In the first four chapters of his book "Engaging God's World: A Christian Vision of Faith, Learning, and Living" Mr. Plantinga talks about creation, fall, and redemption. Anyone who is familiar with the Bible will see the connection between the three. God created the earth good. Sin and evil were introduced by the disobediance of Adam and Eve in the garden, and the once good creation was filled with death and suffereing. However, from that very first day of the fall, God made a promise to Adam and Eve of one who would come to restore and redeem. Years later, in Bethlehem, the Son of God is born as a baby boy, whose life and ministry brought healing to hearts scarred by sin, and whose crusifiction is the victory over sin and death.
It is not difficult to understand why Plantinga would choose to address the topics of creation, fall and redemption together, but there is one more chapter that is included with these three. Plantinga begins his book with a chapter titled "Longing and Hope". He talks about some of the joys, hopes and desires that we experiance on this earth but goes on to explain that the beauty and pleasure we can expriance on this earth are nothing compared to the glory we will see when our earthly pilgrimage is over. Basically, the idea of this first chapter is to direct our thougts toward heaven. Why did Plantinga think that is was so important to start by considering heaven? I would guess it is because heaven is the fulfillment of the creation, fall, redemption story. Although we can only see heaven "through a glass darkly" as the apostle Paul puts it (I Corinthians 13:12 KJV) we will one day experiance it in its full glory. Our longing for that day helps us understand the purpose of creation, fall and redemption, and it influences how we will live our lives here on earth.
Sadly, because of our old sinful natures, we often look only at the pleasures this world can offer us rather than "laying up our treasures in heaven." Plantinga uses a quote from C.S. Lewis that illustrates this misplaced longing. Lewis declares that when we let our hearts be captured by the things of this earth, we are experiancing a desire that is not too strong, but rather, too weak. We tend to think that we give into temptation because it is to strong to resist, but Lewis says that we give in because we are satisfied with something that cannot even compare to the joy that we should be looking forward to. He gives the example of a child playing in the mud who is unwilling to leave it for a trip to the beach because he does not understand how wonderful the beach will be in comparison. If we are in the right mindset, we will hardly feel the attraction of this world because our hearts will be set on something so much greater.
As I read through several of Lewis' writings, I realized that this theme of heaven appears both subtly and obviously as theme in many of them. Lewis addresses some of the same issues as Plantinga, especially dealing with the effects of the fall, but in the end, heaven is also the hope that he comes back to again and again. I think that this is most clearly expressed in my favorite quote by him that says "Our Father refreshes us on the journey with some pleasant inns, but will not encourage us to mistake them for home." This earth is only a temporary home. We may not become too comfortable with it because we have a home that is much geater with our Father in heaven.
In one of Lewis' pieces, "The Weight of Glory," I found the theme of heaven especially apperant. In this essay, Lewis gave many illustrations and ideas that relate to the christian life and help us to understand what it is to look forward to heaven. He starts with the example of a schoolboy studying Greek. The schoolboy, says Lewis, has no way to understand the joy he will later find from reading Greek poetry. His only experiance is the present struggle of studying the language, but he has the hope that in the end, his study will bring him to a place of enjoyment. Lewis makes a comparison to the Christan life, by acknowledging that we cannot now see the joy of heaven, but we can hope for it, and we can grow in that hope more and more by lives of faithful obediance.
In this piece, Lewis also uses the example of a starving man. Although the man's hunger does not prove that he will get bread, Lewis suggests that it does prove that bread exists. If bread did not exist, the man's body would not need it for sustainance, and he could not therefor hunger for it. Connecting this to the Christian life, Lewis believes that our longing for the kind of joy that we cannot experiance here promises us that this joy does exist, it is simply beyond our reach. This longing is expressed in Psalm 63 where the psalmist says, "O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land where no water is." He understands that this present life holds nothing that can truly satisfy, and that it is in heaven, when we experiance perfect fellowship with God that we will be satisfied.
From the Weight of Glory, Lewis also brings up the idea that eternity begins now. Although, on this earth, we are unable to experince fellowship with God perfectly, it is something we can strive for and it gives us the beginings of that heavenly joy. We must realize, too, that our fellow human beings will also exist eternally. None of us will simply cease to exist when we die. We are all on the road leading to either eternal life or eternal death. Lewis puts it this way, "But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit-immortal horrors or everlasting splendors." This makes us aware of the seriousness of our actions on this earth. We are not simply interacting with the neighbors of our earthly life, but possibly with our neighbors of all eternity. This gives us some extra motivation to live our earthly lives with the goal of helping eachother along the difficult road to heaven.
I very much enjoyed the glimpses of heaven that C.S. Lewis brought out in his "Weight of Glory", however, there is another work that I prefer in connection to the topic of heaven. This is his seven book series about the fictional land of Narnia. I prefer the Narnia books to the "Weight of Glory" because, taken together, they give the complete picture, not only of heaven, but of creation, fall, and redemption with heaven as their goal. C.S. Lewis said himself that he did not write this series only for the purpose of connecting it to scripture, and we cannot take the comparison too far without finding some errors. However, Lewis does a really beautiful job of showing the relationship of Christ to his church throughout the history of the world and into eternity.
There are some ideas especially from The Last Battle that help us to understand the idea of heaven as it relates to life here on this earth. The Last Battle is the story of the end of Naria. It begins when a false Aslan decieves the people, and they are pursuaded to believe that he is the same as Tash, the cruel god of a different nation. The few who are not decieved are outnumbered, and most of them are killed. This story runs a parallel to the rise of the Antichrist and the final judgment spoken of in Revelation. In the end, Aslan calls the giant named Time to bring the world to its end, and all the creatures who love Aslan are brought into his own land, which, of course, is a picture of heaven.
There were several things I liked about Lewis illustration of the end of time. One is that it helps us to realize that God really is in charge of the end. In the story, Aslan calls on Time to bring the world to its end. Just so, we know that time is only a creature of God. It does not limmit him or bind him in any way. Time serves God and his purpose, and it does not have its begining or its ending outside his will. In fact, in Revelation, God calls himself Alpha and Omega-the begining and end of all things.
I also appreciated the way in which Lewis describes Aslan's country (a picture of heaven.) It is described as beautiful and colorful, but also as something that cannot be quite understood without personally eperiancing it. I Corinthians tells us of heaven that "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." We know that heaven will be wonderful and beautiful, and that the glory of God will be there, but while we are yet on this earth, we cannot fully know what it will be like.
There is one more quote from the end of "The Last Battle" that I think really helps us to understand how the joy of heaven will be perfect and complete, and how we will not wish for the things of our earthly life anymore. After watching the end of Narnia, Lucy is sad and begins to cry for what she believes is lost to her. But she is told by one of her companions, "You need not mourn over Narnia, Lucy. All of the old Narnia that mattered, all the dear creatures,have been drawn into the rea Narnia through the door. And of course it is different; as different as a real thing is from a shadow or as waking life is from a dream." What we can understand from this is that heaven will be so much greater and more wonderful than anything this earthly life can offer, because this life is only the picture of a reality. In heaven, we will be free of our sins, free of suffering and sorrow. Revelation 21: 4 tells us, "And God shal wipe aay all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any pain: for the former things are passed away." The only things that will be missing in heaven are sin and sorrow. We will no longer feel the effects of the fall. Our sinful nature will be completely defeated. All this is cause not for sorrow, but for joy. Who could miss the pleasant inns of their jouney when they finally reach their destination and are home at last?
Bibliography
Holy Bible KJV. N.p.: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989. Print.
Lewis, C.S. The Last Battle. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., 1956. Print
Lewis, C.S. "The Weight of Glory." Church of St Mary the Virgin, Oxford. 8 June 1941. Lecture.
Plantinga, Cornelius. Engaging God's World: A Christian Vision of Faith, Learning, and Living . Grandrapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2002. Print
Monday, January 25, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Paradise Now
Last night I went to see the movie Paradise Now. The movie was about two Palestinian men who are chosen for the mission of a suicide bombing in Israel. The movie especially follows Said, one of these two men. Although he is oviously unhappy to be chosen, he does not refuse because he believes it is an honor, and that it would be shamefull of him not to go. His hesitance is obvious by the way he acts around his family and especially around Suha, the girl he likes.
Said is supposed to carry out his mission with his close friend, Khaled. Khaled is more committed to the mission than Said, and is continually trying to assure him that they will be rewarded in the afterlife. The men in charge of the bombing also try to convince Khaled and Said that there will be an eternal reward for them. Said accepts this on the surface but does not seem very convinced of it.
When the time comes for Khaled and Said to carry out their mission, things to not work out according to plan. The men are not able to go through with the bombing, and the get separated from eachother. Khaled returns to the men in charge of the mission, but when he realises Said is not there, he goes in search of him. Durring this time, Said and Khaled are separated from eachother and from the men in charge, they have some time to reflect on what they are really doing and why.
Towards the end of the movie, Khaled finds Said and they go together to carry out their mission. However, by this time they are both having second thoughts. Khaled decides not to go through with it and asks his friend to do the same. Said agrees, but once Khaled is on his way to safety, he goes back and blows up a bus with Israeli soldiers and civilians on it.
By the time that Said got around to carrying out his mission, it was obvious that it had nothing to do anymore with what he believed was right and wrong. He did not complete the bombing because he truly belived it was pleasing to Alah or because he expected some eternal reward. He simply did it because he felt he had no other option. All his earthly life had to offer him was poverty and, of course, shame if he failed to go through with the bombing. He ended up being more enslaved by his own pride than by anything else.
I hope I did a decent job of describing this movie. It was a little difficult for me to understand because it wasn't in English :)
Said is supposed to carry out his mission with his close friend, Khaled. Khaled is more committed to the mission than Said, and is continually trying to assure him that they will be rewarded in the afterlife. The men in charge of the bombing also try to convince Khaled and Said that there will be an eternal reward for them. Said accepts this on the surface but does not seem very convinced of it.
When the time comes for Khaled and Said to carry out their mission, things to not work out according to plan. The men are not able to go through with the bombing, and the get separated from eachother. Khaled returns to the men in charge of the mission, but when he realises Said is not there, he goes in search of him. Durring this time, Said and Khaled are separated from eachother and from the men in charge, they have some time to reflect on what they are really doing and why.
Towards the end of the movie, Khaled finds Said and they go together to carry out their mission. However, by this time they are both having second thoughts. Khaled decides not to go through with it and asks his friend to do the same. Said agrees, but once Khaled is on his way to safety, he goes back and blows up a bus with Israeli soldiers and civilians on it.
By the time that Said got around to carrying out his mission, it was obvious that it had nothing to do anymore with what he believed was right and wrong. He did not complete the bombing because he truly belived it was pleasing to Alah or because he expected some eternal reward. He simply did it because he felt he had no other option. All his earthly life had to offer him was poverty and, of course, shame if he failed to go through with the bombing. He ended up being more enslaved by his own pride than by anything else.
I hope I did a decent job of describing this movie. It was a little difficult for me to understand because it wasn't in English :)
Man or Rabbit?
I thought C. Lewis made several interesting ponts in his piece "Man or Rabbit?" This article is addressing the man who wonders whether or not it is important for him to be a Christian as long as he leads a good life. Lewis points out that the person who asks such a question is admitting that they do not care what is truth and what is not. He suggests that they would choose beliefs, not based on conviction, but simply because they will be benificial or profitable in some way. Lewis says that a man who would choose a to believe something without searching to find out if it is true has become like an animal which does not search out knowledge for the sake of knowing.
Lewis then addresses those who would admit to not caring much about truth and who simply hope that good actions and good intentions will be good enough. Of this type of person, Lewis writes, "he is really asking to be allowed to get on with being 'good' before he has done his best to discover what good is." Lewis' aswer to this person is that, although he does not yet know whether he ought to be a Christian, he knows that he needs to be a man and search for the answer. He also writes that "Knowledge of the facts must make a difference to one's actons." He says that if Christianity is to be believed, then those who are Christians and know the truth are better equipped for a life of good works than those who are not Christian.
Finally, Lewis brings up some errors concerning the idea of leading a 'good life' without Christ. First of all, as all Christians realize, we are not able to lead that good life on our own. We depend on Christ for all the good works that we can do. They are imposible without him. Secondly, if our purpose in life is to be a 'good' person, we have missed the much broader point in life that the truths of Christianity explain to us. Good work are the fruit of a purpose that is much greater. As we cast aside the 'rabbit' inside us that wants to do the minimum requirement, we will see more and more the purpose that God has for us and it will be our desire to live for it.
Lewis then addresses those who would admit to not caring much about truth and who simply hope that good actions and good intentions will be good enough. Of this type of person, Lewis writes, "he is really asking to be allowed to get on with being 'good' before he has done his best to discover what good is." Lewis' aswer to this person is that, although he does not yet know whether he ought to be a Christian, he knows that he needs to be a man and search for the answer. He also writes that "Knowledge of the facts must make a difference to one's actons." He says that if Christianity is to be believed, then those who are Christians and know the truth are better equipped for a life of good works than those who are not Christian.
Finally, Lewis brings up some errors concerning the idea of leading a 'good life' without Christ. First of all, as all Christians realize, we are not able to lead that good life on our own. We depend on Christ for all the good works that we can do. They are imposible without him. Secondly, if our purpose in life is to be a 'good' person, we have missed the much broader point in life that the truths of Christianity explain to us. Good work are the fruit of a purpose that is much greater. As we cast aside the 'rabbit' inside us that wants to do the minimum requirement, we will see more and more the purpose that God has for us and it will be our desire to live for it.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Vocation
Talking about vocation in class today really made me think about my calling in life starting today rather than after I graduate and have a "real" job. I realized that fulfilling what God's calling for us has just as much to do with our attitude as it does with the work we are actually doing. I also realised that this is harder at some times than it is at others. For example, I feel like this interim is making it easy for me to serve God. It isn't difficult to be dilligent in my work when that work is in a subject that interests me. It is fun to participate in class when my fellow students care about the topic being discussed and respect eachothers opinions. I don't mind that the class is a long one when my professors are excited about what they are teaching and help us aply it to real life. The first semester of college was a different story.
I had been excited to leave high school behind and start college, but I soon found out that it didn't live up to my expectations. It wasn't the classes themselves that I didn't like. Rather, it was other things, things I had never anticipated that disapointed me and led to a negative attitude concering my calling as a college student. First of all, I am a commuter. I had never dreamed of how much this would make me feel like an outsider. Everyone from my classes talked about their floor activities, their midnight study parties, their roommates, suitemates, etc, etc. I felt like I didn't even belong. To make things worse, my schedule was awfull. I had huge breaks throughout my day and no where to go. I usually ended up in the liberary-alone- doing homework. I was also getting used to new standards, new expectations, new profs. I was completely overwhelmed.
My dad thought that my being at college was the greatest thing ever. Every day he would say, "Just take minute to look round you and think 'Hey, I'm in college.'" Every day I would tell him that I didn't even like college and I would gladly trade places with him. After the first month, things got better. I found people to hang out with durring my breaks. I got used to my profs and my classes. I found out that I even enjoyed being at college. At that point I was able to look back and see how my negative attitude had made that first month so much worse than it needed to be. If I had trusted God a little more and tried a little harder to please him, I would have made things lot better for myself. I was so caught up in my own misery that I hardly even noticed what a pathetic job I was doing of fulfilling my calling as a student.
Even in the difficult circumstances of our lives, we are called to glorify God. Colossonas 3:23 says "And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily as to the Lord..." We are not only called to serve when it is easy. However, I believe that when your calling is difficult, it will be easier to carry out if you do go in with the right attitude. When your purpose is to glorify God, it is him, and not your own suffering that will be at the forefront of your mind. I have definitly found this to be the case in my experiance, and I am glad of this reminder from Plantinga. It is not only what we do, but how we do it that fulfills our calling from God.
I had been excited to leave high school behind and start college, but I soon found out that it didn't live up to my expectations. It wasn't the classes themselves that I didn't like. Rather, it was other things, things I had never anticipated that disapointed me and led to a negative attitude concering my calling as a college student. First of all, I am a commuter. I had never dreamed of how much this would make me feel like an outsider. Everyone from my classes talked about their floor activities, their midnight study parties, their roommates, suitemates, etc, etc. I felt like I didn't even belong. To make things worse, my schedule was awfull. I had huge breaks throughout my day and no where to go. I usually ended up in the liberary-alone- doing homework. I was also getting used to new standards, new expectations, new profs. I was completely overwhelmed.
My dad thought that my being at college was the greatest thing ever. Every day he would say, "Just take minute to look round you and think 'Hey, I'm in college.'" Every day I would tell him that I didn't even like college and I would gladly trade places with him. After the first month, things got better. I found people to hang out with durring my breaks. I got used to my profs and my classes. I found out that I even enjoyed being at college. At that point I was able to look back and see how my negative attitude had made that first month so much worse than it needed to be. If I had trusted God a little more and tried a little harder to please him, I would have made things lot better for myself. I was so caught up in my own misery that I hardly even noticed what a pathetic job I was doing of fulfilling my calling as a student.
Even in the difficult circumstances of our lives, we are called to glorify God. Colossonas 3:23 says "And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily as to the Lord..." We are not only called to serve when it is easy. However, I believe that when your calling is difficult, it will be easier to carry out if you do go in with the right attitude. When your purpose is to glorify God, it is him, and not your own suffering that will be at the forefront of your mind. I have definitly found this to be the case in my experiance, and I am glad of this reminder from Plantinga. It is not only what we do, but how we do it that fulfills our calling from God.
The Inner Ring
In his piece "The Inner Ring" C.S. Lewis addresses a concept that is well-known to all of us. Everybody has, at one time or another, envied a certain group of people. It is not the people themselves that they so deeply care about. It is not the cause that unites the group about which they feel passionate. It is simply that they desire to be included an to feel the safety and security of being on the inside. Of course, sometime there are situations when belonging to the inner circle of a particular group can provide benifits besides just that feeling of acceptance. Priviledges and opportunities can be opened up by this association. However, I think that the most basic reason any of us has wanted to belong to some inner circle is nothing more than the desire to fit in- to not be an outsider.
I have an experiance with an inner ring in my life that I would like to share. It is nothing spectacular, but it is what I first think of when I consider the idea of an inner ring. I went to a small school from kindergarten through ninth grade. There were twelve girls in my class and we were all very close. We promised eachother that when we got to highschool nothing would change. It did though. Almost imediately, one of these girls became part of an inner ring of 'cool kids' and the rest of us felt excluded. By the time we graduated from 12th grade. We had all drifted apart and made new friends. Five or six of us still get together every once in a while, but we certainly arent as close as we used to be. Our lives have just taken different paths. As for the girls we never see any more, no one has anything negative to say about their absence, with one exception. I hear the resentment in my friends voices when they talk about that first girl to leave our group. Why do we still hold her leaving against her when we respect the fact that almost all of us have branched off and found new interests, new friends. Personally, I think it is because we were all a little jealous of her. She stopped hanging out with us to join an inner ring of which the rest of us remained outsiders. We saw her on the other side of an invisible line we couldn't cross and we resented her for it. For the rest of us, going our separate ways was just the natural thing to do, but we held it against her as an act of betrayal. I think by now, we could all look back and laugh at ourselves for letting that inner ring get the better of us, but at the time, we definately felt the pain of being left on the outside.
C.S. Lewis points out the power of an inner ring to pursuade people into any course of action. People will do a lot to avoid the feeling of being left out or left behind that my friends and I felt at the begining of high school. They will do even more when the possiblity of being included in the elite group of insiders is dangled in front of their face. Lewis puts it like this "Of all the passions, the passion for the Inner Ring is most skillful n making a man who is not yet a very bad man do very bad things." Of course, inner rings do not always motivate people to do bad things. They simply hold them to a certain standard for admittance. However, this standard can be a negative one and one that is very hard to resist with the promise of inclusion atatched to it.
After talking about how much man will do to be part of an inner ring, Lewis tells us that we should NOT be willing to conform to any ring's standards simply to be part of an inner ring. He points out that wanting to be in an inner ring for the sake of being an insider cannot satistfy. The inside is not as glamerous once you experiance it as you thought it would be before you had. Lewis says "By the very act of admitting you, it has lost its magic." Lewis goes on to explain that to be part of an inner ring that will actually benefit and satisfy you, you have to forget about looking for rings altogther. You simply need to be passionate about what you are interested in, diligent in the work you do, and associate with people you like. You will find that your friends, hobbies, and vocation are satisfying to you, and that you are surrounded by sincere people that you are comfortable with.
I think Lewis gives some great advice and insight into this topic. He has deffinitely given me something to think about and something to watch out for in my own life, especially when I am facing a new situation where I would be tempted to live up (or down) to someone elses standards for the sake of acceptance.
I have an experiance with an inner ring in my life that I would like to share. It is nothing spectacular, but it is what I first think of when I consider the idea of an inner ring. I went to a small school from kindergarten through ninth grade. There were twelve girls in my class and we were all very close. We promised eachother that when we got to highschool nothing would change. It did though. Almost imediately, one of these girls became part of an inner ring of 'cool kids' and the rest of us felt excluded. By the time we graduated from 12th grade. We had all drifted apart and made new friends. Five or six of us still get together every once in a while, but we certainly arent as close as we used to be. Our lives have just taken different paths. As for the girls we never see any more, no one has anything negative to say about their absence, with one exception. I hear the resentment in my friends voices when they talk about that first girl to leave our group. Why do we still hold her leaving against her when we respect the fact that almost all of us have branched off and found new interests, new friends. Personally, I think it is because we were all a little jealous of her. She stopped hanging out with us to join an inner ring of which the rest of us remained outsiders. We saw her on the other side of an invisible line we couldn't cross and we resented her for it. For the rest of us, going our separate ways was just the natural thing to do, but we held it against her as an act of betrayal. I think by now, we could all look back and laugh at ourselves for letting that inner ring get the better of us, but at the time, we definately felt the pain of being left on the outside.
C.S. Lewis points out the power of an inner ring to pursuade people into any course of action. People will do a lot to avoid the feeling of being left out or left behind that my friends and I felt at the begining of high school. They will do even more when the possiblity of being included in the elite group of insiders is dangled in front of their face. Lewis puts it like this "Of all the passions, the passion for the Inner Ring is most skillful n making a man who is not yet a very bad man do very bad things." Of course, inner rings do not always motivate people to do bad things. They simply hold them to a certain standard for admittance. However, this standard can be a negative one and one that is very hard to resist with the promise of inclusion atatched to it.
After talking about how much man will do to be part of an inner ring, Lewis tells us that we should NOT be willing to conform to any ring's standards simply to be part of an inner ring. He points out that wanting to be in an inner ring for the sake of being an insider cannot satistfy. The inside is not as glamerous once you experiance it as you thought it would be before you had. Lewis says "By the very act of admitting you, it has lost its magic." Lewis goes on to explain that to be part of an inner ring that will actually benefit and satisfy you, you have to forget about looking for rings altogther. You simply need to be passionate about what you are interested in, diligent in the work you do, and associate with people you like. You will find that your friends, hobbies, and vocation are satisfying to you, and that you are surrounded by sincere people that you are comfortable with.
I think Lewis gives some great advice and insight into this topic. He has deffinitely given me something to think about and something to watch out for in my own life, especially when I am facing a new situation where I would be tempted to live up (or down) to someone elses standards for the sake of acceptance.
Eros
In his book "The Four Loves" C.S. Lewis dicusses the four Greek words that specify different types of love. There is storge (affection), philia (the love between friendes), eros (the love between a man and a woman), and agape (eternal love-God's love). In our class discussion we mainly focused on eros. Lewis talks about eros as being the love that is both closest to agape and also the most fallen. Eros seems to make eternal promises to us when we fall in love. Indeed, if we are willing to work at a marriage, it can be a beautiful reflection of the love of Christ for his church. However, eros by itself has no power to fulfill its promise. Once the feeling of "falling in love" is past, eros can lead to divorce, neglect and sorrow.
I found it interesting when Lewis talked about making eros in itself an idol. He says this, "But Eros, honoured without reservation and obeyed unconditionally, becomes a demon." Sometimes, we are tempted to see eros as our 'fate' and follow after it regaurdless of God's law. Lewis points out that there have been God-honoring marriages without eros, and there have been times when lovers obeyed eros to God's dishonor. A God honoring marriage is one that is faithful and kind. It is not based on attraction and longing for the spouse. On the other hand. Eros cannot in any way justify the breaking of God's law.
Lewis also talks about the apostle Paul's take on eros. Paul wishes that all could be single like himself in order to focus more on God. However, Paul also suggests that, to avoid adultery, a person should marry. Lewis suggests that Paul takes this position, not because he thinks that the members of his church will be preoccupied with sex if they marry but rather, because eros puts the other before self. He understands that the fulltime duty in marriage of carring for another and maybe even for a family may take away from time that could be given to God. Even so, he understands that marriage is a good gift of God and that it is in God's plan that some members of the chrch should marry.
I found it interesting when Lewis talked about making eros in itself an idol. He says this, "But Eros, honoured without reservation and obeyed unconditionally, becomes a demon." Sometimes, we are tempted to see eros as our 'fate' and follow after it regaurdless of God's law. Lewis points out that there have been God-honoring marriages without eros, and there have been times when lovers obeyed eros to God's dishonor. A God honoring marriage is one that is faithful and kind. It is not based on attraction and longing for the spouse. On the other hand. Eros cannot in any way justify the breaking of God's law.
Lewis also talks about the apostle Paul's take on eros. Paul wishes that all could be single like himself in order to focus more on God. However, Paul also suggests that, to avoid adultery, a person should marry. Lewis suggests that Paul takes this position, not because he thinks that the members of his church will be preoccupied with sex if they marry but rather, because eros puts the other before self. He understands that the fulltime duty in marriage of carring for another and maybe even for a family may take away from time that could be given to God. Even so, he understands that marriage is a good gift of God and that it is in God's plan that some members of the chrch should marry.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Learning in War Time
I thought that C.S. Lewis' piece "Learning in War Time" was excellent. He bought up several differnt points which I thought were very worth taking note of. Lewis states, "War creates no absolutely new situation: it simply agrivates the peranent human situation so thatwe can no longer ignore it." He is saying that there is always some reason to put off learning. There is always something that needs to be set right in the world, some injustice that needs to be dealt with. If we waited for favorable conditions, we would never learn, because the conditions will never be favorable.
He also points out that it is impossible to just give up daily life in order to be involved in a war. Even in times of war, you will find yourself doing perfectly ordinary things like reading a book or playing an instrument. There is no way to isolate every activity in your life and dedicate it to the war alone. Lewis draws a parallel here to participating in a war and being a Christian. He points out that there is no way for a Christian to limit his activities to those things which can be labled as sacred. He needs to brush his teeth, pay his bills, and have a job, just like anyone else. The difference is that the motivation of every one of those things is or should be to the glory of God.
Lewis uses a couple of examples to make his meaning clearer. First, he talks about someone who lives by a dangerous coast and prepares himself to rescue swimmers who are in trouble. He has dedicated himself to this cause and may one day give up his life for it, however, it would be absurd for him to make that the center of his attention at every moment of every day. Secondly, he talks about the omnipresence of God. God is everywhere. But the fact that God is everywhere does not necessarily exclude something else from being there as well. When you look at a forest, you cannot say that God is everywhere except for where the trees stand. This is what the Christian life is like. God must be a part of everything, but that does not mean that we must avoid everything that is not specifically religious. Instead, we must seek to glorify Him through even the mundane things. Lewis even expressed how surprised he was that there was no drastic change in the routine of his life after he came to Christ. He could continue to be a scholar and to go about his daily activities. The changes were inward ones.
He also points out that it is impossible to just give up daily life in order to be involved in a war. Even in times of war, you will find yourself doing perfectly ordinary things like reading a book or playing an instrument. There is no way to isolate every activity in your life and dedicate it to the war alone. Lewis draws a parallel here to participating in a war and being a Christian. He points out that there is no way for a Christian to limit his activities to those things which can be labled as sacred. He needs to brush his teeth, pay his bills, and have a job, just like anyone else. The difference is that the motivation of every one of those things is or should be to the glory of God.
Lewis uses a couple of examples to make his meaning clearer. First, he talks about someone who lives by a dangerous coast and prepares himself to rescue swimmers who are in trouble. He has dedicated himself to this cause and may one day give up his life for it, however, it would be absurd for him to make that the center of his attention at every moment of every day. Secondly, he talks about the omnipresence of God. God is everywhere. But the fact that God is everywhere does not necessarily exclude something else from being there as well. When you look at a forest, you cannot say that God is everywhere except for where the trees stand. This is what the Christian life is like. God must be a part of everything, but that does not mean that we must avoid everything that is not specifically religious. Instead, we must seek to glorify Him through even the mundane things. Lewis even expressed how surprised he was that there was no drastic change in the routine of his life after he came to Christ. He could continue to be a scholar and to go about his daily activities. The changes were inward ones.
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