Pride In John Donne's Mere Christianity

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The admittance of human insufficiency is a major conflict society faces daily as an earthly consequence of humans sustaining an overarching amount of pride. John Donne in his own poetry and life battles his indigenous pride along with the repercussions sickness in death can have on the human soul. Donne wrestles with what Lewis is trying to convey in his book Mere Christianity, where he writes “the Christian Religion is, in the long run, a thing of unspeakable comfort. But it does not begin in comfort; it begins in the dismay I have been describing, and it is no use at all trying to go on to that comfort without first going through that dismay” (Lewis 32). The conflict Donne is consumed with proves to be a timeless ongoing issue in which Lewis …show more content…

He argues that “God as well as humanity is saved upon the cross from a state in which each would be dead to the other” in hope of proving to himself and those that surround him that death may also have a positive connotation ("Lines Which Circles Do Contain"). Through this newfound awareness, Donne contemplates the direction sin has taken in his life, but he concludes “Sinne had eternally benighted all,” justifying that if Jesus would not have faced death on the cross, sin would have taken over all eternity (Donne, “Good Friday, 1613 Riding Westward” line 14). He finds a sense of contentment in the assurance that death is only one part of the circle of human life, and that this circle has continuous meaning and he will one day reach birth again through becoming born again as he approaches heaven. Donne learns it is through sickness that leads man to approach God by connecting him with his “frailty and mortality,” the dismay he has discovered in his own life (Miller 4). As Donne begins to endure the irrefutable effect Jesus has had on his life through suffering, he prays, “By these thorns give me his other crown” so he may identify with what Jesus went through in an effort to grow closer to him and share in his glory (Donne, “Hymn to God, My God, in My Sickness line 27). Donne concludes the cross is where the human and divine circles unite and become one in each other. The cross satisfies his fear of death in hell, and also aids him in becoming dependent on God as Donne now has proof Jesus Christ is

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