This week, I chose to write about letter 15. This letter just stuck out to me when reading because of the topics it discussed. The main part of this letter was discussing the past, present, and future and also about eternity. Screwtape talks about what living in each will bring the patient and decides that living in the future is the best way to persuade the patient. A caption that stood out to me was, "It is far better to make live in the Future. Biological necessity makes all their passions point in that direction already so that the thought about the Future inflames hope and fear." I liked this passage because it made perfect sense. Out of all the of the letters, they have all seemed to hold a fiction sort of message, but I feel as though we do live a mojority of our lives concentrated on the Future. We are constantly questioning ourselves about next week, next year and so forth. He continues talking about how the Future is least like eternity and how the present and past are not as important. Another caption that stood out to me was, "Gratitude looks to the past and love to the present; fear, avarice, and ambition look ahead. Do you agree with this statement? Do we really think this way? This was the biggest question I had of myself.
This was definetely my favorite letter that we read thus far!! :) (and i was able to understand it!!)
Monday, March 31, 2008
Friday, March 7, 2008
Letter 8
This book never ceases to amaze me. It discusses so many different topics on levels I have never even come close to thinking about. I still have some difficulty reading the letters because of the format in which they're written, but I'm starting to understand the concepts better.
This week, I chose to concentrate on Letter 8. I found this to stick out the most out of the three letters assigned. One of the ideas that I would like to expand on is on page 38, when he states, "He really does want to fill the universe with a lot of loathsome little replicas of Himself..." I found this quote to be very powerful. It describes how Wormwood feels about God giving us these troughs and peaks to overcome. The paragraph before that quote also states that "One much face the fact that all the talk about His love for men, and His service being perfect freedom, is not mere propaganda, but appaling truth." This quote ties into the other one because it talks about the expectations that God sets for us. The way I interpretted the quote was that God doesn't have to sell anything to us, we'll believe anything that we see as being acceptable. It seems that in the perspective of C.S. Lewis, God isn't making humans unique and giving them their own personalities and opinions, but He's doing what he can to make humans most like him. Is this the thruth?
I personally don't see this quote as being entirely truthful because look at the amount of crime and sin we have in this world. However, I do believe that Lewis has a very little amount of truth in the quote. The Ten Commandments give us basic guidelines in which to live our lives. Would He have made these if sin wasn't something he expected? I just believe that He forgives us of our sins, knowing ahead of time that we will make mistakes along the way and by Him forgiving us, does he hope that we will learn to forgive and love others?
I'm sure that I've rambled on about nonsense, but just thinking into it a little deeper!!
Any insight?....
This week, I chose to concentrate on Letter 8. I found this to stick out the most out of the three letters assigned. One of the ideas that I would like to expand on is on page 38, when he states, "He really does want to fill the universe with a lot of loathsome little replicas of Himself..." I found this quote to be very powerful. It describes how Wormwood feels about God giving us these troughs and peaks to overcome. The paragraph before that quote also states that "One much face the fact that all the talk about His love for men, and His service being perfect freedom, is not mere propaganda, but appaling truth." This quote ties into the other one because it talks about the expectations that God sets for us. The way I interpretted the quote was that God doesn't have to sell anything to us, we'll believe anything that we see as being acceptable. It seems that in the perspective of C.S. Lewis, God isn't making humans unique and giving them their own personalities and opinions, but He's doing what he can to make humans most like him. Is this the thruth?
I personally don't see this quote as being entirely truthful because look at the amount of crime and sin we have in this world. However, I do believe that Lewis has a very little amount of truth in the quote. The Ten Commandments give us basic guidelines in which to live our lives. Would He have made these if sin wasn't something he expected? I just believe that He forgives us of our sins, knowing ahead of time that we will make mistakes along the way and by Him forgiving us, does he hope that we will learn to forgive and love others?
I'm sure that I've rambled on about nonsense, but just thinking into it a little deeper!!
Any insight?....
Friday, February 29, 2008
Letter 5
When I began to read this section of the letters, they seemed to be a little more clear than the first three. I think I had an easier time understanding what was going on and the actual purpose of the patient, screwtape, and Wormwood. I'm actually starting to grow fond of the writing, although the writing format is still not completely easy to read. I think that the idea to write from Satan's point of view is quite intriguing, and brave of C.S. Lewis. I can see many people being upset with the writing, because of the context.
I chose to write about letter #5 this week because I thought that it was extremely interesting how Screwtape compares war to other things. He talks about how war for him isn't necessarily a bad thing, but good. He goes on to say how it's useful "for bringing souls to our Father Below." I thought this was a very interesting way to look at it.
The next part that I found interesting in the text was when he was talking about people who are dying (page 24). He directly says in the book, "encouraging the belief that sickness excuses every indulgence, and even , if our workers know their job, withholding all suggestion of a priest lest it should betray to the sick man his true condition!" I read this quote a couple of times and found it to be up for judgement. I'm not sure exactly what he means by this, but thought that they way it was worded was ironic.
The last part of the text that I liked was at the end of the letter, (page 24) when he says, "The enemy's human partisans have all been plainly told by Him that suffering is an essential part of what He calls redemption. This was my favorite part of the book and when I read it, I kind of just stopped and thought. Do you really believe that we must suffer solely in order to be saved?
hmm... Enjoy!!
I chose to write about letter #5 this week because I thought that it was extremely interesting how Screwtape compares war to other things. He talks about how war for him isn't necessarily a bad thing, but good. He goes on to say how it's useful "for bringing souls to our Father Below." I thought this was a very interesting way to look at it.
The next part that I found interesting in the text was when he was talking about people who are dying (page 24). He directly says in the book, "encouraging the belief that sickness excuses every indulgence, and even , if our workers know their job, withholding all suggestion of a priest lest it should betray to the sick man his true condition!" I read this quote a couple of times and found it to be up for judgement. I'm not sure exactly what he means by this, but thought that they way it was worded was ironic.
The last part of the text that I liked was at the end of the letter, (page 24) when he says, "The enemy's human partisans have all been plainly told by Him that suffering is an essential part of what He calls redemption. This was my favorite part of the book and when I read it, I kind of just stopped and thought. Do you really believe that we must suffer solely in order to be saved?
hmm... Enjoy!!
Friday, February 22, 2008
Letters 1-3
When we were first informed that we would have to read The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis, I was kind of excited. The main concept of the book seemed very interesting. When I began reading the text earlier in the week, I had a very difficult time following it. I tried to re-read certain passages, in case I had just missed something, but the first letter was terribly hard to understand. I wish they would have given more of an introduction to the letters because the preface didn't establish all main points.
As I continued reading, there were certain passages that did catch my eye. I liked how he kept relating back to 'real life'. He kept mentioning that he must keep his patient on that train of thought. I also found it interesting that he related religion to science. A quote that stuck out to me in the reading was when he said, "do not attempt to use science against christianity." (page 4) I found this intriguing because we very often relate these two things. If religion can't provide a direct answer for us, we turn to science to help, and vice versa. I know that I always use science, biology, and evolution as a ways of understanding where we have come from. It's hard for me to 100% believe in only religion, and my extremely large love for science tends to win over my beliefs.
As I continued reading, I found another passage that caught my eye. It was on page 7 of the text, half way through the second paragraph. He starts out by saying, "In every department of life it marks the transition from dreaming aspiration to laborious doing...." it continuues on to say, "...any of the goals which He sets before them: He leaves them to 'do it on their own.'" I found this passage extremely appealing. I'm not sure why but when I read it, I stopped and thought about it. I liked the way it was worded, even if it is bashing Christian religion. He's talking about the goals He supposedly sets for us and how He won't carry you to help you fulfill these goals. I can't completely agree with this idea, but I found it up for discussion. Does anyone really believe that He sets these goals for us, but we must obtain them on our own? Does faith and belief play into this idea? Does He set goals for us in hopes that we can fulfill them with Him in mind?
Just a little food for though!! :)
Enjoy!!
As I continued reading, there were certain passages that did catch my eye. I liked how he kept relating back to 'real life'. He kept mentioning that he must keep his patient on that train of thought. I also found it interesting that he related religion to science. A quote that stuck out to me in the reading was when he said, "do not attempt to use science against christianity." (page 4) I found this intriguing because we very often relate these two things. If religion can't provide a direct answer for us, we turn to science to help, and vice versa. I know that I always use science, biology, and evolution as a ways of understanding where we have come from. It's hard for me to 100% believe in only religion, and my extremely large love for science tends to win over my beliefs.
As I continued reading, I found another passage that caught my eye. It was on page 7 of the text, half way through the second paragraph. He starts out by saying, "In every department of life it marks the transition from dreaming aspiration to laborious doing...." it continuues on to say, "...any of the goals which He sets before them: He leaves them to 'do it on their own.'" I found this passage extremely appealing. I'm not sure why but when I read it, I stopped and thought about it. I liked the way it was worded, even if it is bashing Christian religion. He's talking about the goals He supposedly sets for us and how He won't carry you to help you fulfill these goals. I can't completely agree with this idea, but I found it up for discussion. Does anyone really believe that He sets these goals for us, but we must obtain them on our own? Does faith and belief play into this idea? Does He set goals for us in hopes that we can fulfill them with Him in mind?
Just a little food for though!! :)
Enjoy!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)