Comments on: Our Hero Discovers His Pelagian Taint

By: Mike Bennion

Mike Bennion — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 06:12:58 +0000

When I was born I was totally dependent on my parents.

Now that I am grown I am independent of them. But I am also like them

However, they are still my parents.

And, by the way, I couldn’t be here without them.

So could we say that I cannot be human without the “grace of my parents”, But they want me to grow up and become my own person?

I still think that the family is the best model for dealing with the Godhead.

By: Seth R.

Seth R. — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 16:19:44 +0000

Agreed. That said, I did like “Divorce” – just a few parts failed to resonate is all.

By: Adam Greenwood

Adam Greenwood — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 14:48:38 +0000

I would have been *very* surprised if Lewis had wrote the Great Divorce after Joy died, or even after she had become a pillar of his life. It is obviously the product of his pre-Joy era when his books were fertile with ideas and explanations and lacking depth.

By: Seth R.

Seth R. — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 01:36:41 +0000

Makes sense. The book has an almost cavalier attitude about the afterlife that I see Lewis seriously questioning in “A Grief Observed.”

By: Adam Greenwood

Adam Greenwood — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 22:44:35 +0000

All-knowing Wikipedia says the Great Divorce was published in 1945. Lewis met her after that.

By: snow white

snow white — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 17:13:58 +0000

sorry, toucj the mouse by accident while typing and it double posts. Incidently, it’s hard to hunt and peck at the keyboard while wrestling a two month old, Especially when he weighs 15 lbs :)

By: snow white

snow white — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 17:11:05 +0000

T. Greer,
I’ve actually read the Deadly Heresy talk many times, and I agree with that view of eternal progression, but I would also consider that to be “literal progression” for us. It’s essential to the Plan of Salvation that after this life we continue learning and working and becoming like our Father. There’s no sitting around on clouds plucking harps for us :D

By: snow white

snow white — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 17:05:27 +0000

T. Greer,
I’ve actually read the Deadly Heresy talk many times

By: Seth R.

Seth R. — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 00:56:52 +0000

Ever see the movie Shadowlands?

There’s a scene where Lewis knows his American wife is terminally ill and going to die and they go on one last trip to enjoy each other’s company. At one point, Lewis remarks how happy he is. His wife pauses and then bluntly tells him “it isn’t going to last you know.”

Lewis looks pained. Like – why are you bringing this up now?

But she insists that he has to face this.

“The pain then is part of the happiness now.”

For me, that was one of the most powerful and memorable parts of that movie. The capacity for happiness seems in some measure dependent on our capacity for pain and sorrow as well.

Incidentally did Lewis write “The Great Divorce” before or after her death?

By: Adam Greenwood

Adam Greenwood — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 22:10:27 +0000

No, but even if only one person ever didn’t follow the devil into darkness, God’s joy in that one would be greater than his misery for the billions of us (though his misery for each of the billions of us would be more than we can imagine).

This isn’t because God is willing to grieve for his fallen children, but only a little. That would just be a modified version of C.S. Lewis’ idea in The Great Divorce that the good stop caring about the damned. Its because there’s so much more in goodness than there is in rejecting it. That’s another C.S. Lewis idea in The Great Divorce but its one that I can get behind.