Question on CS Lewis

ViaCrucis · Mar 28, 2016

Strong in Him said:
Have you ever read his biography or tried to find out about him?
Works don't save us.

Honestly it seems like it's just trying to find arbitrary ad hoc reasons to take issue with Lewis.

-CryptoLutheran

Goodbook · Mar 28, 2016

Here is a website that explains just some of it. I just thought it was odd about him and also don't understand why his name is put up on the Theology forum.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/frankviola/shockingbeliefsofcslewis/

Goodbook · Mar 28, 2016

Here is another one and I'm agreeing with here (others may differ, but I found it a sound website, according to the Bible)

http://www.shoutingfromtherooftop.com/christian-mythology.html

Goodbook · Mar 28, 2016

If he was misguided I have nothing against him personally as he's no longer here, but, I really think that if people read their Bibles they would find much of what he said and wrote is actually unbiblical.

Strong in Him · Mar 28, 2016

Goodbook said:
If he was misguided I have nothing against him personally as he's no longer here, but, I really think that if people read their Bibles they would find much of what he said and wrote is actually unbiblical.

"Much of what he said and wrote". That's what I'm asking; how many of his books have you actually read?
A grief observed?
The four loves?
Commentary on the Psalms?
The problem of pain?
The weight of glory? (a selection of his sermons.)
Daily devotionals?

I must admit that I haven't read any of them myself, but I'm not doubting his status as a Christian author. And I know people who have read them.

Doubtless his name is on the Theology forum because he is a Christian theologian.

SnowyMacie · Mar 28, 2016

Goodbook said:
Here is a website that explains just some of it. I just thought it was odd about him and also don't understand why his name is put up on the Theology forum.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/frankviola/shockingbeliefsofcslewis/

Taken directly from the blog: "Point: Lewis was a hero to scores of evangelicals and others. But he believed many things that countless Christians today would hold to be surprising at best and shocking at worst. Therefore, as I said at the front, let’s be more tolerant and gracious toward our fellow brethren with whom we disagree theologically."

It's true, C.S. Lewis is held in high esteem today by people that, if he was around today, would call him a heretic.

C.S. Lewis is one of the most influential Christian philosophers and authors in church history, disagree with him or not. I personally thought that Mere Christianity was one of the best books about theology I've ever read, it explains Christianity is a very plain way with no fluff, even though I disagree with Lewis' views on women's roles.

topcare · Mar 28, 2016

Goodbook said:
I was reading a site where someone was badly affected by the witchcraft shown in lion, witch and the wardrobe. I think christians should stay away from occult writing like that.

I have doubts about his profession thats all.

Also the King of Kings is the lamb of God, NOT the lion.

Making out God to be the devil is not only fiction, its an abomination.

Cs lewis word against the Word of God? Jesus triumphs.

The nuttiness of modern fundamentalist Christianity on display

Hank77 · Mar 28, 2016

Goodbook said:
He wrote lots of books but there doesnt seem to be any testimony of his christian walk....any works to show for his faith. Works meaning, whether he looked after orphans or the poor etc. as James mentions.

You linked to this site which says......

For more about Lewis’ views and especially his extraordinary life, I highly recommend Alister McGrath’s illuminating biography, C.S. Lewis, a Life: Eccentric Genius, Reluctant Prophet.

This book is regarded to be the best biography of Lewis in print. And it’s a shocker in some ways.

A few highlights:

* Lewis gave away all his royalties for his Christian books to those in need. This rendered him poor during his lifetime.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/frankviola/shockingbeliefsofcslewis/

NothingIsImpossible · Mar 28, 2016

I think you made a topic about this before. Most christians see the Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe as a christian movie. I've almost never seen anyone say it isn't. And yes He is Lion and Lamb. A better question would be to ask is J.R. Tolkiens "Lord of the Rings" really christian. He was to and best friends with C.S. Lewis. I enjoy both movies. Though obviously I see more christian messages in Lion then I do Lord of the rings.

GracetotheHumble · Mar 28, 2016

Goodbook said:
But aslan is a lion, not a lamb.
If you read the bible, the lamb of God is Jesus and the devouring lion is the devil, prowling around seeking whom he may devour.

Christ is called the lion of the tribe of Judah.

edit: Oh, I see this has already been mentioned at some length.

LaSorcia · Mar 28, 2016

Goodbook said:
Here is a website that explains just some of it. I just thought it was odd about him and also don't understand why his name is put up on the Theology forum.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/frankviola/shockingbeliefsofcslewis/

Another poignant quote from the article:
Unfortunately, many evangelicals are quick to discount — and even damn — their fellow brothers and sisters in Christ over alleged doctrinal trespasses, even if those same brothers and sisters hold to the historical orthodox creeds (Apostle’s Creed, Nicene Creed, etc.). Such discounting and damning can always be avoided and it serves no one on the Kingdom side of the aisle.

And really, I'm officially Protestant (I confess, I'm a Catholic and Orthodox sympathiser!), but I did not find most of these 'shocking views' to be shocking. C of E, while a Protestant denomination, has much in common with Roman Catholicism. I always tease my British husband that C of E is just English Catholic.

Xalith · Mar 28, 2016

Goodbook said:
No, jesus isnt the lion of Judah.
He is the lamb, thats why people constantly get it wrong due to CS lewis influence.

........WHAT!?

Wow. Dude, just wow.

You're a Christian, and you don't even know who your Lord is?

Let me ask you this. If Christ is not the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, then who opens the Book in Revelation 5:5?

EDIT: My apologies if I sounded kinda brash in this post, but that just took me by surprise. I couldn't believe my eyes and had to do a double-take.

servanna · Mar 28, 2016

Goodbook said:
I'm not sure I understand why CS Lewis wrote the things he did, it seemed like he was christian but then he wrote about lions and witches and wardrobes.

i remmeber seeing this movie as a child and I did not think it was actually christian. It was more fairy tale. Actually it scared me a bit when I was young because it suggested that wardrobes could be portals to this other world.

Later when I became a christian CS Lewis writings didnt make much senese either. It seemed he was advocating anglicanism as a religion rather than actually being born again.

I tried to read 'mere christianity' but nothing registered, just seemed like an out of date apologetic for religion. Screwtape letters seemed to glorify demons. I did not enjoy reading the screwtape letters, I thought, very clever, but no gospel in it.

What do other people think? Anybody actually know him personally? Why was he writing about witches etc when we are meant to avoid all appearance of evil? I would not say chronicles of narnia are christian. Its fantasy, with twisted elements of christianity in it.

hi check this out this may give you some answers to your concerns about cs lewis http://www.contendingfortruth.com/?p=1110

servanna · Mar 28, 2016

hi check this out this man he is called Dr Scott Johnson and he is an apologist and talks about the truth of cs Lewis the lord bless you http://www.contendingfortruth.com/?p=1110

Xalith · Mar 28, 2016

@servanna : In the end, we're not supposed to judge the teacher, but rather discern the message.

Whether or not CS Lewis was a Christian, good Christian, bad Christian is not for us to judge. We are, however, supposed to discern any spiritual messages we hear and test them against Scripture.

But never are we given the permission to judge people. Each person has their own responsibility to choose what they will "eat" (listen to) and what they won't. If you choose to eat poison, then you will end up sick. If you refuse the poison, you will remain healthy.

If you find someone to be a heretic or an apostate, just move on. Bashing people doesn't do any good. I see far too much infighting and bashing within the Body of Christ these days, and it really needs to stop. Let the Lord fight His own battles, our job is to reach souls and teach them the truth.

LaSorcia · Mar 28, 2016

Xalith said:
@servanna : In the end, we're not supposed to judge the teacher, but rather discern the message.

Whether or not CS Lewis was a Christian, good Christian, bad Christian is not for us to judge. We are, however, supposed to discern any spiritual messages we hear and test them against Scripture.

But never are we given the permission to judge people. Each person has their own responsibility to choose what they will "eat" (listen to) and what they won't. If you choose to eat poison, then you will end up sick. If you refuse the poison, you will remain healthy.

If you find someone to be a heretic or an apostate, just move on. Bashing people doesn't do any good. I see far too much infighting and bashing within the Body of Christ these days, and it really needs to stop. Let the Lord fight His own battles, our job is to reach souls and teach them the truth.

Amen!

dms1972 · Mar 28, 2016

If you don't find him helpful read another writter you don't have concerns about, and that you find edifying.

I'd say however since you asked that i have very little doubt at all that he was a christian, though i had a few reservations, when i read him at first. but i dicovered that its just that he is not fundamentalist and i had assumed to be christian writter one would always be saying certain things.

As i say i had some reservations reading him, and difficulty understanding in places, I wasn't familiar with apologetic writting, and sometimes reading that type of thing can make one wonder if the writter is a christian.

I liked the Lion, the witch, and the wardrobe, and the notion of the other world through the wardrobe, and the children asking the professor, and his logic that they must assume Lucy is telling the truth unless something turns up to show otherwise. I don't have a problem with fairytales having read a bit about that type of literature. Its in how things are presented. the children don't learn magic rituals, or spell casting in the Narnia stories, they overcome evil through being courageous, discerning etc. not through having a whole repertoire of spells at their disposal as in some other fantasy stories, which would seem to rule out any need for courage. So i see his books as significantly different in several ways from others in the fantasy genre.

I don't think the Narnia books are supposed to parallel very closely with christian theology, and shouldn't be made to, but there are echoes in them of christian themes of redemption.

I agree he is at times put on a pedistal in some respects, as if there are no comparable writters, though in terms of literary credentials, he seems to deserve much of the respect he gets, given his learning.

Your point about anglicansm is an interesting one . i don't think he was deliberately doing this, but it seems to me almost inevitable that the influence of anglican spirituality /theology being the church he belonged to would come through the most in his writting.

ViaCrucis · Mar 28, 2016

A thing about Lewis and the Chronicles of Narnia. Lewis was actually opposed to people saying that they were an allegory, for Lewis Narnia was to be understood as a world parallel with our own, and the events which unfold in Narnia parallel our own world. In other words Aslan isn't an allegory for Christ, rather Aslan is Christ in Narnia.

"If Aslan represented the immaterial Deity in the same way in which Giant Despair [a character in The Pilgrim's Progress] represents despair, he would be an allegorical figure. In reality, however, he is an invention giving an imaginary answer to the question, 'What might Christ become like if there really were a world like Narnia, and He chose to be incarnate and die and rise again in that world as He actually has done in ours?' This is not allegory at all." - C.S. Lewis to Mrs. Hook, 1958

-CryptoLutheran

greenguzzi · Mar 28, 2016

Lewis was a heretic. That's not judging the man, just a fact based on his writings. I actually agree with some (but not all) of his "heresies", so I'm a heretic too.

dms1972 · Mar 28, 2016

On whether he looked after the poor, well he gave half of his income to charity does that count? Bearing in mind his teaching career in university kept him very busy, and replying to nearly every letter he got which was thousands, probably did not leave him much spare time. But in any case, his step son speaks very highly of him as someone who lived out his christian faith more than anyone else he ever knew. whether he was engaged in other charity work i don't know, unlikely given the demand already on his time, but he seems to have helped people in need if he could in some way. i recall him writing about his barber being a man with a lot of troubles whom he and his brother had been able to help out on occasion.

I have read others who said that he had quite a list of people he helped out charitably.

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