http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2012/04/27/3490608.htm

And I quote from the article……

Finding planets outside our solar system that can sustain life should be made a top priority, say Australian astronomers.

Understanding habitability and using that knowledge to locate the nearest habitable planet may be crucial for our survival as a species, writes Dr Charley Lineweaver and PhD student Aditya Chopra of the Australian National University in the Annual Reviews of Earth and Planetary Sciences.

I wonder if these good folk have read Out of the Silent Planet, and what they would say in response to Jack’s description of their philosophy.

It continues the story that began in Out of the Silent Planet.  The protagonist is the same, Elwin Ransom, a professor of philology, and one of the same villains (Weston, the physicist) reappears.  However, the story takes place on Venus (called Perelandra in this novel) not Mars.  In this story as told by Lewis Perelandra is a paradise, an unfallen world that knows no evil.  Essentially the story is a re-telling of what happened in the first chapters of Genesis in the Garden of Eden.  Lewis begins by describing the paradise that exists and then tells how evil tries to corrupt this new world.  The story is a fascinating study of how free will and temptation work.

Let’s sketch the plot.  Ransom is brought to Perelandra by a mighty spirit, and arch-angel, that he met on Mars but is not told what he is expected to do there.  Ransom soon meets the Eve of that world, who is named Tinidril and is also called The Green Lady.  She walks completely with God and has free will, although she does not know it.  She begins to learn from Ransom, but shortly after they meet Weston arrives on the scene.  He begins to tempt her to prove that she has free will by disobeying God.  Ransom realizes what is going on and tries to counter Weston’s arguments.  Ultimately he realizes that he must prevent the temptations from continuing by physically attacking Weston so that Tinidril has some time and space to reflect and respond to the choice being offered her.  He does so, and kills Weston after a long hand-to-hand battle.  During the battle Tinidril decides to continue her walk with God, and Perelandra is saved from evil.  Tinidril meets the Adam of that world and together they assume their reign over the planet.  Ransom is then brought back to earth by the same arch-angel who carried him to Perelandra.

The book is worth reading to gain a new appreciation of what Heaven might be like, what humanity lost in the Fall in the Garden of Eden, and how a being with free will (like us) can be tempted to evil.

The plot is of Out of the Silent Planet is fairly complex.  It tells how two evil men kidnap a third man and travel to Mars to hand the third man over as a victim to one of the three races there, the Sorns.  The hero, named Ransom, escapes from them on Mars and encounters one of the other races, the Hrossa.  He is a specialist in language development and finds that the Hrossa are friendly and can speak.  He accompanies the strange creature to its village, where he stays for several months and learns their language and culture.  Ransom finds that all the 3 races on Mars are ruled by a spiritual being called the Oyarsa, and Ransom is summoned to meet this ruler, who can be thought of as an archangel.  He delays responding, and as a result, Hyoi, the Hross who found him, is shot and killed by Weston.  Ransom then goes to the Oyarsa and they have a long discussion about Mars and Earth.  The Oyarsa has the Hrossa capture the two villains and bring them to him so that he can speak with them also.  He finds that they are completely evil and compels them to take their ship and return to Earth, never to come back to Mars.  Ransom reluctantly goes with them.  When the spaceship lands,  the villains and Ransom abandon it, for it disintegrates as Oyarsa has promised.

Lewis seems to want to make three points in his story.  First, that the universe is not empty but full of life, light and spiritual beings.  Second, that three utterly different races can live together in harmony.  Finally, Lewis uses this story to repudiate the idea that humanity has the right to travel to other planets and colonize them, displacing the planet’s inhabitants if they are at a lower stage of cultural development.

In Jack’s vision of Hell, the devils can feed upon the outraged personalities of the souls that are sent there.  Screwtape’s theme is that modern society is now turning out souls that are, for the most part, failed humans.  They are hardly fit to be dammed to Hell.  While this may be disappointing to the devils from a gastronomical view, overall it is a good thing for Hell, and Screwtape goes on to explain why it is good and how this feat was accomplished.

This essay is really an attack on modern education and mass culture.  It is a companion piece to “The Abolition of Man”, and “That Hideous Strength”, both written by Lewis.

In this podcast we take a look at three of the major subjects that Lewis covers, temptation, church, and prayer.  More show notes for this podcast can be found by clicking here.

This book was written during WW II.  There are 31 letters in all,  and they were originally published one a week in an Anglican magazine.  They were so popular that they were re-published as a book in 1942, and have remained popular ever since.  The letters are short, direct, and written in the same informal style as “Mere Christianity” .  Jack covers the man’s conversion, the temptations that Wormwood uses,  why Hell wants humans, the devil’s view of war and suffering, and the man’s falling in love (among other things).  No matter how often you re-read the letters, you’ll learn something new.

Currently there is a play based on “The Screwtape Letters” touring the country after a successfu l off-Broadway run.  It’s a one-an play, basically, starring Max MacClean, and has r eceived excellent reviews wherever it has run.  You can find out more informati on by following the link below.

http://www.screwtapeonstage.com

Here’s the link to this show’s podcast.

Link To More Show Notes

This podcast covers one of C S Lewis’ most import books, “Miracles“.

His book is sub-titled “A Preliminary Study” and is intended to help the reader objectively evaluate whether or not miracles, especially those recorded in the Bible, did or did not occur.  It covers some of the same issues and makes some of the same arguments as found in “Mere Christianity” but this book is a more academic and philosophical work both in tone and approach.

Lewis points out that we must settle some basic philosophical questions about miracles in general before we review the evidence for any particular miracle.  If we don’t we will always conclude that the miracle did not happen, for that will be our belief going into the review.

Therefore, most of the book answers the three most common objections to miracles.

1. They are impossible
2. They are improbable
3. They are improper for a divine Being

Having addressed these questions in detail, Lewis then looks at some of the miracles recorded in the New Testament as to what we can learn from them about our world and about God’s nature.

This podcast is intended as an introduction to the book, not as a thorough study and  I hope it leads you to read “Miracles” for yourself.  This book has been an important element in my faith journey and perhaps it will also assist you.

If you are aware of how the tapes were located and produced, I would appreciate knowing about that.

C S Lewis BBC Broadcast

In this podcast we look at The Narnia Code, a very interesting book and companion DVD that describes the overall plan or logic that C. S. Lewis may have used when he wrote “The Chronicles of Narnia“.  I used the word “may” because not all Lewis scholars are in agreement with the findings of this book.  However, it’s theory seems to solve at least two literary problems in the Chronicles and has considerable evidence to back it up.  In addition, studying the book and applying its principles to the stories in the Chronicles will significantly increase your enjoyment and understanding of the depth of Jack’s work.

Briefly stated, Michael Ward, the author of The Narnia Code (and also the larger volume Planet Narnia) believes that he has found the plan to Chronicles, a plan that was deliberately hidden by Jack as a prank or practical joke.  Lewis was a medieval scholar for all of his life, and he knew and appreciated the medieval view of the cosmos.  In this view, there are seven heavenly bodies that circle around the earth, and each body has certain characteristics or spirits that influence life on earth.  Each of the books in the Chronicles were written to illustrate the influences or spirits of one of the medieval heavenly bodies.  They are as follows:

1. Jupiter, the King of the planets – The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
2. Mars, the bringer of war – Prince Caspian
3. The Sun, the source of light – The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
4. Venus – The Magician’s Nephew
5. Mercury, the messenger – The Horse and His Boy
6. The Moon – The Silver Chair
7. Saturn – The Last Battle

More information can be found at the Narnia Code website

The Narnia Code

and final podcast on the book The Four Loves by C S Lewis.  Lewis organized his book around the four types of human love, using the Greek words for them.  They are

• Storge – affection
• Philia – Friendship
• Eros – the love of other, which is distinct from sexuality
  
• Agape – Charity,the love of God.

In this podcast we cover the last 3 types, friendship, eros, and the love of God.  Here we must note two things to avoid misunderstandings.  First, Eros does not mean mere sensuality or sexuality, a part of our nature that we share with the animal kingdom.  Eros is the intense, almost jealous love for another person.  Second the love of God can be interpreted in two ways;  the giving love of God which flows to us, and our devotion for God that God’s love calls forth in response.  Lewis discusses both variations and we cover them in the podcast.

Again, as before, Lewis describes each type of love and suggests how they mirror some aspect of the divine love, and how the unaided human love can go wrong.