkness did not comprehend it." biblehub.com/john/1-1.htm(12:49) Anyone feel like joining a Greek dance line, smashin’ some plates & yelling ‘Opa!/ώπα!’? Music taken from the soundtrack to the ‘The Guns of Navarone’.The magazine article shows italics as follows (in capitals): "Instead of being ON the table"; “does not come AFTER the cause”; “as if the Father & Son were two THINGS, rather than two persons”; “Love is what one PERSON has for another PERSON…”; "then before the world was made He was NOT love" ; "is a REAL person"; “How could he NOT die…” : "what CAN he do but wither and die?"
The Three-Personal God by C.S. Lewis Doodle (BBC Talk 20, Mere Christianity, Bk 4, Chapter 2) CSLewisDoodle 2020-09-26 | This is an illustration of C.S. Lewis’ second talk from his fourth radio series called ‘Beyond Personality: Or First Steps in the Doctrine of the Trinity’. This became Chapter 2 of Book 4 in his book called ‘Mere Christianity’...You can find the book here: http://www.amazon.com/Mere-Christianity-C-S-Lewis/dp/0060652926In the book, new chapters were added to the original broadcast talks and some were renamed or extended. See below:Talk 19 - The Map and the Ocean (Bk 4, Chapter 1 Making and Begetting)Talk 20 - God in Three Persons (Bk 4, Chapter 2 The Three Personal God).Talk 21 - The Whole Purpose of the Christian (Bk4, Chapter 3 The Good Infection).Talk 22 - The Obstinate Tin Soldiers (Bk 4, Chapter 5 )Talk 23 - Let Us Pretend ( Bk 4, Chapter 7)Talk 24 - Is Christianity Hard or Easy? (Bk 4, Chapter 8)Talk 25 - The New Man (Bk 4, Chapter 11)Bk 4, Chapter 1 - Making and BegettingBk 4, Chapter 2 - The Three Personal GodBk 4, Chapter 3 - The Good InfectionBk 4, Chapter 4 - Time and Beyond Time (Talk 25)Bk 4, Chapter 5 - The Obstinate Tin Soldiers Bk 4, Chapter 6 - Two NotesBk 4, Chapter 7 - Let Us PretendBk 4, Chapter 8 - Is Christianity Hard or Easy?Bk 4, Chapter 9 - Counting the CostBk 4, Chapter 10 - Nice People or New MenBk 4, Chapter 11 - The New Man(5:12) I should probably have drawn a square, a triangle, and a hexagram in Flatland trying to imagine a cube (which to them would look only to be another square) but I chose to depict flat-men in Doodleland, trying to imagine the third dimension in a game instead.(5:43) "As soon as Jesus was baptised, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” biblehub.com/matthew/3-16.htm(7:39) "Paul then stood up...said: 'People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD...'" biblehub.com/acts/17-23.htm(7:44) And standing in the middle, the high priest questioned Jesus, saying, Do you notanswer? Nothing? What do these testify against you? But He was silent and answered nothing. Again the high priest questioned Him, and said to Him, Are you the Christ, theSon of the Blessed? And Jesus said, I AM! And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming with the clouds of the heaven. [Psa. 110.1; Dan. 7.13]biblehub.com/mark/14-62.htm(8:28) The magazine version of this talk had the title and text “Theology – Experimental Knowledge", rather than the updated "Theology - Experimental Science" as it became in the book 'Mere Christianity'. Of course, they mean the same, but I think the first is clearer for me.(11:53) “In fact, that is just why a vague religion—all about feeling God in nature, and so on—is so attractive. It is all thrills and no work; like watching the waves from the beach. But you will not get to Newfoundland by studying the Atlantic that way, and you will not get eternal life by simply feeling the presence of God in flowers or music.” ('Making and Begetting' - youtube.com/watch?v=_RAsb3lv968)“And if, turning aside from the religious attitude, we speak for a moment as mere sociologists, we must admit that history does not encourage us to expect much invigorating power in a minimal religion. Attempts at such a minimal religion are not new - from Akhenaten and Julian the Apostate down to Lord Herbert of Cherbury and the late H. G. Wells. But where are the saints, the consolations, the ecstacies? The greatest of such attempts was that simplification of Jewish and Christian traditions which we call Islam..." (Lewis, Religion without Dogma). "So far from being the final religious refinement, Pantheism is in fact the permanent natural bent of the human mind; the permanent ordinary level below which man sometimes sinks, under the influence of priestcraft and superstition, but above which his own unaided efforts can never raise him for very long. Platonism and Judaism, and Christianity (which has incorporated both Platonism and Judaism) have proved the only things capable of resisting it. It is the attitude into which the human mind automatically falls when left to itself. No wonder we find it congenial. If ‘religion’ means simply what man says about God, and not what God does about man, then Pantheism almost is religion. And ‘religion’ in that sense has, in the long run, only one really formidable opponent—namely Christianity" (Lewis, ‘Miracles’, Chapter 12 - Christianity and ‘Religion’).The magazine article shows italics as follows (in capitals): "Though they say that God is BEYOND personality...something LESS then personal, something MORE than a person..."; "Then came a man who claimed to BE God"; and "waiting for him TOGETHER..."
The Perfect Penitent by C.S. Lewis Doodle (BBC Talk 9, Mere Christianity, Bk 2, Chapter 4) CSLewisDoodle 2020-08-16 | How unexpected would it be if a criminal actually admitted his crimes and his motive, rather than covering his guilt with proud looks and defiant silence? C.S. Lewis looks at repentance – only a bad person needs it, but only a good person can do it – and also looks at the Perfect Penitent, Jesus Christ...(0:22) “Just what He said” – “Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, 'I am God's Son'?” (biblehub.com/john/10-36.htm)“Again the high priest asked him, ‘Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?’ ‘I am,’ said Jesus. (biblehub.com/niv/mark/14.htm) “Who has gone up to Heaven, and come down? Who has gathered the wind in His fists? Who has bound the waters in a garment? Who has made all the ends of the earth to rise? What is His name, and what is His Son’s name? Surely you know.” (biblehub.com/proverbs/30-4.htm). (0:30) You can find Lewis’ short argument doodled here (youtu.be/bxzuh5Xx5G4) & his full essay argument in the video description there. (1:28) I decided not to illustrate the many theological atonement theories, but simply drew the biblical illustrations on which the atonement theories can be based. This way, one can see a variety of inspired illustrations that the Holy Spirit has used of this great event, and not use one image to the exclusion of all other biblical images. NB: Lewis calls the atonement theories (i.e. Penal Substitution, etc.) man-made "theories", not the inspired Biblical illustrations.The atonement is like light, which can be refracted and viewed seven beautifully different ways. If you want to get into the differing atonement theories (and bitter arguments) visit this link for a quick summary (sdmorrison.org/7-theories-of-the-atonement-summarized). Many of these theories were reactions (or overreactions) to the previous dominant atonement theories of the time (that had sometimes been pushed too far), or simply the result of a new false philosophy on the rise which was hoping to destroy all before it. But to be honest, you don’t really need to know any of these, simply all the biblical images &, in particular, the one inspired illustration the Lord wants you to focus on at this time. The Biblical illustrations sometimes use actual death itself to illustrate Christ’s death and resurrection, such as with Elijah and the widow’s son (1 Kings 17.17) and the Shunammite's son (2 Kings 4.18), and with Lazarus (Luke 7.11), but on most occasions, it doesn’t suit the story to kill off the hero, & raise him to life again, so it is death is in a manner of speaking or in parable form. For instance with Isaac, where Abraham received his son back as if from the dead (Hebrew 11.19). Jacob receives his chosen son Joseph back who he thought had suffered a cursed death (eaten by wild animals), but returns to save his whole family from starvation as Governor of Egypt (Genesis 43.3), Jonah also (Jonah 1.15, Matthew 12.40) & Samson (Judges 16:3).(2:05) A verse taken from the hymn, “I stand amazed in the presence.”(5:47) “Yet in my flesh shall I see God: Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold...” (biblehub.com/job/19-25.htm) "Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear His voice.” (biblehub.com/john/5-28.htm) (5:50 The fuller’s soap (i.e. a professional cleaner’s soap) and a refining furnace are the biblical images of Christ’s cleansing (Mal. 3:2). The bomb disposal picture of disabling death is an illustration from WW2 iconography. (6:30) The difficulty with a criminal trial illustration is that in a real court a guilty person can not justly be replaced, and an innocent person can not be punished instead. (But note 1 Kings 20:42, John 11.50 & 1 Peter 3.18).But this “swap” does work in terms of an animal sacrifice: “You are to lay your hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted on your behalf to make atonement for you” (Lev. 1.4). “…The law [of Moses] requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness (Heb. 9.22). And it does further work with the image of a ransom or a war prisoner exchange, in the image of a civil court debt which can be paid by a friendly party not at all responsible, and also in war when our sons are sent to die to save our lives. (7:16) ‘Stand the racket’ means to pay the bill, to treat or shout one’s companions. (9:23) “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; & the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” (biblehub.com/isaiah/53-6.htm) (14:21) This word ‘atonement’ (‘at’ ‘one-ment’) was coined by the great English translator William Tyndale. (14:41) The introductory & closing was written for the 2005 movie adaption of Lewis’ book, ‘The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe’, just before Tumnus’ repentance. See the comments section for an excerpt of the book from this scene.
The Practical Conclusion by C.S. Lewis Doodle (BBC Talk 10, Mere Christianity, Bk 2, Chapter 5) CSLewisDoodle 2020-06-27 | When this broadcast was made, Nazism was at the Zenith of its power. Freedom & democracy had been wiped from continental Europe due to an agreement between Hitler & Stalin, that divided Poland - the Nazis' only remaining enemy in the east. This allowed Hitler to turn on the Western Allies with full force without fear. With the West won, Hitler turned on Stalin. The self-proclaimed “supermen”, Nazis & Communists, were now locked in a life-&-death struggle as to which brand of socialism would triumph. This broadcast was made on the ‘For the Forces’ Radio station in the UK, & was the third Lewis broadcast to be heard by the American GI’s who had arrived in Belfast the previous month.(0:46) For C.S. Lewis' views on 'popular evolution' see this doodle here: (youtube.com/watch?v=2GCWGyWCLTo)(2:32) In 1942, private vehicle transport was not possible due to petrol rationing with most garaged for much of the war. Ships were slow, less frequent than trains & in constant danger from submarines. Planes were very expensive, & in danger of being shot down. (4:12) “It is Reason herself which teaches us not to rely on Reason only in this matter. For Reason knows that she cannot work without materials. When it becomes clear that you cannot find out by reasoning whether the cat is in the linen-cupboard, it is Reason herself who whispers, 'Go & look [or consult persons who have already looked]. This is not my job: it is a matter for the senses’. ” (‘Miracles’, “Christianity and ‘Religion’”)(4:37) In 1066 A.D. the English king died, & his brother-in-law, Harold, was crowned. After Harold's own brother rebelled & joined a viking invader, Harold traveled north & defeated both armies. Harold then raced back to Hastings to fight a Norman army which had just sailed from Northern France. The Normans, led by William the Conqueror, killed Harold - the last of the English Kings - with a clever combination of arrows timed with infantry advance & took over the kingship but also all the positions of power.In 1588 A.D. the superpower of the time, Catholic Spain, sought to invade the Protestant British Isles. After a series of naval battles, the Spanish Armada lay anchored in Calais, waiting to transport an invasion army across the English channel. The English sent 8 fire ships into the Spanish fleet, & though they all completely failed to inflicted damage on the Armada, most Spanish ships cut their anchor ropes in panic, & very few remained or were able to return for the naval battle. The English won the battle, & the Spanish were forced to sail away & then around Britain to return home. More Spanish ships were lost to storms than to the English fleet, who accredited the victory to God – “God blew his breath & the enemies were scattered.” England now no longer feared invasion.(6:04) This effort to upkeep what we did not create is mentioned in scripture many times:"This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you." (2 Timothy 1:6) biblehub.com/2_timothy/1-6.htm"Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you - guard it by the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us." (2 Timothy 1:14) biblehub.com/2_timothy/1-14.htm“…Work out your own salvation with fear & trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will & to do for His good pleasure.” (Phil. 2.12-13) biblehub.com/philippians/2-13.htm(8:14) One example - "Smell": “To one there is given through the Spirit…the distinguishing between spirits.” biblehub.com/niv/1_corinthians/12.htm “To those who are perishing, we are a dreadful smell of death & doom. But to those who are being saved, we are a life-giving perfume.” biblehub.com/2_corinthians/2-16.htm(8:32) Romans 10.9-10 (9:12) “The Good Earth” – A paraphrase of Genesis 1 that the crew of Apollo 8 called the earth in their Christmas Eve Broadcast of 1968, after they saw the earth rise for the first time from the desolate & barren moon, & had read a portion of Genesis 1. See a recreation here: youtube.com/watch?v=xbT9j1TH3Pc (9:46) ‘For there is no difference between Jew & Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all & richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? & how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? & how can they hear without someone preaching to them? & how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?”’ (Romans 12:10-15, biblehub.com/niv/romans/10.htm)The problem here was not the lack of preaching of the message of rescue, but the unprepared heart of the hearer. And this is a common problem that Isaiah details about any message from God. See Romans 2.14-16, 1 Pet. 3:19 also.
The New Man by C.S. Lewis Doodle (BBC Talk 25, Mere Christianity, Bk 4, Chapter 3 & 11) CSLewisDoodle 2020-05-06 | Transport yourself back to the 7th April, 1944, with a broadcast with C.S. Lewis' actual voice. This was his final broadcast to the nation in the very nervous days before D-Day. The nervousness was quite understandable, as success was by no means guaranteed, & the consequences of failure were so very dire. Lewis addresses time, & those things beyond it, & also the ‘New Man’, the birth of Christ's personality in you.Some creative license has been taken with the introduction of a soundtrack of an actual Nazi German newsreel & the Churchill broadcast around that time in order to give you some context to the time period. This is the listed music that night that troops heard in Southern England gathering en masse for D-day, & what the armaments factory workers heard preparing vehicles & planes for the D-day invasion. You can find the book here: http://www.amazon.com/Mere-Christianity-C-S-Lewis/dp/0060652926This talk was turned into two separate chapters in book 4 of Mere Christianity’ – ‘Time & Beyond Time’ (Chp. 3) and ‘The New Man’ (Chp. 7). Some differences between the radio & book versions are in the comment section below, where Lewis clarifies, limits, & adds a few additional examples to the very short broadcast (but for a complete understanding read the complete chapters).(0:21) Winston Churchill's full speech can be found here: Audio - archive.org/details/Winston_Churchill/1944-03-26_BBC_Winston_Churchill_On_Allied_Victories.mp3(3:25) Time & God was discussed by the ancient prophets (Gen. 21.33 "The Everlasting", Jer. 2.32 "Days without number", Dan. 7 "The Ancient of Days") & by the New Testament writers in the same Spirit (illustrated - Moses' Psalm 90.4 & 2 Pet. 3.8). Time was also discussed by the ancient Greek philosophers (illustrated), & by the Christian philosophers Augustine & Boethius. The modern philosophers culminated with the popular Idealist, McTaggart, who thought time was unreal, & therefore there can be no creation. This conception of time died with the fall of Idealism, the discovery that the universe did indeed have a beginning (this was a shock to the secular philosophic world) & that entropy gave time a direction. (Biologists now had a tight time limit for evolution to work). The physicist Einstein (illustrated) showed that time flow is affected by velocity. If one clock remains stationary while another is placed on a supersonic jet which flies around the world, they will no longer register the same passage of time. Lewis' view was that: God stands outside of time; time is created & contingent; time is intimately connected to the mind; & time is intimately connected to eternity.(5:48) Regarding the ‘New Man’, see Eph. 4.24 “& that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness, & true holiness. Col. 3.8 “Lie not one to another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his deeds.” See also Col. 3.10, 2 Cor. 5.17, Rom. 7.18 & Rom. 6.6. (6:52) “The United Nations” was what we know as "The Allies" today that joined in the fight against Nazi Germany – it was a ‘coalition of the willing’, not the supra-nation organisation we see today. (‘The United Nations’ as we know it today, was yet to be formed). See a 1944 poster - pinterest.nz/pin/418834834067110184 .(8:44) The Brécourt Manor Assault (6 June 1944) during the U.S. parachute assault of the Normandy coast in WW2 is often cited as a classic example of small-unit tactics & leadership in overcoming a larger enemy force. A small force ambushed a larger German artillery unit, permanently disabled the artillery firing on the D-Day beaches, & then withdrew before German reinforcements could arrive. (9:38) For C.S. Lewis' views on popular evolution see this doodle: http://y2u.be/2GCWGyWCLTo(14:18) Instead of thinking of all the things you would like to achieve or be, you instead submit them to God & let Him decide what it is He would like you to do, or walk towards. (15:35) The crossroads charge was made by the U.S. 101st Airborne Division, led by Dick Winters as shown in the series “Band of Brothers”. Finding themselves in a position which would eventually lead to them being outflanked, outgunned, & surrounded, they abandoned the position & charged across an open field. What seemed to be a suicidal charge, caught the Germans off guard. The SS unit & another Company fled, & were destroyed or captured in what turned out to be a turkey shoot. But the U.S. soldiers had first to ‘lose their lives’ & charge WW1 style across open ground, in order to save their unit.(15:23) “Apparently the world is made that way. If Esau really got the pottage in return for his birthright (Gen. 25), then Esau was a lucky exception. You can't get second things by putting them first; you can get second things only by putting first things first (Lewis, 'First & Second Things'). “Esau selfishly wanted God’s blessings, but he did not want God...” (The MacArthur New Testament Commentary on Heb. 12).
(NEW!) A Christmas Sermon for Pagans by C.S. Lewis Doodle CSLewisDoodle 2019-06-08 | Here' s a little intellectual candy cane for the Christmas season. A piece that C.S. Lewis wrote some 73 years ago, which was lost until last year. As such you will have to excuse the computerised voice/text reader used here, but enjoy the brand-new material! See notes below...(4:41, 9:53) See Lewis' Moral Law summary here: docs.google.com/document/d/1GXVTp4jSGcSHzT-E4lNEKSWl_htLl4faCpYcTDow3jU/edit?usp=sharing(6:44) “The ancient man approached God (or even the gods) as the accused person approaches his judge. For the modern man the roles are reversed...Man is on the Bench & God in the Dock." (God in the Dock,1948).(7:29) “The astronomers hold out no hope that this planet is going to be permanently inhabitable. The physicists hold out no hope that organic life is going to be a permanent possibility in any part of the material universe. Not only this earth, but the whole show, all the suns of space, are to run down. Nature is a sinking ship” (On Living in an Atomic Age, 1945, http://y2u.be/oxFmkg5dcyk). See also youtu.be/leSj7SVX_dg?t=602 (8:18) In 1946 British food supplies were more heavily rationed than during the Nazi siege, as now many continents were suffering from droughts, & the prospect of a “global starvation” was in all the newspapers. I should point out, that humanity had not put anywhere near enough CO2 into the air to have any possible effect in 1946 (see Dr. Patrick Michaels on this issue). It turns out that the threat of famine was not quite so bad as thought with big harvests in other regions (ironically world obesity was to be the real future threat). See article below for a taste of the panic:"14 Feb 1946–FAMINE THREAT TO LIVES OF 1000 MILLION Foreign Secretary Bevin Tells World Diet Will Be Very Monotonous. Question of Survival. Civilisation at Stake. Food must be the world priority #1. This was the key note of an urgent call to all food producing countries voiced at the United Nation Organization last night. Mr Ernest Bevin led the debate. He appealed to the Governments of the world to wage war on famine, which threatened a 1,000 million lives…"(8:36) In Britain, with cooking fats & soap still rationed, the nation looked to whale hunting to supply the large shortage. Whale hunting had been suspended for 5 years during WW2, & it was thought the whale stocks would be plentiful. The hunting fleets failure of 1946 describes exceptionally bad weather, a decrease in sightings of whales, a decrease in the age of whales caught, but also the “slimming” of similar aged whales caught - due to some sort of undersea plankton famine occurring in 1946. “23 March 1946–WHALING SEASON WORST ON RECORD. The first post war whaling season has proved the worst on record. It was expected that the suspension of whaling during the war years would mean that 'the ships would be hardly able to move for whales.' But on the contrary few whales have been found, & they are small & thin. Whale oil now stands at £45 a ton compared with £25 before the war.”(8:47) The earth vomits out its corrupt inhabitants–see Lev. 18.24-25: “Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things...for the land itself vomits out her inhabitants.” See also Amos 4.7-8 (one field had rain, another...).The earth groans with old age: “You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, & the heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish, but You remain; & they will all grow old like a garment” (Heb. 1.11, Psa. 102.26, Isa. 51.6).The earth is in "travail" as it waits for its ultimate purpose: “For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly awaits the revelation of the sons of God…for we know that the whole creation groans & travails in pain together until now.”Famine can also be caused by misuse: “Only the trees which you know are not trees for fruit, you shall destroy & cut them down…” (Deut.20.19).(8:52) See the 'Abolition of Man' chapter three: http://y2u.be/idgYLTnSzxI(8:55) Sic Volo Sic Jubeo: Thus I will, thus I command. Let my feelings take reason’s place.(12:39) See John 6.60-71: So Jesus said to the twelve disciples, “Do you want to go away as well?” Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, & we have believed, & have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”(12:43) “...as Jesus ever lives to make intercession for them” (Heb. 7.25). “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. Who is he that condemns? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us” (Rom. 8.33-34).(14:51) "a sign to note": a swaddled baby meant 'loved' (Ezek. 16.4). A baby in an animal trough meant 'hated' ("no place" Luk. 2.7). So the sign was "a loved baby in an unloved position". A similar kind of sign as "Christ crucified" (=chosen by God, rejected by men or 'the Saviour, unsaved' or 'the deliverer, delivered up & handed over').
The ‘Cardinal Virtues’ by C.S. Lewis Doodle (BBC Talk 11A, Mere Christianity, Bk 3, Chapter 2) CSLewisDoodle 2018-09-28 | How are your cardinal virtues at the moment? Are they needing a bit of WD-40/a lube? In the last talk of this series, C.S. Lewis illustrated morality with ships sailing in convoy during WWII. In this new chapter, Lewis looks at morality in the way the ancient writers divided the subject...Notes: This chapter started out as an accident. Lewis wrote a radio address for 15mins, but the BBC only allowed him 10mins, and so this section was cut out. But it is just as well, as this additional part ended up being printed in the book version of the talks called ‘Christian Behaviour’, which later became Chapter 2 of Book 3, in the book called ‘Mere Christianity’. You can find the 'Mere Christianity' book here: http://www.amazon.com/Mere-Christianity-C-S-Lewis/dp/0060652926 You can find this reading from 'Mere Christianity' here: http://family.christianbook.com/lewis-dramatic-story-behind-mere-christianity/c-s-lewis/9781624052187/pd/052187(0:23) Ships sailing in convoy - youtube.com/watch?v=MtTeCyrgjIQ(1:48) And Jesus said: "Truly I say to you, if not you be converted and become as the little children, you may not enter into the kingdom of Heaven, not ever! Therefore whoever will humble himself as this little child, this one is the greater in the kingdom of Heaven." (Matthew 18.3-4).(2:11) “As St. Paul points out”. See 1 Corinthians 14.20 - "Brothers and sisters, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults."(2:17) “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore, be wise as serpents and harmless as doves” (Matthew 10.16). See also Jeremiah 4.22 on the same topic: "My people are foolish. They do not know Me. They are stupid children, and they have no understanding. They are wise to do evil, but they do not know to do good.”(2:58) The last line of a common children’s prayer, once on the wall of many nurseries in England. (3:29) If you have daughters, an interesting story to explain to them is the meaning of "Little Red Riding Hood", in its original French version (1697 A.D.), which is about being wise when it comes to one's own protection. This is a story of a young, pretty girl who is complimented by the flattering attention of a stranger, and so gives too much personal information to a sexual predator. She is also clueless as to the evil motives behind the predator's instructions to her. This was a tale to teach young girls to be aware of charming "wolves", "who pursue young women at home and in the streets." See "Little Red Riding Hood" by Charles Perrault and its ending moral: “Children, especially attractive, well bred young ladies, should never talk to strangers, for if they should do so, they may well provide dinner for a wolf. I say "wolf," but there are various kinds of wolves. There are also those who are charming, quiet, polite, unassuming, complacent, and sweet, who pursue young women at home and in the streets. And unfortunately, it is these gentle-wolves who are the most dangerous ones of all.” (http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/perrault02.html)(5:44) Concerning eating meat: "Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience, for 'The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it' (Ps 24.1). If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience. But if someone says to you, 'This has been offered in sacrifice [to an idol],' then do not eat it, both for the sake of the one who told you and for the sake of conscience. I am referring to the other person’s conscience, not yours. For why is my freedom being judged by another’s conscience? If I take part in the meal with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of something I thank God for?"
The Invasion by C.S. Lewis Doodle (BBC Talk 7, Mere Christianity, Bk 2, Chapter 2) CSLewisDoodle 2018-03-29 | Notes: This is an illustration of C.S Lewis’ third talk of the third radio series called ‘What Christians Believe’. Notes below...This talk became Chapter 2 of Book 2, in the book called ‘Mere Christianity’. Notes below...You can find the book here: http://www.amazon.com/Mere-Christianity-C-S-Lewis/dp/0060652926 You can find this reading of Mere Christianity here: amazon.com/C-S-Lewis-War-Christianity/dp/1624052185(0:16) On atheism and simplified religions: “I think he [studying theology] can save himself time by confining his attention to two systems - Hinduism and Christianity. I believe these are the two serious options for an adult mind. Materialism is a philosophy for boys. The purely moral systems like Stoicism and Confucianism are philosophies for aristocrats. Islam is only a Christian heresy, and Buddhism a Hindu heresy: both are simplifications inferior to the things simplified. As for the old Pagan religions, I think we could say that whatever was of value in them survives either in Hinduism or in Christianity or in both…” (Lewis, De Futilitate).“And if, turning aside from the religious attitude, we speak for a moment as mere sociologists, we must admit that history does not encourage us to expect much invigorating power in a minimal religion. Attempts at such a minimal religion are not new - from Akhenaten and Julian the Apostate down to Lord Herbert of Cherbury and the late H. G. Wells. But where are the saints, the consolations, the ecstacies? The greatest of such attempts was that simplification of Jewish and Christian traditions which we call Islam..." (Lewis, Religion without Dogma).On simplified religions in Britain: "In every class and every part of the country the visible practice of Christianity has grown very much less in the last fifty years. This is often taken to show that the nation as a whole has passed from a Christian to a secular outlook. But if we judge the nineteenth century from the books it wrote, the outlook of our grandfathers (with a very few exceptions) was quite as secular as our own...one way of putting the truth would be that the religion which has declined was not Christianity. It was a vague Theism with a strong and virile ethical code, which, far from standing over against the "World", was absorbed into the whole fabric of English institutions and sentiment and therefore demanded churchgoing as (at best) a part of loyalty and good manners or (at worst) a proof of respectability...If the various anti-clerical and anti-theistic forces at work in the nineteenth century had had to attack a solid phalanx of radical Christians the story might have been different. But mere "religion" - "morality tinged with emotion", "what a man does with his solitude", "the religion of all good men" - has little power of resistance. It is not good at saying No” (Lewis, ‘The decline of Religion’).(2:36) "So far from being the final religious refinement, Pantheism is in fact the permanent natural bent of the human mind; the permanent ordinary level below which man sometimes sinks, under the influence of priestcraft and superstition, but above which his own unaided efforts can never raise him for very long. Platonism and Judaism, and Christianity (which has incorporated both Platonism and Judaism) have proved the only things capable of resisting it. It is the attitude into which the human mind automatically falls when left to itself. No wonder we find it congenial. If ‘religion’ means simply what man says about God, and not what God does about man, then Pantheism almost is religion. And ‘religion’ in that sense has, in the long run, only one really formidable opponent—namely Christianity" (Lewis, ‘Miracles’, Chapter 12 - Christianity and ‘Religion’).(13:23) The commonest question is whether I really "believe in the Devil." Now, if by "the Devil" you mean a power opposite to God and, like God, self-existent from all eternity, the answer is certainly No. There is no uncreated being except God. God has no opposite. No being could attain a "perfect badness" opposite to the perfect goodness of God; for when you have taken away every kind of good thing (intelligence, will, memory, energy, and existence itself) there would be none of him left. The proper question is whether I believe in devils. I do. That is to say, I believe in angels, and I believe that some of these, by the abuse of their free will, have become enemies to God and, as a corollary, to us. These we may call devils. They do not differ in nature from good angels, but their nature is depraved. Devil is the opposite of angel only as Bad Man is the opposite of Good Man. Satan, the leader or dictator of devils, is the opposite, not of God, but of [the archangel] Michael" (Lewis, Introduction to the Screwtape Letters).The Morse code (at the very end) can be translated by pushing the captions/subtitles button on the video.
The Four Loves (‘Agape’ or ‘God’s Love’) by C.S. Lewis Doodle CSLewisDoodle 2018-03-06 | This is an illustration of C.S Lewis’ talk about the fourth of the Four Loves – ‘Agape’ or ‘God's love for man and the Christian's love for the believers’. Notes below...Originally 'The Four Loves' series was recorded by Lewis in London in 1958, prepared as 10 talks to air on the ‘Protestant Hour’ on American radio in 1959. I believe 'Agape' was split into two talks. The second part begins at 10:57 if you need smaller, bite-sized segments. You can find my transcript of this talk here: drive.google.com/file/d/1GT9vwknq3Tvup6xeoedczAGIHF4Rx4OI/view?usp=sharingYou can purchase Lewis' original radio broadcasts here: amazon.com/The-Four-Loves/dp/B0007OB5QM(0:35) Modern audiences live in a naturalistic, humanity-centric age, and do not even have the benefit of a religious education (like the Victorians) to remind them of the supremacy of Divine love. So Lewis had to change his approach to the subject of love for a modern audience and put secondary things first, and start by showing the natural loves are not enough all by themselves. Lewis explains his approach here:“The natural loves prove that they are unworthy to take the place of God by the fact that they cannot even remain themselves and do what they promise to do without God's help. Why prove that some petty princeling is not the lawful Emperor when without the Emperor's support he cannot even keep his subordinate throne and make peace in his little province for half a year?” (C.S. Lewis, Book version)(5:13) See Psalm 69.20,33 and Psalm 51.17 "Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none. They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink." (7:49) "Consider again, "I loved Jacob and I hated Esau" (Malachi 1. 2-3). How is the thing called God's "hatred" of Esau displayed in the actual story? Not at all as we might expect...And, from all we are told, Esau's earthly life was, in every ordinary sense, a good deal more blessed than Jacob's. It is Jacob who has all the disappointments, humiliations, terrors, and bereavements. But he has something which Esau has not. He is a patriarch. He hands on the Hebraic tradition, transmits the vocation and the blessing, becomes an ancestor of Our Lord. The "loving" of Jacob seems to mean the acceptance of Jacob for a high (and painful) vocation; the "hating" of Esau, his rejection. He is "turned down," fails to "make the grade," is found useless for the purpose. So, in the last resort, we must turn down or disqualify our nearest and dearest when they come between us and our obedience to God. Heaven knows, it will seem to them sufficiently like hatred. We must not act on the pity we feel; we must be blind to tears and deaf to pleadings.”(13:42) "Nature never taught me that there exists a God of glory and of infinite majesty. I had to learn that in other ways. But nature gave the word GLORY a meaning for me. I still do not know where else I could have found one. I do not see how the "fear" of God could have ever meant to me anything but the lowest prudential efforts to be safe, if I had never seen certain ominous ravines and unapproachable crags. And if nature [i.e., Storge, Philia and Eros] had never awakened certain longings in me, huge areas of what I can now mean by the "love" of God [Agape] would never, so far as I can see, have existed." (16:03) “And as merciful as he feeleth God in his heart to himself-ward, so merciful is he to other; and as greatly as he feeleth his own misery, so great compassion hath he on other. His neighbour is no less care to him than himself: he feeleth his neighbour’s grief no less than his own” (William Tyndale, English Bible Translator and Christian Martyr).(20:31) "When God planted a garden He set a man over it and set the man under Himself. When He planted the garden of our nature and caused the flowering, fruiting loves to grow there, He set our will to "dress" them . Compared with them it [our will to dress them] is dry and cold [like garden tools]. And unless His grace comes down, like the rain and the sunshine, we shall use this tool to little purpose. But its laborious and largely negative services are indispensable."(23:14) There is another way also - spiritual help (2e) : "If you love me feed/guard my lambs/sheep" (John 21.16-17).(23:45) God can awake in man, towards Himself, a supernatural Appreciative love [#1]. This is of all gifts the most to be desired. Here, not in our natural loves, nor even in ethics, lies the true centre of all human and angelic life. With this all things are possible."(24:05) “Myths and symbols”. See the last page of the book version of ‘The Four Loves’ for C.S. Lewis’ examples.(24:50) Song: 'Born Again' from 'The Witness' Musical by Jimmy and Carol Owens. youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDA3A01C151ECF610(The lyrics to this song are in the captions on video).
The Four Loves (Eros or The Love Between the Sexes) by C.S. Lewis Doodle CSLewisDoodle 2017-11-12 | This is an illustration of C.S. Lewis’ radio talk about the third of the four loves – ‘Eros’ or ‘The Love Between the Sexes’. Notes below...When Lewis made these Four Loves recordings, he was very happily married and very much in love with his wife, Joy. Her cancer had been in remission almost a year at this point. The best description of Lewis’ transition to Eros is in a letter he wrote to a friend, where he said: “It is nice to have arrived at all this by something which began in Agape, proceeded to Philia, then became Pity [as to her plight], and only after that, Eros. As if the highest of these, Agape, had successfully undergone the sweet humiliation of an incarnation.”Originally 'The Four Loves' series was recorded by Lewis in London in 1958, prepared as 10 talks to air on the ‘Protestant Hour’ on American radio in 1959. I believe this third love of 'Eros' was split into three broadcasts. The second talk begins at 12:00 and the third at 18:47 if you need smaller, bite-sized segments. You can find my transcript of 'Eros' here: drive.google.com/file/d/1oFJLv_EfZuvIFUA-y3XObFyEt5ffqqvK/view?usp=sharingYou can purchase Lewis' original radio broadcasts here: amazon.com/The-Four-Loves/dp/B0007OB5QMThese talks were later turned into a larger book published in March 1960 with more detail (with quite different examples), which you can find here: amazon.com/Four-Loves-C-S-Lewis/dp/0156329301(0:34) The definitions/diagram section of this broadcast is probably best summarised in the book version. "That sexual experience can occur without Eros, without being 'in love', and that Eros includes other things beside sexual activity, I take for granted." (2:21) The lover "is more likely to feel that the incoming tide of Eros, having demolished many sand-castles and made islands of many rocks, has now at last with a triumphant seventh wave flooded this part of his nature also - the little pool of ordinary sexuality which was there on his beach before the tide came in.” ('The Four Loves', Lewis).(8:01) Eros, "far from aggravating, he reduces the nagging and addictive character of mere appetite. And that not simply by satisfying it. Eros, without diminishing desire, makes abstinence easier." ('The Four Loves', Lewis).(8:47) “Venus” is a very bright planet that appears from earth's perspective as linked to the sun, because of its orbit inside earth’s orbit. As such it became known as the “Morning star” or “Dawn star”. Due to its stunning addition to beautiful dawn scenes, Venus became known in the ancient world as ‘the beautiful planet’ and therefore became symbolic of woman, the most beautiful creature in creation to man. Essentially Venus became a symbol of all things to do with women, reproduction, sex, romance, fertility, growth, and even the colour green. The particular glory God gave this planet was then personified and worshiped as a goddess by ancient pagans, but old writers used the word in a symbolic way.(18:05) Lewis refers to the King Cophetua story as noted in his book version, a legendary king who fell in love with a beggar woman and made her his queen. This story was combined with the modern re-telling of the Pygmalion myth (the man who falls in love with his own creation), especially in its treatment by George Bernard Shaw in the play 'Pygmalion' (or the musical version ‘My Fair Lady’).(22:13) 'The Superman' - Fascism supports the creation of a 'New Man' who is a figure of action, violence, and masculinity, committed as a component of a disciplined mass that has shorn itself of individualism. Communism's 'New Man' was to make it his purpose to master his own feelings, to raise his instincts to the heights of consciousness, to make them transparent, to extend the wires of his will into hidden recesses, and thereby to raise himself to a new plane, to create a higher social biologic type, or, if you please, a superman. The Soviet era writer, Aleksandr Zinovyev, described what the superman, the ‘New Soviet Man’, really looked like (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_Sovieticus).[22:55] “The strange religion of love’ – ‘Courtly Love’ – "was love of a highly specialized sort, whose characteristics may be enumerated as Humility, Courtesy, Adultery, and the Religion of Love. The lover is always abject. Obedience to his lady’s lightest wish, however whimsical, and silent acquiescence in her rebukes, however unjust, are the only virtues he dares to claim..." (Lewis, 'The Allegory of Love'). (32:24) ‘Anna Karenina’ is a novel by the Russian writer Leo Tolstoy and is the tragic story of a married aristocrat/socialite in imperial Russia and her affair with the affluent Count Vronsky. Despite Vronsky's reassurances to marry her after she divorces, she grows increasingly possessive and paranoid about his imagined infidelity, fearing that he will give in to his mother's plans to marry him off to a rich society woman.
The Four Loves (Philia or Friendship) by C.S. Lewis Doodle CSLewisDoodle 2017-08-01 | This is an illustration of C.S Lewis’ talk about the second of the four loves – 'Philia' or 'Friendship'. Notes below...Originally 'The Four Loves' series was recorded by Lewis in London in 1958, prepared as 10 talks to air on the ‘Protestant Hour’ on American radio. I believe 'Philia' was split into three talks. The second part begins at 7:01 & the third at 18:30 if you need smaller, bite-sized segments. You can find my transcript of this talk here: drive.google.com/file/d/0B9MmcPqIiEnKTWtnYmthbHNvNDg/view?usp=sharingYou can purchase Lewis' original radio broadcasts here: amazon.com/The-Four-Loves/dp/B0007OB5QM These talks were later turned into a larger book with more detail (with quite different examples), which you can find here: amazon.com/Four-Loves-C-S-Lewis/dp/0156329301 (1:14) "[Ancient romantic couples such as] Tristan & Isolde, Antony & Cleopatra, Romeo & Juliet, have innumerable counterparts in modern literature: [Ancient friendships such as] David & Jonathan, Pylades & Orestes, Roland & Oliver, Amis & Amile, have not. To the Ancients, Friendship seemed the happiest and most fully human of all loves; the crown of life and the school of virtue. The modern world, in comparison, ignores it."(2:21) “Your [friendship] love was…greater than the love of women [i.e., Eros]”. Friendship love from Jonathan in David’s life had been of a better quality here than the Eros love from his wife, Michal, Jonathan's sister.(4:37) Dr Johnson was probably the most distinguished man of letters in English history and Boswell wrote his biography, which is claimed as “the greatest biography written in the English language”. Lewis described this relationship as a “pretty flagrantly heterosexual couple”. (15:45) No slight here: “I think I can understand that feeling about a housewife’s work being like that of Sisyphus (who was the stone rolling gentleman). But it is surely, in reality, the most important work in the world. What do ships, railways, mines, cars, government etc exist for except that people may be fed, warmed, & safe in their own homes? As Dr Johnson said, ‘To be happy at home is the end of all human endeavour’. (1st to be happy, to prepare for being happy in our own real Home hereafter: 2nd, in the meantime, to be happy in our houses.) We wage war in order to have peace, we work in order to have leisure, we produce food in order to eat it. So your job is the one for which all others exist.” (Lewis, 1955).(21:29) See Genesis 4.9 “Am I my brother's keeper?” But note God’s exception to this kind of help in 2 Chronicles 19.2.(22:34) “This [Friendship] love (essentially) ignores not only our physical bodies, but that whole embodiment which consists of our family, job, past and connections. At home, besides being Peter or Jane, we also bear a general character; husband or wife, brother or sister, chief, colleague or subordinate. Not among our Friends. It is an affair of disentangled, or stripped, minds. Eros will have naked bodies; Friendship naked personalities."(23:56) ‘Immune from the internal corruptions of Storge’ – that is, Friendship is almost free from Affection's need to be needed.(24:20) “…We must notice that Friendship is very rarely the image under which Scripture represents the love between God and Man. It is not entirely neglected; but far more often, seeking a symbol for the highest love of all, Scripture ignores this seemingly almost angelic relation and plunges into the depth of what is most natural and instinctive…Friendship is even, if you like, angelic. But man needs to be triply protected by humility if he is to eat the bread of angels without risk. Perhaps we may now hazard a guess why Scripture uses Friendship so rarely as an image of the highest love. It is already, in actual fact, too spiritual to be a good symbol of Spiritual things." ('The Four Loves', Friendship).(29:01) From ‘Aucassin and Nicolette’ (c. 1200): “For to Hell go the fair clerks [intellectuals] and the fair knights who are slain in the [jousting] tourney and the great wars, and the stout archer and the gallant nobles. With them will I go. And there go the fair and courteous ladies, who have lovers, two or three, together with their wedded lords. And there pass the gold and the silver, the ermine [mink] and all rich furs, harpers and minstrels [poets], and the happy of the world. With these will I go, so only that I have Nicolette, my very sweet friend, by my side.”(29:05) “Now a man must be very good or…very bad, not to feel in himself a response to that gesture”; ”The real black, diabolical Pride comes when you look down on others so much that you do not care what they think of you. Of course, it is very right, and often our duty, not to care what people think of us, if we do so for the right reason; namely, because we care so incomparably more what God thinks. But the Proud man has a different reason for not caring..." (Mere Christianity, ‘The Great Sin’).
The Four Loves (Storge or Affection) by C.S. Lewis Doodle CSLewisDoodle 2017-05-14 | This is an illustration of C.S Lewis’ talk about the first of the four loves – 'Storge' or 'Affection'. Notes below...Originally 'The Four Loves' series was recorded by Lewis in London in 1958, prepared as 10 talks to air on the ‘Protestant Hour’ on American radio. I believe the first two talks addressed 'Storge'. The second talk begins at 11:00, if you need smaller, bite-sized pieces. You can find my transcript of this talk here, as it is not available on the web for some reason: drive.google.com/file/d/0B8lkIorOqTUySlloZUtRT2hMMXM/view?usp=sharingYou can purchase Lewis' original radio broadcasts here: amazon.com/The-Four-Loves/dp/B0007OB5QM This was later turned into a larger book with more detail (with quite different examples), which you can find here: amazon.com/Four-Loves-C-S-Lewis/dp/0156329301(1:55) “When we blame a man for being 'a mere animal', we mean not that he displays animal characteristics (we all do), but that he displays these, and only these, on occasions where the specifically human was demanded. When we call a man 'brutal' we usually mean that he commits cruelties impossible to most real brutes; they're not clever enough” (‘The Four Loves’, Chapter 3).(9:20) Lewis: “In the nineteenth century some people thought that monogamous family life would automatically make them holy and happy; the savage anti-domestic literature of modern times – the Samuel Butlers, the Gosses, the Shaws – delivered the answer…The ‘debunkers’ may have been wrong about principles and may have forgotten the maxim abusus non tollit usum [the abuse of something does not abolish its use]: but in both cases they were pretty right about matters of fact [i.e. as to how domestic affections can become depraved]" (Lewis essay, ‘The Sermon and the Lunch’). (9:25) Anthony Trollope wrote the Chronicles of Barsetshire of which ‘Framley Parsonage’ (1861) deals with ambition, and ‘Doctor Thorne’ (1858) with snobbery. Another book by Trollope, ‘The Way We Live Now’ (1875), deals with gambling. William Makepeace Thackeray wrote 'Vanity Fair' (1847-8). George Elliot (a.k.a. Mary Anne Evans) wrote seven novels, including 'Adam Bede' (1859), 'The Mill on the Floss' (1860), 'Silas Marner' (1861), and 'Middlemarch' (1871–72), most of which are set in provincial England.(10:58) ‘Every one of Storge’s characteristics is ambivalent’, which means they can be turned to either evil or good.(11:09) The larger quote from Butler is here. Pontifex: “He [his son, Ernest] is not fond of me, I’m sure he is not. He ought to be after all the trouble I have taken with him, but he is ungrateful and selfish. It is an unnatural thing for a boy not to be fond of his own father. If he was fond of me I should be fond of him, but I cannot like a son who, I am sure, dislikes me. He shrinks out of my way whenever he sees me coming near him. He will not stay five minutes in the same room with me if he can help it. He is deceitful. He would not want to hide himself away so much if he were not deceitful"."I wish he was not so fond of music, it will interfere with his Latin and Greek. I will stop it as much as I can. Why, when he was translating Livy [the ancient author of 'The History of Rome and the Roman People'] the other day, he slipped out Handel’s name in mistake for Hannibal’s, and his mother tells me he knows half the tunes in the ‘Messiah’ by heart. What should a boy of his age know about the ‘Messiah’? If I had shown half as many dangerous tendencies when I was a boy, my father would have apprenticed me to a greengrocer, of that I’m very sure,” etc., etc."“At other times, when not quite well, Pontifex would have his sons in for the fun of shaking his will at them. He would in his imagination cut them all out one after another and leave his money to found almshouses, till at last he was obliged to put them back, so that he might have the pleasure of cutting them out again the next time he was in a passion” (Samuel Butler, ‘The Way of All Flesh’).(11:35) As a child Ernest was very late in being able to sound a hard “c” or “k,” and, instead of saying “Come,” he said “Tum”, and for this error he was beaten by his bad tempered father. (13:14) ‘Trenchantly’ means vigorously, energetically or cuttingly.(23:14) Lewis: “Imagine three men who go to war. One has the ordinary natural fear of danger that any man has and he subdues it by moral effort and becomes a brave man. Let us suppose that the other two have, as a result of things in their sub-consciousness, exaggerated, irrational fears, which no amount of moral effort can do anything about. Now suppose that a psychoanalyst comes along and cures these two: that is, he puts them both back in the position of the first man. Well it is just then that the psychoanalytical problem is over and the moral problem begins..." ('Mere Christianity', Book 3, ‘Morality and Psychoanalysis’).
Christian Marriage by C.S. Lewis Doodle (BBC Talk 14a, Mere Christianity, Bk 3, Chapter 6) CSLewisDoodle 2017-03-16 | This is a fresh section on sexual morality that Lewis added to a reprint of his famous BBC addresses to bring in points which he had not time to deal with in the actual talks. Notes below. This became Chapter 5 of Book 3, in the book called ‘Mere Christianity'. You can find the book here: http://www.amazon.com/Mere-Christianity-C-S-Lewis/dp/0060652926 (0:32) Lewis would later marry in 1957 – incidentally he married a divorcee, who had legitimate reasons for a righteous divorce. He wrote 'The Four Loves' after his marriage, which is highly recommended reading also.(8:10) Patriotism. Lewis: "Ordinary morality tells us, ceteris paribus [all other things being equal], to love our kindred and fellow citizens more than strangers." A racialist ethic is achieved by isolating one part of this maxim to the exclusion of the other, so that no claims except those of blood are acknowledged (i.e. blood ties or loyalty to family are everything, and the rights of strangers is ignored). A socialist ethic is achieved by selecting the other part of the maxim, so that duties to children and citizens are destroyed for 'the good of humanity'. Scriptures like 1 Timothy 5:8 are ignored. It was disillusionment with this error that was one of the steps that led Joy Lewis to convert to Christianity: "I began to notice what neglected, neurotic waifs the children of Communists were and to question the genuineness of the love of mankind that didn't begin at home.”(10:56) The original booklet contained a shorter passage which was re-written and extended in the book, ‘Mere Christianity’, but it also contained some other ideas which are beneficial to consider as well – the idea that falling in love may not be a good enough reason for a Christian to get married in the first place. Lewis: “People...often say, 'Surely love is the important thing in marriage.' In a sense, yes. Love is the important thing – perhaps the only important thing – in the whole universe. But it depends what you mean by “Love”. What most people mean by Love, when they are talking about marriage, is what is called “being in love". Now “being in love” may be a good reason for getting married, though, as far as I can see, it is not a perfect one, for you can fall in love with someone most unsuitable, and even with someone you don’t really (in a deeper sense) LIKE or trust. But being in love is not the deeper unity which makes man and wife one organism. I am told (indeed I can see by looking round me) that being in love doesn’t last. I don’t think it was ever intended to. I think it’s a sort of explosion that starts up the engine; it’s the pie-crust, not the pie. The real thing, I understand, is something far deeper — something you can live on. I think you can be madly in love with someone you would be sick of after ten weeks: and I’m pretty sure you can be bound heart and soul to someone about whom you don’t at the moment feel excited, any more than you feel excited about yourself.”(18:25) In the Bible man only began to “rule” (Genesis 3.16) over his wife as a result and punishment of the fall. Before that, man was head of his wife, but not her master. In a similar way, Israel's Judges were shepherds or heads over Israel, but not her Kings. See Judges 8.23 where God’s Judge, Gideon, utterly rejects that position: “I shall not rule over you, and not shall my son rule over you; the LORD shall rule over you!”. The people’s rejection of God as Master, and their wicked demand for a human master in 1 Samuel 8.7 and 1 Samuel 12.17 is shown to be an inferior position from the original. Being 'head' of a woman did not mean that she could not defy a wicked husband (see Abigail's famous defiance of her wicked husband Nabal’s wishes and it was righteous - 1 Sam 25), nor did it mean that a husband would not have to obey his wife on righteous occasions when she knew the will of the Lord better than he ("Obey your wife in all that she says” - Genesis 21.12, a contrast to Gen. 16.2). Abigail, in fact, performed the role of a righteous wife and classic helpmate for David in saving him from the disaster of avenging himself. See Lewis here: "The sternest feminist need not grudge my sex the crown offered to it either in the Pagan or in the Christian mystery. For the one is of paper and the other of thorns" (C. S. Lewis, 'The Four Loves').(2:18) If you would like to know where the traditional Christian marriage vows - to (a) love, (b) nourish, (c) cherish and (d) be faithful - come from and what they actually mean, I’ve put together a couple of simple presentations on the subject, photographed in miniature toys. See facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=6537536022&set=a.6461266022.19186.533841022&type=3&theaterfacebook.com/photo.php?fbid=108769881022&set=a.6461996022.19190.533841022&type=3&theater
Sexual Morality by C.S. Lewis Doodle (BBC Talk 14, Mere Christianity, Bk 3, Chapter 5) CSLewisDoodle 2017-02-27 | C.S Lewis looks at the virtue of chastity. Notes below...This is an illustration of Lewis’ 4th talk of the third radio series called ‘Christian Behaviour’. This became Chapter 5 of Book 3, in the book called ‘Mere Christianity’.You can find the book here: http://www.amazon.com/Mere-Christianity-C-S-Lewis/dp/0060652926 (0:36) "and in what words" - Lewis: “Sit down and draw your nude. When you have finished it, take your pen and attempt the written description. Before you have finished you will be faced with a problem which simply did not exist while you were working at the picture. When you come to those parts of the body which are not usually mentioned, you will have to make a choice of vocabulary. And you will find that you have only four alternatives: a nursery word, an archaism, a word from the gutter, or a scientific word...And this is going to be very troublesome ...for it gives a particular tone to your composition (C.S. Lewis, Essay ‘Prudery and Philology’). (1:13) "A naughty hussy" - In the 1500's, 'naughty' meant poor, 'hussy' meant housewife, 'cunning' meant skilled, and 'pretty' meant cunning. (6:23) In ancient Greece, sodomy and child-sex were not illegal in many cases, but they were considered immoral. They were sternly prohibited by Aristotle and was continually tittered at by Plato.(6:53) In the original broadcast published by the Daily Mirror, Lewis mention eating earth. Eating dirt was a perversion mention by Aristotle.(9:54) The view that the body is a “sack of dung," food for worms, filthy and shameful was, oddly enough, a common view among ancient ascetic pagans (See ‘The Four Loves’ by C.S.Lewis).(11:18) In the original broadcast this passage was cut down to simply: “The real moral question is, given that situation, what we do about it. If we really want to be cured, I think we shall be. I mean, if a man tries to go back to the Christian rule — if he makes up his mind either to abstain from sex altogether, or to marry one woman and stick to her — he may not completely succeed, especially at first. But, as long as he picks himself up each time, and starts again as well as he can, he will be on the right track. He won't damage his central self beyond repair.”(11:57) Augustine. 'Confessions', Book 8: "...For I feared lest God should hear me immediately, and immediately cure me of the disease of inflamed lust, which I wished to have satisfied, rather than extinguished."(16:51) Indulged desire, the surrender to your every sexual impulse is seriously dangerous to your mental health – i.e. NOT resisting a known sexual temptation. In fact, there is nothing more dangerous to your mental health than sin. In the Bible, mental disorders were one of the curses on disobedience. Nothing is more calming than adding faith in God and the hope of His salvation into even the most distressing situation (Psalm 91:7). The choice to sin usually comes first before the mental disorder, not the other way around (Deut. 28.34) and repentance does the world of good.(18:20) Lewis clarified what he meant in terms of the center of Christian morality in a later chapter called 'The Great Sin'. See also 1 John 2.16 - the lust of the flesh (the sin nature), and the reception of an opportunity to sin (the lust of the eye) are not enough to cause unchastity. It is ‘the pride of life’ – the part of us that says ‘I deserve this’ or ‘why can’t I have it?’ – that causes us to fall prey to any given temptation, from minor to grave. Sexual sin, though a fleshly sin, is unique among the sins in that it is the only one that causes you to sin “against one's own body” (1 Cor 6.18). It is a ‘gateway sin' that can cripple the Christian life (Luke 8.14) or destroy it altogether. Unchastity was the only way the ancient people of God could be successfully attacked on the way to the Promised Land (see Numbers 25). It is usually a Christian's first test of priorities in life - whether God hold's ultimate sway in one's life or not.(19:08) Matthew 21.28-32
Making and Begetting by C.S. Lewis Doodle (BBC Talk 19, Mere Christianity, Bk 4, Chapter 1) CSLewisDoodle 2016-12-01 | This is an illustration of C.S Lewis’ introductory talk of the fourth radio series called ‘Beyond Personality: Or First Steps in the Doctrine of the Trinity’. This became Chapter 1 of Book 4 in the book called ‘Mere Christianity’...You can find the book here: http://www.amazon.com/Mere-Christianity-C-S-Lewis/dp/0060652926(1:06) In the original published broadcasts, it shows that Lewis emphasised certain words when delivering these talks on the radio. For instance, when the old hard bitten Royal Air Force Officer said to Lewis "I know there's a God, I've felt him", Lewis emphasised the words "know" and "felt". I.e., the officer, thought experience is all that is required.(5:10) "The idea of reaching 'a good life' without Christ is based on a double error. Firstly, we cannot do it; and secondly, in setting up 'a good life' as our final goal, we have missed the very point of our existence. Morality is a mountain which we cannot climb by our own efforts; and if we could we should only perish in the ice and unbreathable air of the summit, lacking those wings with which the rest of the journey has to be accomplished. For it is *from* there that the real ascent begins. The ropes and axes are 'done away' and the rest is a matter of flying" ('Man or Rabbit', 1946).(7:18) “It is no good asking for a simple religion. After all, real things are not simple. They look simple, but they are not. The table I am sitting at looks simple: but ask a scientist to tell you what it is really made of—all about the atoms and how the light waves rebound from them and hit my eye and what they do to the optic nerve and what it does to my brain—and, of course, you find that what we call "seeing a table" lands you in mysteries and complications which you can hardly get to the end of. A child saying a child's prayer looks simple. And if you are content to stop there, well and good. But if you are not—and the modern world usually is not—if you want to go on and ask what is really happening— then you must be prepared for something difficult. If we ask for something more than simplicity, it is silly then to complain that the something more is not simple. Very often, however, this silly procedure is adopted by people who are not silly, but who, consciously or unconsciously, want to destroy Christianity. Such people put up a version of Christianity suitable for a child of six and make that the object of their attack. When you try to explain the Christian doctrine as it is really held by an instructed adult, they then complain that you are making their heads turn round and that it is all too complicated and that if there really were a God they are sure He would have made "religion" simple, because simplicity is so beautiful, etc. You must be on your guard against these people for they will change their ground every minute and only waste your time. Notice, too, their idea of God "making religion simple": as if "religion" were something God invented, and not His statement to us of certain quite unalterable facts about His own nature" (C.S. Lewis, 'Mere Christianity', ‘The Invasion’).(7:50) "God causes the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for the service of man, to bring food out of the earth. And wine cheers the heart of man; oil makes his face shine, and bread sustains the heart of man" (Psalm 104.14-15). See also Acts 14.17 "And yet God did not leave Himself without witness, doing good, giving rain and fruitful seasons to us from heaven, filling our hearts with food and gladness."(8:18) See: John 17.24 "That they may behold My glory which You gave Me before the foundation of the world"; John 8.58-59 "Before Abraham came to be, I AM!"; 1 John 1.2 "We announce to you the everlasting Life which was with the Father, and was revealed to us"; John 1.1-2, Col 1.16 "All things were created through Christ and for Christ". (14:09) See John 1:11-13 "Jesus Christ was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God."*This broadcast was moved to Tuesday from Sunday.You can find the audio track here:amazon.com/C-S-Lewis-War-Christianity/dp/1624052185.
The Three Parts of Morality by C.S. Lewis Doodle (BBC Talk 11, Mere Christianity, Bk 3, Chapter 1) CSLewisDoodle 2016-10-31 | This is an illustration of C.S Lewis’ introductory talk of the third radio series called ‘Christian Behaviour’. This became Chapter 1 of Book 3, in the book called ‘Mere Christianity’...You can find the book here: http://www.amazon.com/Mere-Christianity-C-S-Lewis/dp/0060652926(0:01) This series was not aired on 'The Home Service" frequency as the previous ten talks, but the "For the [Armed] Forced" frequency, so it encompassed a lot more soldiers, sailors and airmen (although civilian listened to this station also) and Lewis deliberately uses more military themes to help his audience.(4:48) This broadcast was made during the height of the Battle of the Atlantic (July 1942 - May 1943). Individual cargo ships were being attacked by Nazi submarines and needed to travel in guarded convoys to enable Britain's survival. At this time convoys were carrying food and military supplies to Britain from the U.S., which enabled Britain to continue to fight the war. Churchill would later write: "...the only thing that ever frightened me during the war was the U-boat peril". Lewis' use of a convoy illustration was particularly pertinent to listeners at that time.(1:03) Huge numbers of workers were involved in engineering during the war, so this was a particularly apt example for the vast majority of people. (8:28) “Crazy old [bath]tubs”. In September 1940 the British, militarily unprepared, under blockade from the Nazis and desperate to maintain supplies, had to run the gantlet of the Atlantic ocean, but did so in large conveys protected by submarine destroyers. Britain signed a bases deal with the U.S. for 50 incorrectly mothballed WW1 Destroyers, only 9 of which were functional by year end (the U.S. military kindly packed them full of essential military supplies which was usually illegal under neutrality legislation). Not that Britain was ungrateful for the rather unfavourable deal - this was the crucial first deal that would lead to the Anglo-American Pact that supported Britain financially and militarily, and enabled the waging of war (although the U.S. public and military were strongly supportive of the U.K, the U.S. Government lagged behind and were 'remote and indifferent' or downright skeptical of British survival). The U.S. would overtake Britain militarily for the first time during WW2, and became the world's foremost superpower.(8:01) You can find international examples of the same Moral Law in numerous cultures and times in the appendix to the booklet ‘The Abolition of Man’. The examples are broken down as follows:1. The moral duties to humanity in general.a) Negative (do not's)b) Positive (do's)2. The moral duties owed to fellow citizens.3. The moral duties owed to parents, and elders.4. The moral duties to children and posterity.5. The moral duty of justice.6. The moral duty of good faith and honesty.7. The moral duty of compassion.8. The moral duty of courage.(12:03) Totalitarianism is based on the assumption that the state has supremacy over the individual, whereas Democracy has the opposite assumption, that the state is a servant to the individual.Screwtape: "That invaluable man Rousseau ['the father of the totalitarians'] first revealed it. In his perfect democracy, you remember, only the state religion is permitted, slavery is restored, and the individual is told that he has really willed (though he didn't know it) whatever the Government tells him to do. From that starting point, via Hegel (another indispensable propagandist on our [demonic] side) we easily contrived both the Nazi and the Communist state." (Screwtape Proposes a Toast, C.S. Lewis)"The Nation State is spirit in its actuality... it is therefore the absolute power on earth." (From G.W.F. Hegel, Philosophy of Law, § 331)“What is life? Life is the Nation. The individual must die anyway. Beyond the life of the individual is the Nation.” (Adolf Hitler, On the Nazi defeat in Stalingrad).(Music: "Chattanooga Choo Choo" was the #1 dance hit on 7 December 1941, the same day as the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour. The introductory BBC music features a patriotic song of the Royal Navy. "Rule, Britannia! rule the waves: Britons never will be slaves." The closing credits is the closing scene from the movie, "The Guns of Navarone".)You can find the audio track here:amazon.com/C-S-Lewis-War-Christianity/dp/1624052185.
‘옳고 그름’, 우주의 의미를 푸는 실마리 (BBC 방송강연-1/ -순전한 기독교- 1부 1장) CSLewisDoodle 2015-12-03 | 이 영상은 C.S.루이스가 2차 세계대전 중 BBC에서 했던 방송강연을 재구성한 것입니다. -순전한 기독교-의 1부 1장의 내용입니다. 여기에서 책을 만나실 수 있습니다. : http://www.yes24.com/24/goods/215132?scode=032&OzSrank=2 이 짧은 방송은 영국의 방송 역사상 가장 많이 읽힌 라디오시리즈 중 하나로 남았습니다. 하지만 방송할 당시엔 청취자들과 논쟁도 했던 것이 분명합니다. 당시 영국엔 라디오 방송국이 단 2개였습니다. 저녁 7시 45분, 군인 주파수에서는 당시 가장 인기 있는 가수인 그레이시 필즈가(‘작별인사를 할 땐 행운을 빌어줘요’로 유명한) 진행하는 생방송이 나오고 있었습니다. 같은 시각, 루이스가 출연한 홈 서비스Home Service 주파수에서는 노르웨이어 뉴스 방송이 방금 끝났으며 루이스의 방송 이후엔 웨일즈어 방송이 나올 예정이었습니다. 따라서 대부분의 영어 청취자를 확보할 수 없는 상황이었습니다. 하지만 이 시리즈가 끝날 무렵 루이스는 믿을 수 없을 정도로 유명해졌고, BBC는 즉시 새로운 시리즈를 제안했습니다. 루이스는 1944년 중반까지 BBC와 일을 하며 영국인들이 가장 힘든 전쟁의 시기를 잘 넘기도록 도와주었습니다. 루이스의 목소리는 윈스턴 처칠 다음으로 영국에서 가장 널리 알려졌습니다. 본 영상의 다음 편은 여기에서 만나실 수 있습니다. : (한국어 더빙은 기다려주세요)youtube.com/watch?v=l_VYCqCexow참고본 두들Doodles은 말하자면 선생님을 위한 것입니다. 이 두들에서 얻은 아이디어로 누군가 학생들을 위한 새로운 콘텐츠를 만들면 좋겠군요. 키케로, 플라톤, 모세의 인용문 전문과 참고문헌은 -인간폐지-(홍성사)의 부록에서 볼 수 있습니다. 아리스토텔레스의 인용문은 -고통의 문제-(홍성사)에서 발췌했습니다. 키케로는 근본적으로 가족을 우선해야 한다고 말한 반면, 플라톤은 전쟁터에서 그렇듯 국가를 최우선으로 하지 않는다면 우리가 지킬 가족도 있을 수 없다고 말합니다. 하나님은 모세에게 누구도 편애하지 말라고-네 옆 사람을 네 몸처럼 사랑하라고 합니다. 모든 거짓말, 도둑질, 남을 이용해 먹는 행동은 이웃(옆 사람)보다 자신을 더 사랑하는 것입니다. “굳이 따로 배우지 않아도 인간이라면 누구나 자연스럽게 안다”(4:24) “존슨(Samuel Johnson)박사 말처럼 ‘사람은 가르쳐야 할 때보다 기억시켜야 할 때가 더 많습니다.’”(루이스, -순전한 기독교- 3부 3장 ‘사회도덕’/원 출처는 존슨 박사의 간행물 ‘The Rambler’ 1750년 3월 24일 토요일판)“조약이란 하등 중요한 것이 아니다”( 7:13)영국은 1914년 중립국 벨기에를 침략하지 않기로 한 삼국간의 조약을 지키라며 독일에 최후통첩을 보냈습니다. 아무런 답이 없자 1914년 8월 4일 밤 11시 영국은 독일과 전쟁을 선포했습니다. 놀란 독일 수상은 다음과 같이 말했습니다. “대영제국은 조약을 종이조각으로 여기며 단지 친구가 되고 싶어하는 혈연국가에 전쟁을 선포했다.” 독일 최고사령부는 중립국 벨기에에 관한 이전 국경조약과 이후의 약속들에 대해 ‘조약은 종이조각에 불과하다’고 대응했으며 히틀러는 정확히 같은 말을 반복했습니다. “난 프랑스와 영국을 최적기에 최대한 빨리 공격할 것이다. 중립국 벨기에와 홀란드를 침략한 것은 아무 문제가 없다. 우리가 이긴다면 아무도 문제삼지 않을 것이다. 우리는 중립성을 침해한 것에 1914년처럼(‘종이조각에 불과하다’) 손쉽게 해명할 것이다.” 히틀러, 1939년 11월 23일히틀러는 ‘국경조약은 중요하지 않다’고 말하는 동시에 체코슬로바키아와 폴란드를 침공한 것에 대해서는 도덕법에 근거해 정당화 했습니다. 즉 독일이 준수하기로 약속한 베르사유조약은 게르만 민족의 팽창권리를 침해하므로 부당하다는 것입니다.Artist: http://www.playmobible.com .Read by Yi, Ghang. Adapted by Jung, In Young from a translation made by Jang, Gyeong Chol and Lee, Jong Tae.
The Rival Conceptions of God by C.S. Lewis Doodle (BBC Talk 6, Mere Christianity, Bk 2, Chapter 1) CSLewisDoodle 2015-10-31 | This is an illustration of C.S Lewis’ first talk in the series called ‘What Christians Believe’. This became Chapter 11 in the book called ‘Mere Christianity’. You can find the book here: http://www.amazon.com/Mere-Christianity-C-S-Lewis/dp/0060652926The original radio broadcast included another powerful metaphysical argument for Theism (see quote below), however, this was a brand new argument at this stage, with none of the counter arguments addressed due to the broadcast time limit, so it was removed from the book ‘Mere Christianity’ for simplicity’s sake. However, you can find this argument fully worked through in chapters 3 in Lewis’ book called “Miracles" and in various essays.“There are all sorts of different reasons for believing in God, and here I’ll mention only one. It is this. Supposing there was no intelligence behind the universe, no creative mind. In that case nobody designed my brain for the purpose of thinking. It is merely that when the atoms inside my skull happen for physical or chemical reasons to arrange themselves in a certain way, this gives me, as a by-product, the sensation I call thought. But if so, now can I trust my own thinking to be true? It’s like upsetting the milk-jug and hoping that the way the splash arranges itself will give you a map of London. But if I can’t trust my own thinking, of course I can’t trust the arguments leading to atheism, and therefore have no reason to be an atheist, or anything else. Unless I believe in God, I can‘t believe in thought; so I can never use thought to disbelieve in God.”Lewis mentioned that Nazism is a form of Pantheism: “Even the German worship of a racial spirit is only Pantheism truncated or whittled down to suit barbarians”. Democracy is founded upon Moral Law/Natural Law and the desire for fair play. I therefore started this production with a Spitfire (representing Christianity) and a Messerschmitt 109 (representing Pantheism) after a dogfight over the Cliffs of Dover on the southern coast of England.5:28 I depicted eatable vegetables here, but Lewis was, of course, referring all vegetation - the thousands of seed plants, mosses, algae, and ferns.(7:00) "The defiance of the good atheist hurled at an apparently ruthless and idiotic cosmos is really an unconscious homage to something in or behind that cosmos which he recognizes as infinitely valuable and authoritative: for if mercy and justice were really only private whims of his own with no objective and impersonal roots, and if he realized this, he could not go on being indignant. The fact that he arraigns heaven itself for disregarding them means that at some level of his mind he knows they are enthroned in a higher heaven still..." (De Futilitate).7:56 To search for gold nuggets in the Australian desert, you need to know gold exists, its value, and own a metal detector. To be looking and searching for meaning, you have got to already have an idea of what meaning IS in the first place, and know that it has value. Lewis: "If our standards are derived from this meaningless universe they must be as meaningless as it..." ('On Living in an Atomic Age')"A man's physical hunger does not prove that man will get any bread; he may die of starvation on a raft in the Atlantic. But surely a man's hunger does prove that he comes of a race which repairs its body by eating and inhabits a world where eatable substances exist. In the same way, though I do not believe (I wish I did) that my desire for Paradise proves that I shall enjoy it, I think it a pretty good indication that such a thing exists and that some men will" (The Weight of Glory).You can find the audio track here:amazon.com/C-S-Lewis-War-Christianity/dp/1624052185.
We Have Cause to be Uneasy by C.S. Lewis Doodle (BBC Talk 4, Mere Christianity Chapter 5) CSLewisDoodle 2015-10-02 | This fourth talk became Chapter 5 of Lewis' book 'Mere Christianity' and was originally called 'What do we do about it?’ ) 0:04 The chimes of Big Ben are a prayer found in the clock room: "All through this hour/ Lord, be my guide/ That by Thy power / No foot shall slide": drive.google.com/file/d/0B9MmcPqIiEnKOVhzYXhJdFhwSTA/view?usp=sharing10:10 “Peace in our time”: In what turns out to be one of the most disastrous and bloody political decisions in human history, Neville Chamberlain believed Hitler’s comforting lies and made a peace deal with the regime, thereby sacrificing the most modern military force east of Nazi Germany – democratic Czechoslovakia and its million-man army. In this decision Chamberlain unknowingly assigned some 60+ million people to death. With the eastern defences of Czechoslovakia and Poland given away, Germany could now attack westward with all its armies.By the time Chamberlain was thrown from office, Winston Churchill faced a Nazi Germany that had increased comparatively in military strength – it now had four times the aircraft of Britain -and utilised the entire military industry of Czechoslovakia and Poland . Britain didn’t have a single eastern or western European ally remaining: France and the Low Countries had been defeated by Hitler; Scandinavia, the Baltic states and Poland had been defeated by Stalin and Hitler; and northern Africa by Mussolini. Due to the Munich betrayal, the International Socialists led by Stalin decided to ally with Britain’s National Socialist enemy. You can find the book here: http://www.amazon.com/Mere-Christianity-C-S-Lewis/dp/0060652926Talk 5 ('Listener's Questions') was the final talk in this first radio series. See youtube.com/watch?v=l_VYCqCexow
What Lies Behind the Moral Law by C.S. Lewis Doodle (BBC Talk 3, Mere Christianity Chapter 4) CSLewisDoodle 2015-03-30 | This third talk became Chapter 4 of Lewis' book 'Mere Christianity' and was originally called 'Materialism or Religion’. You can find the book here: http://www.amazon.com/Mere-Christianity-C-S-Lewis/dp/0060652926(12:30) "That troublesome God". See Genesis 3.24. I am referring here to the severity God showed Adam and Eve in casting them out of the garden of Eden for their sins (with no return possible to the paradise). The sin was called "treachery" by the Holy Spirit in Hosea 6:7.
The Reality of the Moral Law by C.S. Lewis Doodle (BBC Talk 2, Mere Christianity Chapter 3) CSLewisDoodle 2015-02-27 | This talk became Chapter 3 of Lewis' book 'Mere Christianity' and was called 'The Reality of the [universal] Moral Law'. You can find the book here: http://www.amazon.com/Mere-Christianity-C-S-Lewis/dp/0060652926Some helps:(7:22) "You are saying what is true". Unselfishness means looking after the good of others in society. So when you say "Because it (unselfishness) is good for society" you are essentially saying in reply to the question, "Because unselfishness is unselfishness", which is true but not an explanation as to why we ought to be unselfish. Definition is not explanation, and 'what' is not 'why'.Lewis talks about this issue extensively in ‘The Abolition of Man’ with one example – in the case of war for a good cause: “...Let us continue to use the previous example [from Chapter 1] —that of death for a good cause—not, of course, because virtue is the only value or martyrdom the only virtue, but because this is the experimentum crucis [crucial experiment] which shows different systems of thought in the clearest light. Let us suppose that an innovator in values [i.e. the man trying to create a new and improved morality] regards dulce et decorum [‘it is a sweet and seemly things to die defending one’s country’] and ‘greater love hath no man, that a man lay down his life for his friends’ (John 15:13) as mere irrational sentiments which are to be stripped off in order that we may get down to the ‘realistic’ or ‘basic’ ground of this value. Where will he find such a ground? First of all, he might say that the real value lay in the utility of such sacrifice to the community. ‘Good’, he might say, ‘means what is useful to the community.’ But of course the death of the community is not useful to the community—only the death of some of its members. What is really meant is that the death of some men is useful to other men. That is very true. But on what ground are some men being asked to die for the benefit of others? Every appeal to pride, honour, shame, or love is excluded by hypothesis. To use these would be to return to sentiment and the Innovator’s task is, having cut all that away, to explain to men, in terms of pure reasoning, why they will be well advised to die that others may live. He may say ‘Unless some of us risk death all of us are certain to die.’ But that will be true only in a limited number of cases; and even when it is true it provokes the very reasonable counter question ‘Why should I be one of those who take the risk?’...” (The Abolition of Man, Chapter 2, The Way). The 1941 BBC Talks were described and ordered differently to the book made of the talks called ‘Mere Christianity’. Here is the original titles and order from the 1941 Radio Times Magazines: Series Title: ‘Right and Wrong’ – A Clue to the Meaning of the Universe?Talk 1 - Common Decency (Chapter 1. The Law of Human Nature), 6 August 1941.Talk 2 – Scientific Law and Moral Law (Chapter 3. The Reality of the Law), 13 August 1941. Talk 3 – Materialism or Religion (Chapter 4. What Lies Behind the Law), 20 August 1941.Talk 4 – What do we do about it? (Chapter 5. We Have Cause to Be Uneasy), 27 August 1941.Talk 5 – Listener’s Questions (Chapter 2. Some Objections), 3 September 1941.
