TTL C.S. Lewis 2012 Mrs. Stephanie Loomis

1. Through the Lens with
C.S. Lewis
December 2012
The Great Divorce

2. Journal
“[The fairy tale] stirs and troubles him (to his life-
long enrichment) with the dim sense of something
beyond his reach and, far from dulling or emptying
the actual world, gives it a new dimension of depth.
He does not despise real woods because he has read
of enchanted woods: The reading makes all real
woods a little enchanted.”
—C. S. Lewis, Of Other Worlds

3.  Thought about the
concept for 14 years  Warnie Lewis wrote in his
before writing diary: „Jack has a new
idea for a religious work,
 Inspired by Jeremy based on the opinion of
Taylor, a 17th century some of the Fathers, that
Anglican who wrote a while punishment for the
sermon called “Christ‟s
Advent to Judgment.” damned is eternal, it is
intermittent: he proposes
 The sermon talked to do sort of an infernal
about the idea that day excursion to Paradise.
souls in hell might get a I shall be very interested
momentary relief if
they so choose through to see how he handles it‟
the abundance of (Brothers and Friends: The Diaries
of Major Warren Hamilton Lewis)
Christ‟s mercies.
Background

4.  “…life is not like a
river but like a tree.
It does not move
towards unity but
away from it…(313)
 “I do not think that
all who choose
wrong roads perish;
but their rescue
consists in being
put back on the
right road.” (313)
Decisions, decisions

5. What are your
observations
about the gray
town and its Oh the injustice
inhabitants?
Where is this
place?
Is there anything
familiar about the
“Tousle-Headed
Poet?

6. The Blame Game
Hellish, isn‟t it?
Insecurity
Real or imaginary?
False Hope
Sounds rather silly

7. “It is the
impossibility of
communicating
that feeling, or
even of inducing
you to remember
it as I proceed,
which make me
despair of
conveying the
real quality of
what I saw and
heard.” (321)
Inexplicable Moments

8.  “But it is all over
now. You will be
pleased about it
presently. Till then
there is no need to
both about it.” (323)
 “You weren‟t a decent
man…none of us
were…” (324)
I don’t understand

9.  “God, for me, is
something purely
spiritual. The spirit of
sweetness and light and
tolerance—and, er,
service, Dick, service.”
(329)
 “We know nothing of
religion here: we think
only of Christ.” (328)
Materialism, Humanism, and other isms.

10. Wanderer,
Waterfall,
Whiners

11. George MacDonald
1824-1905
“…how I love that man!” —Oswald
Chambers
“I have never concealed the fact
that I regarded him as my master;
indeed I fancy I have never written
a book in which I did not quote
from him.” —C.S. Lewis
“The fairy story may be made a
vehicle of Mystery. That at least is
what George MacDonald attempted,
achieving stories of power and
beauty when he succeeded.” —
J.R.R. Tolkien

12. `If they leave that grey town behind it will not
have been Hell. To any that leaves it, it is
purgatory. And perhaps ye had better not call
this country Heaven. Not Deep Heaven, ye
understand… (338)
And that is why, at the end of all things,
when the sun rises here and the twilight
turns to blackness down there, the Blessed
will say, “We have never lived anywhere
except in Heaven,” and the Lost, „We were
always in Hell.” And both will speak truly.
(338)
Hell? Heaven? Purgatory?

13. Roman Catholic Protestant
 Purgatory is for the  There is no
saved. purgatory.
Ye cannot fully understand the relations of
choice and Time till you are beyond both. (339)
The differences between Roman Catholic, Orthodoxy,
and the multitude of Protestant denominations are
not nearly as important as knowing Jesus and
introducing Him to others—in that order.
There have been some who were so occupied in spreading
Christianity they never gave a thought to Christ. (339)

14. Grumbler or Grumble? (340)

15. The Artist(342)
The Relentless Wife
(344)
The Mourning Mother
(347)
The Ghost with the
Lizard (350)
The Dwarf and the
Tragedian (354)
The Lady (354)
Which of the overheard conversations
affected you most?