In case you didn’t know, here in San Diego I’m part of a C.S. Lewis reading group called “The Eagle and Child”, named after the pub in which Lewis and “The Inklings” would regularly meet. Inspired through these group discussions, my friend Matt and I have launched a podcast where we will be working our way chapter-by-chapter through “Mere Christianity”. In today’s episode, we begin the Preface…
Today I’m very pleased to announce the launch of my latest podcast, “The Eagle and Child”.
If you live in San Diego, California, you may know that I’m part of a C.S. Lewis reading group called “The Eagle and Child”, named after the pub in which Lewis and “The Inklings” would regularly meet.
When I started the group, I had lots of messages from friends outside of San Diego asking how they could be part of this group. This podcast is, in part, my response to that.
Each week, my friend Matt and I will be working our way through a chapter of a C.S. Lewis book, beginning with “Mere Christianity”. So, if you’ve ever wanted to read this classic book, please pick up a copy from Amazon and join us in cyberspace for a thoughtful discussion and a beer!
These are my notes from reading through “Mere Christianity” with a local San Diego book club.
Notes & Quotes
1. The Moral Law points to something beyond the material universe
“…in the Moral Law somebody or something from beyond the material universe…[is] getting at us”
2. Some readers might complain that Lewis tricked them
“…that I had been carefully wrapping up to looking like philosophy what turns out to be one more ‘religious jaw’…but if it turns out to be only religion…the world has tried that and you cannot put the clock back”
(a) Sometimes you have to go back to go forward
“…progress means getting nearer to the place where you want to be. And if you have taken a wrong turning, then to go forward does not get you any nearer…it is pretty plain that humanity has been making some big mistake”
(b) We have not yet reached “religion”
“We have not yet got as far as the God of any actual religion… We have only got as far as a Somebody or Something behind the Moral Law…“
(i) We are trying to discover more about this Something behind the Moral Law from the universe. From this, we see the Being is…
(A) An Artist
“…we should have to conclude that He was a great artist (for the universe is a very beautiful place)…”
(B) Dangerous
“…but also that He is quite merciless and no friend to man (for the universe is a very dangerous and terrifying place)”
(ii) We are also trying to discover more about this Being from the Moral Law itself.
(A) The Being cares about Right and Wrong
“…the Being behind the universe is intensely interested in right conduct…”
(B) We cannot yet call this being forgiving
“The Moral Law does not give us any grounds for thinking that God is ‘good’ in the sense of being indulgent, or soft, or sympathetic. There is nothing indulgent about the Moral Law. It is as hard as nails… if there does exist an absolute goodness it must hate most of what we do”
(C) He’s not a tame lion
“God is the only comfort, He is also the supreme terror: the thing we most need and thing we most want to hide from”
(c) Christianity doesn’t make sense until you understand the questions it attempts to answer
“Christianity tells people to repent and promises them forgiveness. It there has nothing…to say to people who do not know they have done anything to repent of and who do not feel that they need any forgiveness…. When you know you are sick, you will listen to the doctor”
Discussion Questions
1. Given what you’ve learned in Book I, what can you say to friends and family to make the case for Christianity? What illusions can keep us from recognizing the truth of this book?
2. Why does a God behind the Moral Law both attract and terrify us?
3. How does the Moral Law make sense within the context Christianity specifically?
This page contains a list of previous talks I have given, together with the video/audio where available. You can also listen to them via the Theology With An English Accent podcast feeds (Feed | iTunes | Google Play). If you’d like to invite me to come and speak at a Theology on Tap or to a parish group, please contact me. My references are
Although in the West Lent begins this coming (Ash) Wednesday, in the Byzantine Church the Great Fast (“Lent”) begins tomorrow.
For the duration of the Fast, I’m going to be off social media and I’m also not going to be posting anything here at the blog. I’ll be back on April 16th, Easter Sunday…which also happens to be my birthday 🙂
If you’re looking for something to do during Lent, I’d recommend reading a book of the Bible, Paul’s Epistle to the Philippians in particular. A couple of years ago, I did a video series during Lent on that book of the Bible. You can either watch all the videos on YouTube or check in at the site’s Facebook page where I’ll be uploading the videos several times a week.
In the Byzantine Church, as part of our final preparation for Lent, tonight we celebrate “Forgiveness Vespers”. It is similar to the usual service of Vespers, but we also ask for forgiveness from each other for any hurts we have inflicted upon one another this past year. It therefore seemed appropriate to share in this final post a quotation from my spiritual father, Fr. Nicholas:
“At one and the same time, forgiving is the hardest thing in the world and the easiest. It is the hardest because we don’t want to. It is the easiest when we let Jesus do it”
This week I’m leading Bible Study at St. Brigid’s, so once again I’m posting my notes for this Sunday’s Mass Readings…
7th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)
This week’s Readings speaks to both the continuity and discontinuity between the Old and New Testaments, focussing on the idea that morality flows from God, that living a holy life flows from imitation of God.
Back when I started this blog, I led a Young Adult Bible study group, so each week I would post my notes concerning the upcoming Mass Readings. My goal was to produce a commentary for the entirety of the Sunday Lectionary. However, this came to an end when I started attending an Eastern-Rite parish and handed the Bible Study over to another leader. The Eastern Churches have a different liturgical calendar and Lectionary, so the project came to an end.
This Wednesday I was leading a Bible study at a Roman-Rite parish, so I thought I would revive my tradition of posting my notes for today’s readings…
Today I’m very pleased to announce the launch of my latest podcast, “The Eagle and Child”.
