May 12th Will Be: 'Till We Have Faces

In May the C.S. Lewis Society of Harrisonburg will be discussion C.S. Lewis's retelling of the myth of Cupid and Psyche, "Till We Have Faces."

This book is one that Lewis thought his best effort and it is a myth retold. Lewis and Tolkien were both avidly interested in myth and stories which embodied truths we can express in no other way. Lewis once described myth as a story that moves you no matter how poorly it is told.

Myth resonated the strings of the soul. Come join us as Melissa leads our discussion of "Till We Have Faces."

The April 14th Meeting Questions

Questions for C.S. Lewis's "The Problem of Pain"

for The Meeting April 14, 2011 of the C.S. Lewis Society of Harrisonburg

by Elizabeth Fierro

1.In his preface Lewis says “the only purpose of this book is to solve the intellectual problem raised by suffering; for the far higher task of teaching fortitude and patience. Do you think he succeeds in either of these tasks? Which task do you consider more important?

2. In his introduction he says “Moralities… agree in prescribing a behavior, which their adherents fail to practice …and all men are conscious of guilt”. Is this an appropriate definition of guilt? How would you describe/define guilt? How is guilt described or defined in our culture today?

3. In the chapter on Divine Goodness Lewis describes a difference between “kindness” and “goodness”. How would you describe the difference between the two?

4. What happens when kindness is detached from love?

5. According to Lewis “Pure love demands the perfection of the beloved”. Is this something an atheist or agnostic could agree with?

6.If someone is focused on “kindness” only, what kind of heaven do they assume will be waiting for them? How might this be different from the heaven of the person who is looking for “goodness”?

7. Lewis expresses shame as “Something we don’t want the world to know”. It shows us ourselves in our true perspective. In our society the sense of shame has seems to have vanished. Is there anything that has taken its place?

8.What do you think of Lewis’ story of the fall? How does it meet with, or diverge from, the theory of evolution?

9. In Lewis’ view what is the difference between suicide and martyrdom.

10. Is perhaps the real puzzle for human beings not the fact of pain, but why some people transform it into something redemptive, and others transform it into something destructive? Is this something Lewis deals with?

11. If you had quote or question that really stood out for you, please bring it along to share.

April 14th The Problem of Pain

On April 14th the C.S. Lewis Society of Harrisonburg will be discussing C.S. Lewis's book: "The Problem of Pain." The book was published in 1940, about a decade after Lewis had returned to Christianity. The book impressed the religious program director at the BBC enough to cause him to invite Lewis to do a series of radio talks. The series of radio talks later became the book "Mere Christianity."

Join us at the Barnes and Noble in Harrisonburg at 7:30 p.m. for a lively discussion of "The Problem of Pain" led by Elizabeth Fierro.

Meanwhile you might find THIS on "eucatastrophe" fascinating reading.

Rescheduled for Tuesday March 8th: Pilgrim's Regress

Our meeting on Pilgrim's Regress has been rescheduled for Tuesday, March 8th at 7:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble. Below is a glossary of characters and some questions for the meeting.

Who’s Who & What’s What In The Pilgrim’s Regress

(shamelessly stolen from Will Vaus)

Ahriman: Persian, Prince of Evil.

Angular: a caricature of T.S. Eliot who was an Anglo-Catholic. Lewis is satirizing Eliot’s dry and Romantic approach to literature.

Archtype and Ectype: the original and the copy.

Behemoth & Leviathan: huge animals referred to in Job 3:8 and 40:15.

Benedict: Spinoza, contributed to 17th century rationalism.

Bernard: Bosanquet (1848-1923), British idealist.

Claptrap: self important, insincere and pretentious language.

Classical: a caricature of Irving Babbitt, and American scholar who vigorously opposed Romanticism and died in 1933.

Clopinel: Jean de Meung of the 13th century.

Dialectic of Desire: the pattern of pursuing the source of joy, being side-tracked, and then corrected.

“Dixit Insipiens,” means, “The fool hath said....” from the Vulgate, Psalm 53:1, “The fool hath said in his heart, “There is no God.”

Druery: Lovemaking

The Dwarfs: Fascists and Communists (Marxomanni). Mussolomini are Italian Fascits, Swastici are Nazis (Hitler had just been elected Chancellor of Germany when Lewis wrote this), and the Gangomanni are gangters.

Eschropolis: city of foul obscenity.

“Esse Is Percipi” means “To be is to be perceived.”

Evangelium eternum: the eternal gospel, pantheism.

Glugly: represents ugly and meaningless art. Lewis may have had the Dadaists of the 1920’s in mind.

The Grand Canyon: the great chasm between God and man created by the sin of Adam.

Mr. Halfways: represents the Romantic Poets. He is much like William Butler Yeats, whom Lewis had met and admired at one time. He also makes statements directly quoted from Keats.

Helot: a female serf in ancient Sparta.

Herbert: Spencer, coined the phrase “survival of the fittest.”

Humanist: an atheist who lives to oppose optimism, Romanticism, transcerdentalism and humanitarianism. He is a thinly disguised George Santayana.

Ignorantia: ignorance brought about by overemphasizing scientific/technological knowledge and suppressing classical education.

Immanuel: Kant (1724-1904)

Io Paean: a traditional Greek shout of triumph and praise.

Jehovah-Jireh: God will provide.

Karl: Marx

Landlord: God

“Let Grill be Grill” refers to a character in Lewis’ favorite allegory, Spenser’s “Faerie Queene.” Gryll had been turned into a hog, and when a knight released him from the spell, Gryll abused the Knight instead of thanking him.

Luxuria: one of the seven deadly sins; unchastity.

Mr. Mammon: wealth.

The Man: Christ.

Media Halfways: Media refers to the materials of artistic creation. Halfways indicates the insufficiency of the arts to finally satisfy John’s longing.

Medium Aevum: The Middle Ages.

Mother Kirk: Kirk is Scottish for “church.” Mother Kirk represents Christianity.

Nella Sua Voluntade: In His Will. This refers to “In His will is our peace , from “Paradise,” the third and last book of Dante’s Dvine Comedy.

Nomos: the Jewish Law, Vertue’s father.

Northerners: “the men of rigid systems whether skeptical or dogmatic, Aristocrats, Stoics, Pharisees,Rigorists, signed and sealed members of highly organised parties.

Pagans: non-Jews

Per-persecuted: extremely persecuted

Phally: a nickname for Phallus. Probably represents D. H. Larence.

Pictures: Mythology

“Quen Quaertis in Sepulchro? Non Est Hic.” is Luke 24:5-6 in the Latin Vulgate: “Whom do you seek in the sepulcher? He is not here.”

Romanticism: (as used in the title of Pilgrim’s Regress), an experience of intense longing or sweet desire, “the mere wanting is felt to be somehow a delight... this hunger is better than any other fullness; this poverty better than all other wealth.”

Rudolph: Steiner (1861-1925), the first leader of the occult German Theosophohic Association and later founder of the Anthoroposopical Society, which Lewis’ friend Owen Barfield embraced.

The Rules: Morality

Savage: a Nordic warrior much like Odin, god of war.

Mr. Sensible: common sense. He detests Reason, preferring common sense which seeks comfort instead of truth. He has a smattering of knowledge from many sources but does not fully understand any of the authors he has read, thus the many Latin, French and Greek quotes. Epicurus, who taught that the highest good is pleasure, was the founder of Mr. Sensible’s house. In the end we find that Mr. Sensible in that Mr. Sensible is very insensible, and in fact - invisible.

Serpens nisi serrpentem comederit: It is not a serpent if it doesn’t eat serpents.

Shepherds: Jews.

A shaw: a small wood.

Sigismund: the son of Mr. Enlightenment, represents Sigmund Freud.

Slikisteinsauga: Sleekstone Eyes; a sleekstone is a stone used to polish something else. This is an angelic guide.

Southerners: “boneless soulds whose doors stand open day and night to almost every visitant, but always with readiest welcome for those, whether Maenad or Mystagogue, who offer some sort of intoxication.”

Questions

(stolen from several sources including my own head)

1) Who does John represent? What does Puritania represent?

2) What are the brown girls and why are they brown?

3) What causes John to leave Puritania?

4) Who is the first person John meets upon leaving Puritania? How does he influence John?

5) What substitutes for joy does John accept along his way? What causes him to reject them ultimately?

6) According to Sigismund Enlightenment, what is all human aspiration reduced to?

7) Who defeats the Spirit of the Age? How?

8) What is the Grand Canyon? How can someone get across the canyon?

9) How does the Hermit assist John?

10) What do John and Vertue see about the world as the regress?

11) What do you think of the explanation of why hell exists?

March 10th: Pilgrim's Regress

The book for March is Lewis's The Pilgrim's Regress. It was written in an intense two week period in August 15-29 in 1932 while Lewis was vacationing at his friend Arthur Greeves' home. It was published in 1933 and tells in allegorical form, the story of C.S. Lewis's own conversion to Christianity. Come and join us for an interesting discussion of The Pilgrim's Regress only the second work of Lewis published.

The C.S. Lewis Society of Harrisonburg meets every second Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in the Barnes and Noble. Our discussion leader for March will be Melissa.

The Book Schedule for 2011 is HERE

30th Annual G.K. Chesterton Conference In St. Louis

The 30th Annual G.K. Chesterton Conference will be held August 4-6, 2011, in
St. Louis, Missouri, at the Sheraton Westport Lakeside Chalet.

The theme of the conference is "Poet and Prophet"

A View of Walden Media's Contribution to the Narnia Films

SEE HERE Scroll down about a page to see an interview with Bob Beltz of Walden Media on the Hillsdale College Imprimis website.