Jan 24: Mere Christianity: Book I, Chapters 4-5
It all begins with an idea.
From C. S. Lewis: "The Christian story is precisely the story of one grand miracle, the Christian assertion being that what is beyond all space and time, what is uncreated, eternal, came into nature, into human nature, descended into His own universe, and rose again, bringing nature up with Him. It is precisely one great miracle. If you take that away there is nothing specifically Christian left" ("The Grand Miracle" in GOD IN THE DOCK, p80). (This is also the first Sunday of Advent quote in Joel Heck's Advent Devotional, C. S. Lewis: A Grand Miracle.)
Wishing you a blessed Advent and Christmas! (No meeting in Dec.) ~Margaret and Johnny
On Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025, 4:00-5:30 p.m., we'll continue with Mere Christianity. We will discuss Book I, Chapters 4-5.
BOOK I: Chapter 5, paragraph 4 excerpt:
It is after you have realised that there is a real Moral Law, and a Power behind the law, and that you have broken that law and put yourself with that Power—it is after all this, and not a moment sooner, that Christianity begins to talk.
Mere Christianity includes a preface and four books, each of which has chapters.
Joel Heck's resource page has his Mere Christianity: Uncommon Truth in Common Language ppt available as a download. The ppt is an excellent introduction to the study of Mere Christianity, explaining its title, influence, and characteristics.
Pints With Jack has a Mere Christianity resource page with links to quotation graphics, commentary, podcasts, and videos, including a C. S. Lewis Institute lecture series with Chris Mitchell.
Central Texas C. S. Lewis is a reading group that meets in Austin, Texas.
For meeting details, please send a request through our Contact Form. Thank you.
Nov 24: Mere Christianity: Book I, Chapters 1-3
It all begins with an idea.
On Sunday, Nov. 24, 4:00-5:30 p.m., we'll continue with Mere Christianity. We are taking our time discussing its sections. On Nov. 24, we will discuss Book I, Chapters 1-3.
BOOK I: Chapter 1, paragraph 2 excerpt:
Quarrelling means trying to show that the other man is in the wrong. And there would be no sense in trying to do that unless you and he had some sort of agreement as to what Right and Wrong are; just as there would be no sense in saying that a footballer had committed a foul unless there was some agreement about the rules of football.
Mere Christianity includes a preface and four books, each of which has chapters.
Joel Heck's resource page has his Mere Christianity: Uncommon Truth in Common Language ppt available as a download. The ppt is an excellent introduction to the study of Mere Christianity, explaining its title, influence, and characteristics.
Pints With Jack has a Mere Christianity resource page with links to quotation graphics, commentary, podcasts, and videos, including a C. S. Lewis Institute lecture series with Chris Mitchell.
Central Texas C. S. Lewis is a reading group that meets in Austin, Texas.
For meeting details, please send a request through our Contact Form. Thank you.
Oct 27: Mere Christianity: Preface
It all begins with an idea.
On Sunday, Oct. 27, we will have a progression of topics, as listed here:
1) We'll begin by sharing our responses to Joel Heck's Sept. 24 lecture "The Most Important Concept in the Writings of C. S. Lewis" and his Oct. 8 lecture "Mere Christianity: The Core Beliefs of All Christians and Why It Matters." Having viewed these lectures independently and prior to our meeting, we can share our comments, feedback, and questions with Joel at the Oct. 27 meeting. This discussion will lead us into Mere Christianity, our book for the next few months.
2) Mere Christianity (1952) has sold millions of copies and continues to be one of Lewis's best selling books. On Oct. 27, we will discuss the Preface. Here's an excerpt from the preface: Ever since I became a Christian I have thought that the best, perhaps the only, service I could do for my unbelieving neighbours was to explain and defend the belief that has been common to nearly all Christians at all times.
Mere Christianity includes a preface and four books, each of which has several chapters. At our next meeting, we will discuss the item in boldface:
Preface
BOOK I: RIGHT AND WRONG AS A CLUE TO THE MEANING OF THE UNIVERSE
1. The Law of Human Nature
2. Some Objections
3. The Reality of the Law
4. What Lies Behind the Law
5. We Have Cause to Be Uneasy
BOOK II: WHAT CHRISTIANS BELIEVE
1. The Rival Conceptions of God
2. The Invasion
3. The Shocking Alternative
4. The Perfect Penitent
5. The Practical Conclusion
BOOK III: CHRISTIAN BEHAVIOUR
1. The Three Parts of Morality
2. The "Cardinal Virtues"
3. Social Morality
4. Morality and Psychoanalysis
5. Sexual Morality
6. Christian Marriage
7. Forgiveness
8. The Great Sin
9. Charity
10. Hope
11. Faith
12. Faith
BOOK IV: BEYOND PERSONALITY: OR FIRST STEPS IN THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY
1. Making and Begetting
2. The Three-Personal God
3. Time and Beyond Time
4. Good Infection
5. The Obstinate Toy Soldiers
6. Two Notes
7. Let's Pretend
8. Is Christianity Hard or Easy?
9. Counting the Cost
10. Nice People or New Men
11. The New Men
Joel Heck's resource page has his Mere Christianity: Uncommon Truth in Common Language ppt available as a download. The ppt is an excellent introduction to the study of Mere Christianity, explaining its title, influence, and characteristics.
Pints With Jack has a Mere Christianity resource page with links to quotation graphics, commentary, podcasts, and videos, including a C. S. Lewis Institute lecture series with Chris Mitchell.
Central Texas C. S. Lewis is a reading group that meets in Austin, Texas.
For meeting details, please send a request through our Contact Form. Thank you.
Sept 22: The Problem of Pain: Chapters 8-10
It all begins with an idea.
On Sunday, September 22, we'll continue our discussion of The Problem of Pain with Chapters 8-10: "Hell," "Animal Pain," and "Heaven," along with the appendix. Joel Heck will guide us through the chapters by presenting selected sentences from each chapter via a PowerPoint. This worked very well at our last two meetings. Thank you very much, Joel, for your help with one of Lewis's early and more challenging books.
From Ch 8, "Hell," ¶ 1:
Some will not be redeemed.
From Chapter 8, "Hell," ¶ 3:
And here is the real problem: so much mercy, yet still there is hell.
From Chapter 8, "Hell," ¶ 5:
Pain plants the flag of truth within a rebel fortress.
The Problem of Pain has ten chapters. We will discuss the chapter(s) in boldface:
Preface
Ch 1: Introductory
Ch 2: Divine Omnipotence
Ch 3: Divine Goodness
Ch 4: Human Wickedness
Ch 5: The Fall of Man
Ch 6: Human Pain
Ch 7: Human Pain, continued
Ch 8: Hell
Ch 9: Animal Pain
Ch 10: Heaven
Appendix
Michael Ward explains the question addressed by The Problem of Pain and the book's main thesis in this 4-minute Hillsdale College video.
Arend Smilde provides his notes on quotations and allusions in The Problem of Pain on his Lewisiana.nl site.
Central Texas C. S. Lewis is a reading group that meets in Austin, Texas.
For meeting details, please send a request through our Contact Form. Thank you.
August 25: The Problem of Pain: Chapter 5-7
It all begins with an idea.
On Sunday, August 25, we'll continue our discussion of The Problem of Pain with Chapters 5-7: "The Fall of Man," "Human Pain," and "Human Pain, continued." Joel Heck will guide us through the chapters by presenting selected sentences from each chapter via a PowerPoint. This worked very well at our last meeting. Thank you very much, Joel, for your help with one of Lewis's early and more challenging books.
From Ch 5, "The Fall of Man," ¶ 8:
They wanted, as we say, to "call their souls their own." But that means to live a lie, for our souls are not, in fact, our own. They wanted some corner in the universe of which they could say to God, "This is our business, not yours." But there is no such corner.
From Chapter 5, "The Fall of Man," ¶ 14:
The thesis of this chapter is simply that man, as a species, spoiled himself, and that good, to us in our present state, must therefore mean primarily remedial or corrective good. What part pain actually plays in such remedy or correction, is now to be considered.
Michael Ward explains the question addressed by The Problem of Pain and the book's main thesis in this 4-minute Hillsdale College video.
Arend Smilde provides his notes on quotations and allusions in The Problem of Pain on his Lewisiana.nl site.
Central Texas C. S. Lewis is a reading group that meets in Austin, Texas.
For meeting details, please send a request through our Contact Form. Thank you.
July 28: The Problem of Pain: Chapter 3-4
It all begins with an idea.
On Sunday, July 28, we'll continue our discussion of The Problem of Pain. We will discuss Chapters 3-4: "Divine Goodness" and "Human Wickedness." We are taking it slowly with this book so that we can deepen our understanding of Lewis's view of the intellectual problem raised by suffering.
From Ch 3, "Divine Goodness," ¶ 4:
When the relevant difference between the Divine ethics and your own appears to you, you will not, in fact, be in any doubt that the change demanded of you is in the direction you already call "better." The Divine "goodness" differs from ours, but it is not sheerly different: it differs from ours not as white from black, but as a perfect circle from a child's first attempt to draw a wheel. But when the child has learned to draw, it will know that the circle it then makes is what it was trying to make from the very beginning.
From Ch 3, "Divine Goodness," ¶ 8:
If God is Love, He is, by definition, something more than mere kindness.
Word Study from Ch 3, ¶ 14:
The Impassible speaks as if it suffered passion . . .
impassible: incapable of suffering or experiencing pain
Michael Ward explains the question addressed by The Problem of Pain and the book's main thesis in this 4-minute Hillsdale College video.
Arend Smilde provides his notes on quotations and allusions in The Problem of Pain on his Lewisiana.nl site.
The Problem of Pain has ten chapters. We will discuss the chapter(s) in boldface:
Preface
Ch 1: Introductory
Ch 2: Divine Omnipotence
Ch 3: Divine Goodness
Ch 4: Human Wickedness
Ch 5: The Fall of Man
Ch 6: Human Pain
Ch 7: Human Pain, continued
Ch 8: Hell
Ch 9: Animal Pain
Ch 10: Heaven
Appendix
Central Texas C. S. Lewis is a reading group that meets in Austin, Texas.
For meeting details, please send a request through our Contact Form. Thank you.
June 23: The Problem of Pain: Chapter 2
It all begins with an idea.
On Sunday, June 23, we'll continue our discussion of The Problem of Pain. We will discuss Chapter 2: "Divine Omnipotence." We will likely stay with this Lewis book for a few months. The Problem of Pain was published in 1940, after Out of the Silent Planet and before The Screwtape Letters (see https://joelheck.com/chronologically-lewis/ ).
Michael Ward explains the question addressed by The Problem of Pain and the book's main thesis in this 4-minute Hillsdale College video.
Arend Smilde provides his notes on quotations and allusions in The Problem of Pain on his Lewisiana.nl site.
The Problem of Pain has ten chapters:
Preface
Ch 1: Introductory
Ch 2: Divine Omnipotence
Ch 3: Divine Goodness
Ch 4: Human Wickedness
Ch 5: The Fall of Man
Ch 6: Human Pain
Ch 7: Human Pain, continued
Ch 8: Hell
Ch 9: Animal Pain
Ch 10: Heaven
Appendix
Central Texas C. S. Lewis is a reading group that meets in Austin, Texas.
For meeting details, please send a request through our Contact Form. Thank you.
May 26: The Problem of Pain
It all begins with an idea.
On Sunday, May 26, we'll begin a discussion of The Problem of Pain. We will discuss the preface and Chapter 1: "Introductory." We will likely stay with this book for a few months. The Problem of Pain was published in 1940, after Out of the Silent Planet and before The Screwtape Letters (see https://joelheck.com/chronologically-lewis/ ).
Michael Ward explains the question addressed by The Problem of Pain and the book's main thesis in this 4-minute Hillsdale College video.
Arend Smilde provides his notes on quotations and allusions in The Problem of Pain on his Lewisiana.nl site.
The Problem of Pain has ten chapters:
Preface
Ch 1: Introductory
Ch 2: Divine Omnipotence
Ch 3: Divine Goodness
Ch 4: Human Wickedness
Ch 5: The Fall of Man
Ch 6: Human Pain
Ch 7: Human Pain, continued
Ch 8: Hell
Ch 9: Animal Pain
Ch 10: Heaven
Appendix
Central Texas C. S. Lewis is a reading group that meets in Austin, Texas.
For meeting details, please send a request through our Contact Form. Thank you.
April 13 Understanding C. S. Lewis | April 28 Regular Meeting
It all begins with an idea.
April 13, 2024: Our public Silver Anniversary event for the Austin community will be held at Redeemer Church, Austin, on Saturday, April 13. More information here.
April 28, 2024: Our regular meeting will be a discussion of the events and ideas from the April 13 gathering. Concepts we may discuss include Psalm 19, Longing, Natural Law, Objective Value, Communication, Prayer, Beauty, Art.
Central Texas C. S. Lewis is a reading group that meets in Austin, Texas.
For meeting details, please send a request through our Contact Form. Thank you.
March 2024: Our 25 Years with C. S. Lewis
It all begins with an idea.
In March 2024, we'll discuss Lewis quotes, books, and memories from our 25 years together as a reading group. Whether you have been with us since the founding in 1999 or you joined us this week, you are invited to share with us something about your life with C. S. Lewis. Our public Silver Anniversary event for the Austin community will be held at Redeemer Church, Austin, on Saturday, April 13.
So in March, we’ll discuss topics such as:
a short reading from a Lewis work
a Lewis book particularly meaningful to you
a question that Lewis is helping you with
memories from our time reading Lewis together
Central Texas C. S. Lewis is a reading group that meets in Austin, Texas.
To request meeting details, please use our Contact Form. Thank you.
Feb 2024: Is Progress Possible?
It all begins with an idea.
In February 2024, we will discuss Lewis’s essay “Is Progress Possible?” from the book God in the Dock. The essay originally appeared in The Observer (20 July 1958).
Here is an excerpt from the first paragraph:
“I care far more how humanity lives than how long. Progress, for me, means increasing goodness and happiness of individual lives. For the species, as for each man, mere longevity seems to me a contemptible ideal.”
Central Texas C. S. Lewis is a reading group that meets in Austin, Texas.
To request meeting details, please use our Contact Form. Thank you.
Jan 2024: Meditation in a Toolshed
It all begins with an idea.
In January 2024, we will discuss “Meditation in a Toolshed” by C. S. Lewis. The image above is a screenshot from the YouTube channel Knowing and Understanding C. S. Lewis which offers a Read Along of “Meditation in a Toolshed,” which means that you can listen to the text being read as you yourself are reading it on the screen. We thank William OFlaherty for the video.
“Meditation in a Toolshed” is available in print as one of the essays in the book God in the Dock.
An audio-only version is available on YouTube on the C. S. Lewis essays channel. Even if you don’t press play, you can view a lovely, imaginative graphic of Lewis with his pipe smoke : )
Peter Kreeft calls “Meditation in a Toolshed” the underlying epistemology of all of Lewis’s writing (“The Achievement of C. S. Lewis,” 1998).
Central Texas C. S. Lewis is a reading group that meets in Austin, Texas.
To request meeting details, please use our Contact Form. Thank you.
Dec 2023: No meeting
It all begins with an idea.
Our reading group doesn’t meet in December. Our next meeting will be in January 2024.
Meanwhile, for Advent the C. S. Lewis Institute is offering a digital Advent Calendar. Here’s a description from the C. S. Lewis Institute website:
We invite you to join us this Advent season as we draw upon the music and biblical lyrics of Handel’s Messiah to help us prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Each daily devotion will include a biblical text drawn directly from Messiah, a meditation written by one of our gifted CSLI authors, classical artwork for reflection, and music of Messiah performed by The Falls Church Anglican Choir under the musical direction of Simon Dixon, all of which can be experienced on our Website. You can also subscribe for daily devotionals with the music delivered to your inbox.
Central Texas C. S. Lewis is a reading group that meets in Austin, Texas.
To request meeting details, please use our Contact Form. Thank you.
Nov 2023: Letters to Malcolm: 17-22
It all begins with an idea.
In November 2023, we continue our discussion of Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer. Our focus will be Letters 17-22. Here’s a excerpt from Letter 17, paragraph 13:
We—or at least I—shall not be able to adore God on the highest occasions if we have learned no habit of doing so on the lowest. At best our faith and reason will tell us that He is adorable, but we shall not have found Him so, not have “tasted and seen.” Any patch of sunlight in a wood will show you something about the sun which you could never get from reading books on astronomy. These pure and spontaneous pleasures are “patches of Godlight” in the woods of our experience.
Arend Smilde's Lewisiana site has helpful notes for quotations and allusions in Letters to Malcolm.
Central Texas C. S. Lewis is a reading group that meets in Austin, Texas.
To request meeting details, please use our Contact Form. Thank you.
Oct 2023: Letters to Malcolm: 11-16
It all begins with an idea.
In October 2023, we continue our discussion of Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer. Our focus will be Letters 11-16.
Arend Smilde's Lewisiana site has helpful notes for quotations and allusions in Letters to Malcolm.
Central Texas C. S. Lewis is a reading group that meets in Austin, Texas.
To request meeting details, please use our Contact Form. Thank you.
Sept 2023: Letters to Malcolm: 6-10
It all begins with an idea.
In September 2023, we continue our discussion of Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer. Our focus will be Letters 6-10. Here are passages we might discuss:
Letter 6: “This department of life, labelled “sacred,” can become an end in itself'; an idol that hides both God and my neighbours” (p30).
Letter 7: Petitionary prayer is “recommended to us both by precept and example. Our Lord in Gethsemane made a petitionary prayer (and did not get what he asked for)” (p35).
Arend Smilde's Lewisiana site has helpful notes for quotations and allusions in Letters to Malcolm.
Central Texas C. S. Lewis is a reading group that meets in Austin, Texas.
To request meeting details, please use our Contact Form. Thank you.
Aug 2023: Letters to Malcolm: 1-5
It all begins with an idea.
In August 2023 we will discuss Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer. We will focus on the first five letters. Here's a description from The C. S. Lewis Readers' Encyclopedia, entry by Peter Schakel:
This is the last book Lewis wrote; written in April and May of 1963, it was published in 1964, several months after his death. He began a book on prayer in 1952 and worked at it in 1953, but he gave it up early in 1954. A decade later he thought of constructing the book as a series of letters to an imaginary correspondent. Once he found the right form, the book came easily and successfully—indeed many readers regard it as the best of his theological works.
The C. S. Lewis Foundation has a study guide to Letters to Malcolm.
Arend Smilde's Lewisiana site has notes for quotations and allusions in Letters to Malcolm.
Central Texas C. S. Lewis is a reading group that meets in Austin, Texas.
To request meeting details, please use our Contact Form. Thank you.