Very IMPORTANT!!! Please Read!

The new blog of my sister's and mine HAS BEEN created. It contains all the posts from both of our former blogs. These blogs will soon be DELETED!! Please check it out for Narnia & LOTR awesomeness. ;)

It is Frodo and Lucy's Journey... please tell me if you like it!!!

St. Simon’s C.S. Lewis Event

C.S. Lewis, one of the foremost defenders of the Christian faith and writer of more than 100 books of fiction and non-fiction, will be honored next month at St. Simon's on the Sound Episcopal Church.

St. Simon’s will share an in-depth examination of Lewis’ life and work during two Sunday teaching visits by nationally known C.S. Lewis expert and author, the Rev. Perry Bramlett.

Beginning Nov. 3 during the 9:30 a.m. Education-Formation Hour, Bramlett will teach on why C.S. Lewis was so effective, and continues to be the most trusted and read Christian author, across denominations of Christianity.

A short film, with rare footage of Lewis, will also be shown during class that morning. Time for questions and answers with the Rev. Bramlett will follow 10:30 worship in the parish hall.

An outdoor screening of the movie, “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” will be offered free of charge the following Saturday, Nov. 9, at 6 p.m., on the Santa Rosa Sound side of St. Simon’s. The Rev. Bramlett will be on hand to offer brief remarks and answer questions before and after the movie.

See more: http://www.nwfdailynews.com

NarniaCast Ep. 8

Released is the second and final part of a round-table discussion recorded on October 14, 2013 dealing with the recent announcement that The Silver Chair will be the next Narnia movie. William O’Flaherty had the same individuals from last time share their thoughts about a few additional questions regarding the planned movie in this 30-minute episode. The guests again were Dr. Charlie Starr, Dr. Devin Brown, Dr. Bruce Edwards, Dr. Crystal Hurd and Paul Martin. 

(Click this to go straight to the website).

Or, listen here

 

“Necessity may not be the opposite of freedom, and perhaps a man is most free when, instead of producing motives, he could only say, "I am what I do.”

~C.S. Lewis

Festival Time!

The C.S. Lewis Festival promises to illuminate and enchant the local area and beyond, with a week of song, drama, performance, readings, recitals, talks, tours and family events.

Launched today (Thursday), the inaugural event will run from November 18-23, and marks the 50th anniversary of the death of the renowned author, theologian and academic who is perhaps most famous for writing The Chronicles of Narnia.

Read more: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Things Never Happen the Same Way Twice

Wouldn't you love to find Narnia in your wardrobe? But you can't....

On Forgiveness

"Everyone says forgiveness is a lovely idea until they have something to forgive," wrote author C.S. Lewis.

Think of a time when someone deliberately hurt you badly. Then multiply your pain 100,000 times. You might be able to somehow figure out what God feels, when faced with a world of people who have sinned against him. Ultimately, all sin is against God.

Belfast Cathedral to Celebrate Lewis’ Legacy

The Cathedral Church of St. Anne, Belfast is going to celebrate Lewis’ Legacy this November. 

 From the PDF: “All their life in this world and all their adventures had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on for ever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.” (The Last Battle) 

To mark fifty years since the Belfast born story- telling scholar, teacher and Christian apologist began what he called Chapter One of the Great Story. Whatever age you are,you must visit Belfast Cathedral and record in a specially provided book how you have been influenced by his writings and his stories. The Book will be available in the Cathedral from Friday 22nd November the date of his death to Friday 29th November his birthday. :)

From NarniaFans!

Two Worlds In One: Extension

I made a video based on my post: Two Worlds In One. The picture, at the end, I made, and the video is based on Narnia and Middle Earth.

Here it is:

Plus, huge changes are coming. Me and my sister are to merge our blogs to form one jumbo Lewis-Tolkien, Narnia-Middle Earth blog. All the posts from this blog and my sister's will be imported into the new blog. More on this later.

SPECIAL: TORn Tuesday with Sean Astin

Are you a ringer besides a Narnian fan? Join them on theonering.net/live. TORn Tuesday will be chatting with Sean Astin (Samwise Gamgee) later today at 5pm PT. 

C.S. Lewis On The Lord's Prayer

Our Father who art in heaven …
Jesus taught us to address God where he is, that is, in heaven and not yet here on earth. The Father wants to be here and will be here when heaven and earth unite. In the act of prayer God unveils himself to us and so we are to unveil ourselves to God. We begin prayer where we are. If we are sad, we begin sad. If we are angry, we begin angry. There is no use trying to pretend we are not these things and to begin by adoration if we are not in that place.

Hallowed be your name …
When we bless God we do so in unison with all the hosts of heaven. ”The consoling thing is that while Christendom is divided about the rationality, and even the lawfulness, or praying to the saints, we are all agreed about praying with them. ’With angels and archangels and all the company of heaven.’”

Your kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven …Your kingdom come here on earth and in my life as I see it at work in the sinless world, that is, in the birds that do not worry or the flowers that care not for what they will wear. Your kingdom come here on earth and in my life as I see it in the lives of the living saints, those men and women who reflect most accurately the image of God. Your kingdom come here on earth and in my life as it is heaven, that is, looking into heaven to see how things are done and asking that they be done that way even now.

Your will be done on me and through me. Help me to submit to your blessings and to your discipline. Help me develop the mind of Christ. Help me to see daily the kingdom tasks set before me and to set about doing them.

Give us this day our daily bread …“I expect we all do much the same with the prayer for our daily bread. It means, doesn’t it, all we need for the day – ‘things requisite and necessary as well for the body as for the soul.’”

Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who have trespassed against us …
Forgiving in the moment is the not the real difficulty. We can all do that. The real struggle comes with continually forgiveness. ”How many times must I forgive my brother? Seven times?” Jesus said, “Not seven, but seventy times seven.” As we remember the sins of others wrought against us we can at the same time see those same sins in our own lives. We expect forgiveness for those so too we must grant forgiveness for those.

Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil …
Temptations are not merely temptations to sin; they include struggles, trials, tests and the like. What Jesus is really teaching us here is something akin to asking God to make our paths straight. In other words, we are asking here of God to not grant anything we have just prayed for if it will trip us up.

~from “Letters to Malcolm” by C.S. Lewis

Once Upon A Time.... (4 new phrases)

Fictional Spotlight: Once Upon A Time....
Spotlight: Once upon a time....
What it is: A phrase
What it is not: a TV show

No, I'm not talking about Once Upon a Time, that darned silly TV show. I'm talking about the phrase: once upon a time....

Doesn't most every fiction story, TV show, or movie begin with that? Wouldn't that work even for Narnia, or any other Disney/Pixar movie? Don't you ever think, "can't they think of ANYTHING different for once?"

Well, here's your savior: 4 new catchy beginning phrases made by me!

An obviously far away stuff 1. In a far away land, and a far away time ago.....

Or for a more modern time 2. In a time quite near and in a place that may actually exist....

Something that works always! 3. At a place you may know and a time today and yesterday....

Mysterious, isn't it? 4. At a time and place nobody quite knows...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That sums it up! Movie producers, make sure to use one of these in your next movie! Have a good day ev'rybody!

NarniaCast Ep. 7 – The Silver Chair Movie Chat

On October 14th William O’Flaherty gathered together some of the previous guests on NarniaCast to talk about the movie announcement.

Listen here!

Seek Knowledge..

"The only people who achieve much are those who want knowledge so badly that they seek it while the conditions are still unfavorable."

~ The Weight of Glory

C.S. Lewis Timeline

1898
Clive Staples Lewis was born on November 29, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, to Albert J. Lewis (1863-1929) and Florence Augusta Hamilton Lewis (1862-1908). 

1905
The Lewis family moved to their new home, “Little Lea,” on the outskirts of Belfast.

1908
Flora Hamilton Lewis died of cancer on August 23, Albert Lewis’ (her husband’s) birthday. During this year Albert Lewis’ father and brother also died. In September Lewis was enrolled at Wynyard School, Watford, Hertfordshire referred to by C.S. Lewis as “Oldie’s School” or “Belsen”. His brother, Warren, had been enrolled there in May 1905.

1910
Lewis left “Belsen” in June and, in September, was enrolled as a boarding student at Campbell College, Belfast, one mile from “Little Lea,” where he remained until November, when he was withdrawn upon developing serious respiratory difficulties.

1911
Lewis was sent to Malvern, England, which was famous as a health resort, especially for those with lung problems. Lewis was enrolled as a student at Cherbourg House (which he referred to as “Chartres”), a prep school close by Malvern College where Warnie was enrolled as a student. Jack remained there until June 1913. It was during this time that he abandoned his childhood Christian faith. He entered Malvern College itself (which he dubbed “Wyvern”) in September 1913 and stayed until the following June.

1914
In April, Lewis met Arthur Greeves (1895-1966), of whom he said, in 1933, “After my brother, my oldest and most intimate friend.” On September 19, Lewis commenced private study with W.T. Kirkpatrick, “The Great Knock,” in Great Bookham Surrey, with whom he was to remain until April 1917. William T. Kirkpatrick (1848-1921) was former Headmaster of Lurgan College, County Armagh, Northern Ireland, from 1874-99. Albert Lewis had attended Lurgan from 1877-79 and later was Kirkpatrick’s solicitor. After Kilpatrick retired from Lurgan in 1899, he began taking private students and had already successfully prepared Lewis’ brother, Warnie, for admission to the Royal Military College at Sandhurst.

1916
In February, Lewis first read George MacDonald’s, Phantastes, which powerfully “baptized his imagination” and impressed him with a deep sense of the holy. He made his first trip to Oxford in December to take a scholarship examination.

1917
From April 26 until September, Lewis was a student at University College, Oxford. Upon the outbreak of WWI, he enlisted in the British army and was billeted in Keble College, Oxford, for officer’s training. His roommate was Edward Courtnay Francis “Paddy” Moore (1898-1918). Jack was commissioned an officer in the 3rd Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry, on September 25 and reached the front line in the Somme Valley in France on his 19th birthday.

1918
On April 15 Lewis was wounded on Mount Berenchon during the Battle of Arras. He recuperated and was returned to duty in October, being assigned to Ludgerhall, Andover, England. He was discharged in December 1919. His former roommate and friend, Paddy Moore, was killed in battle and buried in the field just south of Peronne, France.

1919
The February issue of Reveille contained “Death in Battle,” Lewis’ first publication in other than school magazines. The issue had poems by Robert Bridges, Siegfried Sassoon, Robert Graves, and Hilaire Belloc. From January 1919 until June 1924, he resumed his studies at University College, Oxford, where he received a First in Honour Moderations (Greek and Latin Literature) in 1920, a First in Greats (Philosophy and Ancient History) in 1922, and a First in English in 1923. His tutors during this time included A.B. Poynton for Honour Mods, E.F. Carritt for Philosophy, F.P. Wilson and George Gordon in the English School, and E.E. Wardale for Old English.

1920
During the summer, Paddy Moore’s mother, Mrs. Janie King Moore (1873-1951) and her daughter, Maureen, moved to Oxford, renting a house in Headington Quarry. Lewis lived with the Moores from June 1921 onward. In August 1930, they moved to “Hillsboro,” Western Road, Headington. In October 1930, Mrs. Moore, Jack, and Major Lewis purchased “The Kilns” jointly, with title to the property being taken solely in the name of Mrs. Moore with the two brothers holding rights of life tenancy. Major Lewis retired from the military and joined them at “The Kilns” in 1932.

1921
W.T. Kirkpatrick died in March. Lewis’ essay “Optimism” won the Chancellor’s English Essay Prize in May. (No copy of “Optimism” has been found as of this date.)

1924
From October 1924 until May 1925, Lewis served as philosophy tutor at University College during E.F. Carritt’s absence on study leave for the year in America.

1925
On May 20, Lewis was elected a Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, where he served as tutor in English Language and Literature for 29 years until leaving for Magdalene College, Cambridge, in 1954.

1929
Lewis became a theist: “In the Trinity Term of 1929 I gave in, and admitted that God was God, and knelt and prayed….” Albert Lewis died on September 24.

1931
Lewis became a Christian: One evening in September, Lewis had a long talk on Christianity with J.R.R. Tolkien (a devout Roman Catholic) and Hugo Dyson. 

1933
The fall term marked the beginning of Lewis’ convening of a circle of friends dubbed “The Inklings.” 

1935
At the suggestion of Prof. F.P. Wilson, Lewis agreed to write the volume on 16th Century English Literature for the Oxford History of English Literature series. Published in 1954, it became a classic.

1937
Lewis received the Gollancz Memorial Prize for Literature in recognition of The Allegory of Love (a study in medieval tradition).

1939
At the outbreak of World War II in September, Charles Williams moved from London to Oxford with the Oxford University Press to escape the threat of German bombardment. He was thereafter a regular member of “The Inklings.”

1941
From May 2 until November 28, The Guardian published 31 “Screwtape Letters” in weekly installments. Lewis was paid 2 pounds sterling for each letter and gave the money to charity. In August, he gave four live radio talks over the BBC on Wednesday evenings from 7:45 to 8:00. An additional 15-minute session, answering questions received in the mail, was broadcast on September 6. These talks were known as “Right and Wrong.”

1942The first meeting of the “Socratic Club” was held in Oxford on January 26. In January and February, Lewis gave five live radio talks on Sunday evenings from 4:45 to 5:00, on the subject “What Christians Believe.” On eight consecutive Sundays, from September 20 to November 8 at 2:50 to 3:05 p.m., Lewis gave a series of live radio talks known as “Christian Behavior.”

1943
In February, at the University of Durham, Lewis delivered the Riddell Memorial Lectures (Fifteenth Series), a series of three lectures subsequently published as The Abolition of Man.

1944
On seven consecutive Tuesdays, from February 22 to April 4 at 10:15 to 10:30 p.m., Lewis gave the pre-recorded talks known as “Beyond Personality.” Taken together, all of Lewis’ BBC radio broadcast talks were eventually published under the title Mere Christianity. From November 10, 1944 to April 14, 1945, The Great Divorce was published in weekly installments in The Guardian. (The Guardian was a religious newspaper that ceased publication in 1951; it had no connection with the Manchester Guardian.)

1945
Charles Williams, one of Lewis’ very closest of friends, died on May 15.

1946
Lewis awarded honorary Doctor of Divinity by the University of St. Andrews.

1948
On February 2, Elizabeth Anscombe, later Professor of Philosophy at Cambridge, read her “Reply to Mr. C.S. Lewis’ Argument that ‘Naturalism is Self-refuting’” to the Socratic Club; Anscombe’s argument caused Lewis to revise Chapter 3 of Miracles when it was reprinted by Fontana in 1960. Later in the year, Lewis was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

1950
The first book in the Chronicles of Narnia series, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, is released. The series became extremely popular andWardrobe is one of Lewis’s most enduring and beloved books.

1951
Mrs. Moore died on January 12. Since the previous April, she had been confined to a nursing home in Oxford. She is buried in the yard of Holy Trinity Church in Headington Quarry, Oxford. Lewis lost the election for the position of Professor of Poetry at Oxford to C. Day Lewis. In December, he declined election to the Order of the British Empire.

1952
Lewis was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters by Laval University, Quebec. In September, he met Joy Davidman Gresham, fifteen years his junior (b. April 18, 1915 – d. July 13, 1960), for the first time.

1954
In June, Lewis accepted the Chair of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Cambridge. He gave his Inaugural Lecture, “De Description Temporum,” on his 56th birthday and gave his last tutorial at Oxford on December 3. His review of Tolkien’ Fellowship of the Ring appeared in Time and Tide in August.

1955Lewis assumed his duties at Cambridge in January. During his years at Cambridge, he lived at Magdalene College, Cambridge, during the week in term and at The Kilns in Oxford on weekends and during vacations. Lewis was elected an Honorary Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, and was also elected a Fellow of the British Academy.

1956
Lewis received the Carnegie Medal in recognition of The Last Battle. On April 23, he entered into a civil marriage with Joy Davidman at the Oxford Registry Office for the purpose of conferring upon her the status of British citizenship in order to prevent her threatened deportation by British migration authorities. In December, a bedside marriage was performed in accordance with the rites of the Church of England in Wingfield Hospital. Joy’s death was thought to be imminent.

1958
Throughout 1957, Joy had experienced an extraordinary recovery from her near terminal bout with cancer. In July of 1958, Jack and Joy went to Ireland for a 10-day holiday. On August 19 and 20, he made tapes of ten talks on The Four Loves in London. Lewis was elected an Honorary Fellow of University College, Oxford.

1959Lewis was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Literature by the University of Manchester.

1960Subsequent to learning of the return of Joy’s cancer, Jack and Joy, together with Roger Lancelyn Green and his wife, Joy, went to Greece from April 3 to April 14, visiting Athens, Mycenae, Rhodes, Herakleon, and Knossos. Joy died on July 13 at the age of 45, not long after their return from Greece.

1963
Lewis died at 5:30 p.m. at The Kilns, one week before his 65th birthday on Friday, November 22; the same day on which President Kennedy was assassinated and Aldous Huxley died. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

A slightly shortened version of the C.S. Lewis Foundation timeline

The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, Volume 1

The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, Volume 1 is selling well. Buy it at Amazon and there you can also take a sneak peek of the book! :)

An Evening With C.S. Lewis

An Evening with C.S. Lewis has proved to be an enthralling theatrical experience for the many thousands who have attended its performances and is a fascinating and riveting insight into the life of a man whose collected works made him one of the literary giants of 20th century.

To be presented in CULPEPER, click here for more details!

Never Too Old

You are never too old to set a new goal or to dream a new dream. -C.S. Lewis

Town and Gown to Address C.S. Lewis

The life and thought of C.S. Lewis will be the topic for the next Town and Gown series at Union University on Monday evenings, beginning today and running through Nov. 18.

The Town and Gown series is an opportunity for community members interested in various topics to attend lectures and participate in discussions in a classroom setting, according to a news release from the university. The classes are free and open to the public.

Read the rest: http://www.jacksonsun.com

Seek Knowledge

"The only people who achieve much are those who want knowledge so badly that they seek it while the conditions are still unfavorable."

~ The Weight of Glory

Download Narnia Music

Download  Narnia music at http://www.elivetv.in! :P

You Are A Living House....

“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of – throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.”

― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

C.S. Lewis’s Introduction for On the Incarnation

Lewis is sure good at writing inspirational texts! This introduction is from Athanasius’s book called `On The Incarnation`. Does this inspire you to read books, or more than you already are?

``Every age has its own outlook.  It is specially good at seeing at seeing certain truths and specially liable to make certain mistakes.  We all, therefore, need the books that will correct the characteristic mistakes of our own period.  And that means the old books.  … Nothing strikes me more when I read the controversies of past ages than the fact that both sides were usually assuming without question a good deal which we should now absolutely deny.  They thought they were as completely opposed as two sides could be, but in fact they were all the time secretly united–united with each other and against earlier and later ages–by a great mass of common assumptions. … None of us can fully escape this blindness, but we shall certainly increase it, and weaken our guard against it, if we only read modern books.  Where they are true they shall give us truths which we half-knew already.  Where they are false they will only aggravate the error with which we are already dangerously ill.  The only palliative is to keep the clean sea breeze of the centuries blowing through our minds, and this can only be done by reading old books.``

NarniaCast Podcast Series

NarniaCast has a podcast series all about Narnia. They have six episodes free to listen and/or download! Also, contests sometimes pop up and you could win a book. See EVERYTHING here.

Plus, here is the basic point of the shows .
The Story Behind the Story

Short Summary of the Book
Favorite Characters Discussion
Unique Aspects of this Story 
General Discussion (a variety of questions related to the book)

The Narnian Books

Once upon a modern time or even decades ago, a little girl opened a series of books with the famous name C.S. Lewis on the covers. There she began adventures that she would never forget. She found fauns,centaurs, dwarves, an evil queen, and even a Lion.....

 Once she had read those last words of the seventh book and finished the whole journey, she would be a different person for always. She had come through the wardrobe that led to Narnia, and been a character in the stories herself.The wonderful and miraculous realm made by C.S. Lewis had enlarged her  imagination something awful .

So, through the wardrobe, into the magical world C.S. Lewis created..... for Narnia, and for Aslan!

Shasta Statue Concept Art

New concept art from Walden Media’s Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader film adaptations has surfaced on Brenden Heffernan’s website. The most interesting piece is a statue of Prince Cor (aka Shasta) that presumably was going to appear somewhere in the ruins of Cair Paravel, but never made it into the film. It is unknown if the statue was ever actually built.

Read more: http://www.narniaweb.com.

Pins from Narnia!

The actual board, on Pinterest, is here, or you can just read on for three things Jennie Snipes has posted on Narnia!

By Justin Sweet

Forever Narnia, Forever Heaven

Narnia bookends

C.S. Lewis Study Center Coming to Northfield

The original group that had hoped to take over the former Northfield Mount Hermon School campus will be coming to town after all.

“Our plan is to establish a scholars’ residence, and C.S. Lewis study center, just as we have in Oxford, England,” said J. Stanley Mattson, president and founder of the C.S. Lewis Foundation.

“We’re coming to Northfield, at long last.”

Green Pastures, a 14-room Victorian close to the campus, will serve as that study center.

The space will be used to host resident writers and scholars, as well as educators on sabbatical, as well as conferences and special events like evening concerts, poetry readings, and discussion groups. It will also feature programs available to the surrounding community, such as lectures, “great books” seminars, and performing arts events.

Read much, much  more if you click HERE!

CBC Radio On C.S. Lewis and the Inklings

 The CBC radio show Ideas ran a cool two-part series on C.S Lewis and the Inklings.

In the first podcast Frank Faulk begins with C.S. Lewis in his youth, and the things that would change him on his journey to becoming one of the 20th century’s greatest thinkers and writers on Christianity.  In part two, Faulk takes a look at C.S. Lewis’s conversion from atheism to Christianity, and his true, deep friendship with Tolkien, Barfield and Williams.

You can download Part One and Part Two here.

A big thank you to theoneringnet for this!

Historic town pub to reopen

A FAVORITE OF C S LEWIS: The Unicorn, in Belle Vue Terrace, Malvern, is being reopened at 5pm today.

A HISTORIC town centre pub which closed during the summer at short notice is reopening today (Friday).

The Unicorn in Belle Vue Terrace has been closed since the start of August while owner Enterprise Inns looks for a new tenant.

This week Malvern man Mark Stimson said he will be reopening the pub at 5pm, and hopes the regulars from before will come flocking back.

He said: “I’m a good friend of Dave and Sue Warrener, who ran it before it closed, and I intend to run it as they ran it, with an emphasis on a good family-friendly pub, with good food, pool and darts, and live music. All are welcome and I hope people will support us.”

Mr Stimson, aged 44, is no stranger to pub management, having run the Lamb Inn, West Malvern, before its closure several years ago.

He will be running the Unicorn with the help of his son Luke, 19, who is currently a carpenter but who is looking forward to gaining experience in the licensed trade.


Read more: http://www.malverngazette.co.uk

C.S. Lewis Festival Celebrates 50-years

Through book discussions, lectures, a children’s play and even a LEGO sculpture, the 2013 C.S. Lewis Festival celebrates the legacy of C.S. Lewis, an author still widely read 50 years after his death. The festival’s featured presenter, author Philip Yancey, will speak at three events and offer a book signing the weekend of Oct. 25.



Yancey will deliver the annual Manthei Speaker Series talk at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 25, in the Petoskey Middle School auditorium, with the title “Reflections on C.S. Lewis.” He will also meet attendees of a luncheon at noon that day and host a book signing that afternoon from 2-3 p.m at McLean & Eakin Booksellers in downtown Petoskey.

Read more: http://www.petoskeynews.com

The Final Interview of C. S. Lewis

By Sherwood Eliot Wirt (there is much more of the interview; go to CBN)


Wirt: Professor Lewis, if you had a young friend with some interest in writing on Christian subjects, how would you advise him to prepare himself?

Lewis: “I would say if a man is going to write on chemistry, he learns chemistry. The same is true of Christianity. But to speak of the craft itself, I would not know how to advise a man how to write. It is a matter of talent and interest. I believe he must be strongly moved if he is to become a writer. Writing is like a ‘lust,’ or like ‘scratching when you itch.’ Writing comes as a result of a very strong impulse, and when it does come, I for one must get it out.”

Wirt: Can you suggest an approach that would spark the creation of a body of Christian literature strong enough to influence our generation?

Lewis: “There is no formula in these matters. I have no recipe, no tablets. Writers are trained in so many individual ways that it is not for us to prescribe. Scripture itself is not systematic; the New Testament shows the greatest variety. God has shown us that he can use any instrument. Balaam’s ass, you remember, preached a very effective sermon in the midst of his ‘hee-haws.’”


Wirt: I believe it was Chesterton who was asked why he became a member of the church, and he replied, “To get rid of my sins.”

Lewis: “It is not enough to want to get rid of one’s sins,” he said. “We also need to believe in the One who saves us from our sins. Not only do we need to recognize that we are sinners; we need to believe in a Savior who takes away sin. Matthew Arnold once wrote, ‘Nor does the being hungry prove that we have bread.’ Because we know we are sinners, it does not follow that we are saved.”

Wirt: In your book Surprised by Joy you remark that you were brought into the faith kicking and struggling and resentful, with eyes darting in every direction looking for an escape. You suggest that you were compelled, as it were, to become a Christian. Do you feel that you made a decision at the time of your conversion?

Lewis: “I would not put it that way. What I wrote in Surprised by Joy was that ‘before God closed in on me, I was offered what now appears a moment of wholly free choice.’ But I feel my decision was not so important. I was the object rather than the subject in this affair. I was decided upon. I was glad afterwards at the way it came out, but at the moment what I heard was God saying, ‘Put down your gun and we’ll talk.’”


Wirt: Would you say that the aim of Christian writing, including your own writing, is to bring about an encounter of the reader with Jesus Christ?

Lewis: “That is not my language, yet it is the purpose I have in view. For example, I have just finished a book on prayer, an imaginary correspondence with someone who raises questions about difficulties in prayer.”

Wirt: How can we foster the encounter of people with Jesus Christ?

Lewis: “You can’t lay down any pattern for God. There are many different ways of bringing people into his Kingdom, even some ways that I specially dislike! I have therefore learned to be cautious in my judgment.

“But we can block it in many ways. As Christians we are tempted to make unnecessary concessions to those outside the faith. We give in too much. Now, I don’t mean that we should run the risk of making a nuisance of ourselves by witnessing at improper times, but there comes a time when we must show that we disagree. We must show our Christian colors, if we are to be true to Jesus Christ. We cannot remain silent or concede everything away.

“There is a character in one of my children’s stories named Aslan, who says, ‘I never tell anyone any story except his own.’ I cannot speak for the way God deals with others; I only know how he deals with me personally. Of course, we are to pray for spiritual awakening, and in various ways we can do something toward it. But we must remember that neither Paul nor Apollos gives the increase. As Charles Williams once said, ‘The altar must often be built in one place so that the fire may come down in another place.’”

C.S. Lewis on Faith and Reason

C.S. Lewis said: “I am not asking anyone to accept Christianity if his best reasoning tells him that the weight of evidence is against it.” 

He tells his case particularly in such books as Mere Christianity, The Abolition of Man, Miracles, and The Problem of Pain. Lewis decidedly gave place to rationality. However, while upholding a place for rationality, he was opposed to the rationalism of the Enlightenment, which gave almost no place to the human imagination or to the idea of belief in a personal God. In other words, he opposed what in our day is called Modernism.

Lewis develops his case for Christ in many places, and parts of that case will be developed in future articles.
If Christianity cannot face the toughest questions of our age, it will be the first time in two thousand years.
Many believers today are not aware that the most brilliant minds of all history have been believers. Thinkers such as Augustine, Aquinas, Calvin, Edwards, and Lewis have given answers to the classic objections.
However, even after one establishes a strong intellectual framework, this will not necessarily assure the absence of doubt. In fact, most of the doubts we encounter are emotional or spiritual in origin rather
than intellectual.

C.S. Lewis maintains: …supposing a man’s reason once decides that the weight of evidence is for it. I can tell that man what is going to happen to him in the next few weeks. …there will come a moment when he wants a woman, or wants to tell a lie, or feels very pleased with himself, or sees a chance of making a little money in some way that is not perfectly fair; some moment at which it would be convenient if Christianity were not true. And his emotions will carry out a blitz. I am not talking of any moments at which any real reasons against Christianity turn up. Those have to be faced, and that is a different matter. I am talking about moments where a mere mood rises up against it.... Now faith in the sense in which I am here using the word is the art of holding onto the things your reason has once accepted, in spite of your changing moods. For moods change whatever view your reason takes.

 We can know why we trust in the God who knows why. In other words, there are times in which it may
be wise to trust God even though it may seem to us unreasonable.

C.S. Lewis argues: In getting a dog out of a trap, in extracting a thorn from a child’s finger, in teaching a boy to swim or rescuing one who can’t, in getting a frightened beginner over a nasty place on the mountain, the one fatal obstacle may be their distrust.... We ask them to believe that what is painful will relieve their pain, and that which looks dangerous is their only safety. 

We ask them to accept apparent impossibilities: that moving the paw farther back into the trap is the way to get it out—that hurting the finger very much more will stop the finger from hurting, that water which is obviously permeable will resist and support the body… that to go higher and onto an exposed ledge is the way not to fall.



Full article by Art Lindsley, Ph.D. at the C.S. Lewis Institution.

Courage

C.S. Lewis Conference

Date: November 1, 2013
Time: 9am-9pm
Place: Wheaton College Billy Graham Center, Barrows Auditorium
Admission: $35-50

Wheaton College hosts a conference in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the death of C.S. Lewis. Scholars will explore the noted British Author and Christian apologist’s influence on American religion and culture. Conference speakers include Trevor Hart, Alan Jacobs, George Marsden and Mark Noll.

Georgie Henley Enrolls at Clare College

Georgie Henley  the actor of Lucy Pevensie in Narnia, has gained a spot in Clare's College, Cambridge University. She will be going to college, so wish her luck, and perhaps she wishes you luck for your vocation or education too!
                                              
                                             

A Dummies Aproach On C.S. Lewis and Narnia: Review

   C.S. Lewis and Narnia for Dummies is a great book!! It tells about C.S. Lewis conversion to Christianity, has a chapter on The Great Divorce, and has a table on weaknesses of the heroes(?) in Narnia.

Chapter one is C.S. Lewis` Gift To The World, about his writing skills, while chapter two is Getting To Know Jack, about C.S. Lewis himself.

Oh, and at the beginning there is a cheat sheet! (Did you know the emperor-over-the-sea was a symbol of God the Father? Or a good line to use at a party is "_____'s my name. But it doesn't matter if you forget it, I can always tell you again."?)

You can buy this book full of goodness on Amazon!

"Freud's Last Session" Extended

“Freud's Last Session,” a play about a meeting between the pioneering psychoanalyst and the Christian philosopher and writer C. S. Lewis, has turned into a hit even before it opens the Studio Theatre season at the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis. Tickets are selling so well that the Rep has extended its run by a week.

The show will now run from Oct. 30 through Nov. 24.




The meeting between Freud and Lewis never really happened. But they were both in London on the verge of World War Two, a circumstance that led Dr. Armand M. Nicholi, Jr., to write “The Question of God,” imagining their encounter. The book inspired the play, by Mark St. Germain, in which two brilliant men of very different perspectives discuss sex and love, science and faith, with insight and mutual respect.

Please read the rest HERE!

No child should miss out on a visit to Narnia

The number of children who read for pleasure is falling. It’s down by 25% since 2005!



A National Literacy Trust study found nearly a third of children aged between eight and 16 say they read no text-based media at all in their daily leisure time. Only 28.4% claimed to read in their own time each day.

And 35% of boys and 26% of girls agreed with the statement: “I cannot find things to read that interest me.”

And 21.5% agreed with the statement: “I would be embarrassed if my friends saw me read.”

So don’t let them see you – go to your bedroom and read in peace.

NLT director Jonathan Douglas said: “There’s a really strong relationship between literacy – reading and writing – and social outcomes, whether it’s earnings, home ownership, voting or a sense of trust in society. If children are not practising reading, they will miss out.”

Never mind missing out on home ownership, they will be missing out on adventure, discovery, excitement, wonder and intellectual challenge.

See more: http://www.examiner.co.uk

CS Lewis and The Inklings ‘Ideas’ with CBC

As part of the commemorations for Cs Lewis’s ‘Jubilee’ year the Canadian Broadcasting Company have commissioned two in depth programmes on CS Lewis and the Inklings for their Flagship ‘Ideas’ series. I was happy to be involved with Frank Faulk in this endeavour and did an extensive interview with him, some of which is used in this first programme and most of which will be in the second one, to be broadcast on the 17th to which I will post a link next week. I was impressed by the research he has done for this programme and the range of people he has speaking on it. Two good results of that research are first that he is not content with second hand cliches about Lewis but goes out of his way to scotch falsehoods, and secondly that he gives due weight to the neglected ‘other inklings’ beyond Lewis and Tolkien, and particularly gives the much-neglected Owen Barfield who is allowed at last to come into hi own. Finally, Faulk has, in my view rightly, identified Imagination, and the truth of Imagination as the key to the whole ‘Inklings endeavour.

Read more: http://malcolmguite.wordpress.com

I'm On Aslan's Side...

Lewis and Tolkien: Two Worlds In One

Do you love Frodo or have Narnia posters cluttering you room? Perhaps if you are an mother or father, your children talk about Lucy Pevensie and the wizard Gandalf every day.

Do you even know that the athours of Narnia and The Lord of the Rings were friends?

Colin Duriez’s book, Tolkien and C.S. Lewis: The Gift of Friendship, talks about the friendship of Clive Staples Lewis and John Ronald Reuel Tolkien.

They met at Oxford, and became friends even before they were famous. These two writers needed friends, and so they became friends who had many things in common.For example, they were both part of The Inklings, an Oxford group of writers.

C.S. Lewis said, "Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: ‘What! You too? I thought I was the only one." Really, this is how he and Tolkien became friends.

Hampshire Regional to present ‘The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe’

NARNIA play : Hampshire Regional High School will open its drama season with a production of “The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe” Oct. 25-27 in the high school auditorium.

The play is based on the first of C.S. Lewis’ popular Narnia books. Produced in collaboration with local theater artists, the play will include stage combat and puppets aimed at bringing Lewis’ magical world to life. The plot revolves around siblings sent to live in the English countryside during World War II who discover a portal to another world through an old wardrobe.

From: http://www.gazettenet.com - Read more!

To Get The Best Out Of Our Life

Think of it - 100 years or, most likely, less, here on earth. Then the billions or trillions and more in Heaven. Why don't you do good now, and then leave the 99999999999/100000000000 of your life, and more, for enjoyment? Of course, you can always spend the little time you have on earth in happiness, and spend billions and trillions+ in Hell, burning in agony.... but I wouldn't, really. Just wait, and do good - you'll have happiness sometime! It's not long until then, look how the years fly!

C.S. Lewis's Joy in Marriage

Throughout this memoir of a short but intensely happy marriage, he recalls Joy—referred to as "H."—as a woman whose strength, faith, honesty, humor, and loyalty made her the best of companions, and brought out the best in him.

McGrath objects to what he sees as our culture's "romanticised reading" of Lewis's marriage, spurred by the 1993 movie Shadowlands, starring Anthony Hopkins and Debra Winger. McGrath seems intent on debunking that image—even though, according to those who knew them closely, the marriage was romantic before Hollywood ever got hold of it. McGrath finds the circumstances of Lewis's marriage not quite to his taste, but it's not Lewis himself that he blames for them.

Read more: http://www.christianitytoday.com

Born to be wild: Christians should be ‘good, not tame’

"Christians should not be tame, but good", said Dr. Ralph Wood, professor of theology and literature.

Tuesday at the fourth annual Drumwright Family Lecture, the Alexander reading room was full as faculty, staff and students came to hear Wood speak.

Wood has studied the works and life of C.S. Lewis for a vast majority of his life, and he said he came to the conclusion that Christians are called to be good but not tame through theosis. Theosis is the idea that people are here on this earth to be a part of God’s bigger plan.

“C.S. Lewis has influenced more thoughtful people than anyone else in the late 19th and early 20th century,” Wood said.












Read the rest here: http://baylorlariat.com!

Demolition fears for CS Lewis' old house

A former home of C.S. Lewis has been put up for sale, sparking fears from locals and campaigners that it could be torn down.

14 Holyoake Road, known as ‘Hillsboro’ and owned by Yatsden Limited, has now been put up for sale for £1.6 million as land for potential re-development by estate agents Elwood and Company and Strutt and Parker.

Strutt and Parker’s website claims that the property is “a prime re-development opportunity” and that it “offers huge potential”. But concern has grown among locals and C.S. Lewis experts, including Ronald Brind, who has written e-books about the author and run C.S. Lewis themed tours of Oxford, that the house may be knocked down and replaced.

Read more at: http://oxfordstudent.com!

Life Is Not About Ourselves

A recent letter writer believes: "There is no dignity in dying a slow, painful, death." On the other hand: "Pain is God's microphone to a deaf world." (C.S. Lewis) Life is not about ourselves. Never was, never will be — just ask any parent. So, why should the terminally ill reject assisted-suicide? The answer: because a person who perseveres in their condition, at some deep level, gives us a precious gift, namely, depth and character. Choosing otherwise signals we no longer understand this.

Baylor Honors College Presents Fourth Annual Drumwright Family Lecture

WACO, Texas - In recognition of the 50th anniversary of author C.S. Lewis' death, the Baylor Honors College will welcome Ralph Wood, Ph.D., to speak at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 8 in Alexander Hall.

Wood, University Professor of Theology and Literature at Baylor, will present his lecture titled "C.S. Lewis on Theosis: Why Christians Are Not Meant to Be Tame but Good."



The lecture will focus on the differences of being good and tame in the Christian faith.


More at: http://www.baylor.edu/mediacommunications/news.php?action=story&story=133535