C.S. Lewis pens an excellent allegory about heaven & hell. I have been listening and reading the Christian works of C.S. Lewis for some time and have C.S. Lewis pens an excellent allegory about heaven & hell. I have been listening and reading the Christian works of C.S. Lewis for some time and have enjoyed his thoughts on life's most important questions. He has an incredible way of saying profound things but making them easy for the average person to understand. Mere Christianity is my personal favorite work by Lewis. This was my first time reading The Great Divorce and I am glad to say that this allegory continues to expand on the apologetic ideals Lewis explains in Mere Christianity. Lewis doesn't miss a beat getting into the hard questions like, "Are We Inherently Good? What is Love? Can those who have done great evil be forgiven?" Each of the characters we follow presents man's need to want to hold on to resentment, unwillingness to let go and the pride of life. One of my favorite ghosts interaction is the conversation between the artist and the angel. The artist who is already dead is so enthralled with wanting to create art that he completely misses the point that he journeys to heaven he would be in the company of the creator who gave him the divine inspiration and skill to be the artist. He is short sighted in that he has already concluded that his artistic sight or vision can't be outdone by what he would see in Heaven. At one point he even concludes that the notion of a divine encounter and perfect sight are a childish dream. He rather bask in darkness if it means it will make him a better artist. My thought was that we at times fall in love with our skills or gifts rather than be more inclined to get closer to the God who gave us our gifts. Ultimately I think Lewis' point of this fantasy tale is that many of us would chose hell rather than to be changed to enter Heaven. If God is holy and all good one has to conclude that in order to go to where God is we must shed all the evil and sin within us. The book was filled with humor but well balanced with Lewis' apologetic message. I never felt like Lewis was talking down to the audience but instead with grace and honesty answer some the questions we often face when talking about Hell and Heaven. I am looking forward to reading more of this distinguish Englishman's work. ...more
Loading...
