Mere Christianity and Screwtape Letters get a lot of attention, but I find most people have not read much C.S. Lewis beyond that (if anything, the Great Divorce, The Abolition of Man, maybe The Weight of Glory). Although I’m a big fan of his famous books like Screwtape Letters, most of my favorite Lewis comes from his shorter essays and lesser known stuff. Here are some snippets from the Letters of C.S. Lewis, a collection of some of his personal letters to fans and friends. I thought some of these might generate interesting discussion if people are inclined to discuss. I numbered them so you can refer to them more easily.<\/p>\n
1) I have seen death fairly often and never yet been able to find it anything but extraordinary and rather incredible. The real person is so very real, so obviously living and different from what is left that one cannot believe something has turned into nothing. It is not faith, is is not reason — just a “feeling.” “Feelings” are in the long run a pretty good match for what we call our beliefs. (To his father, 23 April, 1921)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
2) I’m sorry about the Athanasian Creed — the passage illustrates how important it is in writing to say what you mean and not to say anything you don’t mean. As the context suggests, I was thinking purely of the Trinitarian doctrine and had quite forgotten the damnatory clauses. There are however several palliatives. Residence in Limbo I am told is compatible with “perishing everlastingly” and you’ll find it quite jolly, for whereas Heaven is an acquired taste, Limbo is a place of “perfect natural<\/em> happiness.” …There are grand libraries in Limbo, endless discussions, and no colds. There will be a faint melancholy because you’ll all know that you have missed the bus, but that will provide a subject for poetry. (To Mrs. Joan Bennett, probably in response to Mrs Bennett taking exception ot the chapter “Limbo” in The Pilgrim’s Regress<\/em>, 1933)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
3) The process of living seems to consist in coming to realize truths so ancient and simple that, if stated, they sound like barren platitudes. They cannot sound otherwise to those who have not had the relevant experience: that is why there is no real teaching of such truths possible and every generation starts from scratch. (To Dom Bede Griffiths, 8 May 1939)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
4) My own experience in reading the Gospels was at one stage even more depressing than yours. Everyone told me that there I should find a figure whom I couldn’t help loving. Well, I could. They told me I would find moral perfection — but one sees so little of Him in ordinary situations that I couldn’t make much of that either. Indeed some of His behaviour seemed to me open to criticism, e.g. accepting an invitation to dine with a Pharisee and then loading him with torrents of abuse. (To a former pupil, 26 March 1940)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
5) Thirdly, is it not usually transitory? Doesn’t the modern emphasis on “love” lead people either into divorce or into misery, because when that emotion dies down they conclude that their marriage is a “failure,” tho’ in fact they have just reached the point at which real<\/em> marriage begins? (To a former pupil, 18 April 1940)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
6) My own frequent uneasiness comes from another source — the fact that apologetic work is so dangerous to one’s own faith. A doctrine never seems dimmer to me than when I have just successfully defended it. (To Dorothy Sayers, 2 August 1946)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
7) I do however strongly object to the tyrannic and unscriptural insolence of anything that calls itself a Church and makes teetotalism a condition of membership. (To Mrs. Ashton, 16 March 1955)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
8) I realise that until about a month ago I never really believed (tho’ I thought I did) in God’s forgiveness. What an ass I have been both for not knowing and for thinking I knew. I now feel that one must never say one believes or understands anything–any moment a doctrine I thought I already possessed may blossom into this new reality. Selah! (To Sister Penelope, 5 June 1951)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n