- Discuss J17
- Finish Book 2
(12) “...out of that hopeless attempt [to be their own masters, and invent some sort of happiness for themselves outside God] has come nearly all that which we call human history.” Do you agree with this summation of world history? Would you
have anything to add to it?
(13) According to Lewis, God’s rescue plan for humanity took the form of four things (the Moral Law, good dreams of a dying god, the revelation given to the Jews, and finally the coming of Jesus).
(a) Is “good dreams” a strange inclusion in this list?
(b) Can you think of any examples of good dreams in pagan/heathen cultures?
(c) Why was the Judaic revelation so important?
(d) Are there any other ways in which God could be said to
have revealed himself to humanity?
(14) Lewis says, “If you are a Christian, you are free to think that all these religions, even the queerest ones, contain at least some hint of truth.” Can you identify any “hints of the truth” within other world religions? What do you think a sincere believer's attitude towards people of other faiths should be?
(15) Despite Lewis famous words about the foolishness of accepting Christ simply as “a great
moral teacher” it seems that many people today still take that attitude towards Jesus. Why?
(16) What did you make of the theory of atonement that Lewis proposes? Are there any other such theories that have helped you in your understanding of what happened on the cross?
HW: Tonight, let's work through at least the first four small sections of Book 3.
Journal 18: Book 3 "Christian Behavior"
(17) “People often ask when the next step in evolution –the step to something beyond man –will happen. According to Lewis, it has happened already.” How?
(18) What, according to Lewis, are the three things that spread the Christ life to us? How might this work in practice?
(19) “Christian writers seem to be so strict at one moment and so very free and easy at another. They talk about mere sins of thought as if they were immensely important: and then they talk about the most frightful murders and treacheries as if you had only got to repent and all would be forgiven. But I have come to see that they are right. What they are always thinking of is the mark which the action leaves on that tiny central self which no one sees in this life but which each of us will have to endure - or enjoy –forever.” Do you think Lewis is right to put so much emphasis on our inner lives? What are the consequences of this view?
(20) Do you agree that our sexual instinct has gone wrong?
(21) What did you make of Lewis’ model of Christian marriage?
(22) “Loving my enemies does not apparently mean thinking them nice.” What does it mean then?
(23) Do you agree with Lewis that an honest pacifist is mistaken? Explain.
(24) “The essential vice, the utmost evil, is pride.” Why?
(25) How do we recognize pride in:
(a) others
(b) ourselves . . . What should our reaction be?
(26) How does being humble help one to get on in the Christian life?
(27) What does Lewis see as the secret of learning to love people? Are there any other good
ways of cultivating charity?
(28) “On the whole God’s love for us is a much safer subject than our love for him.” Why?
(29) “It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this.” Do you agree:
(a) that modern Christians are largely ineffective
(b) that it is because they have ceased to think much of heaven
(30) “I must make it the main object of life to press on to that other country, and to help others to do the same” How might a believer do this?
(31) “Faith is the art of holding on to things your reason has once accepted in spite of your changing moods.” Would you agree with this definition of faith?
(32) “If you have really handed yourself over to Him, it must follow that you are trying to obey Him. But trying in a new way, a less worried way. Not doing things in order to be saved, but because He has begun to save you already.”
(a)How does this understanding of salvation conflict with popular ideas of
what Christianity means?
(b) How do we really “hand ourselves over” to God?
(c) What are the consequences of this new obedience?
(33) “I think all Christians would agree with me if I said that though Christianity seems at first to be all about morality, all about duties and rules and guilt and virtue, yet it leads you on, out of all that, into something beyond.” Is Lewis getting all mystical on us here? What would you say Christianity is really all about?
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