The document discusses C.S. Lewis and his journey with pain and faith, noting that he experienced significant loss and hardship in his early life through the deaths of his mother and close friend, which led him to initially question and reject the existence of God. It then discusses how Lewis's involvement with the Inklings literary group helped shape his thinking, as they provided feedback and discussions that influenced him to write the book The Problem of Pain, in which he explores his evolving views on suffering and the nature of God.

1. Through the Lens with C.S. Lewis
4 September 2012
“You don't have a soul.
You are a soul. You
have a body.”
― C.S. Lewis

2. You first
Share your otherworldy art…

3. Bent Broken
 “There are laws that all  “…he has left him
hnau know, of pity and nothing but greed. He is
straight dealing and now only a talking
shame and the like, and animal…” (138)
one of these is love of  “Devine was noisy,
kindred…which is not reckless and a little
one of the greatest hysterical…by the
laws…He has left you discovery that the
this one because a bent “natives” had an
hnau can do more evil alcoholic drink…” (142)
than a broken one….”
(137) Oyarsa’s Observations
“Are your fellow-creatures hurt in their brains…?”
(128)

4. The Greater Good
Who  “Our right to supersede you is the
understands the
concept better? right of the higher over the lower
life…it would not be the act of a
bent hnau if out people killed all
your people.” (134-5)
 “Love of our own kind…is not the
greatest of laws, but you, Oyarsa,
have said it is a law. If I cannot live
in Thulcandra, it is better for me not
to live at all.” (141)

5. Fear becomes courage.
Why is Ransom’s journey both his pain and his cure?
(142)

6. The Good, The Pain, and God
“…strange as it may appear I am quite
content to live without believing in a
bogey who is prepared to torture me for
ever and ever if I should fail in coming
up to an almost impossible ideal.”
C.S. Lewis
They Stand Together, 1916

7. The Good is Dead
By the time Lewis was
a young adult he had
suffered the loss of his
mother, a series of
boarding schools
(none of them
particularly wonderful),
estrangement from his
father, and the death
of his best friend,
Paddy Moore, in the
trenches of World War
I. Is it any wonder he
questioned the
goodness of a god

8. In this epic poem, Lewis
rails against a god who
allows temptations to
Spirits in Bondage trick people into
circumstances that
cause pain. To Lewis,
this god was nothing
more than a dream. His
response:
Yet I will not bow down to
thee nor love thee,
For looking in my own heart I
can prove thee,
And know this frail, bruised
being is above thee.

9. So, when Lewis wrote about pain…
…he understood it well. He had much yet
to learn, but he experienced tremendous
loss all through his early life. Additionally,
he kept a promise to Paddy Moore, made
in the trenches, and kept for life.

10. And yet…
The Inklings:  The year Out of the Silent Planet
Lewis regularly
met with a small
was published, Lewis was asked to
group of literary write a book on pain for a
friends at an
Oxford Pub for a
publishing house.
pint and a  Lewis resisted, saying that he
discussion. They
met weekly from wasn’t clergy and it would be
1930-1949, and presumptuous to discuss a topic
helped each other
with ideas, editing,
that hit so close to home.
and philosophic  He read portions to Tolkein and the
exchanges.
other “Inklings”, whose input was so
Members included
Warnie Lewis, appreciated that he dedicated the
Owen Barfield, and book to them.
J.R.R. Tolkein

11. Homework
Read pp 371-396. Plan to read it more than once.
Write a two page response to what you read. It can be something new to you, a confirmation
of what you already knew, or a general reaction to Lewis’s assertions about God.
Create an image that symbolizes the relationship of fear to awe. (References from ch 1)
Prepare a multiple slide presentation that connects your artwork to Lewis’s assertions about
the Numinous.