Brief Summary Of C. S. Lewis The Great Divorce

The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis suggests that choices made on earth have a consequential effect towards our acceptance into heaven or our plummet into hell. In this book pride manifests itself in a hundred subtle ways as souls whine about perceived injustices or irrational motives. Thankfully, a few tourists do humble themselves, become transformed into marvelously real beings, and remain in heaven. But most don't, about which the great Scottish author George MacDonald, Lewis' heavenly guide, says, “They may not be rejecting the truth of heaven now. They may be reenacting the rejection they made while on earth”.

Looking at C. S. Lewis’s writings, the diligent will notice many biblically incorrect facts and doctrines that may lead the unsaved or young Christians astray from the truth. This stated, many critics say the twisting of these facts proved necessary for an entertaining story. While Mr. Lewis includes a disclaimer at the begging of his books of this nature stating he took creative liberties, numerus times the line between the truth and the fabricated facts remains very fine. These statements beg the question do these books truly benefit or confuse the readers.

Without any doubt or question, Christianity is radically unique in that it is the only religion that communicates true redemption. Whereas some other religions believe and teach that there is an afterlife, only Christianity embraces the following belief concerning the human life experience in the inescapable mortal dimension of time (the complete and true story of history and eschatology): Our being and existence is understood in terms of 1) creation, 2) corruption, and 3) redemption. In the beginning, God created everything and it was good … without any faults, defects or imperfections, or lacking anything to make it complete or perfect. And so, the biblical doctrine of redemption not

These ideals are very different from modern-day beliefs about death. Christian views about the afterlife include the two options for our souls after death: heaven- the happy, safe, and comfortable place where the good people go, and hell-the fiery, and dangerous place some go to if they made bad choices on Earth. Others believe in reincarnation, where a person’s soul lives on and takes the form of something else. Many people, no matter their religious stance, want to believe that there is something else after death, because it makes it easier when the time comes. It certainly eases some of the grief and anxiety that people face over death, and is far more comforting than the beliefs that ancient Mesopotamians held about death.

What happens to a person at death is a belief we acquire from our religion and culture. In Christianity we believe heaven is our reward for living a meaningful life. On the other hand as Christians we were taught to preserve life and avoid intentional death to selves or others.

C. S. Lewis was a celebrated academic in the field of medieval literature, first at Oxford University, then at Cambridge, where he held the first chair in medieval and Renaissance literature. He also was a noted convert to Christianity who in the 1940’s established himself as a popular Christian apologist with a series of wartime radio talks, later collected under the title Mere Christianity (1952). Between 1938 and 1945 he wrote a trilogy of science-fiction books (the Space Trilogy, consisting of Out of the Silent Planet, 1938; Perelandra, 1943; and That Hideous Strength: A Modern Fairy Tale for Grownups, 1945) with underlying Christian themes. He was still unmarried in the early 1950’s, living with his brother and an elderly widow and

The main sources of information about the afterlife in Christianity come from the Bible. A common idea in early Christianity was that when death occurs they enter a sleep state (Penelhum 40). The sleep state continues until the second coming, in the second coming they will be resurrected and judged. Catholic and Orthodox Christians believe that at death they will exist in a disembodied state and there an immediate judgment to determine the soul’s destination (Luke and Gilbert 128). Those whose souls have been purified before death will go straight to heaven. Those who have committed Mortal, or unforgivable, sins will go straight to hell after death. However, those who have committed forgivable sins but have not properly repented from those

The term “optical allusion” simply means something that deceives the eye by appearing to be other than it is. The esteemed Christian author C. S. Lewis ties in this kind of warped perception into his book The Great Divorce to describe the images of Heaven and Hell. Hell, he acknowledges, “is locked from the inside.” Throughout the book, the narrator meets ghost people trapped in a purgatory-like state by their own wants and needs. They desire Heaven, but when given the chance to enter, they reject because they perceive something else as better. The sparkling images of material objects, earthly goals and abandoned others trick them into believing they have entered Heaven while they merely sit inside the gates of Hell. Lewis references to the

The Great Divorce was clearly intended to contradict the idea that a person cannot have both Heaven and Hell, an idea expressed in the revolutionary text of William Blake: “The Marriage of Heaven and Hell”. In fact, the Great Divorce was centered around this theme and the fact that a choice must be made between the two states of existence. Lewis tells us through his dream that although our fate is predestined, we still have freedom of choice. He explains that this is because of the fact that we can only see a small portion of time-space through what he refers to as “the opposite end of the telescope”.

My mom asked me many different questions about what I had written. She first started off by asking why I choose this book. Truthfully I choose it because my dad recommended it. I didn’t want to end up choosing a book that he thought was dumb or inappropriate, or something of that nature. I did enjoy the book but it isn’t fast like the action books I normally like to read. My mom also asked about why I didn’t question C.S. Lewis’s writing. I had wanted to show what an amazing idea that was. I also was intrigued by how C.S. Lewis represented the demons and their ways of thinking. I didn’t necessarily consider that Lewis could be incredibly wrong. It is the best hypothesis I have yet heard.

Christians follow the Bible as their instructional guide as a way to live faithfully. Also, Jesus is recognized as the Son of God. Also, God is referred to as three people, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Christians believe God created the world, sin, salvation, afterlife, angels and demons (McDarris, 2015). Sin is frowned upon by God, meaning, those who sin will be punished at the end of life. Unlike Sikhism, afterlife is not a universal belief among the different Christian faiths (Religion Facts, 2017). For the most part, Christians believe heaven and hell exist. Although the opinions of life and after death journey may vary, Christians believe the obedient followers will reunite with their precious ones and meet God with an opportunity to live an everlasting life (Religion Facts, 2017). Also, there are a few Christians who believe hell is the place where disobedient individuals will live after death and will suffer forever. Some faiths such as Catholic, believe in purgatory or an interim for individuals who have not confessed sins (Religion Facts, 2017). From my personal experience of being a Christian, there is no particular purpose for life. God created all of us, therefore, we must live our life according to the Holy Bible and the commandments to meet Him in our afterlife. Also, Christians gain salvation through Jesus Christ. All of us were

There are a few different worldview concepts in hope for the afterlife. Christians believe in recantation. They believe that once you have died you spirit will come back and become something else. Whereas, Atheism do not believe in a God or an afterlife. Once you have decease you gone.

Christians would also agree with this statement because in the Bible and Apostles Creed there are many references to Heaven and Hell, places that people spend their time in, in the afterlife. Heaven and Hell are a key, shared, main belief between the branches of Christianity and Christians base a lot of their decisions on the basis of whether it’s a sin or not. If it is a sin, they’d ask for forgiveness in a church. So therefore Christians definitely believe in life after death.

Catholic’s believe that at the moment of death the soul is separated from man’s body, the body is then left to decompose. Another belief is that the soul is immortal and will always exist after being created. The main belief that Catholics have, surrounding life after death is that the soul continues on after death and the soul may either go to heaven, hell or purgatory; the soul goes to either place depending on how the person lived their life on earth and whether it was full of sin or not. “Romans 2:6-8: He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.” Catholics believe that once they make it to heaven, they will then meet God and live in his presence. In

Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion in light of the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians believe in a supreme God, revealed in the Holy Bible, who is the creator of everything else, and human beings are created in God’s image for a purpose. The objective of the Christian 's life is to be unified with God, through Jesus Christ whom is considered as the Son of God, incarnated on the earth. The law set by the God establishes the morals for Christians. Christians believe in an eternal life and for them death is not an end, but the beginning of the eternal journey, and everyone will face a judgment according to his actions on the earth. Whosoever believe that the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross was to redeem the man from the sin, will be given an eternal life in heaven.