August 8th We Will Be Discussing Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility

Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility will be our book for the August 8th meeting and Cristabel will be our discussion leader.  The choice of a work by Jane Austen was doubly motivated by C.S. Lewis's admiration for Austen as an author and by his sense that she and her contemporary Sir Walter Scott stood on one side of what he called The Great Divide and we and our generation stood on the other and were guilty of chronological snobbery.  Reading Austen puts one in touch with a world of manners and high mindedness which we have largely lost.  Come out and discuss this work with us on August 8th at the Harrisonburg Barnes and Noble where we meet from 7:30 p.m. to about 9:00 p.m.

Schedule for the Remainder Of The Year

August 8th Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility led by Cristabel
September 12th The Magician's Twin a group of essays edited by John West and our discussion leader will be Peggy (We'll also agree on the selection of essays to read from God In The Dock)
October 10th Selected Essays from God In The Dock by C.S. Lewis led by Melissa
November 8th The Literary Impact of the Authorized Version an essay by C.S. Lewis (17 pages) led by Iain 
December 12th or thereabouts The Annual C.S. Lewis Society Christmas Party where we bring a snack to share and discuss the plans for the coming year 

Discussion Questions For Our July 11th Meeting

Saving the Appearances: A Study in Idolatry by Owen Barfield

     

Owen Barfield had many influences on his thought. He was a very original thinker.  Indeed, he influenced C.S. Lewis more than Lewis influenced him.  Among the major influences on Barfield were Samuel Coleridge, Rudolf Steiner, and

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.  Barfield wrote a book on Coleridge "What Coleridge Thought" and he like Lewis was a poet.  He was influenced by Steiner who was an expert on Goethe and became a lifelong anthroposophist.  Steiner adopted a view pioneered by Goethe that thinking was a process like seeing or hearing only the object was ideas.  Barfield's own thought was original and extended the views of Goethe and Steiner.  He was born the same year as C.S. Lewis (1898) and only died in 1997.  Barfield's reputation has only increased since his death.  While not as prolific as Lewis his books, like Lewis's are still in print.

1. According to Barfield, Idolatry is the valuing of images or representation in the wrong way and for the wrong reason.  An idol is an image so valued. (p.110). Does current science indeed fall into this category? Why do you think it does or does not?
2. I have personally read articles and letters to the editor in science magazines where science writers reflect anger and frustration and accuse people of deteriorating into superstition when people question if science has the full answer. I  have read articles that mock and ridicule those use a concept of a First Mover, Higher Power or something like that,  as having a hand in the universe.  Would Barfield consider this a natural result when the role/value of science is distorted?
3. Are materialism and science two sides of the same coin?
4. Barfield refers to the animism (natural physical entities have a spiritual essence) of very early man.  This animism is reflected in in such things as the Australian aborigines Dream Time and the emphasis of the power of words as magic.  Many fantasy writings (The Earth Sea Trilogy and The Belgariad, for example) incorporate these concepts as a basic part of the story.  Is this a return to Original Participation or another evolutionary step to “Final Participation”?  Or is it a reaction to the emptiness of the scientific idol?  Or is it the expression of that “something” deep within ourselves?
5. Can you find any of Barfield’s thought in Lewis’ writing?
6. In chapter 8 (p 53) Barfield invites us to “Consider the relation of scientific knowledge and truth”.  Further on (p 56)  he mentions Bacon and his view of scientific knowledge as “that which enables nature to do our bidding”.   What are the fruits of this kind of attitude?  Is this approach the one that has lead to science as politics and the great increase of scientific fraud?
7. How would you say the medieval environment was different from ours?  How are the fruits of that environment and ours different?
8. On Page 111 “Idolatry is the valuing of images or representations in the wrong way or for the wrong reason…transmuting the admired image into a desired object.” If you did a street-corner survey, what do you think would be the average definition of the word “idol” or “false idol”? Do people believe there is such a thing anymore?
9.Does anyone  in the group speak Hebrew or know anything about the language and can give us insight/enlightenment on Barfields’ comments on the form of the language itself?
10. Thinking about his chapter on the origin of language, do you see any relationship between the abundance of slang, empty words, filler words etc and all the movies etc, that are remakes of older movies.
11. Did you find the last two chapters surprising? If you read just the first few chapters, would you have expected the book to end as it did? Did it work?
12. I valued this book because though I know I need to read it a dozen more times to feel that I really understand it, I also know that it has changed the way I look at the world.  Has this book influenced you at all?
13. You know how children always like to have the same stories retold and it has to be done in the same way?  Is this an element of Original Participation?  The connectedness to the stories?  Just as human development in the womb calls forth a connection to biological development, do the stages of growing up (awareness of self then others)connect to the evolution of consciousness?

"Saving The Appearances" by Owen Barfield Is Our Book For July

Owen Barfield was C.S. Lewis's friend of the second kind.  He was also C.S. Lewis's soliciter and handled his financial affairs.  Lewis describes a friend of the second kind in his autobiography, "Surprised by Joy" as:

"... the Second Friend is the man who disagrees with you about everything.  He is not so much the alter ego as the antiself.  Of course he shares your interests; otherwise he would not become your friend at all.  But he has approached them all at a different angle.  He has read all the right books but has got the wrong thing out of every one.  It is as if he spoke your language but mispronounced it.  How can he be so nearly right and yet, invariably, just not right? ..."

That was the relationship that Jack Lewis had with Owen Barfield.  They went at each other hammer and tongs in what Lewis, at least, characterized as The Great War.  Lewis came out of it cleansed of his chronological snobbery while Barfield emerged largely unscathed.  We'll be exploring Barfield this month and on July 11th Elizabeth will be our discussion leader on Barfield's Saving the Appearances.

July 11th Owen Barfield's Saving the Appearances led by Elizabeth
August 8th Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility led by Cristabel
September 12th The Magician's Twin a group of essays edited by John West and our discussion leader will be Peggy (We'll also agree on the selection of essays to read from God In The Dock)
October 10th Selected Essays from God In The Dock by C.S. Lewis led by Melissa
November 8th The Literary Impact of the Authorized Version an essay by C.S. Lewis (17 pages) led by Iain 
December 12th or thereabouts The Annual C.S. Lewis Society Christmas Party where we bring a snack to share and discuss the plans for the coming year 

Discussion Questions For Our June 13th Meeting

The Inklings  
       C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, And Their Friends by Humphrey Carpenter

Discussion Questions: (June 13th meeting Ray as discussion leader)

1) What is this all about anyway?  How would you summarize what Carpenter is trying to accomplish with the book?  Do you think he succeeded?  Why? or Why Not?
2) What is it like ... comparables? How does this book compare with other biographical books about C.S. Lewis and his friends that you may be familiar with.
3) What are the fundamental common threads that joined the company, the Inklings, and how did they change over time?  What were the factors that drew them together and what were the factors that tended to drive them apart?
4) Share something you strongly agree with or strongly disagree with that is in the book.
5) Lewis and Tolkien shared a common sense of myth that was not widely shared outside their group.  What is your view of myth and Mythopoeia?
6) Carpenter goes looking for a 'A fox that isn't there' is Part Three (153).  What did you think of his search?  Do you agree or disagree?
7) Carpenter seems to be very critical of Lewis, especially towards the end of the book.  Comment on your perceptions of his criticisms.
8) What did you make of the treatment of Charles Williams in the book?  Was Williams an attractive or unattractive individual based on your perspective?
9) Is the treatment of the Inklings as an instance of an Inner Ring fair or unfair to the Inklings?
10) What do you carry away after reading it?

Schedule:

July 11th Owen Barfield's Saving the Appearances led by Elizabeth
August 8th Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility led by Cristabel
September 12th The Magician's Twin a group of essays edited by John West and our discussion leader will be Peggy (We'll also agree on the selection of essays to read from God In The Dock)
October 10th Selected Essays from God In The Dock by C.S. Lewis led by Melissa
November 8th The Literary Impact of the Authorized Version an essay by C.S. Lewis (17 pages) led by Iain (http://www.biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/kjv_lewis.pdf )
December 12th or thereabouts The Annual C.S. Lewis Society Christmas Party where we bring a snack to share and discuss the plans for the coming year

The website for the C.S. Lewis Society of Harrisonburg can be found at:

http://cslewissocietyhburg.blogspot.com/

Our June 13th Meeting Will Be On The Inklings

The Inklings by Humphrey Carpenter is our book for the June 13th meeting.  The book is only available from third party sellers but rather economically SEE HERE  Ray will be our discussion leader.

The books for the remainder of the year are:

June 13th Humphrey Carpenter's The Inklings led by Ray
July 11th Owen Barfield's Saving the Appearances led by Elizabeth
August 8th Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility led by Cristabel
September 12th The Magician's Twin a group of essays edited by John West and our discussion leader will be Peggy (We'll also agree on the selection of essays to read from God In The Dock)
October 10th Selected Essays from God In The Dock by C.S. Lewis led by Melissa
November 8th The Literary Impact of the Authorized Version an essay by C.S. Lewis (17 pages) led by Iain 
December 12th or thereabouts The Annual C.S. Lewis Society Christmas Party where we bring a snack to share and discuss the plans for the coming year

May 9th We Will Be Doing Letters to a Diminished Church by Dorothy Sayers

On May 9th Cristabel will be our discussion leader on Dorothy Sayers work, Letters to a Diminished Church, subtitled Passionate Arguments for the Relevance of Christian Doctrine.
  

Schedule for the Remainder of the Year

May 9th Dorothy Sayers Letters to a Diminished Church led by Cristabel
June 13th Humphrey Carpenter's The Inklings led by Ray
July 11th Owen Barfield's Saving the Appearances led by Elizabeth
August 8th Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility led by Cristabel
September 12th The Magician's Twin a group of essays edited by John West and our discussion leader will be Peggy
October 10th Selected Essays from God In The Dock by C.S. Lewis led by Melissa
November 8th The Literary Impact of the Authorized Version an essay by C.S. Lewis (17 pages) led by Iain 
December 12th or thereabouts The Annual C.S. Lewis Society Christmas Party where we bring a snack to share and discuss the plans for the coming year

Sir Gibbie Questions from Jane

Sir Gibbie Questions

We will be meeting this Thursday April 11th at Barnes and Noble in Harrisonburg at 7:30 p.m. to discuss George Macdonald's book "Sir Gibbie" with Jane as our discussion leader.

A few questions to get you thinking:

1) How important is Gibbie's muteness?

2) What was your favorite part of Sir Gibbie?

3) What character did you like, or related to, the most? Why?

4) Which character did you dislike, or find the most heinous? Why?

5) What ideas, themes or characters do you see in Sir Gibbie that bear resemblance to the ideas, themes or characters in Lewis’ works?

6) (Chapter 5.) What do you make of Gibbie’s heaven and paradise with his drunken father? How does Gibbie’s father relate to the Heavenly Father

7) Is it surprising that Sir George knows Gibbie better than anyone else?

8) How much is Mistress Croale responsible for Gibbie? Sir George?

9) What is it about Sambo's murder that causes Gibbie's loss of innocence and ensuing jourmey?

Some quotes I liked:

(19.) Belief and unbelief are not always quite plainly distinguishable from each other, and Fear is not always certain which of them is his mother.

MacDonald, George (2012-05-12). Sir Gibbie (p. 96). . Kindle Edition.

21.) On the other hand, Donal had in return done more for Gibbie than he knew, though what he had done for him, namely, shared his dinners with him, had been less of a gift than he thought, and Donal had rather been sharing in Gibbie's dinner, than Gibbie in Donal's.

MacDonald, George (2012-05-12). Sir Gibbie (p. 106). . Kindle Edition.

(22.) The word of Christ is spirit and life, and where the heart is aglow, the tongue will follow that spirit and life fearlessly, and will not err.

MacDonald, George (2012-05-12). Sir Gibbie (p. 114). . Kindle Edition.

(23.) It is the heart that is not yet sure of its God, that is afraid to laugh in his presence.

MacDonald, George (2012-05-12). Sir Gibbie (p. 119). . Kindle Edition.