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Lewis on Biblical Antinomy

The man. The myth.

Lewis on Biblical Antinomy

Postby EverLearner » June 9th, 2007, 8:06 pm

Hi Everyone,

I am doing research for a book I'm writing on the subject of Biblical antinomy. I confess I have not read nearly enough of C. S. Lewis (only the Chronicles of Narnia), but from what I know about him, I suspect that he tackled, if not this subject directly, some of the specific instances of antinomies in Scripture and I would love to get his perspective to help inform my own. From your knowledge of his works, where would you direct me to start looking? Which books/essays/letters would be most likely to be along the lines I am interested in?

Thanks for any help you can give me!

:thinking: Shaunie


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Postby Sven » June 9th, 2007, 8:30 pm

Welcome, Shaunie!

*rereads the question twice*

Tough one, if I even understand the question properly :wink: I suspect Lewis would have used the phrase 'Biblical paradoxes' instead of 'Biblical antinomy'. He was quite down on the use of jargon when an idea could be expressed in a way more accessible to all, even if it ended up wordier and less precise.

Are there any particular Biblical passages or concepts (if I am getting your question correctly) you are looking for Lewis' thinking on? I don't believe he ever addressed the idea of paradox as such, but he discusses many, many specific paradoxes and apparent paradoxes in both the Bible and Christian thought.

Oh, and I'm moving this over to the general C. S. Lewis forum. It will probably get more responses there, plus the Q & A forum is for folks who don't wish to register (mostly young people looking for homework help or folks needing a quote citation).
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 EverLearner » June 9th, 2007, 9:27 pm

Hi Sven,

The reason I use the word antinomy rather than paradox, is that the two are not the same. Although the concepts are similar and despite the two terms being used interchangeably by many, J. I. Packer makes a distinction betwen the two. In my own words, as I understand this distinction, an antinomy is an apparent (though not actual) contradiction between two equally and completely valid truths, whereas a paradox is a figure of speech or a statement where the words contradict themselves to express a true idea. I hope this makes sense--I'm still working on a concise description of the concept of antinomy to which people will readily relate.

For the purpose of my book, my interest is not so much in exploring the examples of antinomy, but in the study of antinomy itself. However, as you point out, C. S. Lewis more often writes about principles that demonstrate antinomy (e.g. sovreignty and free will, grace and the call to holiness, the truth of one God in three persons, the nature of Christ as fully human AND fully divine, etc.) rather than the fact and purpose of antinomy itself. It seems the best way for me to explore the general idea is to study the particulars and what wise writers have written about them.

If there are any of Lewis's writings that you know of that are more likely than others to deal with some of these specifics it would help me focus my research (it would take me a long time to read everything he's ever written to figure it out for myself :smile:). I appreciate anything you or anyone else can do to steer me in the right direction.

Shaunie



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Postby Sven » June 9th, 2007, 9:44 pm

I'd suggest The Four Loves, Letters to Malcolm, maybe Reflections on the Psalms, and several of the essays in God in the Dock. The Screwtape Letters use many of the contradictions to make specific points, though I don't know if you could use that to base anything scholarly on. Might get some nicely humorous illustrative examples there, though.
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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Location: Greenbelt, MD, near Washington DC

Postby EverLearner » June 9th, 2007, 10:05 pm

Thank you so much Sven--I appreciate it!!

Shaunie
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