Posted on 11/29/2004 12:50:35 PM PST by Mr. Silverback
C. S. Lewis was born on this date in 1898, and forty-one years after his death, one thing has become startlingly clear: This Oxford don was not only a keen apologist but also a true prophet for our postmodern age.
For example, Lewis’s 1947 book, Miracles, was penned before most Christians were aware of the emerging philosophy of naturalism. This is the belief that there is a naturalistic explanation for everything in the universe.
Naturalism undercuts any objective morality, opening the door to tyranny. In his book The Abolition of Man, Lewis warned that naturalism turns humans into objects to be controlled. It turns values into “mere natural phenomena”—which can be selected and inculcated into a passive population by powerful Conditioners. Lewis predicted a time when those who want to remold human nature “will be armed with the powers of an omnicompetent state and an irresistible scientific technique.” Sounds like the biotech debate today, doesn’t it?
Why was Lewis so uncannily prophetic? At first glance he seems an unlikely candidate. He was not a theologian; he was an English professor. What was it that made him such a keen observer of cultural and intellectual trends?
The answer may be somewhat discomfiting to modern evangelicals: One reason is precisely that Lewis was not an evangelical. He was a professor in the academy, with a specialty in medieval literature, which gave him a mental framework shaped by the whole scope of intellectual history and Christian thought. As a result, he was liberated from the narrow confines of the religious views of the day—which meant he was able to analyze and critique them.
Lewis once wrote than any new book “has to be tested against the great body of Christian thought down the ages.” Because he himself was steeped in that “great body of Christian thought,” he quickly discerned trends that ran counter to it.
But how many of us are familiar with that same panorama of Christian ideas “down the ages”? How many of us know the work of more than a few contemporary writers? How, then, can we stand against the destructive intellectual trends multiplying in our own day?
The problem is not that modern evangelicals are less intelligent than Lewis. As Mark Noll explains in his book The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind, the problem is that our sharpest intellects have been channeled into biblical scholarship, exegesis, and hermeneutics. While that is a vital enterprise, we rarely give the same scholarly attention to history, literature, politics, philosophy, economics, or the arts. As a result, we are less aware of the culture than we should be, less equipped to defend a biblical worldview, and less capable of being a redemptive force in our postmodern society—less aware, as well, of the threats headed our way from cultural elites.
You and I need to follow Lewis’s lead. We must liberate ourselves from the prison of our own narrow perspective and immerse ourselves in Christian ideas “down the ages.” Only then can we critique our culture and trace the trends.
The best way to celebrate Lewis’s birthday is to be at our posts, as he liked to say—with renewed spirits and with probing and informed minds.
I actually just finished it about two hours ago! Some of it changed me forever. Other parts made me think he was smoking something. My first observation qualifies it, for me, as a great work.
There is a C S Lewis book that in some ways surpasses Mere Christianity. The Great Divorce. Sticks to the ribs better than 'Mere'.
Perhaps small, but literally growing, because we "go for" growing!
"Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth"
| Look in thy glass, and tell the face thou viewest |
| Now is the time that face should form another; |
| Whose fresh repair if now thou not renewest, |
| Thou dost beguile the world, unbless some mother. |
| For where is she so fair whose unear'd womb |
| Disdains the tillage of thy husbandry? |
| Or who is he so fond will be the tomb |
| Of his self-love, to stop posterity? |
| Thou art thy mother's glass, and she in thee |
| Calls back the lovely April of her prime: |
| So thou through windows of thine age shall see |
| Despite of wrinkles this thy golden time. |
| But if thou live, remember'd not to be, |
| Die single, and thine image dies with thee. |
For example, Lewis’s 1947 book, Miracles, was penned before most Christians were aware of the emerging philosophy of naturalism. This is the belief that there is a naturalistic explanation for everything in the universe.
Naturalism undercuts any objective morality, opening the door to tyranny. In his book The Abolition of Man, Lewis warned that naturalism turns humans into objects to be controlled. It turns values into “mere natural phenomena”—which can be selected and inculcated into a passive population by powerful Conditioners. Lewis predicted a time when those who want to remold human nature “will be armed with the powers of an omnicompetent state and an irresistible scientific technique.” Sounds like the biotech debate today, doesn’t it?
Why was Lewis so uncannily prophetic? "
I love CS Lewis, I've read most if not all of his books, and have a collection of them prominently in my bookcases. But, I believe he did read Catholic documents regarding naturalism which perhaps he may have been made aware of by his good friend Tolkien, a Catholic, who convinced him of the existance of God and the need to not be atheistic.
here is some of my proof, check out the dates:
Encyclical of Pope Leo XIII 20 April 1884 http://ewtn.com/library/ENCYC/L13HUMAN.HTM
. For, from what We have above most clearly shown, that which is their ultimate purpose forces itself into view—namely, the utter overthrow of that whole religious and political order of the world which the Christian teaching has produced, and the substitution of a new state of things in accordance with their ideas, of which the foundations and laws shall be drawn from mere naturalism.
QUANTA CURA (Condemning Current Errors) Pope Pius IX Encyclical promulgated on 8 December 1864. http://ewtn.com/library/ENCYC/P9QUANTA.HTM For you well know, venerable brethren, that at this time men are found not a few who, applying to civil society the impious and absurd principle of "naturalism," as they call it, dare to teach that "the best constitution of public society and (also) civil progress altogether require that human society be conducted and governed without regard being had to religion any more than if it did not exist; or, at least, without any distinction being made between the true religion and false ones." And, against the doctrine of Scripture, of the Church, and of the Holy Fathers, they do not hesitate to assert that "that is the best condition of civil society, in which no duty is recognized, as attached to the civil power, of restraining by enacted penalties, offenders against the Catholic religion, except so far as public peace may require." From which totally false idea of social government they do not fear to foster that erroneous opinion, most fatal in its effects on the Catholic Church and the salvation of souls, called by Our Predecessor, Gregory XVI, an "insanity,"2 viz., that "liberty of conscience and worship is each man's personal right, which ought to be legally proclaimed and asserted in every rightly constituted society; and that a right resides in the citizens to an absolute liberty, which should be restrained by no authority whether ecclesiastical or civil, whereby they may be able openly and publicly to manifest and declare any of their ideas whatever, either by word of mouth, by the press, or in any other way." But, while they rashly affirm this, they do not think and consider that they are preaching "liberty of perdition;"3 and that "if human arguments are always allowed free room for discussion, there will never be wanting men who will dare to resist truth, and to trust in the flowing speech of human wisdom; whereas we know, from the very teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ, how carefully Christian faith and wisdom should avoid this most injurious babbling."4
THE SYLLABUS Pope Pius IX http://ewtn.com/library/PAPALDOC/P9SYLL.HTM
Condemned:
I. PANTHEISM, "NATURALISM" AND ABSOLUTE RATIONALISM
1. There exists no Supreme, all-wise, all-provident Divine Being, distinct from the universe, and God is identical with the nature of things, and is, therefore, subject to changes. In effect, God is produced in man and in the world, and all things are God and have the very substance of God, and God is one and the same thing with the world, and, therefore, spirit with matter, necessity with liberty, good with evil, justice with injustice.—Allocution "Maxima quidem," June 9, 1862.
2. All action of God upon man and the world is to be denied.—Ibid.
3. Human reason, without any reference whatsoever to God, is the sole arbiter of truth and falsehood, and of good and evil; it is law to itself, and suffices, by its natural force, to secure the welfare of men and of nations.—Ibid.
4. All the truths of religion proceed from the innate strength of human reason; hence reason is the ultimate standard by which man can and ought to arrive at the knowledge of all truths of every kind.—Ibid. and Encyclical "Qui pluribus," Nov. 9, 1846, etc.
5. Divine revelation is imperfect, and therefore subject to a continual and indefinite progress, corresponding with the advancement of human reason.—Ibid.
6. The faith of Christ is in opposition to human reason and divine revelation not only is not useful, but is even hurtful to the perfection of man.—Ibid.
7. The prophecies and miracles set forth and recorded in the Sacred Scriptures are the fiction of poets, and the mysteries of the Christian faith the result of philosophical investigations. In the books of the Old and the New Testament there are contained mythical inventions, and Jesus Christ is Himself a myth.
LIBERALISM IS A SIN 1886 Dr. Don Felix Sarda Y Salvany http://ewtn.com/library/THEOLOGY/LIBSIN.HTM
Liberalism is the program of naturalism. Free-thought begets free morals, or immorality. Restraint is thrown off and a free rein given to the passions. Whoever thinks what he pleases will do what he pleases. Liberalism in the intellectual order is license in the moral order. Disorder in the intellect begets disorder in the heart, and vice-versa. Thus does Liberalism propagate immorality, and immorality Liberalism." (Ch. 26).
It is true that modern naturalism does not so regard or understand the case. But the law of the Church in matters of morals and doctrines is unchangeable; it ordains today as it did yesterday, and heresy is always heresy, no matter what the shape it takes. Appearances may be fair, and the devil may present himself as an angel of light.
Piety itself does not escape the action of this pernicious naturalistic principle; it converts it into pietism—that is to say, into a parody of true piety, as is painfully seen in the pious practices of so many people who seek in their devotions only the sentimental emotions of which they themselves are able to be the source. They are devout over themselves, worshiping their own little sentiments and offering incense to idols graven after their own image. This is simply spiritual sensualism, and nothing else. Thus we see in our day in so many souls the degeneration of Christian asceticism (which is the purification of the heart by the repression of the appetites) and the falsification of Christian mysticism, which is neither emotion, nor interior consolation, nor any other epicurean foible of human sentiment, but union with God through a supernatural love for Him and through absolute submission to His holy will. Therefore it is that the Catholicity of a great number of people in our times is a Liberal Catholicity, or rather, a false Catholicity. It is really not Catholicity, but mere naturalism, a pure rationalism; it is in a word paganism disguised in Catholic forms and using Catholic language.
What then are the permanent causes of Liberalism?
1. Corruption of morals: The theater, literature, public and private morals are all saturated with obscenity and impurity. The result is inevitable; a corrupt generation necessarily begets a revolutionary generati .on. Liberalism is the program of naturalism. Free thought begets free morals, or immorality. Restraint is thrown off and a free rein given to the passions. WHOEVER THINKS WHAT HE PLEASES WILL DO WHAT HE PLEASES. Liberalism in the intellectual order is license in the moral order. Disorder in the intellect begets disorder in the heart, and vice-versa. Thus does Liberalism propagate immorality, and immorality Liberalism.
NATURALISM, THE DENIAL OF THE SUPERNATURAL, IT INCULCATES EVERYWHERE. To divorce the entire life of the people from her influence—by the institution of civil marriage, by civil burial and divorce, by teaching the insidious doctrine that society as such has no religious relations or obligations and that man as a social and civil being is absolutely independent of God and His Church and that religion is a mere private opinion to be entertained or not entertained, as one pleases such is the program, such is the effect, and such, in turn, is the cause of Liberalism.
When religion is divorced from the school, Liberalism becomes its paramour. Secularism is naturalism, the denial of the supernatural. When that denial is instilled into the soul of the child, the soil of the supernatural becomes sterilized. Liberalism has realized the terrific power of education and with satanic energy is now striving, the world over, for the possession of the child.
I agree. "The Great Divorce" is an excellent book. It's an allegory about Lewis' view of Heavan and Hell, and after reading it I concluded that God gave C.S. Lewis a hefty measure of prophetic vision along with that great intellect of his, IMHO.
The most valuable resource in the universe is the human mind. Without the human mind to manipulate the other resources into order, they are all worthless.
Incalculable value has been lost to the universe, and the human race, from disease, war, accidents, old age, and abortion.
It is a fact that all of us, would be richer, healthier, and potentially wiser, if not for those deaths, the absence of all those minds.<<<<
In all my diatribes (ever) againts abortion, I never truly thought of it in just this way. Thanks for sharing Monday.
Yes ... AND he makes it clear that earth is both the foothills of the heavenly mountains ... and the outer confines of hell. Every man chooses his location and determines what ... and where he is.
I was so impressed that I've bought 6 more copies over the last week and have been handing them off to people I thought might enjoy it.
Thanks. I have not read Mr. Lewis, but will add him to my "to do" list.
If there is a C.S. Lewis ping list, I would like to be on it.
snip...They have proven themselves to be dangerously passive and dangerously susceptible to inculcation by powerful Conditioners.
In addition to the two sorts of people you've mentioned.....(a)the powerful Conditioners {those who believe they are intellectually superior to everyone else}, and (b) the passive ones {those who yearn for the safety & security of a Daddy}, there is one other group. (c) the anger-filled 'brown shirt' types. These are the sociopathic sort who, because their brains are on fire with burning resentment, envy, and the need for vengeance against imagined slights, become the 'rampagers of terror, mayhem, and chaos' if they're properly primed and then unleashed by their 'handlers.'
Peter Kreeft (I may not be spelling his last name correctly).
I think he is a professor at Boston College.
I heard him speak at a weekend conference sponsored by the C. S. Lewis Institute at the Falls Church in Falls Church, Va. -- outside Washington, DC.
Does this philosophy also apply to welfare moms? This is a sticky subject.
folks just need to remember that Lewis (in so many words) predicted that society would
try to make religion/morality a private affair and...
pornography a public spectacle.
bump
and may I recommend the Narnia series for adults as well as children . . .I believe they saved my life . . .read them 20 times in teens and reread them regularly to my kids now
You're absolutely right. These paranoids and sociopaths tend to become the Leftist leaders. The rest are the mindless robots who follow them.
Some of the leaders are both sociopathic and paranoid. Sociopaths tend to be paranoid. Some are merely paranoid. They are all dangerous scoundrels who should not be in positions of power.
The Democrat Party is the party of scoundrels and fools.
It's a tough call, but a fool is probably more dangerous than a scoundrel. They are the scoundrels' enablers.
Occasionally a fool becomes a party leader--Jimmy Carter, for example.
I speak of all this with confidence. My parents, grandparents, and great grandparents were all Democrats. If they were alive today, they would renounce and repudiate the Democrat Party and all it has become immediately and in no uncertain terms.
My children are all Republicans--I am very proud to say.
I might be missing the irony here, but join me in the list of that small segment of the population. Dated, but correct? What does the date of the opinion have to do with whether something is true or not? Did science discover that children are suddenly unwanted?
I fear you slander the Puritans. Most of what people know of the Puritans is what the liberals want you to believe. I've read them thoroughly and don't find much of the irrational judgementalism usually associated with them.
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