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For Things C.S. Lewis Said Shortly Before He Passed On…

For Things C.S. Lewis Said Shortly Before He Passed On…

Last updated on: January 24, 2017 at 6:53 pm by Frank Weathers

For Things C.S. Lewis Said Shortly Before He Passed On… 2017-01-24T18:53:27-05:00 Frank Weathers

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Sure, you can count this one! Author unknown, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

You know how often you can find me scrolling the selections over at the Christian Broadcasting Network? Seriously? Recall how many unicorns you have ever seen, and you’ll be in the right ballpark.

But just because I’m not a fan of The 700 Club doesn’t mean I won’t ever venture through their doors when finding something that strikes my fancy. Like what, you say?

Like the transcript of an interview C.S. Lewis gave in 1963, that’s what.

How did I find said interview? A friend posted it to their Facebook page, of course.

Holy serendipity, Batman!

I’m not going to share much of it with you here. I have to say, though, that the interviewer, one Sherwood Eliot Wirt, didn’t seem to be very familiar with Jack Lewis. I mean, even Joe Six-Pack, USMC, knows that Jack didn’t care to be called Clive. I learned that way back when we tackled Mere Christianity together during the Pleistocene Epoch of YIMCatholic.

Here’s a taste to get you started.

Wirt: What is your opinion of the kind of writing being done within the Christian church today?

“A great deal of what is being published by writers in the religious tradition is a scandal and is actually turning people away from the church. The liberal writers who are continually accommodating and whittling down the truth of the Gospel are responsible. I cannot understand how a man can appear in print claiming to disbelieve everything that he presupposes when he puts on the surplice. I feel it is a form of prostitution.”

Wirt: What do you think of the controversial new book, Honest to God, by John Robinson, the bishop of Woolwich?

Lewis: “I prefer being honest to being ‘honest to God.’”

Wirt: What Christian writers have helped you?

Lewis: “The contemporary book that has helped me the most is Chesterton’s The Everlasting Man. Others are Edwyn Bevan’s book, Symbolism and Belief, Rudolf Otto’s The Idea of the Holy, and the plays of Dorothy Sayers.”

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.”

At this point I was surprised by the suddenness of Professor Lewis’ reply.

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.”

Dive in, gang!

And if you’d like to dig into Mere Christianity too, be my guest. I went from being as cold as ice towards Lewis to being practically drinking buddies. You can follow my chapter by chapter posts of MC here.

I wonder what Jack’s favorite beer is?

Maybe this Jordanian ale?

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