I have always loved reading C.S. Lewis. Every time I open one of his books a new idea hits me in the face and gives me something to think about for a while. This reading was no different. Many times I have gone over the logical reasons for what we believe, but I have never come even close to the reasoning he showed. I usually go over the typical reasons: the Book of Mormon is obviously true and therefore our Church is true. Sometimes I think about other things like how many members there are worldwide and how many of them were converted in just a few hundred years. I think about how perfectly organized the Church is, with all of its different groups and meetings and systems. I sometimes relate it to personal experience and how the things I have witnessed prove, to me, that I have a heavenly father that loves me. I think about these things not necessarily because of doubt, but because I find it interesting to see reason support things that can't be proven with anything but my own convictions.
I found the part about evil stemming from good fascinating. I always knew that you couldn't have one without the other, that there must be opposition in all things, and all the typical things like how you can't really appreciate joy until you have felt pain. The way he talked about it though brought in a whole new aspect: that evil is brought about by people who want things that are not evil but through selfishness, or whatever it is that drives them, they get it in an evil way.
I also loved where he talks about Christ and that there is no possible way he could be a man who was just a good man. The logical approach to that one is something I would never have thought of, and it made sense. At first I wondered if it was correct but it is true, none of us have the power to forgive others sins and if we tried we would for sure be lunatics. Only Christ and our Heavenly Father can do that.
My favorite part was reading it from an LDS perspective. We know that Heavenly Father was once like us and that one day we can become like him. I thought about that a lot while I read because I felt that it needed to fit in somewhere. That belief is an essential part of our gospel and it was strange to read a paper that was so uplifting and not have it in there. Besides this, Lewis so completely described so many things that we believe. He talked about agency, the way bad things happen to good people, right and wrong, and the eternal perspective. Every time I read Lewis I'm astonished to find how in-sync most of what he says is with what we believe. He might be missing some parts, but that guy knows a lot about what is going on.
Everyone always says how amazing and profound C. S. Lewis is. Yes, he is all that, but to me, he is one of the funniest guys on the planet. He is one of the small few who can have me snorting and laughing out loud from his words. Seriously, the guy is deep and profound, AND he is hilarious!
ReplyDeleteIt's always interesting to hear different people's perspectives on principles of truth. Many times we won't learn something new necessarily, but by hearing things in different words or looking from a slightly different perspective we can deepen and broaden our understanding and conviction of things we already know.
ReplyDeleteC.S. Lewis amazes me. It's as simple as that. He has such knowledge about the gospel and has a way of spelling it out with such simplicity which hits you and makes you say "whoa, how could I ever think otherwise." It amazes me that a man could have so much knowledge of the gospel, of the plan of salvation, of everything we are blessed to know as latter-day saints, when he didn't know of the restored gospel.
ReplyDeleteI love reading documents like this from an LDS perspective. Most of the time it just helps reassure me that our religious beliefs just make sense. From a logical and spiritual standpoint, our values and beliefs simply make sense. It's always great to see a more objective source mention them and even support them.
ReplyDeleteI too liked the part where Lewis discussed good and evil. I have always known the necessity of opposition in all things; we're all taught that from a rather young age. What I had not considered was the dependency of evil on good. I especially agree with Lewis on one thing, if I remember what he said correctly. He said evil is always defined in terms of lack of good; basically, that the good thing came before the bad thing. I can't think of anything where that is not the case. If somebody can think of something, I am curious to hear it.
ReplyDeleteC.S. Lewis really is amazing. He must have been very in tune with the Spirit. And I love how he uses logic to prove Christianity, even though you still need the confirmation of the Spirit to gain a testimony.
ReplyDeleteSeriously!! it was amazing how much of what he was saying lined up with LDS doctrine! I really loved the logic that went into his arguments, you can tell that a ton of thought has gone into this. Lewis put all of the things that we believe into a logical proof, putting things into clearly outlined words that we all struggle to get out in trying to share the gospel. (Though logic doesn't normally convert people, it's the spirit that should be doing the real work). It was a great article, and I think you're right, he did a great job of outlining basic doctrinal beliefs and putting them in a light that we don't normally get to see as members of the LDS church.
ReplyDeleteThis was way cool to read. I love when Jourden says that Christ was more than a good man. I couldn't agree more. He is our savior and redeemer and without him we would be dirty and full of sin. The atonement allows us to arise from the dust of the earth and become disciples of Him and His work. Just like people have mentioned, the LDS perspective is always awesome but we have to enjoy seeing other viewpoints as well. C.S. Lewis is a great Christian, we need to send some missionaries to her house. :)
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