C. S. Lewis Till We Have Faces

“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss (...) These people have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen” (Elisabeth Kubler-Ross). Compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern make mankind beautiful, but it also makes it defenseless . When one has concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others, he takes sacrifices, risks, and lives with uncertainty. When man is compassionate, he lives a vulnerable life. Love and compassion bring out the beauty in mankind, but they can also bring out its weaknesses. Because of man’s compassion, he

The idea of universal love is one that is prevalent in the media. With the news filled with grim stories and horror many people are calling to the idea of loving everyone. Tensions are high concerning race relations, gender discrimination, and sexual orientation. Many in the general public are calling for humanity to embrace humanity. Many in the general public are asking “why we can’t just love one another”? Stephen T. Asma tackles this idea of love in his article published in the New York Times. Asma discusses two different ideas about universal love before offering his own take on the subject. Just as Asma states, universal love is a myth and closer personal relationships should be favored.

Ever since the beginning of time, love has played an enormous role among humans. Everyone feels a need to love and to be loved. Some attempt to fill this yearning with activities and possessions that will not satisfy – with activities in which they should not participate and possessions they should not own. In Andrew Marvell’s poem, “To His Coy Mistress,” the speaker encounters an emotion some would call love but fits better under the designation of lust for a woman. In contrast, the speaker of Robert Herrick’s poem, “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time,” urges virgins to marry, to make a lasting commitment in which love plays a

One night at eight o’clock, Charles Colson visited a friend named Tom Phillipse. Before his acceptance of Christ, Tom lived much as Colson did; he was a ruthless businessman who ventured any measure upon which to win his way. Amidst witnessing Tom’s change briefly himself, Colson decided to make this additional visit. During this visit, Tom explained further to Colson his transformation and offered him a book called “Mere Christianity” by C. S. Lewis.

The book, Till we Have Faces chronicles the life of Orual, who struggles with her relationship with the gods and with the people closest to her . . The reader is able to better understand  her  internal struggles as  she is the narrator of the book. Because the story  is written from Orual’s  point of view the reader sees  life  through her eyes. They experience her biases and the way her emotions, perspectives, and prejudices warp her views on her life and ultimately the world, allowing them to understand her even better. . The reader is brought into Orual’s thought processes and emotions. When Orual reflects on herself, the reader is able to reflect with her and see where she might have been wrong in her thinking. Throughout reading,  Till We Have Faces, I felt more and more able to personally relate to  Orual. As the story unfolded, I realized that many  of the similarities in our life and world views revolved around our selfishness and need for control.

Love can be categorized as romantic love, family love, friendship love. Yet, divine love is always indispensable. However, do these religions really promote how to love? In All about love, hook seems to disagree that religion is used effectively to promote how to love in the world. But is this the truth? Are religions as hooks says, “corrupts and violates religion principles”? In this essay, I will discuss how religions play a role in creating and practicing the spiritual love, then I will examine oppositely and comment on how hooks criticize organized religions in promoting other cultures. Lastly, I will examine how spiritual practice and religion beliefs work together to enhance our spiritual life.

Compassion from God is necessary for the survival of the

C.S. Lewis covers many topics in his fourth book contained in Mere Christianity titled BEYOND PERSONALITY: OR FIRST STEPS IN THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY. He addresses such topics as theology, what it means to be the Son of God, the three personal God, the relationship of God and time, the cost of being a Christian, how God works to turn us into image of Christ, why Christian growth is both hard and easy, and also what he thinks about our old personalities before becoming Christians. These are all relative topics that apply to us and our daily lives. Learning and understanding this book can help a Christian tremendously in forming a deeper relationship with God.

When life gets good, glory can get in the way of things. Even as I finish this book, I wonder whom I will meet and help because of this. However, God’s Will for the last twenty-one chapters has everything to do with Him and little to do with me.

I had no regard for the person who would appease my desires; I only cared for myself. This condition of human-selfishness requires change in order for humans to turn out unselfish. Speaking in Augustinian terms: our concerns for ourselves must be redirected toward concerns for our God.

C.S. Lewis writes about God-love and Gift-love and the differences between both. He starts off describing Need-love. The best I can describe Need-love is in this passage on page 2: "We are born helpless. As soon as we are fully conscious we discover loneliness. We need others physically, emotionally, intellectually; we need them if we are to know anything, even ourselves." We can perceive Need-love to be selfish but as C.S. Lewis uses an example to describe how Need-love is not always selfish, "Need-love in consciousness- in other words, the illusory feeling that it is good for us to be alone- is a bad spiritual symptom; just as lack of appetite is a bad medical symptom because men do really need food." After this Lewis

C.S. Lewis is one of the greatest authors in history. His books are still widely available and sold to many interested readers. In Lewis’ childhood, he experienced a tragedy that affected his belief in god; in his middle life, he mainly focused on college and his studies, but his father’s death played a role in Lewis later becoming a Christian. In Lewis’ later life, he married one of his own fans. Clive’s passion for writing began when he was a small child, and it continued to grow as he furthered his education to become a college professor at Oxford University. Lewis is still remembered today for his great works, such as The Screwtape Letters and The Chronicles of Narnia, which is a popular series among children.

When I was a child, reading wasn't much of a pleasure for me. It seemed as a chore, something shoved down my throat, something I despised; it was long, boring, and tedious to me. Little did I know reading would change my life. The author C.S. Lewis is the man who changed my life, through books like Screwtape letters, Miracles, and Perelandra, C.S. Lewis consumed me, and spat me out a new.

Rooted deep in many of the works of C.S. Lewis are themes of Christianity and the relationship between man and the spiritual world. His last novel, Till We Have Faces, which was written in the mid 1950s, is one of his most intellectual works. Considered by Lewis as his best work, it is a retelling of the classical mythical story of Cupid and Psyche from the perspective of Orual, the older sister of Psyche. Masterfully written, Lewis prompts the reader to identify with Orual and view her as the victim. Lewis then reveals the faults of Orual and in the process sheds light on our own faults and those of society. As an upcoming freshman, I believe that college students would benefit from Till We Have Faces, because it opens the readers eyes to the spiritual struggle over love present in our modern society; the contrast between selfish love and true love, and the perceived indifference of God in

As, perhaps arguably, his most famous novel, from his most famous book series, The Chronicles of Narnia, there has been much debate as to his motives for the implementation of religion in his works, and even some question as to whether religion is an actual existing aspect of the work. This essay will not only outline the unmistakable presence of religious allegory, but also focus on the purpose of it being there. Thus being, that C.S Lewis uses religious allegory to effectively introduce and develop core themes of the novel in a fashion both comprehensible and relatable for a universal audience.