The Weight of Glory

Acclaimed author of the children's Chronicles of Narnia series, novelist, poet, literary critic, influential Christian apologist and theologian C. S. Lewis delivers another insightful and captivating piece of literature in this collection of sermons and essays under the title "The Weight of Glory." I found the introduction of the book by Walter Hooper to be very enlightening and interesting. It offered me a small glimpse into the personality and practices of C. S. Lewis himself. It brought the incredible C. S. Lewis down to the human level, to my level, and helped me understand him and why he wrote. Lewis delivered these speeches and sermons during World War II, in hopes of bringing insight to select difficult issues of Christian apologetics. The topics of these addresses include, forgiveness, education, friendship, belonging, and living in light of the reality of eternity. In a time of great doubt, Lewis offers honest advice and guidance, using methodical reasoning and wisdom to build up believers in faith, hope, and love. He is able to make clear what is often lofty and confusing, and to express with clarity its relevance and practical importance. As sermons, these texts are addressed directly to the audience, which I appreciated a lot. The principle characters are the audience members themselves, mostly on an individual level as Lewis takes them on a journey to examine their innermost thoughts and soul, but also on a larger scale as a society and humanity as a whole. The main goal of these sermons/writings is to make the reader question their beliefs and actions, which works a lot better with this way of communication. He does not attempt in these sermons to convince us that Christianity is true; he takes it as a given and uses it as the basis for his arguments. Mostly, he digs deeper into why the belief is worth it. His main focus is to get us to turn our gaze from the temporal and earthly to the eternal, comparing our current life and circumstances to something higher and holy. C. S. Lewis does a masterful job with his argument in each essay. He addresses the objections people could raise. He understands the emotional impact on people and battles that they were going through. I appreciated how he started off most essays by defining his terms carefully. He is using logic to appeal to the audience and this is very effective as it considers all options. He systematically takes apart opposing options one by one, to be left with his own position as the best option. The title essay is remarkably memorable, and is clearly the product of extended thought and reflection, contributing greatly to its excellence. "The Weight of Glory" is an address on the nature of glory, beginning by reminding the reader that they are too often distracted by simple distractions of life and fail to see that something greater remains just beyond our view. To desire something greater, to desire glory, is not a sin. Lewis says that only by the work of Christ, the believer is made an object of glory and is accepted by God. The end result is that "the door on which we have been knocking all our lives will open at last". Lewis concludes with emphasizing the value we are to place on each other. He says, "It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or the other of these destinations." We truly have never met a mortal person. We all shall live forever. This should have an impact on how we think about all people. Another sermon is on the relationship between Christian Theology and poetry. Lewis surprisingly denies that Christianity resembles poetry, as ultimately the narrative of Christianity is something more real and historical. In this piece, Lewis' language and his argument are pure poetry; I thought it was persuasive and very well written. The sixth sermon is titled "The Inner Ring." Lewis describes here the cliquish nature of human relationships. The rings of acceptance and exclusion are a natural part of life but are dangerous. Lewis wants the reader to consider carefully the desire to belong, because he believes "unless you take measures to prevent it, this desire is going to be one of the chief motives of your life." Some of the other essays are quite complex, and readers could easily get lost in the metaphysical arguments in "Transposition," but for the most part each piece is, if not straightforward, presented in a most logical and down-to-earth way. While this book is not quite a full cohesive text, it is a collection of bite-sized pieces of wisdom on issues that are too easily overlooked, making it the perfect book to read bit by bit with time in between to reflect on the wisdom Lewis has packed into the pages.

The Weight of Glory by C.S. Lewis C.S. Lewis writes with a very intriguing and interesting style, especially in one of his great books titled The Weight of Glory. He is a very logical writer that is able to tie in emotions to keep the reader engaged and be able to relate to the topics. The book is organized in different sections with different topics. The title of this work refers to the connection to Christianity in all of his topics. C.S. Lewis is a strong Christian that directs his writing at other Christians and non-Christians; he makes the reader think about how he/she can change for the better for whatever topic is being discussed. The arguments in this piece are set up from a logical standpoint therefore, the reader will find a lot of strong warrants for each claim that Lewis states. The topics that Lewis will be discussed from Lewis’s piece include: “On Forgiveness,” “Learning in War Time,” “The Inner Ring,” and “Membership.” The overall background of the writings includes resolving common issues in the context of Christianity. The first topic that Lewis discusses is forgiveness. An example of how he relates the topic of forgiveness to Christianity is how many Christians will ask God to excuse them instead of confessing their full sin and truly believe in God’s forgiveness. Lewis (2001) makes this claim and then backs it up with evidence immediately by writing, “If you had a perfect excuse, you would not need forgiveness; if the whole of your action needs forgiveness, then there was no excuse for it” (p. 179). This is very logical support from Lewis and it is shown by his “if, then” statements. Another topic that Lewis brings up is titled, “Learning in War Time.” This reading describes the everyday war that Christians endure. It really struck me when Lewis said he believes that all humans are called to be righteous in the duties we participate in within this war. He then continues from a logical standpoint by saying that every duty is a religious duty, thus it is absolute that it’s our obligation perform every duty in the name of God. This statement caught my attention because it teaches me that I can do every duty I am called to do in my life to the glory of God. The way that Lewis warrants this statement comes from a very emotional standpoint, which gives the reader a strong example to test their morality in a certain situation. Lewis (2001) attacks the reader’s emotions when he writes, “Thus we may have a duty to rescue a drowning man and, perhaps, if we live on a dangerous coast, to learn lifesaving so as to be ready for any drowning man when he turns up” (p.53). Not only was I able to relate to this example, but it definitely tested my morality. Before Lewis even said in the next sentence, “It may be our duty to lose our own lives in saving him,” I already thought to myself that I would be willing to die for another person through my own moral/emotional mindset. As mentioned, I was also to be able to relate to the situation. For example, I have taken a few CPR and childhood safety classes because my mom runs a daycare; therefore, I always have to be ready to act if any of the children ever had any health implications. “The Inner Ring” dilemma is another topic that Lewis presents. Logic is, once again, used by Lewis in the strongest way in explaining this concept and relating it to Christianity. The inner ring represents an individual always wanting to be involved in something for the lone reason of just wanting to be “in.” Unless we can find virtue, happiness, loyalty, and kindness in the things we’re involved in, we will always feel excluded and we will always be looking for more. This is exactly what Lewis explains before he boldly states his two reasons behind this dilemma. The first reason he stated was that passion for the ring is the most skillful thing in causing a good man to do bad things. In his second reason, he said that until one conquers the fear of being an outsider, an outsider that individual will remain. He even makes a clear comparison to the reader for better understanding, which is something Lewis is very effective at. He is the type of author that can make the topic easily relate to the reader, which helps with better understanding for the reader. The last topic that Lewis discusses is the issue on “Membership.” This is another case of Lewis showing his strength in logic by making a statement and then supporting it with two bold reasons. There were two reasons behind why he stated for religion to be solitude is dangerous. He then proceeded with his logical reasoning by quoting the modern world, “You may be religious when you are alone, and I will see to it that you are never alone” (p.160). Of course, he explains in detail what this means by saying it is basically banishing all of Christianity to believe in this statement. Supporting the claim with a second warrant, he says, “There is the danger that real Christians who know that Christianity is not a solitary affair may react against that error by simply transporting into our spiritual life that same collectivism which has already conquered our secular life” (p.160). When Lewis clearly states a few reasons a claim is true, it shows how sharp his logical reasoning is. As mentioned before, the book appealed to me in an extremely logical way. Lewis also incorporates an emotional effect on the reader in a few different topic areas. The writing was very easy for me to understand and relate to, which makes the reading much more intriguing. Even though I am the type of audience that Lewis is mainly targeting (Christians), I do believe that non-Christians would also be blown away by Lewis’s powerful writing style. The book, The Weight of Glory, showed the importance of recognizing certain topics/issues present in our world today and being able to relate them to Christianity to understand how we can make a difference for the better in the glory of God. Citations Lewis, C.S. The Weight of Glory. (1963). New York. (2001) Print.

C. S. Lewis's books often are not an easy read, not because his language is difficult but because it requires concentration and active thinking in order to keep up with his logic and line of arguments. His books often offer refreshing perspectives which are counter-intuitive at first sight, and sink in only upon further mediation. This book is no difference. His observations are sharp and the essays are so well-argued that make the conclusions inevitable. In other words, C S Lewis is persuasive. The way how he writes makes his works very quotable and in turn memorable for us. In this book, Lewis did not shy away from controversies of his time but confronted them head on. His skills rest not only in taking apart and in turn illuminate the questions asked, but also to argue eloquently with conviction from his heart. This is what makes Lewis so compelling to read. In arguing learning in war-time, he says, among other things, "the learned life then, is, for some, a duty." (p.59) Why? "[The learned life] has indirect values which are especially important today... To be ignorant and simple now - not to be able to meet the enemies on their own ground - would be to throw down our weapons, and to betray our uneducated brethren who have, under God, no defence but us against the intellectual attacks of the heathen. Good philosophy must exist, if for no other reason, because bad philosophy needs to be answered. .. Most of all, perhaps, we need intimate knowledge of the past... A man who has lived in many places is not likely to be deceived by the local errors of his native village; the scholar has lived in many times and is therefore in some degree immune from the great cataract of nonsense that pours from the press and the microphone of his own age." (p. 58-59) This sense of mission in learning is broader than personal gain in the labour market, is it not? And in every age, we need someone like Lewis to help us see through the deceptions of the day. Is this not true also? Our world has gotten more confusing , if anything. I find often there is timeliness in Lewis' arguments. I like his directness in addressing issues, for example, on hell and heaven. Rightly said. He makes bold statements that we may not dare to utter these days, but they are truths that we should know. The one essay that has stood out for me from this collection is Membership. What he says about membership is not new if you read the Bible. What is unusual in his skill is in how he crystalises the concept so precisely. The concept of members of a club has been diluted to mean units, which has only quantitative impact on the club. However, the biblical concept of members is that members occupy structural position, such that, 'If you subtract any one member, you have not simply reduced the family in number, you have inflicted an injury on its structure.' (p. 164-165) That's what is wrong in today's society, while in contrast God offers us an identity'in the structure of the eternal cosmos for which we were designed or invented' (p.173)) Isn't that exciting? Let me indulge one more of my highlights from this book: "I believe in political equality. But there are two opposite reasons for being a democrat. You may think all men so good that they deserve a share in the government of the commonwealth, and so wise that the commonwealth needs their advice. That is, in my opinion, the false, romantic doctrine of democracy. On the other hand, you may believe fallen men to be so wicked that not one of them can be trusted with any irresponsible power over this fellows. That I believe to be the true ground of democracy.' (p. 168) Therefore democracy / equality is medicine for its protective function; it is needed because the society is sick. The corollary is that if the society is not sick, we don't need democracy. But the error of the day is that it is pursued as if it is nutritious food intrinsic for our health, rather than being the medicine that perhaps we should loathe the fact that we need it in the first place. If these highlights grip you and excite you, then there are a lot more in this book which you should turn to read and claim them as your own.

Excellent series of talks from this mastermind. The author never stops to consider my personal preferences but rather how to live a radical Christian life of no compromise. Dangerous inspiring reading.

This book is like poetry and theology fused together. I really enjoyed the book.

Que pena colocar o texto de c.s.lewis em uma encadernação tão pobre e mal feita. Sem contar o valor alto do livro.

Each sermon in this collection is worth the price of the book. "The Weight of Glory" is a true masterpiece. "Why I am not a Pacifist" is actually a practical guide for learning how to approach any decision that has moral consequences. That is to say, any decision at all. The author is a Christian, but I believe his thoughts would be beneficial to sincere people of any faith. Also highly reccommended is The Screwtape Letters, by the same author.