Re: [asa] Feedback wanted (resurrection)

Quoting George Murphy <gmurphy@raex.com>:
> from C.S. Lewis...
> I believed in God before I believed in Heaven. And even now, even if--let's
> make an impossible supposition--His voice, unmistakably His, said to me,
> "They have misled you. I can do nothing of that sort for you. My long
> struggle with the blind forces is nearly over. I die, children. The story is
> ending"--would that be a moment for changing sides? Would not you and I take
> the Viking way: "The Giants and the Trolls win. Let us die on the right
> side, with Father Odin."
>
> Shalom
> George

Echoing the lines above, C.S. Lewis also wrote in "Silver Chair" (from
Puddleglum's mouth, I believe, as the witch was trying to convince them that the
over-world with its trees and sunlight was just a passing fantasy) ...that if
such was true, then the fantasy was better and preferable over the gloomy and
real underworld where the witch presided, and that the "fantasy" beats the
"real" thing.

Still, I'm not sure Lewis' sentiment here is a good one for Christians to take
up. I think David is on mark when he suggests (per I Cor. 15) that we are to be
most pitied if these things are not true. I agree with David that, were I an
atheist, I would find the "your life is meaningless" argument not at all
compelling. Sure, some atheists are going to be melancholy about life, but some
are cheerful sorts that would respond: "nonsense! --I am enjoying life to the
fullest, and all the more so since I know it is temporary and then infinitely
gone."

If finding life meaningful or joyful was a measure of affirmation for ones
religion, and even if this could be statistically determined, would that truly
be a sign of our spiritual success? The beatitudes sure don't read that way.
Jesus clearly found a lot of meaning in suffering because of faithfulness, and
maybe even just suffering in general. He also knew how to enjoy himself when
the occasion called --a wedding comes to mind.

Christians come in all flavors too. A saint may well be somebody who *has*
experienced "dark nights of the soul" and plumbed the depths of despair and
doubt, and maybe even has never fully emerged.

--Merv

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Received on Tue May 6 18:25:48 2008