Into the Wardrobe

Is what happend with The Big Ghost and the Bright Person, Len in chapter 4 intentionally an illustration of Matthew 4:21-22. The Ghost judges Len for murdering Jack and as a result, he himself winds up in hell. Most people think of it as something that will be done to you when it is actually the ghost"s choice alone while Len is practically begging him not to go.

Question 2: Did George MacDonald actually say any of the things that Lewis has him saying in his fictional dialog? (I haven't read any of MacDonald yet) I find my self quoting the fictional MacDonald (I especially like the quote about the butterfly eating all of hell and not even tasting it) then I realise I'm actually quoting Lewis. Like someone who thinks they're quoting Virgil might actually be quoting Dante.

Great points, Kate and Nomad.

The western cult of the individual is something that I have become especially aware of in recent years. It is the driving force of most forms of Christianity - it underpins Sola Scriptura, justifies personal preference in choice of churches (and the whole "what I'm comfortable with" rather than "is this the original Church of the Apostles?" question. I am very thankful that it is absent in the Orthodox Church. (I think it fair to same the same of the Catholic Church). Trouble is, either way, you have to 'move east'.

Well, I think I'd still have a problem with any current church claiming to be "the original". If anyone can make such a claim, it would have to be the Palestinian Christians. But I don't intend to get into that here.

We westerners do need to "move east". We need to admit that our interpretation fo Christianity is heavily influenced by things that have nothing to do with Christ. The duality view of Plato, for instance. Easterners of course have done similar things, and should probably "move west", but we should first take the plank out of our own eye.

Hey, guys. Thanks for the responses. I know I'm way over my head in this converation regarding an original church but isn't the founder of the Catholic Church, Saint Peter the same Simon Peter who dismembered a Roman guard defending Jesus, stopped only by Jesus' "This is the cup the Lord has provided. Shall I not drink of it?" (John 18:11(paraphrased)) The point is the first Pope of the Catholic Church literally knew Christ. How do you get more original than that?
BTW can either of you shed some light on the MacDonald quotes question?

Well, Peepiceek many question whether Simon Peter was in fact a "Pope" at all, because that whole notion puts Him above the rest, and considered infallible and all of that..., however it's Jesus Christ who never sinned and is not fallible - not Simon Peter. Essentially the question is was he really the first "Pope" - if he wasn't, that calls into question the very notion that the Roman Catholic Church was the "original" church.