"C.S. Lewis: from theism to Christianity"

"C.S. Lewis: from theism to Christianity" (Uploaded on Mar 24, 2007)

"C.S. Lewis: It must be understood that my conversion at that point was only to theism pure and simple. I knew nothing yet about the incarnation. The God to whom I surrendered was sheerly non-human.

C.S. Lewis: [Reading from Chesterton] A great man knows he is not God and the greater he is, the better he knows it. The gospels declare that this mysterious maker of the world has visited his world in person. The most that any religious prophet has said was that he was the true servant of such a being. But if the creator was present in the daily life of the Roman empire, that is something unlike anything else in nature. It is the one great startling statement that man has made since he spoke his first articulate word. It makes dust and nonsense of comparative religion.

C.S. Lewis: As I drew near to Christianity, I felt a resistance almost as strong as my previous resistance to theism. As strong but shorter lived for I understood it better. But each step, one had less chance to call one's soul one's own.

C.S. Lewis: What Tolkien showed me was this — that if I met the idea of sacrifice in a pagan story I didn't mind it at all — I was mysteriously moved by it. The reason was that in pagan stories I was prepared to feel the myth as profound. Now the story of Christ is simply a true myth.

C.S. Lewis: I know very well when but hardly how the final step was taken. I went with my brother to have a picnic at Whipsnade Zoo. We started in fog, but by the end of our journey the sun was shining. When we set out I did not believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and when we reached the zoo I did. I had not exactly spent the journey in thought. Nor in great emotion. It was more like when a man, after a long sleep, becomes aware that he is now awake..."

Note: An informative 7 Minute and 36 Second Youtube Audio/Video with Graphics: Clive Staples Lewis describing his reluctant conversion to Christianity (British Accent). Enjoy: YouTube

Originally posted by Grampy Bobby
[b]"C.S. Lewis: from theism to Christianity" (Uploaded on Mar 24, 2007)

"C.S. Lewis: It must be understood that my conversion at that point was only to theism pure and simple. I knew nothing yet about the incarnation. The God to whom I surrendered was sheerly non-human.

C.S. Lewis: [Reading from Chesterton] A great man knows he is not God a ...[text shortened]... rsion to Christianity (British Accent). Enjoy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZS3thuSHUYg[/b]

What is your own thoughts about this? It's easy to quote, but it's somewhat one-dimensional.

C.S. Lewis himself isn't here to answer any questions. Do you want to be his stand-in of his behalf? Are you able to do it? Or do you just find another quote to more or less match the questions?

Originally posted by FabianFnas
What is your own thoughts about this? It's easy to quote, but it's somewhat one-dimensional.

C.S. Lewis himself isn't here to answer any questions. Do you want to be his stand-in of his behalf? Are you able to do it? Or do you just find another quote to more or less match the questions?

Playing the Youtube Conversation you'll be able to hear the man give the account with his own nuanced tone of meaning.

Originally posted by Grampy Bobby
Playing the Youtube Conversation you'll be able to hear the man give the account with his own nuanced tone of meaning.

Watching a dude talking for almost 8 minutes in a foreign language? No, I have better things to do of my life. But if he could answer my questions in a two way direct communication, then perhaps.

We can find millions of youtubes, millions of quotes from internet, why is this dude so special?

er

Originally posted by FabianFnas
Watching a dude talking for almost 8 minutes in a foreign language? No, I have better things to do of my life. But if he could answer my questions in a two way direct communication, then perhaps.

We can find millions of youtubes, millions of quotes from internet, why is this dude so special?

"Watching a dude talking for almost 8 minutes in a foreign language?" -FabianFnas
The "dude" speaks in a language identical to the one you're posting in."

"... why is this dude so special?" -FabianFnas
It's "so special" because it documents a positive decision with favorable eternal consequences.

If attitude toward the possibility that God exist is negative, you might as well not waste your time.

I found it thought provoking .....of course I enjoy C.S. Lewis and Tolkien



Manny

Originally posted by Grampy Bobby
"Watching a dude talking for almost 8 minutes in a foreign language?" -FabianFnas
The "dude" speaks in a language identical to the one you're posting in."

"... why is this dude so special?" -FabianFnas
It's "so special" because it documents a positive decision with favorable eternal consequences.

If attitude toward the possibility that God exist is negative, you might as well not waste your time.

First - yes, for me English is a foreign language. Swedish is my native one. I don't understand English as good as any English native speaking person does. There are many details that I don't notice. When writing, I cannot express myself as clear as in Swedish. Grammar and spelling checkers are my friends. People tend to misunderstand me when I try to explain difficult things. As I tend to misunderstand other finer points. Spoken English is even harder to understand in full, because I cannot re-listen the message as I easy as I can reread the written text. So, yes, English is a foreign language for me.

Yes, Lewis is a good writer, I've googled him, I know more now than when I wrote the posting.

What I wanted to say (but failed, perhaps of my English shortcomings) is that pasting and copying quotes is very easy. Here are a bunch. But what I miss, is the analysis of it all. Why stack one on top of the other without showing what is important with them?

It's just too easy to give biblical refs uncommented, and quotes uncommented. If I want quotes then I go google them for myself, and I got tonnes with it, just as uncommented and unanalyzed.

So, dear, Bob, what do you want to say with those quotes? That is the interesting part, not the quotes themselves. What's the points with them?

Originally posted by FabianFnas
First - yes, for me English is a foreign language. Swedish is my native one. I don't understand English as good as any English native speaking person does. There are many details that I don't notice. When writing, I cannot express myself as clear as in Swedish. Grammar and spelling checkers are my friends. People tend to misunderstand me when I try to exp ...[text shortened]... se quotes? That is the interesting part, not the quotes themselves. What's the points with them?

The five sets of words in the original post appear beneath the Youtube Screen and are taken from the actual words C.S. Lewis speaks during the interview. I included them with the site link here as a preview. This respected academic waged a brilliant intellectual struggle against belief in the Person of Jesus Christ (with tight logic and compelling honesty). If I had listened to these seven minutes as someone who had rejected Christ, I'd have become uncomfortable with my decision.

Originally posted by Grampy Bobby
The five sets of words in the original post appear beneath the Youtube Screen and are taken from the actual words C.S. Lewis speaks during the interview. I included them with the site link here as a preview. This respected academic waged a brilliant intellectual struggle against belief in the Person of Jesus Christ (with tight logic and compelling hones ...[text shortened]... even minutes as someone who had rejected Christ, I'd have become uncomfortable with my decision.

Well, now you have started to analyse the quotes, and the youtube. This is a good start. Can you continue?

...or else it is nothing but a bunch of quotes ending with a youtube. Very RJH-alike...

Originally posted by Grampy Bobby
The five sets of words in the original post appear beneath the Youtube Screen and are taken from the actual words C.S. Lewis speaks during the interview. I included them with the site link here as a preview. This respected academic waged a brilliant intellectual struggle against belief in the Person of Jesus Christ (with tight logic and compelling hones ...[text shortened]... even minutes as someone who had rejected Christ, I'd have become uncomfortable with my decision.

" If I had listened to these seven minutes as someone who had rejected Christ, I'd have become uncomfortable with my decision."

why?

Originally posted by Grampy Bobby
"Watching a dude talking for almost 8 minutes in a foreign language?" -FabianFnas
The "dude" speaks in a language identical to the one you're posting in."

"... why is this dude so special?" -FabianFnas
It's "so special" because it documents a positive decision with favorable eternal consequences.

If attitude toward the possibility that God exist is negative, you might as well not waste your time.

"If attitude toward the possibility that God exist is negative, you might as well not waste your time."

Precisely. CS Lewis himself, in The Problem of Pain said that the problem (to reconcile pain with God's existence) has to be approached with faith already in hand, looking for reconciliation, not proof for something not already believed.

Originally posted by stellspalfie
" If I had listened to these seven minutes as someone who had rejected Christ, I'd have become uncomfortable with my decision."

why?

I think gb's statement sheds light on the strength with which theists say atheists are rejecting a person instead of simply disbelieving a proposition.

Originally posted by stellspalfie
" If I had listened to these seven minutes as someone who had rejected Christ, I'd have become uncomfortable with my decision."

why?

stellspalfie, Blind Spots are my only fear: thinking you see something clearly but not seeing it at all. The C.S. Lewis seven minute conversation would have made me wonder if I had accurately understood God's Grace Provision to reconcile mankind to Himself or if I had previously dismissed the possibility prematurely (putting my sense of self preservation at risk).

Originally posted by JS357
I think gb's statement sheds light on the strength with which theists say atheists are rejecting a person instead of simply disbelieving a proposition.

Yes, JS. Interesting how we think of nouns in terms of "person, place or thing" yet our focus is often reversed: things first.