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C. S. Lewis - The Great Divorce |
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Written by Robert Murphy
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Monday, 29 September 2008 |
This is the first post, in a series of six, about this semester's C. S. Lewis class. The current reading list for this semester includes The Great Divorce, Miracles, The Screwtape Letters, The Pilgrims Regress, The Weight of Glory, and Letters to Malcolm. I am in the process of developing more Christian Literature electives for the Ministry Praxis and General Education programs. That means these Praxis classes can fulfill humanities requirements in the other programs. This post is about The Great Divorce.
The Great Divorce follows the story of a few ghosts who leave hell to visit heaven. As we read about their interactions with the citizens of heaven it becomes increasingly apparent that the people in hell were not so much sent there but had created their own hell through their obsession with control.
Though Lewis writes of heaven and hell, this was not meant to be a commentary on the orthodoxy of our present doctrines. What it does do is encourage readers to reflect on their attitudes as they identify with some of the characters sins. That is the strength of the book: it shines the light not on doctrine but on life. Are there patterns in our lives that conflict with God's purposes? Are we creating and living in our own hell long before we die? |
