Reading “Mere Christianity” at The Eagle And Child

LewisAs you may have noticed, I have not been posting much on the blog recently. I have been far from idle, but I haven’t found time to sit down and write. Two main projects are occupying my time at the moment.

The first is a podcast which I hope to launch next month.

The second item consuming my time is a new CS Lewis reading group which is starting next month. This group, “The Eagle and Child”, named after the pub in which CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien met with The Inklings, will be a monthly meeting to discuss the works of CS Lewis.

The first book we will be reading is Lewis’ classic “Mere Christianity”. This book grew out of talks Lewis gave on the radio during World War II, in which he outlines, with his usual charm and humour, his case for Christianity.

Rather than having the blog go completely quiet, I will be posting my notes for “Mere Christianity” as I read through it in preparation for each of our meetings. You’re invited to read along with me 🙂

Preface (Podcast)

Book I – “Right and wrong as a clue to the meaning of the universe” (Summary)
Chapter 1 – “The Law of Human Nature” (Podcast)
Chapter 2 – “Some Objections” (Podcast)
Chapter 3 – “The Reality of the Law” (Podcast)
Chapter 4 – “What lies behind the Law” (Podcast)
Chapter 5 – “We have cause to be uneasy” (Podcast)

Book II – “What Christians believe” (Summary)
Chapter 1 – “Rival Conceptions of God” (Podcast)
Chapter 2 – “The Invasion” (Podcast)
Chapter 3 – “The Shocking Alternative” (Podcast)
Chapter 4 – “The Perfect Penitent” (Podcast)
Chapter 5 – “The Practical Conclusion” (Podcast)

Book III – “Christianity Morality” (Summary)
Chapter 1 – “The Three Parts of Morality” (Podcast)
Chapter 2 – “The ‘Cardinal Virtues'” (Podcast)
Chapter 3 – “Social Morality” (Podcast)
Chapter 4 – “Morality and Psychoanalysis” (Podcast)
Chapter 5 – “Sexual Morality” (Podcast)
Chapter 6 – “Christian Marriage” (Podcast)
Chapter 7 – “Forgiveness” (Podcast)
Chapter 8 – “The Great Sin” (Podcast)
Chapter 9 – “Charity” (Podcast)
Chapter 10 – “Hope” (Podcast)
Chapter 11 – “Faith” (Podcast)
Chapter 12 – “Faith” (Podcast)

BOOK IV – “Beyond personality: Or first steps into the doctrine of the Trinity” (Summary)
Chapter 1 – “Making and begetting” (Podcast)
Chapter 2 – “The Three-Personal God” (Podcast)
Chapter 3 – “Time and beyond time” (Podcast)
Chapter 4 – “Good infection” (Podcast)
Chapter 5 – “The obstinate toy soldiers” (Podcast)
Chapter 6 – “Two notes” (Podcast)
Chapter 7 – “Let’s pretend” (Podcast)
Chapter 8 – “Is Christianity hard or easy?” (Podcast)
Chapter 9 – “Counting the cost” (Podcast)
Chapter 10 – “Nice People or new men?” (Podcast)
Chapter 11 – “The new man” (Podcast)

Catholic Word of the Day: Kecharitomene

At this point, I’ve given a few talks on the subject of the Blessed Mother (e.g. Mary and the Early Church). However, I’ve never had a chance to speak about one of the more interesting aspects of the Annunciation, the words used in greeting by the Angel Gabriel.

Gabriel greets Mary with “Hail, full of grace!”. The Greek word used here is Kecharitomene (κεχαριτωμένη) and its significance should not be underestimated. Here’s Renee from RebornPure to explain…

Who killed CCM?

If you’ve followed this blog for any length of time, you will know that I happen to rather like Contemporary Christian Music (CCM). I think that there’s an awful lot of dross out there which some Christians will lap up simply because it has the label of “Christian”, but I also think that there’s some great stuff out there (Matt Maher, Audrey Assad etc).

Having said that, a friend posted this on Facebook and I thought some of the comments were too hilarious not to share…

CCM

Music Monday: O Little While

A couple of weeks ago I attended a concert performed by Joe Zambon. I’ve been driving around listening to his new CD ever since. I’m sure I’ll be posting some more of his songs over the coming weeks, but here’s one with my favourite video, “O Little While”:

This song was inspired by the words of St. Bernard of Clairvaux:

“O little while, little while! How long a little while! Dear Lord, you say it is for a little while that we do not see you. The word of my Lord may not be doubted, but it is a long while, far too long. Yet both are true; it is a little while compared to what we deserve, but a long while to what we desire. You have each meaning expressed by the prophet Habakuk: ‘If he delays, wait for him, for he will come, and will not delay’ (Hab. 2:3) How is it that he will not delay if he does delay, unless it is that he comes sooner than we deserve but not as soon as we desire?”

1 184 185 186 187 188 551