C. S. Lewis and Myth 2020

 Some recent grappling with doubt in my life has proven difficult, and it has led me to realize in hindsight where Lewis has written on the topic multiple times. I have already made reference to Elwin Ransom's struggle with doubt before his struggle against the Un-man, and during it, after he seems to have escaped and he is left to wonder why Maleldil has not yet intervened. Similarly, but in a different facet of the word, Aslan comments on doubt by encouraging Lucy not to doubt her own worth, and not to run from who she is. Furthermore, in Shadowlands , we can see that when Lewis experiences great sorrow from the death of Joy, only shortly after he had truly loved her, he too struggles with serious doubt in his life. It can be incredibly difficult to deal with doubt, and to turn it into anything beneficial. It is something that I struggled with for an extended time some years ago, and it definitely took time even after the particularly intense period had ended that I realized wher...

       In the first book of a Space Trilogy, “Out of a Silent Planet,” by C.S. Lewis, Dr. Ransom’s doubts from whether his experiences of Malacandra were real are disclosed in the last chapter of the book.   The pressures of Dr. Ransom’s normal life make him forget his beliefs and he questions whether or not his experiences were hallucinations.   Lewis, however, in reaching out to Dr. Ransom with a question allows him to return to his neglected beliefs.        This relates to Susan’s choice to no longer believe in Narnia in “The Last Battle,” as she gets caught up in different things such as partying and Aslan states she is “no longer a friend of Narnia” (Lewis, 1956).   It also relates to an excerpt from Lewis’ essay, “Miracles,” where Lewis described how seeing is not believing through a story of the only women he knew to see a ghost, who neither believed in the immortality of humans before or after seeing the ghost, as she disr...

In the last chapter of “The Silent Planet,” by C.S. Lewis, Ransom publishes his story as fiction, to avoid being called a lunatic, but also in hopes that it will plant a seed of certain ideas, so that when it is time to reveal the truth, it will be easier to expect.   In some ways, this use of myth to plant a seed reveal what is truth under the disguise of a fiction book relates to our class discussions on the role of myth in revealing that which is true.   As C.S. Lewis reveals in “Myth Became Fact,” “When we translate we get abstraction -- or rather, dozens of abstractions. What flows into you from the myth is not truth but reality (truth is always about something, but reality is that about which truth is), and, therefore, every myth becomes the father of innumerable truths on the abstract level.” (Lewis, 1970). References Lewis, C. S., & In Hooper, W. (1970). God in the dock: Essays on theology and ethics.

  Several excerpts from the Gospels have reminded me of our discussion in class of the hidden meaning that language can hold and the writings of Gadamer.   Gadamer stated, “Part of game [mirror of language] with speaking is that certain things are hidden, preconceptions, we can get to through the disruption of oneself through stories. Language itself hides these misconceptions, but we can uncover them through disruption, myth.”   This illustrates how language and the preconceptions formed around it can hide the meaning behind what one is saying.       In Luke 9:44-45, it is written, “’Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.’ But they did not understand this statement. It was veiled from them so that they could not comprehend it, and they were afraid to ask Him about it.” In Luke 18:33-34, it is written “They will flog Him and kill Him, and on the third day He will rise again.” 34But the disc...

  One thing I have considered more in depth from our class discussion and readings on art and language is the power of music.   I think it is intriguing and irrational when you consider it, how music can remain so powerful, reaching an individual’s spirit through the sound, even when language cannot be understood, is not present, or is not paid attention to.   I think it ties into our discussion of art and the power it holds beyond simple knowledge.   This ties into a quote I heard from C. S. Lewis “The incalculable winds of fantasy and music and poetry, the mere face of a girl, the song of a bird, or the sight of a horizon, are always blowing evil's whole structure away,” where art’s power over evil is suggested.  

 Being the third myth heavy class I have taken with Dr. Redick, I cannot say my ideas about myth have changed drastically. That happened mostly within RSTD 335 (Primal Religions). What has happened, however, is I began to ask questions myself about the nature of myth. C.S. Lewis and Myth was more akin to an exploratory independent study, which allowed me to ask my own questions through the major assignments. As I expressed in earlier posts, I mentioned that I asked questions about if myth was a type of phenomenology and where myth came from. Through my investigations, I concluded that myth is more a cousin of phenomenology and that myth originates from the act of consensus. I will say perhaps the primary change in my conclusions of myth might be about its teaching power. Previously I say myth as a sort of cosmic orientation. However, now I can see it as relevant to the modern-day with the lessons myths have to teach, especially with modern reinterpretations such as C.S Lewis's ...