by Guest » March 19th, 2005, 7:53 am
Hi Rudif,
Perhaps I shouldn't say this, but when I quoted The Lord of the Rings, although I was sure the quote was from the book, I actually had the scene from the film in my mind. Can you remind me which chapter in the book it appears in? Before posting, I checked my copy of LotR but I couldn't find it where I thought it was - in Shadows of the Past.
As for Lewis - would he have gone in a new direction? Perhaps, the issue of women priests would surely have affected him profoundly. & goodness knows what he would have made of the ordination of sexually active homosexuals. On the other hand, when he reverted to the Christian faith, it is surely significant that he remained within the Anglican Communion despite the best efforts (?) of Tolkien.
I have a very great respect for the Jesuits: for their brave work in my country (England) during the sixteenth / seventeenth century, for their missionary work all over the world since the Society's foundation, and most recently for their justice and peace work since the 60s. (There is one Jesuit, Daniel Berrigan, who is an anti war campaigner who I would love to learn more about). However, I cannot agree with any Jesuit - or Catholic for that matter - who seeks to downplay the importance of any doctrine concerning our Blessed Lady. Her mothership, her sinlessness, her queenship make her essential to the faith. You don't have to have a devotion to Mary in order to be a good Catholic, but you can't put her to one side if you want to understand Catholicism. For this reason, I would say that if Lewis had converted to the Catholic faith as a result of a priest downplaying the Marian doctrines then that priest would not have been as open about his faith as he should have been.
You said that Lewis was a liberal thinker and worldly. I have to admit, I have never thought of him as either! If you have a free moment, I would love to know if you are thinking of any particular aspect of Lewis' thought here.
Malcolm