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Remarkable and Lesser Known Insights by CS Lewis on the Loss of Faith in the West
Archdiocese of Washington ^ | 3/7/12 | Msgr. Charles Pope

Posted on 03/10/2012 7:20:58 PM PST by marshmallow

One of the lesser known and lesser read works of CS Lewis is his correspondence with Rev. Fr. Don Giovanni Calabria. Few indeed have read them since they were written in Latin. And though an English translation was published in 1998, I know few who have ever heard of these letters. The full collection of these letter is here: The Latin Letters of CS Lewis

In these letters, there are some very important insights that CS Lewis offers for the loss of faith in Europe that was already well underway in the 1950s when the letters were exchanged. Indeed I would call his insights stunning in many ways. Lewis argues, in effect, that Europe was in a far worse state than paganism. Would that she were even pagan, for the pagans accepted natural law. But Europe, having cast off the faith, is in a state far worse than even before she ever heard of Christ.

In the quotes that follow, CS Lewis makes this case quite well and then proffers a solution that we may wish to consider in these times that are even darker for Europe and the whole of the West. Allow me to present just a few excerpts. The Latin text is italicized. The English translation (by Martin Moynihan) is just below the Latin in black bold and italic type face. My comments are in red.

Let us begin with Lewis assessment as to how and by what stages Europe lost the faith:

Neque tamen sine peccatis nostris evenit: nos enim justiam illam, curam illam pauperum quas (mendacissime) communistae praeferunt debueramus jam ante multa saecula revera effecisse. Sed longe hoc aberat: nos occidentales Christum ore praedicavimus, factis Mammoni servitium tulimus. Magis culpabiles nos quam infideles: scientibus enim voluntatem Dei et non facientibus major poena. Nunc unicum...........

(Excerpt) Read more at blog.adw.org ...


TOPICS: General Discusssion; Religion & Culture
KEYWORDS: calabria; cslewis; faith; latinletters; lossoffaithinthewest; msgrcharlespope; naturallaw; west
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1 posted on 03/10/2012 7:21:02 PM PST by marshmallow
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To: marshmallow

Great find. Thanks for the thread!


2 posted on 03/10/2012 7:25:45 PM PST by Joe 6-pack (Que me amat, amet et canem meum)
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To: call meVeronica

Bump for later


3 posted on 03/10/2012 7:26:18 PM PST by call meVeronica
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To: marshmallow
A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word 'darkness' on the walls of his cell.

-CS Lewis

I get daily CS Lewis quotes on twitter.
4 posted on 03/10/2012 7:28:45 PM PST by cripplecreek (What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul?)
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To: marshmallow

Interesting find!


5 posted on 03/10/2012 7:33:24 PM PST by Inyo-Mono (My greatest fear is that when I'm gone my wife will sell my guns for what I told her I paid for them)
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To: marshmallow

Pretty soon you’ll be calling him St. Lewis, oh wait a minute, we already have one. LOL!!!


6 posted on 03/10/2012 7:50:18 PM PST by WestwardHo
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To: marshmallow

I thought I’d read just about all of Lewis, but I missed this.

Haven’t had time to read this yet, but I suspect that he covers similar territory concerning the problems of modernism in “The Abolition of Man.”

I’ve always thought that that summary phrase, “Men without chests,” was brilliant.


7 posted on 03/10/2012 7:50:19 PM PST by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
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To: marshmallow

Thank you Marshmallow.


8 posted on 03/10/2012 7:56:28 PM PST by publius321
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To: marshmallow

“The Question of God” —a book comparing the life of two geniuses-—Freud and CS Lewis is a really wonderful book—written by a professor who taught the class for decades—which was so popular he made it into a book.

Natural Law Theory is key. It is the basis of our Constitution. It is where our Natural Rights come from—God. Marx threw out Natural Law-—as Nietzsche and the postmodernists—because they wanted to “Kill God” and the idea of Design in Man—so they could become gods and redesign man to be slaves of the State.

Ayn Rand recognized this—although she hated Christianity also, she was a firm believer in Natural Law Theory—in the idea that there was Objective Truth—Right and Wrong and you could observe those Universal Truths in nature. She considered Postmodernists as ‘irrational”—you can never use reason and logic or science to argue—they believe in lies and utopianism.

Our government and England inserted Relativism into their curricula by the 30’s (Dewey was a Fabian Socialist)-—England’s was more centralized at the time so easier to corrupt the minds of the children faster.

JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis tried to get England to reinstitute the Classical Education which taught the Nicomachean Ethics—the Cardinal Virtues which existed in Plato’s time—Justice, Wisdom, Courage, and Temperance. The pagans believed that the purpose of all schooling was to teach Virtue—Stoicism was very influential all during pagan times.

Cultural Marxists destroy Virtue in children—the easiest way to destroy culture. They now force ideas of “sodomy is good” in schools to destroy the Bible—make it hate speech and despised and hateful—and teach that masturbation is enjoyable and pleasurable and should be an activity of the young. It is intention—to destroy intellectual pursuit and destroy discipline. Sex Ed (designed by Marxists) is their MO to destroy Christianity from within—the easiest method to corrupt children is sins of the flesh and makes them despise their parents and uncontrollable.

CS Lewis stated that Tolerance became the most important “Virtue” of England—which included tolerance of evil. Conditioning of children into non-virtuous worldview so they are capable of evil and/or in looking the other way when evil is done.

The Prussian school design—is to create mass conformity—to destroy individualism and destroy “thinking outside the box”—the ideas that made America and England. Such fantastic cultures being destroyed-—where Common Law and the Magna Carta and the US Constitution were originated—the most brilliant political documents which created the freest societies in the history of the world.


9 posted on 03/10/2012 8:01:19 PM PST by savagesusie (Right Reason According to Nature = Just Law)
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To: cripplecreek

What a great CS Lewis quote—might be my favorite.


10 posted on 03/10/2012 8:02:31 PM PST by savagesusie (Right Reason According to Nature = Just Law)
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To: marshmallow

Cool!


11 posted on 03/10/2012 8:04:07 PM PST by SuziQ
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To: marshmallow
Lewis is never a waste of time. And he's correct that many who lack Christ today lack even the reality of common sense - that certain body parts weren't meant to mingle with certain body parts or that hoaxes like Global Warming are truth to them while The Truth is simply a lie.

I do think the Christian community bears some responsibility for this. For we have so many public Christians who, themselves, live in open sinful rebellion to God that it is no wonder many see us as hypocrites who ignore the logs in our own eyes to criticize the specks in the eyes of the unsaved.

12 posted on 03/10/2012 8:12:00 PM PST by OrangeHoof (Obama: The Dr. Kevorkian of the American economy.)
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Bookmarks.


13 posted on 03/10/2012 8:25:34 PM PST by SuzyQue
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To: OrangeHoof
We in the Church have been lead to a very comfortable slaughter. We traded our duties to the state in return for a nice quiet end. We traded the platitudes of Sodom for the harsh teachings of the Sermon on the Mount. We have allowed a nice quite damnation to spread rather than a good if loud salvation.

The bill is do, and as many more liberal Catholic are finding out, the State wants to be paid. The West has fallen, and I pray that there will still be place for my children and fellows here or somewhere.

God help us.

14 posted on 03/10/2012 8:41:34 PM PST by redgolum ("God is dead" -- Nietzsche. "Nietzsche is dead" -- God.)
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To: WestwardHo
Speaking of Saints...

As one of the comments following the article points out, Don Giovanni Calabria is now Saint Giovanni Calabria. He died December 4, 1954 at age 81. He was beatified on April 17, 1988 and canonized on April 18, 1999 by Pope John Paul II.

THE LATIN LETTERS OF C.S. LEWIS TO SAINT GIOVANNI CALABRIA

http://resident-theology.blogspot.com/2010/03/latin-letters-of-cs-lewis-to-saint.html

15 posted on 03/10/2012 8:44:23 PM PST by Sons of Union Vets (No taxation without representation!)
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To: savagesusie

Will add this to my reading list and thanks for sharing that.


16 posted on 03/10/2012 9:03:09 PM PST by volunbeer (Keep the dope, we'll make the change in 2012!)
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To: marshmallow

St. Giovanni Calabria

http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=994


17 posted on 03/10/2012 9:11:59 PM PST by seton89 (Are the Ten Commandments a living document?)
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To: marshmallow

Ping


18 posted on 03/10/2012 9:21:16 PM PST by rogue yam
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To: marshmallow

bookmark


19 posted on 03/10/2012 9:28:13 PM PST by GOP Poet
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To: marshmallow

Ping


20 posted on 03/10/2012 10:42:08 PM PST by ishmac (Lady Thatcher:"There are no permanent defeats in politics because there are no permanent victories.)
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