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The Screwtape Letters - 11/16/2007 10:46:50 AM

twelveroundsfan

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I don't have much time to post, but want to get this thought out before I forget it: did anyone else find C.S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters to be an excellent illustration of the morbidity of Christianity itself? I got the impression that Lewis, like certain early Church fathers, got at least as much pleasure from imagining the sinners in hell as from imagining the saints in heaven.

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RE: The Screwtape Letters - 11/16/2007 10:59:57 AM

luckydog1

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Haven't read that in over 20 years. That was not the impression I remember from it though.

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RE: The Screwtape Letters - 11/16/2007 1:25:55 PM

pahunkboy

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seems blasomess. i wont look at it. tho- i also think the pope ought not visit the US. the church was too silent on Iraq.

be that as it may- who wants to be lectured into the pits of hell

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RE: The Screwtape Letters - 11/16/2007 1:43:01 PM

Kana

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I loved that book.Wickedly sardonic.

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RE: The Screwtape Letters - 11/16/2007 1:51:22 PM

RCdc

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quote:

ORIGINAL: twelveroundsfan

I don't have much time to post, but want to get this thought out before I forget it: did anyone else find C.S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters to be an excellent illustration of the morbidity of Christianity itself? I got the impression that Lewis, like certain early Church fathers, got at least as much pleasure from imagining the sinners in hell as from imagining the saints in heaven.

No. Not even close.

the.dark.

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RE: The Screwtape Letters - 11/16/2007 3:02:47 PM

Kana

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Darcy/Dark is on point. Lewis was a serious christian, but not the everyone should burn in hell forever kind. He came to religion late in life and had much more tolerence than many would have had in that era. Interestingly it was Tolkien in a large part who helped convert him.

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RE: The Screwtape Letters - 11/16/2007 4:10:40 PM

angelikaJ

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Kana

Darcy/Dark is on point. Lewis was a serious christian, but not the everyone should burn in hell forever kind. He came to religion late in life and had much more tolerence than many would have had in that era. Interestingly it was Tolkien in a large part who helped convert him.

I really enjoyed and appreciated the excellent mini-series: The Question of God, done on PBS that got into Lewis' spiritual evolution...how his belief came about.
more info here: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/questionofgod/

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RE: The Screwtape Letters - 11/16/2007 4:23:45 PM

DomMeinCT

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I agree with you both. I didn't get the impression that Lewis enjoyed the idea of human suffering.

Great book, though.

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RE: The Screwtape Letters - 11/16/2007 6:32:40 PM

sharainks

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No, what I think is that its an excellent example of how Satan works in people's lives. God won in the end and so did the man. Yes the guy died in a man created war. Satan's little apprentice got a major reaming for losing this guy and letting him end up in heaven.

Christians view death as the step into heaven. Nothing is morbid about that. Its a whole lot more appealing than a step into eternal torment or a step into oblivion.

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RE: The Screwtape Letters - 11/16/2007 6:44:57 PM

ownedgirlie

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quote:

No. Not even close.

the.dark.

Agreed.

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RE: The Screwtape Letters - 11/17/2007 3:59:14 AM

XianDominSJ

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quote:

ORIGINAL: twelveroundsfan
...did anyone else find C.S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters to be an excellent illustration of the morbidity of Christianity itself?

Was the book, its Hellish setting, or Christianity itself morbid? I guess it all depends on how you view Hell. From the Christian viewpoint, it’s is a mixed bag—morbid (as you put it) in some ways, but bittersweetly comforting in others. On the one hand, it’s a dreadful destination and the passages that describe it (e.g., Mark 9:48) could certainly be considered “morbid.” On the other hand, it’s not wrong to take comfort in God’s justice either. In fact, part of the reason for the commands against revenge is precisely because Christians are to trust in God’s justice in eternity. When I look around and see victimization, exploitation, manipulative people and other misery humans inflict on one another, I can take a measure of comfort in knowing the God is just and will repay those who do not turn from those things and accept forgiveness. Bottom line is this: When a Christian delights in Heaven, it’s with the knowledge that we’re there by mercy and grace (not because we are righteous or “good enough”) and when we contemplate Hell, it’s tempered with the knowledge that, as sinner ourselves, we’re deserving of the same. Should Christians get “as much pleasure from imagining the sinners in hell as from imagining the saints in heaven” (as you state)? In short, no, because God has “no pleasure in the death of the wicked.” Hell, in that respect, is a just, necessary end for those who choose it.

quote:

ORIGINAL: twelveroundsfan
I got the impression that Lewis, like certain early Church fathers, got at least as much pleasure from imagining the sinners in hell as from imagining the saints in heaven.

C.S. Lewis did not, in any of his writings, delight in the notion of anyone going to Hell. His goal was merely to give fictional insight into how demon forces work against Christians so they could recognize some of those same things inside and outside of themselves.

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RE: The Screwtape Letters - 11/17/2007 11:36:13 PM

Vendaval

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One of my favorite books by one of my favorite authors! The book is both ironic and wise in the ways of human nature.
To answer your question though, no.

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RE: The Screwtape Letters - 11/18/2007 12:10:49 AM

popeye1250

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quote:

ORIGINAL: pahunkboy

seems blasomess. i wont look at it. tho- i also think the pope ought not visit the US. the church was too silent on Iraq.

be that as it may- who wants to be lectured into the pits of hell

LOL, yeah PaHunk, hell would be a relief after those holy rollers.
"Ok, I get it, I'm going to a place you call "hell" now shut the fuck up and leave me alone!"
I bet that's how the devil tortures people, with holy rollers!
There's a guy and his wife on tv here at 11:30 on sunday nights just before the "Get Rich by Working at Home" ads, "Rev. Jack Van Impe" and his wife Diana or whatever her name is.
I watch them purely for entertainment value!
It's funny as hell! They're off their rockers!
I think they believe in that rapture stuff.
They're real big into "the end times." Everyone's fucked and everyone's going to hell. Fire and Brimstone.
They hawk their books and tapes.
I'd love to get them both drunk and watch them go!
"C'mon Reverand, let us REALLY have it!"
"We're a bunch of sinning motherfuckers here!
"You, yer,...You CANNOT petition the Lorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrd with prayer!"

I just looked them up on Yahoo.
The wife's name is "Rexella." Really, no shit.
If I ever hit the Powerball lottery I'd have a huge party and invite all you guys and hire them for the entertainment!
"Don't let what happened to my hair happen to your soul!"
"Choose a $figure that matches your faith."

Oh, and Rexella,... "plays the organ." lolol

< Message edited by popeye1250 -- 11/18/2007 12:36:10 AM >

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