Grief is not all that special. I don't want to downplay the emotional struggle Lewis went through, as a philosopher, he did just what we expect him to do. Which is dig into his mind over this thing. Frankly, if you have a grief of your own, this isn't really going to make anything easier. It doesn't seem meant to make you feel better. It does have some good insights into what it means to "remember" those who've past, and so on.
And if you have not had a grief, this isn't really going to prepare you for one. Frankly, the book doesn't have much "use" as far as grief is concerned. But what it does is simply give you some interesting thought exercises about what it means to loose someone, and what it does to you, AND them, with some ideas about them. It is an interesting book, but not a requirement of any kind. It is small, read it in one sitting just if you feel like digging into Lewis' mind.
Pain was a nice read, it really delves deep into the ideas behind pain, including animal pain. Talks about what it all might mean, and how it works in the grand scheme of things, and even what it leads us to think about pain in the after-life. I recommend it. It doesn't just sit there and try to justify pain with an "all loving God". He talks about it as if we aught not expect anything else. Get it.
Peace
Monday, June 18, 2007
Saturday, June 9, 2007
Miracles & The Great Divorce
I'll start with The Great Divorce.
I just don't have much to say, it is a parable of sorts, a "dream" of what it might be like to die and what happens after. It is a picture of a type of Heaven and Hell and how they interact, how souls make their choice for either. I actually found the ideas about Hell rather interesting, such as, even though there are billions of people there, and each person secludes themselves from all others so far that he says some people in Hell could never be reached because they are so far away. And yet at the same time, ALL of Hell is so tiny it could fit in a grain of sand on earth. The explaining of this was pretty cool.
I liked it, it's a pretty quick read, keeps your attention, and gives a unique idea of after-life that gets you thinking a bit. It is not meant to be a picture of what the after-life is, but just an interesting little fictional story-telling which Lewis is so good at.
Miracles was really good I think. Unlike Mere, I think this one accomplishes some cool things. The first 4 chapters or so explain in detail, problems with Naturalism, for example. It wasn't what I was expecting. This wasn't just a big apologetic to show miracles can happen. Instead it goes into depth about world-views and presuppositions and so forth. I liked it, though it had a couple strange chapters and some odd comparisons and explanations. On the one hand, you applaud Lewis for trying to teach biblical truths while NOT resting on biblical authority, but on the other hand, you also just want to know what the bible says, and he rarely invokes scripture. I suppose there is a place for that. His philosophy is where he shines, not as any kind of theologian or biblical scholar.
I do recommend reading Miracles, I think it has more good stuff then not, it brought out some real "AHHHH" moments.
Yes, these aren't any kind of in-depth reviews, just my over-all opinion after reading the books, for what it's worth. I do think it's worth reading these too, they are interesting, if anything, but Miracles does have some good stuff to walk away with.
Peace
I just don't have much to say, it is a parable of sorts, a "dream" of what it might be like to die and what happens after. It is a picture of a type of Heaven and Hell and how they interact, how souls make their choice for either. I actually found the ideas about Hell rather interesting, such as, even though there are billions of people there, and each person secludes themselves from all others so far that he says some people in Hell could never be reached because they are so far away. And yet at the same time, ALL of Hell is so tiny it could fit in a grain of sand on earth. The explaining of this was pretty cool.
I liked it, it's a pretty quick read, keeps your attention, and gives a unique idea of after-life that gets you thinking a bit. It is not meant to be a picture of what the after-life is, but just an interesting little fictional story-telling which Lewis is so good at.
Miracles was really good I think. Unlike Mere, I think this one accomplishes some cool things. The first 4 chapters or so explain in detail, problems with Naturalism, for example. It wasn't what I was expecting. This wasn't just a big apologetic to show miracles can happen. Instead it goes into depth about world-views and presuppositions and so forth. I liked it, though it had a couple strange chapters and some odd comparisons and explanations. On the one hand, you applaud Lewis for trying to teach biblical truths while NOT resting on biblical authority, but on the other hand, you also just want to know what the bible says, and he rarely invokes scripture. I suppose there is a place for that. His philosophy is where he shines, not as any kind of theologian or biblical scholar.
I do recommend reading Miracles, I think it has more good stuff then not, it brought out some real "AHHHH" moments.
Yes, these aren't any kind of in-depth reviews, just my over-all opinion after reading the books, for what it's worth. I do think it's worth reading these too, they are interesting, if anything, but Miracles does have some good stuff to walk away with.
Peace
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