I learned a lot about christian theology in this chapter, for example the concept of vicariousness was finally consolidated out of things I sort of knew about the religion (I have never read the bible but grew up in a nominally christian society so have bits and pieces of it). The idea that the chosen people are so chosen to bear a heavy burden, for the vicariousness of the unchosen; just as Jesus is the ultimate source of vicariousness for all man. And it follows logically, some people are chosen, completely at random, to be the best athletes.
It was also quite a compelling point that Jesus was such a shrewd and demanding teacher but exhibited no signs of megalomania - indeed the Greek gods were rather megalomaniacal. From my limited knowledge it seems the apostles were also humble, and the early communes exhibited a complete disinterest in political power. This is certainly the kind of story that would lend itself to a usurpation of power, but it does not, because that's not the point - the point is the lifting up of man, the vicariousness, the forward march of Nature to be perfected over time.
This is great stuff, a whole new horizon has been opened up to me by this readalong. I can't wait to re-read Dune on here, and then finally read Boethius (Dune first plz, I would like to read some Augustine on my own before Boethius because I'm wild about chronology)
I agree. Lewis packs a great deal into this chapter; it seems like each succeeding chapter contains more ideas. In addition to his philosopher and theologian hats, in this chapter, Lewis dons his Scripture exegete and literary critic hats in making his arguments. It's all so rich, like seven-layer chocolate cake for the mind and spirit.
As Lewis points out, the Incarnation is the defining miracle of history. The very nature of reality changed. The early Christians understood this, but time tends to blunt human awareness, so it's good to have writers like Lewis to remind us of the true significance of God becoming man.
On p. 174, Lewis rehearses his famous Lord, Liar, Lunatic dictum, which I still think is a profound argument, although there has been a lot of pushback from certain quarters, as Lewis anticipates on the next page.
As Lewis points out, with certain questions, probabilities are useless. Fittedness then becomes a useful criterion for ascertaining the validity of a proposition.
On P. 176, in addition to the essay you mention, "Is Theology Poetry," I was reminded of another famous essay in God in the Dock, "Meditation In A Tool Shed," where the theme of the sun, as a metaphor for spiritual insight and revelation, is also used to great effect.
One could go on and on, but I was trying to think of a way Lewis's worldview could be summarized that would help explain why he goes to such lengths to be comprehensive with his explanations. I think one could say that Lewis believed that if a worldview was true and had explanatory power for any aspect of reality, then it should be able to explain all of reality. So he goes to work with all the tools he has to show how the incarnation is the ultimate explanation for reality as we know it.
As you say, Lewis had a way with words. I would go even further and say Lewis was one of the great prose stylists of the 20th century. Because of his education and work as a literary critic and historian, he spent his time analyzing and teaching the greatest English writers who ever lived, so he knew what great writing was. And he deliberately worked on being a great writer. He never learned to type; he wrote with a dip pen because he said he wanted to hear the rhythm of the words as he wrote.
I think it is this combination of exemplary prose stylist with his erudition and analytical thinking ability that truly puts him in a category by himself.
I'd still vote for Dune first, my copy is coming from Amazon today.
I learned a lot about christian theology in this chapter, for example the concept of vicariousness was finally consolidated out of things I sort of knew about the religion (I have never read the bible but grew up in a nominally christian society so have bits and pieces of it). The idea that the chosen people are so chosen to bear a heavy burden, for the vicariousness of the unchosen; just as Jesus is the ultimate source of vicariousness for all man. And it follows logically, some people are chosen, completely at random, to be the best athletes.
It was also quite a compelling point that Jesus was such a shrewd and demanding teacher but exhibited no signs of megalomania - indeed the Greek gods were rather megalomaniacal. From my limited knowledge it seems the apostles were also humble, and the early communes exhibited a complete disinterest in political power. This is certainly the kind of story that would lend itself to a usurpation of power, but it does not, because that's not the point - the point is the lifting up of man, the vicariousness, the forward march of Nature to be perfected over time.
This is great stuff, a whole new horizon has been opened up to me by this readalong. I can't wait to re-read Dune on here, and then finally read Boethius (Dune first plz, I would like to read some Augustine on my own before Boethius because I'm wild about chronology)
I agree. Lewis packs a great deal into this chapter; it seems like each succeeding chapter contains more ideas. In addition to his philosopher and theologian hats, in this chapter, Lewis dons his Scripture exegete and literary critic hats in making his arguments. It's all so rich, like seven-layer chocolate cake for the mind and spirit.
As Lewis points out, the Incarnation is the defining miracle of history. The very nature of reality changed. The early Christians understood this, but time tends to blunt human awareness, so it's good to have writers like Lewis to remind us of the true significance of God becoming man.
On p. 174, Lewis rehearses his famous Lord, Liar, Lunatic dictum, which I still think is a profound argument, although there has been a lot of pushback from certain quarters, as Lewis anticipates on the next page.
As Lewis points out, with certain questions, probabilities are useless. Fittedness then becomes a useful criterion for ascertaining the validity of a proposition.
On P. 176, in addition to the essay you mention, "Is Theology Poetry," I was reminded of another famous essay in God in the Dock, "Meditation In A Tool Shed," where the theme of the sun, as a metaphor for spiritual insight and revelation, is also used to great effect.
One could go on and on, but I was trying to think of a way Lewis's worldview could be summarized that would help explain why he goes to such lengths to be comprehensive with his explanations. I think one could say that Lewis believed that if a worldview was true and had explanatory power for any aspect of reality, then it should be able to explain all of reality. So he goes to work with all the tools he has to show how the incarnation is the ultimate explanation for reality as we know it.
As you say, Lewis had a way with words. I would go even further and say Lewis was one of the great prose stylists of the 20th century. Because of his education and work as a literary critic and historian, he spent his time analyzing and teaching the greatest English writers who ever lived, so he knew what great writing was. And he deliberately worked on being a great writer. He never learned to type; he wrote with a dip pen because he said he wanted to hear the rhythm of the words as he wrote.
I think it is this combination of exemplary prose stylist with his erudition and analytical thinking ability that truly puts him in a category by himself.
I'd still vote for Dune first, my copy is coming from Amazon today.