C.S. Lewis "On Being Human"

On Being Human
By C. S. Lewis


Angelic minds, they say, by simple intelligence
Behold the Forms of nature.
They discern Unerringly the Archtypes, all the verities
Which mortals lack or indirectly learn.
Transparent in primordial truth, unvarying,
Pure Earthness and right Stonehood from their clear,
High eminence are seen; unveiled, the seminal Huge Principles appear.

The Tree-ness of the tree they know-the meaning of
Arboreal life, how from earth's salty lap
The solar beam uplifts it; all the holiness
Enacted by leaves' fall and rising sap;

But never an angel knows the knife-edged severance
Of sun from shadow where the trees begin,
The blessed cool at every pore caressing us -
An angel has no skin.

They see the Form of Air; but mortals breathing it
Drink the whole summer down into the breast.
The lavish pinks, the field new-mown, the ravishing
Sea-smells, the wood-fire smoke that whispers Rest.
The tremor on the rippled pool of memory
That from each smell in widening circles goes,
The pleasure and the pang --can angels measure it?
An angel has no nose.

The nourishing of life, and how it flourishes
On death, and why, they utterly know; but not
The hill-born, earthy spring, the dark cold bilberries.
The ripe peach from the southern wall still hot
Full-bellied tankards foamy-topped, the delicate
Half-lyric lamb, a new loaf's billowy curves,
Nor porridge, nor the tingling taste of oranges.
—An angel has no nerves.

Far richer they! I know the senses' witchery
Guards us like air, from heavens too big to see;
Imminent death to man that barb'd sublimity
And dazzling edge of beauty unsheathed would be.
Yet here, within this tiny, charmed interior,
This parlour of the brain, their Maker shares
With living men some secrets in a privacy
Forever ours, not theirs.

C.S. Lewis' Impressions of Billy Graham

In an interview conducted with C. S. Lewis in 1963 at Cambridge University, Lewis was asked what he thought of "Billy Graham asking people to come to a point of decision regarding the Christian life?" Here is Lewis' reply:

"I had the pleasure of meeting Billy Graham once. We had dinner together during his visit to Cambridge University in 1955, while he was conducting a mission to students. I thought he was a very modest and a very sensible man, and I liked him very much indeed.

In a civilization like ours, I feel that everyone has to come to terms with the claims of Jesus Christ upon his life, or else be guilty of inattention or of evading the question. In the Soviet Union it is different. Many people living in Russia today have never had to consider the claims of Christ because they have never heard of those claims.

In the same way, we who live in English-speaking countries have never been forced to consider the claims, let us say, of Hinduism. But in our Western civilization we are obligated both morally and intellectually to come to grips with Jesus Christ; if we refuse to do so we are guilty of being bad philosophers and bad thinkers."

Source: C. S. Lewis God in the Dock: Essays on Theology and Ethics, p. 265.

CS Lewis on Hedonism

Alice C. Linsley


I'm reading an excellent book edited by Gregory Bassham and Jerry L. Walls. It is titled The Chronicles of Narnia and Philosophy. Bassham is a philosophy professor at Kings College in Pennsylvania and the author of a book I use with my Critical Thinking classes.

Chapter seven of The Chronicles of Narnia and Philosophy addresses "Work, Vocation and the Good Life in Narnia." In this chapter, written by Devin Brown, the character of Eustace Scrubb is examined. Here is an excerpt from that chapter. Devon Brown writes:

Epicurus, a Greek philosopher who lived from 342 to 270 B.C., taught that the goal of life is to maximize pleasure and minimize pain, a philosophy that is called hedonism. You may have heard of the modern-day resort named Hedonism that claims to be "a lush garden of pure pleasure," and in fact the Greek word hedones means pleasures. As Epicurus explained to a young disciple, "We recognize pleasure as the first and natural good; starting from pleasure we accept or reject; and we return to this as we judge every good thing, trusting this feeling of pleasure as our guide." (Epicurus, "Letter to Menoeceus")

Like Kleenex, Epicurus has the distinction of having had his name made into a general noun, although one not as well-known. If you look up epicure in the dictionary, you'll find that it refers to a person who takes great pleasure in eating, drinking, or other bodily pleasures.

There is more complexity to Epicureanism than you might think, however. For example, what if what you think of as the height of pleasure - staying in bed all day, eating Turkish Delight, and watching MTV - ends up being, well, not all that pleasurable? As a point of fact, Epicurus didn't advocate a life of wild sex and parties, as many people wrongly assume. But the goal of pleasure is certainly central to his thought, and in this sense we can see Epicurus as the great-grandfather of what we might call the Tom Sawyer philosophy of work.

In the second chapter of Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Tom appears on the sidewalk with a bucket of whitewash in one hand, a long-handled brush in the other, and a "deep melancholy" in his heart. Aunt Polly has ordered him to paint the fence. In the end, he convinces every boy who passes by that painting a fence is actually a privilege, not a chore. But Tom doesn't fool us for a minute.

We know Tom hates work, any kind of work. At the merest thought of work, we are told, "all gladness left him," life "seemed hollow," and "existence a burden." Tom, normally a very upbeat guy, doesn't see whitewashing the fence as a privilege. He sees it, and work in general (including going to school) as an obstacle to the fun things he would rather be doing.

In The Chronicles of Narnia we find a character that, while not as lovable as Tom, definitely adheres to Tom's philosophy of work. Through him we can see what Lewis's view of work, vocation, and the good life is not. In The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Eustace Scrubb is clearly one who practices his own brand of hedonism and sees his highest good as his own comfort and pleasure. Eustace, like Tom, looks on any kind of work, even what is rightfully his own share, with dread and foreboding because it interferes with his selfish pursuit of pleasure and avoidance of pain. (Note that these comments apply only to the early Eustace because, as you know if you have read the book, he later becomes quite a different character, which of course is Lewis's point.)

One of the best examples of Eustace's hedonism occurs when the Dawn Treader puts ashore on Dragon Island. At this point, the ship is a bit of a wreck. Casks have to be brought ashore, fixed, and refilled. A tree has to be cut down and made into a new mast. Sails must be repaired, a hunting party organized, and clothes washed and mended. In short, "there was everything to be done" (VDT, Chapter 5, p. 459).

Everyone immediately jumps in and begins working - everyone, that is, except Eustace. Here's what Lewis says about him:

A Eustace lay under a tree and heard all these plans being discussed his heart sank. Was there going to be no rest? It looked as if their first day on the longed-for land was going to be quite as hard work as a day at sea. Then a delightful idea occurred to him. Nobody was looking - they were all chattering about their ship as if they actually liked the beastly thing. Why shouldn't he simply slip away? He would take a stroll inland, find a cool, airy place up in the mountains, have a good long sleep, and not rejoin the others till the day's work was over (VTD, Chapter 5, p. 459).

The other crew members - who begin working not only without complaining but even with a sense of a happiness - have a vastly different philosophy of work, vocation, and the good life than Eustace does.

By having Eustace grow and develop, from someone who at first cares only about his own pleasure, Lewis suggests that this pleasure-seeking state is an immature one. It's a position that might be understandable in a child but not in someone who has grown up. After his transformation, Eustace remarks, "I'm afraid I've been pretty beastly" (VDT, Chapter 7, p. 475). In associating the word beastly with Eustace's first condition, Lewis further suggests that if the love of pleasure is something we share with the animals, being human requires that we acquire a purpose in life that is greater than just our own hedonistic desires.

Prince Caspian: Taking the Right Path

Connie Looney Cassels

A few years ago, I had the privilege of seeing a collection of C.S. Lewis' letters in the special publications library at Southwestern Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. Watching the first 2 movies of the Narnia Chronicles brought to mind how impressed I was with Lewis’ insights.

Recently, my husband and I caught a matinee of Prince Caspian, the second movie of the Chronicles of Narnia. We both remarked on the beautiful cinematography and heart-rending soundtrack, but throughout the movie my husband kept elbowing me and saying, "I just don't see the symbolism in this one, do you?"

"What?" I exclaimed, a little too loudly. “You've got to be kidding! The movie is so full of symbolism I can't begin to catch all of it in one viewing.”After the movie, we agreed that it was necessary to "dig a little deeper" to see the symbolism. But, boy, was it ever there. I pointed to the scene where "the young kings and queens - Peter, Susan, Edmund, & Lucy" are looking for a way to cross the great chasm over the river to save the "Narnia" that they remember from their visit centuries before. Lucy, the youngest and noted for her pure heart, claims that she sees Aslan across the river telling them to come His way. When scolded and scoffed at by her older siblings who had not seen Aslan, Lucy remarked, "Well, maybe you weren't looking for him!"

The siblings refuse to follow her toward Aslan, urging her to go the way Peter leads them instead. The four soon find themselves with the Narnians who have hidden themselves in the forest because an evil king has taken control of the kingdom have declared them extinct. The prevailing culture often casts a blind eye to the existence of the ancient path.

This is why Lewis insisted that we need old books to correct this blindness. The evil king banished or executed those who taught the old ways.

After they are defeated in battle, with many losses attributed to Peter's lofty plan, Lucy leaves the group to go seek "salvation" for her siblings and the Narnians by finding Aslan. Lucy believes with her "childlike faith" that she can find Aslan and He can make everything right. Remember, too, Lucy's special “gift” in Narnia is the cordial that raises creatures from the dead or heals them when they are near death. One drop of special potion from the heart-shaped vial is usually sufficient. Here we find an allusion to the Blood of Jesus.

When Lucy finds Aslan, she falls upon him with joy and love, hugging and kissing him. However, she suddenly becomes sad when Aslan asks, "Why didn't you follow me when I showed myself to you?" Lucy replies, "I was scared and didn't want to come alone." After explaining to Aslan about the battle, Lucy asks Aslan, "What if I had come when you showed us the way? Would we have avoided this awful battle?" Aslan speaks, "Young one, we can never know what might have been." This is a recurring theme in Lewis’ Chronicles, emphasizing the limitations of our human existence and ability to know. Lewis maintained that “reality is very odd” and that “ultimate truth must have the characteristic of strangeness.”At several points in the movie, one or more of the characters refers to "waiting on Aslan", as if to say "we know He is coming to help us" or "He will show us what to do." Consider how Peter, Susan, and Edmund didn't see Aslan because they weren't looking for him. With Jesus, the same is true. We don't see His hand, His works, His grace, His plan, etc. because we're not looking for Him. Jesus tells us in Scripture, "You will find me when you seek me with all of your heart."

Peter's plans to fight for Narnia without Aslan’s help resulted in failure. His siblings and others kept telling him "we should wait on Aslan." But, he moved forward according to his own plan. The lesson for viewers is to consult Aslan (Jesus Christ) about His will rather than following our own.

When Aslan does come to help at the end of the movie, Peter is vindicated but ashamed. C. S. Lewis named Narnia “high king” after the Apostle Peter who had he denied Jesus three times at the time of his arrest, but was forgiven and restored to Christ after the resurrection. Jesus said, "Peter, you are the rock and upon this rock I will build my Church."

Can't see the symbolism? You've got to be kidding!

CS Lewis Explains the Allegory of Narnia

When a little girl wrote to CS Lewis asking him for an explanation of the Chronicles of Narnia, she never expected to get a reply.

But the letter Anne Jenkins from Hertfordshire received when she was just 10-years-old is to be displayed in Queen's University's new CS Lewis Reading Room.

Anne wrote to the Belfast born author in 1961 after being intrigued by a particular passage in The Silver Chair.

Recalling that time, Anne said she was fascinated by the books and the mystical world of Narnia.

"I just used to scrutinise them quite carefully and it was a little bit at the end of The Silver Chair, that I just didn't understand what he was saying," she said.

"It was where the dead king Caspian is brought back to life by Aslan the lion's blood and Eustace says 'hasn't he died' and the lion says 'yes he has died, most people have you know, even I have, there are very few people who haven't'.

"For some reason this stuck in my brain, so I asked my parents what does he mean by saying that most people have died?

"They didn't know, so they said that I should write and ask him."

Anne has kept the envelope for 44 years, and as far as Anne is aware, her letter is the only known document from the author which supports the argument that Aslan represented Jesus Christ.

Anne said she has often thought about what exactly was in the author's mind at the time he wrote to her.

"I think it must have been the mood he was in at the time, his wife had died a couple of years before, maybe he was just thinking about it a lot at the time," she said.

"I see it as a coincidence, but maybe not."

In the letter Lewis simply states that the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe tells the story of the "Crucifixion of Christ and the resurrection".

He also explains that the story of Prince Caspian "tells the restoration of the true religion after the corruption".

"If you read the letter he wrote to other children, none of them are like this at all," Anne said.

CS Lewis wrote to Anne when she was just 10-years-old. Anne believes the letter is just too important a piece of historical literature not to be shared with the world.

"The letter could easily have got lost it is just lucky I have kept it safe all of these years," she said.

"The letter is so valuable and really needs to go into the public domain now rather than where I've kept it in a wardrobe, which is quite appropriate."

The letter will be displayed in Queen's University's new £44m library, which is due to open in 2009. Until then it will be kept in the university library's special collection.

Source: BBC News