POLL-If Lewis was alive today, to which would he belong?

[surprisedbyjoy]

[Guest]

The scriptural assertion that Our Lady was sinless is implicit not explicit. This is not a problem, however, because what is explicit in scripture is that the faithful were to hold to what was spoken by the Apostles as well as what was written by them. It is this tradition that in time unfolded to the point where the Church - the pillar of truth, as St Paul said - was able to affirm explicitly that Mary was sinless.

If you would like to know more, I would not hesitate to recommend to you. For now, I would go no further as we have gone off topic.

Malcolm

[carol]

Sorry, but the discussion is supposed to be about what church Lewis would belong to.

This is my second edit on this post; I feel very uncomfortable about what has been said off topic here. ("Of course X is true," when X is the doctrine of a particular church only, is distressing to read).

[carol]

If Lewis were alive today, his past and upbringing would have been quite different from his actual ones. He would have seen the pentecostal movement of the 60s, the revival movement of the 70s, the preaching and teaching of the American TV evangelists, the spread of Third World evangelism, the influence of programmes like the Alpha Course, modern worship music, etc.

His choices as an English professor in Oxford today might be much wider, but I suspect he'd still be attending an Anglican church, hopefully an Evangelical Anglican church, and taking part in a weekly house group/ bible study group.

He described himself as very middle Anglican, neither high nor low (in terms of worship style and some theology). He certainly had a high respect for the Bible, so he wouldn't have tolerated liberal ideas being taught in the church he belonged to. He would have had 50 years more of liberal stuff to digest and refute than he did.

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

I'm sorry everyone! I guess I'm just passionate about Jesus and the truth in our faith and sometimes my temper gets the better of me. Please forgive me (I don't want the noose!) and help me to be less offensive in my approach to issues between brothers and sisters in Christ.

Thankyou and God Bless!

[john]

[magpie]

In Mere Christianity Lewis indicated that while his own personal preferance was for the Anglican Church in which he had been raised and which was the prevailing church in his particular culture, he also made it clear that he did not consider any one denomination inherently better than any other. I suspect that he would have considered this whole speculation superfluous.

[Guest]

[Bill]

[Guest]

Bill,
I do think there is a sense in which he is fixed in the past, that is, he wrote works that are fixed in terms of the words he used and, temporally speaking, he is no longer living, he has a birth and a death. However, why on earth do you read his books if you think he has no relevance for today? And if he has relevance for today, he cannot be fixed in the past. Moreover, issues emerge that Lewis and writers of yesterday did not and could not have anticipated. Can we not discern principles from writers of the past that have application for today? This is the sort of thing I mean. And (I match your Lewis but I don't think I can raise you!) it was Lewis who said that if words don't emerge, evolve, and change meaning, they are dead (fixed in the past). Any living language he said, CANNOT (not should not) do this. This is a big reason he supported modern translations of the Bible. And come to think of it, this is yet another issue on which Lewis would be considered a liberal and not conservative at all.

[Guest]

Bill,
I agree with you about what you say about The Great Divorce. That is to the point and a caveat (even when I say it's a caveat, I feel like I'm levelling down like the Episcopal Ghost!). Good reminder that will drive me to my knees. (Is there any significance, with regard to the poll, in it being an Episcopal Ghost?) But, the other side of it is the, "It all turns on what are honest opinions." Intellectual life is a part of the spiritual life. In that same chapter, going along with the crowd is "condemned." How does one choose a church? Lewis said one should ASK, "Are these doctrines true: is holiness there? Does MY CONSCIENCE move me towards this?" Many churches in our day and age have changed very much from what they once were. I know an 80 yr.old lady, right now, trying to discern whether or not she should leave the United Methodist Ch., that she has been a member of all her life, because it has CHANGED. Things change, so do people, and our intellects are a part of this. This poll was indeed intended to be harmless fun but I don't think honest inquiry, done in the right spirit, is a waste of time. Boy, I feel like I'm rambling now. Thanks for the interaction, I think your insights are very good.
Rudi

[Guest]

[Guest]

Malcolm,
"Inchoate", you like that, huh? Yeah, the field study would undoubtedly be the best part! I agree, "system" must be a hated word to Derrida and his friends. The American evangelical variant of the word "system" is "world-view." I like how Lewis described the effort to understand understanding: like taking your eyes out of your head to examine them. That's a good way to describe it, he did have a way with words!
Rudi

[.Ælfgifu.]

[Guest]