C.S.Lewis and the Catholic Church, by Joseph Pearce

[Roonwit]

[nomad]

[ijohn_patmos]

[rusmeister]

[ijohn_patmos]

[quote="rusmeister"] That makes sense to me. It does leave me with no additional information and my original conclusions. I can't agree with 'no need to', leaving the alternative of his not knowing much about Orthodoxy, which is odd given it compromised the entire eastern Christian world. I would think he would have thought that of some importance, even if he disagreed with the theology. /quote]

Rusmeister, I think he would have thought it of much importance but within the rubrics, so to speak, of his own apostolate we see, in my opinion, an extreme reluctance to speak on things that he felt better left to others. Broadly speaking, I see Lewis himself as very Orthodox. What do you, or others, think I wonder,
John

[Esther]

[rusmeister]

I actually agree to a great extent!

Would like to clarify that I have no expectations that he should have singled out the EOC, and that in his public works, of course, one of his biggest goals was to avoid singling out the 'divisive' tenets of a given faith. This is both his great strength and great weakness, but he intended it that way. He said that his aim was not to distinguish between Christian religions, but to bring in people that were 'not inside the hall' at all (although conversely, a number of atheists have told me that they do not find Lewis convincing ).

So yes, Lewis was very orthodox, leading Bishop Kallistos (Ware) to say that he was Orthodox and didn't know it (capital O for EO only). His concepts of salvation and damnation, liturgical worship, etc etc are all quite Orthodox - compatible with Orthodoxy.

Lewis did make references in his private writings that gave away some of his positions, though, so we have some hints, at least, as to why he did not become Catholic (despite the tremendous Catholic influences on his conversion) and why he was Anglican. That he did mention Catholicism repeatedly shows his awareness of the relative importance of the Catholic Church. So it's mainly disappointing that a huge portion of Christendom that had existed for 2,000 years (or if you are Catholic, 1,000 years after the GS) doesn't even get a mention in his non-public writings. Again, given his calling, he couldn't have not been interested in the development of his Church (and how it could claim to be Christ's Church sent into the world) prior to the Reformation.

As to theosis, Lewis was referring to all mortals as not 'mere'. Theosis is the Orthodox way of becoming like Christ, which only those who choose the difficult path of striving to be perfect as Christ said undertake, so the concepts are not identical. Those that undergo theosis would be the ones 'we are tempted to worship'. But I'm not a theologian, just a simple Orthodox guy, so if you want more accurate info go to oca.org or the antiochian or Greek (goarch) sites for online info straight from the horse's mouth.
http://www.antiochian.org/
http://www.goarch.org/
http://www.oca.org/

[Esther]

[Bnayqyama]

I teach an introduction to Christian theology using Lewis as the guide because he appeals so broadly. Although I began my journey as an evangelical, I do not understand today the evangelicals' embrace of Lewis. He may be a brother in Christ, but he is not their friend. His sensibility is very much Catholic and Orthodox -- the good parts not the craziness about which bishop is preeminent, or who ex-communicated whom, or who inserted things in the creed. Love, love, love.

Mere Christianity, Book Four, is the clearest expression of Theosis I have ever read. Theosis comes from St. Paul's letters; Lewis humbles recent interpreters of Paul.

Christ authorized one Church. The Church professes one faith. It is human sin that divides. Humility and docility in the Spirit would go a long way toward accepting the unity that Christ pronounced.

[ijohn_patmos]

[rusmeister]

This leads us back into the debate between those who hold that there is one (quite corporeal) Church and those that hold that it is pretty much ephemeral. I for one haven't ever seen debate change anyone's mind on this one. You have to get there on your own steam.

Having said that, I have to agree with Bnayqyama on all points except in that, as has been said, Lewis deliberately avoided those controversies, and for that reason it is obvious why evangelicals can embrace him.

Oh, and thanks for the link, John!

[Paul F. Ford]

[Bnayqyama]

I admit, in hindsight, that Lewis is "not their friend" is too harsh re evangelicals. Lewis would recognize evangelicals as his sisters and brothers in Christ, just as he would recognize Papists and Orthodox.

So let me rephrase: Lewis' expressed theology resonates with Orthodox and Catholic's understanding of the purpose of human life. Lewis' Great Divorce especially coheres with Theosis and the Beatific Vision as the goal of human life. I am also thinking of Mere Christianity Book Four, with its accentuation of "putting on Christ," "conforming to the image" of Christ, of the process of spiritual transformation, of lifelong conversion.

About the churches as the Church: it is a theological truism that there is only one, since it revealed in the NT -- "one bread, one body"; "I pray that they might be one, even as we are one." The fractured nature of Christianity is Sin. I accuse my adopted Catholic tradition, Orthodoxy, and Protestantism for perpetuating fracture rather than unity. I cannot recall Lewis' own thoughts here, but it seems to me that he is a unifier rather than a divider. His modest approach to the myriad of atonement theories in MC is the initial evidence.

[ijohn_patmos]

[Bnayqyama]

I would add another thought on Lewis, Evangelicalism, Orthodoxy and Catholicism: the latter two traditions theologically demand freedom of the will to say "yes" to God. The Christian life does not begin with a shotgun marriage.

This "yes" is always Grace. It comes as a gift, like a mother's first smile to her baby (H. Urs von Balthasar). The gift of the "yes" to God opens up all sorts of potentialities within the human person, begins the process of letting go (purgation), conversion, theosis, conforming to the image of the Son (as St. Paul phrased it in Rom 8). The ascending person co-operates with God -- a continuous process of saying "yes" and correcting dis-ordered "no" -- but it never ceases being Grace, a gift. God's initiative, the person's receptivity.

Does this not resemble Lewis' understanding of the Christian life, as in MC Bk IV, GD, the spiritual growth of the children in Narnia, etc.?