A young man who wishes to remain a sound Atheist cannot be too careful of his reading. There are traps everywhere – ‘Bibles laid open, millions of surprises,’ as Herbert says, ‘fine nets and stratagems.’ God is, if I may say it, very unscrupulous. –C. S. Lewis “Surprised by Joy” All the books were beginning to turn against me. Indeed, I must have been blind as a bat not to […]
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The Divine Comedy: XII. Why Purgatory?
Hell vs. Purgatory What is the difference between Hell and Purgatory in Dante’s Divine Comedy? To put the question in a different way, what determines whether a person stays in Hell or Purgatory? According to St. Augustine, it is the grace of God, which restores free will in man and enables him to desire and attain the Good. Firstly, those in the Inferno are confined to their respective circles, and never […]
Read more“The Abolition of Man” by C. S. Lewis
A thought-provoking, occasionally humorous essay in defense of traditional values and the emotions associated with them, against nihilism and reductionism. The danger of reductionism, Lewis cautioned, is that, like the basilisk who kills every living thing it sees, reductionist approach tends to break things down to measurable quantities, and in the process lose sight of quality and value. It’s dissecting the Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs. Lewis also made […]
Read more“The Great Divorce” by C. S. Lewis
Lewis takes the readers on a fantasy bus ride from hell to heaven, and describes what he believes to be the fundamental difference between good and evil, and the difference in traits between people in heaven and hell. I like the way Lewis uses imageries to illustrate theological concepts, and the dialogues of his characters are also very entertaining and revealing. During the bus ride, one encounters all sorts of […]
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