We had another book session at the seminary on Monday (May 12 2025). Every third book we choose is supposed to be a classic and so we went this time for C S Lewis. For some reason we went for two - the brief Great Divorce and the longer Miracles.
I was given a copy of TGD when I was younger and a bit more literalistic. Lewis says clearly it is a fantasy not a cosmology of heaven and hell but I couldn't cope, especially with the apparent to-ing and fro-ing between the two. Hopefully, I am more mature now and could see the points being made. The title is a deliberate play on words and ideas, referencing William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell. For Blake good and evil, Heaven and Hell, are ultimately reconciled or intertwined. Lewis strongly rejects such ideas. Hence divorce, a total and eternal separation between good and evil, Heaven and Hell. For Lewis, there can be no blending of the two; souls must ultimately choose one or the other. There is a final, irreconcilable break between those who accept joy, truth,and God (Heaven) and those who cling to self-deception, pride or sin (Hell).
Miracles is a more demanding read and takes a long time to get to the main subject, though those final two chapters are helpful. (Sadly, Lewis was unprepared to defend Old Testament miracles in the same way that he does NT ones).
I guess our group reponse was a typical evangelical one. Wow, what insights but how dangerous he can be at times. I Bought my copies in a slip case with five others at a bargain price. Next time in September, it is John Mak Comer's popular Practicing the Way.
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