Tag Archives: Heaven

The Problem of Pain

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CSL-2013-05-17 The Problem of Pain CoverThis podcast covers one of the important and helpful theological books that C S Lewis wrote, entitled “The Problem of Pain”.  It was written to answer the intellectual problem raised by suffering and pain in world created by a good, all-powerful God.  As Lewis puts it

If God were good, He would make His creatures perfectly happy.  If He were almighty, He would be able to do what he wished. But, obviously, the creatures are not happy.              Therefore God lacks either goodness, or power, or both.

He goes on to say that if the common means of “almighty” and “good” are the best or the only meanings that can be assigned to these words, then the problem is unsolvable.  Therefore, he first addresses the meaning of almighty and how it should be understood and then  the meaning of “good” when applied to God.  Jack (Lewis went by the nickname of Jack) then discusses the nature of a world where persons with free will can make choices and the functions of pain in such a world.  He includes important discussions of the pains of animals and heaven and hell in this book.  As you can tell, it is well worth a read.

The Problem of Pain [ 35:11 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The show notes for this podcast can be found here.    Show Notes

Perelandra

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This podcast covers Perelandra, the second book in the Space Trilogy by C. S. Lewis.  Many reviewers consider this the best of the three books, and some say that it is one of the top three books written by Lewis.

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.

Perelandra [ 28:57 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Out of the Silent Planet

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This podcast is the first is a set of three that will cover the Space Trilogy written by C. S. Lewis, and it covers the book “Out of the Silent Planet”.  This trilogy is from the science fiction genre, a genre that Jack read and enjoyed all of his life.  (He even wrote several science fiction short stories as well as this set of three novels).   The three books are, in order, “Out of the Silent Planet“, “Perelandra“, and “That Hideous Strength“.  They are unified by their view of the universe, their presentation of good and evil, and the main characters.  The first two take place on Mars and Venus while the third takes place on earth.  Many consider “Perelandra” the best of Jack’s fiction, surpassing any of the Chronicles of Narnia.  I myself prefer “That Hideous Strength“, but they are all worth reading.

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.

Out of the Silent Planet [ 34:04 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 

 

Mere Christianity-3: Beyond Personality

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Mere Christianity Book Cover

This is the final podcast in our three-part series on C S Lewis’ Mere Christianity. It covers the last Section of the book, Book IV, which focuses on the Christian doctrine of the Trinity and how it relates to salvation.  Jack  has no problem getting into theology.  While he agrees that the experience of God is our primary goal, he points out that theological doctrines (like the Trinity) can function as maps or guides to this goal.

Salvation can be thought of in two ways.  First, as a change in status whereby we go from being sinners and guilty before God to being forgiven and guilt-free.  Second, as a process whereby our self-centered nature is replaced by God’s nature, that is, we are made fit creatures for Heaven.   Jack emphasizes this second approach in this part of Mere Christianity, although he would most certainly agree that the other approach is also true.  He discusses the nature of a super-personal God, a God that remains one and yet contains three personalities, and how we can actually participate in the life of this God, if we will it.   Lewis also points out that this does really costs us ourselves as we currently are but results in our real selves as God intended us to be.

Jack also adds a helpful chapter on God’s relationship to time.  (Essentially, how we get into difficulties by thinking of God as inside time as we are).  However, we did not have time to cover it in this podcast

Mere Christianity 3: Beyond Personality [ 28:01 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download



The Last Battle – Part Two: Endings and Beginnings

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The Last BattleThis is the second of two podcasts on The Last Battle by C. S. Lewis.  This book is the last in the Chronicles of Narnia and tells of the end of Narnia and the discovery of the real Narnia in Aslan’s country, Heaven.  From a theological point of view we cover the Last Judgment, Salvation, and Heaven as described by Lewis in this book.   The tale contains some of his most beautiful writing as well as some of his best insights about human nature and God.  Ultimately it is a message of renewal and hope.  Nevertheless, we have to concede that it is unflinching in its insistence that all countries except God’s own must come to an end someday, and that everyone must undergo the experience of death.

The show looks at the forebodings of the end, the examples of treachery and betrayal in the tale, how beings are chosen to enter Heaven, and  the salvation of a noble, God-seeking heathen who does not know Aslan.

The Last Battle - Part Two [ 29:49 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download


The Last Battle – Part One

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The Last Battle This is the first of a two-part series covering the final book in the Chronicles of Narnia, The Last Battle.

In this book Lewis brings the story of Narnia to a fitting end.  It is both a story of treachery, bravery, and battle, and a book that deals with the themes of good, evil, the meaning of language, and the final judgment and afterlife.  Lewis answers the questions of what a Narnian heaven will be like and how Narnians and persons from our world enter that  heaven.

All of the main characters from the previous books appear, except for one person.  We also meet the last King of Narnia, a talking Ape, a talking Donkey and a band of renegade dwarfs.

This podcast focuses on the relationship between Good and God as well as looking at four different paths that lead to evil

The Last Battle - Part One [ 36:14 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download


The Great Divorce

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Welcome

The Great Divorce Book Cover

 

 

Have you ever wondered about questions like these?

– Is there a real Heaven and a real Hell?

– If so, what are they like?

– If they exist why would a loving God send people to Hell?

If so, then this podcast will be especially interesting to you.

Today’s show covers The Great Divorce by C. S. Lewis.  This is a relatively small book and can be read in 3 or 4 hours, but is well worth your time.

It deals with the ideas of Heaven and Hell and why people end up in Hell.  It does this through a fictional story of a bus ride from Hell to Heaven.  According to this book, anyone in Hell can take this bus ride to Heaven any time they want.  Once in Heaven, they can stay there IF they will give up what put them in Hell in the first place.

Heaven is a more more substantial, much more “real” place then Hell, and the people from Hell appear as shadows or ghosts.  They are met by Angels who try to persuade them to stay in Heaven, and most of the book consists of a record of the conversations that occur between individual ghosts and the Angels that meet them.

This podcast looks at three of the conversations, the ones that deal with lust, mother love, and intellectual pride, and explains how these can keep someone in Hell.

I hope you enjoy the show.

The Great Divorce [ 38:14 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

Your comments, questions and suggestions are always welcome.