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Two questions on The Great Divorce

Comprising most of Lewis' writings.
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Postby Dan65802 » May 20th, 2008, 2:47 pm

"Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that." - Martin Luther King
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Postby nomad » May 24th, 2008, 5:21 am

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"Well," said Pooh, "what I like best -- " and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn't know what it was called.
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Postby Peepiceek » May 26th, 2008, 8:23 pm

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Postby nomad » May 31st, 2008, 4:52 am

I'm not sure you could stay there forever. Remember what the one guy said about a single raindrop cutting you apart? And it seemed that your feet only got harder by starting to walk forward, with the help of one of the Bright People to make that possible. But Lewis has said elsewhere that it is a sign of God's immeasurable mercy and grace that he will accept us even on the grounds of our coming primarily out of a fear of hell.
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"Well," said Pooh, "what I like best -- " and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn't know what it was called.
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Quick advice re: papal infallibility

Postby Dick Devine » October 30th, 2008, 12:36 pm

Not a good idea to get off topic again, but some posts above have a confused idea about what the catholic church claims re: papal infallibility. It is a thing reserved for certain pronouncements and is rarely invoked. It does not mean to claim that popes are not sinful humans.

I don't believe in it anyway, but don't imagine they are claiming that popes are sinless or anything like it.
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Postby Tuke » November 1st, 2008, 4:26 am

"The 'great golden chain of Concord' has united the whole of Edmund Spenser's world.... Nothing is repressed; nothing is insubordinate. To read him is to grow in mental health." The Allegory Of Love (Faerie Queene)

2 Corinthians IV.17 The Weight of Glory
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Postby Stanley Anderson » November 3rd, 2008, 3:16 pm

…on a night of rain Frodo smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that came over the water. And then it seemed to him that as in his dream in the house of Bombadil, the grey rain-curtain turned all to silver glass and was rolled back, and he beheld white shores and beyond them a fair green country under a swift sunrise.
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Postby Karen » November 3rd, 2008, 3:19 pm

I have always imagined that paradise will be a kind of library. -- Jorge Luis Borges
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Postby Stanley Anderson » November 3rd, 2008, 3:24 pm

AAAK! I somehow left out the most important word in the third sentence in my PS above. It should have read (with correction bolded) But although at other times Catholics greatly respect and are aided greatly by the Pope's words, they are not cosidered "infallible".

not infallible,
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(and how could I have missed mentioning the most important example and let Karen get it in before me? ...slipping into greater and greater fallibility...)
…on a night of rain Frodo smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that came over the water. And then it seemed to him that as in his dream in the house of Bombadil, the grey rain-curtain turned all to silver glass and was rolled back, and he beheld white shores and beyond them a fair green country under a swift sunrise.
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Postby Tuke » November 4th, 2008, 1:16 am

"The 'great golden chain of Concord' has united the whole of Edmund Spenser's world.... Nothing is repressed; nothing is insubordinate. To read him is to grow in mental health." The Allegory Of Love (Faerie Queene)

2 Corinthians IV.17 The Weight of Glory
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Postby nomad » November 14th, 2008, 5:04 pm

Okaaaaay... getting back to the Great Divorce, I don't know why this didn't occur to me before, but I just noticed that Lewis does not include in his list of characters any adherant to another religion. He only has Christians or nominal Christians. Notable because most "evangelicals" today (using that term with some caution, but meaning more or less the folks the media applies it to) would have made that the focal point of such a story. And I don't think Lewis simply didn't think of it. I'm pretty sure he left that can of worms alone on purpose... following the "how will you take the splinter out of your brother's eye when you have a log in your own" advice. A lesson we could probably all take to heart.
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"Well," said Pooh, "what I like best -- " and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn't know what it was called.
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Postby Sharon » November 22nd, 2008, 10:16 pm

Hello everyone, I just joined this site. Interested to find this issue of what happens to non-Christians. I hadn't thought about it when I read "The Great Divorce" (probably because, as was previously stated, Lewis doesn't allude to it here), but I have always been struck by the "noble Calormene" in The Last Battle. It seems that he was open to the idea of those whose hearts genuinely desire God finding him waiting for them on the other side... "Seek and you will find"? However, I have experienced some consternation from those whom nomad refers to as 'Evangelicals' in the face of such a view. [/quote]
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Postby Sven » November 22nd, 2008, 10:29 pm

Welcome, Sharon!

If you'd like to look at and/or participate in more threads on this topic, just click on 'Search Forums' up above and use the keyword Emeth.
Rat! he found breath to whisper, shaking. Are you afraid?
Afraid? murmured the Rat, his eyes shining with unutterable love.
Afraid! Of Him? O, never, never! And yet -- and yet -- O, Mole, I am afraid!
Then the two animals, crouching to the earth, bowed their heads and did worship.
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Postby Sharon » November 22nd, 2008, 10:32 pm

Thanks for the tip, I had forgotten that was his name :smile:
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Postby nomad » November 24th, 2008, 3:44 pm

Yeah, I can't wait for the film version of TLB. Should generate a lot of discussion. But back to the GD, I just found it interesting that Lewis didn't even broach the topic. When I first read it, I did think what a marvelous job he had done giving examples of how character could prevent you from accepting something as beautiful and real as paradise. Or, conversely, how it leads you to swallow your fears to accept a beauty that you can't define or limit. Somewhere else he talks about how every human being is an immortal, who is daily becoming more beautiful or more grotesque. And, again, I think he very purposely avoided portraying the question of "what religion are you" as the answer.
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"Well," said Pooh, "what I like best -- " and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn't know what it was called.
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