C.S. Lewis, a Christian writer and philosopher, produced many best selling books such as The Screwtape Letters, an allegorical tale addressing the psychology of temptation. As Richard S. Sandor remarks, “I would not, ‘Hell forbid,’ give away the ending of the book,” but there is nothing wrong in commenting that in this novella, the temptations given by Screwtape dives into the three prominent sources “we humans fall prey to” and which we are most vulnerable: the world, the flesh, and the spirit. Pride, moral blindness, perverted pleasures, and a host of other panoplies are used, “and all in the context of one human being’s search for knowledge of God’s will in the midst of the horror of World War II” (Sander). The book reads like a fictionalized mantra of Lewis’ theological assertions of true reality, which consists of the “Dark Power” and deification conveyed in his serious work, Mere Christianity. …show more content…
Consequently, humans are then on “Enemy-occupied territory” (51) and in the midst of a “civil war, a rebellion” (51) where humans must moment-by-moment choose whether to align with the Sovereign or the rebel. There is no mistaking Lewis’s intentions to evangelize, construct the manifesto for Christianity, and educate people on the sins of this world through both his fictional works and expository
Religion is a part of society that is so closely bound to the rest of one’s life it becomes hard to distinguish what part of religion is actually being portrayed through themselves, or what is being portrayed through their culture and the rest of their society. In Holy Terrors, Bruce Lincoln states that religion is used as a justifiable mean of supporting violence and war throughout time (Lincoln 2). This becomes truly visible in times such as the practice of Jihad, the Reformation, and 9/11. The purpose of this essay is to show that as long as religion is bound to a political and cultural aspect of a community, religious war and destruction will always occur throughout the world. A historical methodology will be deployed in order to gain
The Screwtape Letters is one of the most popular works of prominent Christian writer C.S. Lewis. It documents the letters sent from the demon Screwtape to his nephew Wormwood regarding the damnation of an English gentleman living just before and during World War II. This novel is considered by many to be one of the best works by Lewis, but whether it is really worth the hype surrounding it is more subjective. Regardless of if it’s that good, however, it’s still a very interesting read and a fascinating glimpse into 1940s Britain and the moral dilemmas that were faced by good Christian people at the time.
Another unique aspect to this book is the constant change in point of view. This change in point of view emphasizes the disorder associated with war. At some points during the book, it is a first person point of view, and at other times it changes to an outside third person point of view. In the first chapter of the book, “The Things They Carried,” O’Brien writes, “The things they carried were largely determined by necessity (2).
The novelist with Christian concerns will find in modern life distortions which are repugnant to him, and his problem will be to make them appear as distortions to an audience which is used to seeing them as natural; and he may be forced to take ever more violent means to get his vision across to this hostile audience. When you can assume that your audience holds the same beliefs you do, you can relax a little and use more normal ways of talking to it; when you have to assume that it does not, then you have to make your vision apparent by shock to the hard of hearing you shout, and for the blind you draw large and
Greed and envy are two of the seven deadly sins in the Christian world that adherents must dispel from their lives. This fact makes it all the more ironic when many Christians during the Salem witch trials display these two offenses in The Crucible by Arthur Miller. One reason explaining the prevalence of sin in a society that thinks of itself as pure is that leaders demonstrate that they care more about actions rather than pureness of thought. For example, clergymen who feature themselves in the play, like Parris and Hale, often measure a person’s connection with the divine through the number of times he or she attends church. In actuality, according to many prominent officials of the Christian Church, that connection can only be achieved
As a child, Hazel Motes is indoctrinated in religious fundamentalism by his grandfather, “a circuit preacher, a waspish old man… with Jesus hidden in his head like a stinger” (9). Time after time young Haze hears the searing sermon of his Bible-thumping grandfather who, in front of a crowd, would point to his grandson, “that mean sinful unthinking boy,” and pronounced him “redeemed”: “That boy had been redeemed and Jesus was not going to leave him ever…. Jesus would have him in the end!” (10). Understanding Jesus as the “soul-hungry” devourer, as “something awful,” the boy very early comes to the conclusion that “the way to avoid Jesus was to avoid sin” and, at the age of twelve, decides to follow the preacher’s calling like his grandfather. Furthermore, Haze’s mother, with “a cross-shaped face” reinforces the fundament- alist piety in her son by equating the boy’s germination sexuality with sin. Her chilling question “what you seen?,” to the shame-faced boy who just had a peek at a naked w...
Since this paper is my reflection, I will be honest by stating that I am nineteen years old, white, a male, and have been raised in a Catholic family just outside of Louisville, Kentucky. Now why is this important? This is important because the only viewpoint of the crusades that I have studied, prior to my experience with Maalouf, has been from the Christian point of view. Until now, I have yet to place myself in the shoes of those on the opposite end of the sword, shields, and Jihad. History is a touchy subject for me because I have come to learn there is always another side of the story to learn from. This fact leads to the first main thesis of Maalouf’s adventure.
Since the first storytellers, religion has played an important part in developing both character and plot. From Ancient Greece to Egypt to Judaism to Christianity, the basic stories of human origins have stood the test of time. Classic books such as The Great Gatsby, The Stranger, and Lord of the Flies are full of religious parallels and imagery. Conceptually, main characters of each work--Gatsby, The Stranger’s Meursault, and Lord of the Flies’ schoolboys attempt to be Christ-like figures, but whose demise is ironically brought about by their own sins.
C.S. Lewis was a brilliant philosopher, theologian, and author. Many things influenced Lewis throughout his life, and inspired him to write over 30 books. Even 50 years after his death, he still continues to change people’s lives. He believed there were many dimensions to fantasy and imagination. He stated that, "Great stories take us outside the prison of our own selves and our presuppositions about reality. Insofar as stories reflect the divine maker in doing this, they help us face the ultimate Other--God himself, distinct as creator from all else, including ourselves." (Morrow). Lewis inspires people to believe in God, be creative, and never lose their imagination.
In the novel The Scarlet Letter and the short story “The Minister’s Black Veil”, Nathaniel Hawthorne incorporates romantic elements, such as beauty, truth, innocence, and sin, in his criticism of Puritan societies. In both texts, Hawthorne argues that all people, even those in strictly religious societies with corrupted standards, are capable of sin. Hawthorne uses symbolism and light and dark imagery to convey his argument.
...e, is the end; Despite all the odds Lewis highlighted important truths of Christian faith through the story of a demon who is not good at being a demon. Wormwood’s helper shows us those truths in thirty-one irrational letters. A message of light brought forth through darkness.
... much human conflict and evil in the world. He concludes from one of his most famous novels that we have already conquered the earth and that we can gain nothing more from it except for violence. Because of this reason Lewis says that we should learn stop the wars and politics and just work together to make this world a better place.
I listen mostly to Christian radio, this is especially true when I am in my car driving to and from work. Today I just so happened to get a little clip of a show on Moody radio called “The land and the book by Dr. Charlie Dyer.” They were talking to a couple who are ministering in the Middle East to Muslims and Christians. They talk about the fear that Christians have in preaching the “Good New” outside of the church in Syria, and how much persecution/genocide is happening there. (Moody Radio, 2014) Although I knew that the world was having trouble it didn’t quite sink in until this point. Becoming a Christian has changed my view on the world; I would have never thought twice about these issues until I opened my heart to Jesus Christ. In this essay I will talk about the Apostle Paul’s writings to the people in Rome on the matters the natural world (Adams sin, the evidence of God’s power, etc.), human identity (Our identity through Christ), human relationship (Paul’s relationship with the people, and God), and culture (Jewish circumcision, the Abrahamic covenant)
C.S. Lewis was the 20th century’s most popular proponent of faith based on reason. As a child, he created an imaginary world where personified animals came to life, and later, he wrote the book, Chronicles of Narnia. How did he transform from a boy fascinated with anthropomorphic animals into a man of immense faith? His transformation to the Christian religion happened as his fame began to flourish. People wrote him, asking him about his claims about the truth of Christianity (Belmonte, Kevin). As I attended the drama of Freud’s Last Session, I was engrossed into the plot of the play and was constantly thinking about how it pertained to the objectives of the World Literature class. I not only connected the content of the play to its context, but I also reached out to apply the context to a discussion on a broader scale. I then discovered why the context of literature is imperative for true understanding of the w...
The Chronicles of Narnia are veritably the most popular writings of C.S. Lewis. They are known as children’s fantasy literature, and have found favor in older students and adults alike, even many Christian theologians enjoy these stories from Lewis; for there are many spiritual truths that one can gleam from them, if familiar with the Bible. However, having said this, it is noteworthy to say that Lewis did not scribe these Chronicles for allegorical didactics of the Christian faith, but wrote them in such a well-knit fashion that young readers might understand Christian doctrine through captivating fantasy and thus gain an appreciation for it. With this in mind, and in the interest of this assignment, the purpose of this paper is an attempt to analyze one of the many doctrines of the Christian faith from The Lion, The Witch, And, The Wardrobe (LWW), namely, temptation and how Lewis illustrates it through an individual character, Edmund.