C.S. Lewis -- "An Anonymous Orthodox"?

[Cappadocian]

B. Kallistos Ware wrote an article in Sobornost magazine (an Anglican-Orthodox Ecumenical magazine) called "C.S. Lewis -- An Anonymous Orthodox." I was wondering if anyone here has read it, and if anyone has a link or a PDF version of this article.

What did you think about it?

Lewis was clearly involved in some subtle deception of his Protestant audience by never telling them outright that he denied penal hell, penal atonement, and justification by faith. Would you call this chicanery? Spiritual charlatanry? I find that only Orthodox people are able to understand Lewis's meaning, although everyone seems to adore him.

I think he is closest in theology to Origen and St. Gregory the Nyssan.

 

[minasoliman]

I'd be interested in reading this as well.

An "anonymous" Orthodox sounds like an extremely interesting title. I personally love CS Lewis. Is there anything in Lewis that contradicts Orthodoxy? It's hard to find anything.

God bless.

 

[elizabethevangeline]

Lewis was clearly involved in some subtle deception of his Protestant audience by never telling them outright that he denied penal hell, penal atonement, and justification by faith. Would you call this chicanery? Spiritual charlatanry? I find that only Orthodox people are able to understand Lewis's meaning, although everyone seems to adore him.
.

I think what CS Lewis believed was always right there for anyone to read...if the reader bothered to think about it and figure out how Lewis' writings might not be compatible with all the protestant assumptions.

 

[Philip]

But there is one important thing to remember: He remain outside the Church.

 

[Marjorie]

The only thing I can think of that was un-Orthodox is that he had little to no personal devotion to Mary, IIRC. But besides for that, like a lot of Anglo-Catholics, his piety was very compatible with Orthodoxy. Philip makes a good point however-- the Church isn't about how "correct" you are, and whilst he was very correct on a great deal of things he wasn't Orthodox. In any case, though, I love him very much and only pray that I will be counted worthy to meet him when the righteous meet the Lord in the clouds.

In IC XC,
Marjorie

 

[minasoliman]

It's a shame however he wasn't exposed to Orthodoxy. He was disgruntled at both Protestants and Catholics, and perhaps he chose the Anglican church only because he didn't like the other churches.

Besides, he developed a love for one of the most important Orthodox fathers in history, St. Athanasius. This was at least the best exposure he had for Orthodoxy, unlike other "Christians" who haven't even heard of Athanasius.

God bless.

 

[Marjorie]

Yes, he was grounded in many of the writings of the Church Fathers. Athanasius was a clear favorite of course.

In IC XC,
Marjorie

 

[Kolya]

The only thing I can think of that was un-Orthodox is that he had little to no personal devotion to Mary, IIRC. But besides for that, like a lot of Anglo-Catholics, his piety was very compatible with Orthodoxy. Philip makes a good point however-- the Church isn't about how "correct" you are, and whilst he was very correct on a great deal of things he wasn't Orthodox. In any case, though, I love him very much and only pray that I will be counted worthy to meet him when the righteous meet the Lord in the clouds.

In IC XC,
Marjorie

IMHO, if by God's Mercy I get to meet the Saints and stand on the Right Hand of the Judge, I am going to be very surprised at who I might meet, and I'm also going to be disappointed for the ones that I expected to be there, and don't get to meet.

 

[choirfiend]

I think he was at least exposed to Orthodoxy. I believe he talks about it somewhere, and why he chose to stay with the Anglican church. Anyone know where that is?

 

[Emmanuel-A]

I don't know much about CS Lewis. But I read "The Screwtape letters" and loved it. It was so funny and deep in the same time.

 

[Kolya]

My dad, as a Theologian, had a whole rack full of those books, and I never read them. I wonder what my step mother did with them?
*Kolya kicks himself violently*

If I had, I may not have taken so long to find this treasure! I must get those books now!!!

 

[Michael G]

IMHO, if by God's Mercy I get to meet the Saints and stand on the Right Hand of the Judge, I am going to be very surprised at who I might meet, and I'm also going to be disappointed for the ones that I expected to be there, and don't get to meet.

Yes, exactly!

 

[Michael G]

But there is one important thing to remember: He remain outside the Church.

He was outside the church, but at the same time his work clearly shows that he was moving in the direction of embracing Orthodoxy. I guess we will just have to let God decide how Orthodox he was in the end.

 

[moses916]

yeah...just like Kolya said...we're gonna be surprised who we see joyous in the next life...lord have mercy on me a sinner

 

[Rilian]

I personally love CS Lewis. Is there anything in Lewis that contradicts Orthodoxy?

There might be, if you believe this is a problem. This also influenced how he wrote the Great Divorce.

 

[Knee V]

From my understanding (and please correct me if I am wrong), although there is no dogma about it, since this type of thing has not been fully revealed, the ESSENCE of purgatory is not incompatible with Orthodoxy, provided that you're not talking about it being a "place" where you spend "time". I hold the private opinion that something like that will probably happen to us. As the current pope once said back when he was still a cardinal, "purgatory" may be nothing more than the effect on our souls of being in the presence of Christ, to roughly paraphrase.

 

[Joykins]

I remember reading in Lewis that he belonged to the Anglican church because he felt heought to be involved in the major church *where you were* and since the Church of England was his national church, that was the one he joined. So if he had been Greek or Russian or Serbian, etc. he would have been Orthodox. However, he wrote in "Mere Christianity" that the various denominations/churches were like rooms in a house, and the important thing was to go into a room and start doing what you needed to do, not remain in the hallway.

 

[choirfiend]

Yes, that's it! I haven't read it in so long, I had forgotten.

While I think most of what he wrote was good, this is kinda like claiming someone else for your denomination postmortem--almost like the Mormons! Whether than asking "would he have been Orthodox if he were a little less ignorant?" (which is rather insulting to his memory) just love him for the good books he left and pray to God that any of us might have faith enough as he did.

 

[Monica child of God 1]

There might be, if you believe this is a problem. This also influenced how he wrote the Great Divorce.

I don't think there is any problem with this idea of purgatory. Every Christian that I know believes in some sort of 'purgation.' That is, the way that we exsist now with our pet sins and passions will not survive before the Throne of the All Holy and therefore if we are to live in God's presence, we must be purified. It is when we get into specifics and semantics that we all, Protestant, Roman Catholic and Orthodox, diverge.

M.

 

[Mary of Bethany]

http://www.conciliarpress.com/again/content/view/25/31/9/9/

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a short article about this from Again magazine.