Monday, Feb.12 ~ The Problem of Pain, Ch.1

Weight of Glory Reflections due today!

Let's read and work through Journal 10 together.


Journal 10: The Problem of Pain

Preface and Chapter 1 Reading Notes Ashley Sampson (1900-1947):  was the owner of Centenary Press who invited C. S. Lewis to write The Problem of Pain after reading the "smuggled-in theology" in Out of the Silent Planet.  Geoffrey Bles Ltd., another publisher of Lewis, later bought the Centenary Press. Rudolf Otto (1869-1937):  a Lutheran theologian from Germany who taught at the University of Marburg Divinity School.  His most famous work is The Idea of the Holy,which has not been out of print since its publication in 1917.  Otto coined the term "numinous" to signify the non-rational experience of the divine that is simultaneously terrifying and fascinating.  He died of complications after a fall from a tower.  There is some debate over whether his fall was a suicide attempt or precipitated by members of the Nazi Party, which opposed his views.  Numinous:  a term coined by German theologian Rudolf Otto to describe a sense of the mysterious, supernatural and holy.  Incorporates both awe and dread. Anfractuous:  full of windings and turnings Preface 1. According to the Preface, what was Lewis's only purpose for writing the book? Chapter 1 - Introductory 2.  The chapter opens with the response Lewis would have given to the question, "Why do you not believe in God?" prior to his conversion. Do you think this is what the average person today would say? What other arguments are at the top of the list? 3.  According to Lewis, if you look at the natural world around you, what would you conclude about its Creator?  Consider the epigraph from Pascal. Does nature reveal anything about God?  If so, what? 4.  What question is Lewis hoping to answer by looking at the commonalities of all religions?  5. List the three elements that developed in all religions and the fourth element, which is unique to Christianity. 6.  What is his main point drawn from looking at the origins of all these elements?  7. Explain how the concept of the Numinous guarding the unattainable moral reality is a paradox. (What makes it impossible and yet true?) 8.  What are the consequences of ignoring the Numinous (having a non-religious morality)?  Ignoring the moral law (a non-moral religion)? 9. How is the existence of Jesus one of the "awkward facts which have to be fitted into any system we make"? 10.  Why is the problem of pain more of an issue for the Christian?