Learning in the war time

I liked the point he made of living for things that don't matter. he states that we should not live to save lives. We could die to save lives but by no means should we live for it. He describes the person that does as a monomaniac or obsessed. I believe the point he is trying to make here is that everything we do should be to live toward the prospect of going to heaven. He states early on in the essay that all people live each day as moving towards heaven or hell. I believe he is stating that when people live for material things of this world they achieve nothing. The only things that they may achieve are lost as soon as they leave this earth. He quotes the scripture that states whatever you do, do it for the glory of God. He is pointing out the fact that living for God is the only thing that we should be doing. To die for you country is noble, but to live for your country is wrong. To spend your life commited to something that is not God is useless. Only god can make your life worth having. This really stood out to me because I realize I do this in my own life. I tend to make God the basic overseer that is there only to let me know when I;m doing something I know I shouldn't. I have that view and then I devote my life to my own agendas. I live for myself. After reading this it made me really consider what i need to do to live my life for God and not for myself.

letter eight and nine

In this letter screwtape teaches wormwood about the use of troughs. He explains that every human needs God. God created them like that. God wants people to serve him and become like sons. Satan wants them to brought like cattle to hell and used for food. This is why we have troughs. It is a time when we feel separated from God. Screwtape describes these as extremely dangerous. He states that if a person is in a trough and still obeys then their hope is lost. They are done for. He explains that they need to use these troughs to bring the person against God. He shows that when they go through these troughs it is a great time to tempt them with sexual sins. They are weak and much more willing to give into these sins during troughs. He also explains how they can use their ideas of religion against them. He explains the use of easily despairing Christians to make them unsure of Christianity. He says they can also bring the hopeful ones down by making them think that all is well. He states that they eventually become comfortable with it all and believe that this is where they should be. He describes this as a moderate religion. He also states that a moderate religion is just as good as no religion at all. This is extremely good to know because it allows us to look into our own lives and see when we are living moderately. When we do this we are living outside of God's kingdom. It's a good thing to be aware of. It's also good to know that troughs are generally normal. When we come to expect them it is easier to deal with them. Then when the next one comes it won't be nearly as hard as the first one was.

letter one

I found it interesting that Screwtape suggested that jargon was the best way to bring someone away from "the enemy." This makes sense because the truth would lead them to finding Christ. He comments that argument is useless to them and that they need to use alternative means to accomplish their goals. He suggests using distractions as well. This explains a lot to me because distractions are what makes it hardest for me to have my time with God. Screwtape relates a story that the man he was after nearly found God but he pointed out that he was hungry. This distracted him enough to allow him to think that those things like religion are just a waste of time. I also found it interesting that he pointed out that their job was not to teach. They need to keep their patients in the dark. Once he begins to reason and think about the things he is taking in their argument is lost. Their goal is to avoid letting him think about his situation at all costs. Let him think he is fine.

Show and Tell

For show and tell I brought in an article discussing the funding by exxon of facts disprooving global warming. The supporters of global warming stated that it was all biased material because it was funded by a group who had an interest in it. This showed the real life application of bulverism. They never disprooved any of the theories. They just simply showed why they would be wrong. CS Lewis wrote, "I call it 'Bulverism.' Some day I am going the write the biography of its imaginary inventor, Ezekiel Bulver, whose destiny was determined at the age of five when he heard his mother say to his father - who had been maintaining that two sides of a triangle were together greater than the third - 'Oh, you say that because you are a man.' 'At that moment,' E. Bulver assures us, 'there flashed across my opening mind the great truth that refutation is no necessary part of argument. Assume your opponent is wrong, and then explain his error, and the world will be at your feet. Attempt to prove that he is wrong or (worse still) try to find out whether he is wrong or right, and the national dynamism of our age will thrust you to the wall.' That is how Bulver became one of the makers of the Twentieth Century." This shows how Bulverism came about. This article showed that it is still very much alive today.

Our English Syllabus

In our english syllabus, CS Lewis talks about coming to a school expecting to just take in what the teacher is telling you. He states that this is a terrible way to go about things. If you come into a class expecting only to learn what the teacher knows then you will never do anything that he hasn't. Nothing new will come of you. If you come in with a desire to learn and a longing for knowledge, you will learn all there is to learn. Lewis encourages us to come with a desire to learn. Don't take classes you have absolutely no interest in. He is saying that you will come away with nothing from thise classes. If you have a desire to learn about these things then you will learn a lot.Lewis defines the line between a college and a grade school. A college is a place to learn. The proffesors want to learn just like the students do. He states that if a school were to lose its students it would no longer be a school. A college would not have the same fate. It would still be a college. So learn what you want to learn or you won't learn at all.

no right to happiness

In this essay by CS Lewis he comments on the thought that we all have a right to our happiness. He states that this is not true. He makes the point that if we had a right to happiness then there would be no law. If a man decides that he is happy when he kills people then we would have to allow it. So then He states that it is a right to happiness within the law. He states that this is a dangerous position to have. When someone wants to have happiness they will bend the rules to get it. He points out that couples who are happy are the ones who have a good sense of right and wrong. I believe that we don't have a right to happiness, but I don't believe we should not hope to find it. I think that in christ we are offered happiness as a gift, not an obligation. I don't think that our happiness is necessarily deserved, but I do think that it can be attained. If you notice from the example given, CS Lewis describes a man who left his wife because she didn't look so good anymore. This man marries out of selfish motives, and when it came down to the point where he thought he could be happier he took the oppertunity thinking of himself. Lewis touches on this by describing it as self pity. He states that this man pities himself so much that he feels no pity for his wife. the ends justify the means he might argue. This selfishness will leave us feeling empty and will never be enough. We will toss people aside in order to attain our own goals. I think that if we try to find happiness in the world we won't ever find it. This relates to plantinga and weight of glory. The beauty we find in the world is promise of what is to come. we cannot be satisfied until we reside in christ. That is how we find satisfaction. It's not a right to happiness, it is a gift of happiness.

Plantinga

In the first chapter of plantinga he describes our longing for god by comparing it to the hope we have for things of beauty. He writes that when we see, hear, or feel things that are beautiful, we want to join up with them or "get in" them. He states that this is really our longing to get in God. This ties in with CS Lewis' wieght of glory because CS Lewis describes that same sort of longing for some kind of God. We see the beauty of His handiwork everyday and we try to connect with it but when we remember or go back to where it happened all we find the object because the beauty we saw was a glimpse of God or of heaven. According to Plantinga this innate feeling of hope is within all of us. He also states that it is useless without works, just like faith. In essence, if we have true hope for what is to come then we must live our lives accordingly spending every waking moment striving towards that moment when we will meet our Father in heaven face to face.

chronological snobbery

In the short quote Lewis makes on Chronological Snobbery he talks about the thought that anything that is outdated is useless. Basically any sort of fact or practice that is old is not useful or reliable. This ties in with Bulverism extremely well because it is tossing things aside based on inferences that tell nothing of whether it is reliable or not. Just because something is old does not make it unreliable. Last time I checked the Bible is pretty old, but it is still the basis for our lessens in Christianity. If we discredited anything that was old we would never be able to establish scientific law or any sort of "plumb line", so to speak. There would be no standard because as soon as that standard was old it would be tossed out. This too is prevelant in society. People will insist that they have a new way of thinking without even considering that the old may still hold true. They don't disprove them, only discredit them. This is a problem we must be wary of in our everyday lives.

Weight Of Glory

In the weight of glory, CS Lewis comments on the fact that we are promised something greater, yet we don’t realize the effect that has on us. We don’t realize that our love for beauty is born out of a desire for what is to come that is given innately to each one of us. We don’t realize that this desire for beauty and a desire is a glimpse of heaven. He tells of a man who will try to regain that memory he received through a flower or music, but when he goes back all he finds is the object. Lewis explains that this is because the object itself is simply that—an object. We begin to search for that sense of awe in the object. Lewis states that that is almost like our promise of heaven. The fact that we hunger for a better place shows that there is one, just like a man who hungers for bread in a world full of people can know that there must be something to eat or we wouldn’t be hungry. Lewis then goes on to explain that our promise in the bible involves receiving glory. Lewis explains that he does not understand this. He relates it to being placed above others, a quality not very fitting of heaven, or being a light bulb. As he goes on he discusses how he came to the realization that glory is merely acceptance by God. He sees that what we do on earth is to earn our glory or favor from God. When we earn favor and glory we are accepted and “recognized” by God on the Day of Judgment. The simple fact that everything we do pushes us towards or away from glory is where our “weight of glory” comes in. We have the burden of bringing others into this glory so that when the day comes God will look down on them and will say, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” If they do not have glory they will be wiped from the memory of the all-knowing God, so to speak. They will lose their place in reality ending in complete separation from everything we know. As Lewis says, “All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations.” We need to live our lives on earth so we and those around us can partake in the glory of God.

Bulverism

In the article about bulverism CS Lewis comments on the way people don't look at whether one is wrong or right only why he would be wrong or right. I someone has an idea and can prove it to be true, all one must do is to explain briefly that he has had bad ideas in the past that weren't true either. Then the person's reputation is ruined and he is said to be unreliable. No one prooved he was wrong. They didn't have to. All they had to do was show why he could be and people ate up every word of it. This tactic is seen and used in countless situations. When I was young I would get into arguments with my parents who happen to be very well educated. Anytime the argument seemed to be going in a direction that wasn't to there favor they would just simply state that I was not even cose to as smart as they were. I didn't have the smarts or experience that they did so any argument I had was unreliable. This is used in schools, campaigns, and even commercials. CS Lewis uses this argument in terms of religion. He states that people discredit his religion based on inferences and opinions. He states that there is no sort of evidence as to whether his religion is true or not, but it is still regarded as false by others. CS Lewis states that one cannot base judgements on anything but facts. Otherwise reason is thrown out the window. Without reason any sort of logic is lost and everything has to be decided on incomplete facts which could lead to chaos. We should be troubled by how commonly bulverism is used, and we should watch carefully for it in our own lives.