God manifests himself in what Christians regard as true and in our daily actions. C.S Lewis outlines in Book Two of Mere Christianity what we, as Christians, believe and why we have come to these conclusions. He explains opposition to Christianity and how we must quell the outbursts of non-believers. Using succinct and simple language he not only legitimizes God’s existence but His effect on humanity. In the first subcategory of Book Two, Lewis discusses his conversion from atheism to Christianity and how it relates to his worldview. When he was an atheist he convinced himself that he was smarter than the majority of the world. This was debilitating and caused him to have a narrow outlook on existence as he could only see one side of the question …show more content…
He implores that, “Now, today, this moment, is our chance to choose the right side. God is holding back to give us that chance. It will not last forever. We must take it or leave it.” (Lewis, 65) Having read Book Two, we as readers now have the knowledge we need to know of God. Therefore we must either choose to accept or reject the idea of Him and either become a member of the Christian faith or not. We now possess knowledge of God and His gifts to us as humanity and are also aware of the steps needed to be taken in order to be saved. We can no longer use the excuse of ignorance to God. He also bestowed us with our own free will in order to love him and follow Him on our own, as He only wants moral and honest people as his followers. Throughout Book Two C.S. Lewis argues his belief in God. By relating his conceptual ideas to reality, evidenced by the existence of free will, he draws in the common folk to be educated in the teachings of God. He allows for the understanding of God’s existence and his influences on our civilization to be accessible to even the most stubborn of non-believers. Lewis eloquently explains his beliefs in a brief and enlightening manner, making Book Two informing and interesting to
Faith is having absolute loyalty and trust towards a tremendous power in their growth. In the biography Parallel Journeys by Eleanor Ayer, Alfons Heck is a strong supporter of Hitler, but his relationship decreased. The memoir Night by Elie Wiesel, a Jewish holocaust survivor, has a wavering relationship with God that also decreases as time continues. Both Heck and Wiesel are devoted to their God’s at first; however, Wiesel is confused with his faith, while Heck continues to follow Hitler. In the end, each boy feels betrayed by their leaders.
Lewis realizes that God knows plans before we do, and he does not give us the pain to test us, but to strengthen us. A large piece of growth is proven when Lewis says, “Still there are two enormous gains…. Turned to God, my mind no longer meets that locked door; turned to H., it no longer meets that vacuum.” He recognizes that God is ultimately above all the pain and that God gave her to him for joy. He shifts away from doubt
One of his turning points was "An uncle gave me a bible for Christmas when I was four and yes, I do remember"(26). This turning point was important because he mentioned he remembers, and he specifically says he remembers. Reading this book changed him from the beginning, the book inspired Lewis to become a preacher in the future when he was just 5 years old. It's important because it's mentioned Lewis learns from the bible, he continues to say he understand the words in the Bible in him, phrases in the Bible that stuck with him. Because he was given a bible at such a young age, he was inspired to do more work, schoolwork was his passion and his favorite thing to do.
In the two short stories, “Young Goodman Brown,” by Nathaniel Hawthorne and “The Prodigal Son,” by St. Luke there is a parallel struggle of faith. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story, “Young Goodman Brown” is a very dark tale of mystery and deceit that surrounds a young man’s test of true faith in his battle against the evil one. In the parable of “The Prodigal Son,” Christ gives the reader a picture of God’s unfailing love toward His children and His ever constant surrounding presence. Faith is tested in each of these stories and the choice becomes to either succumb to this evil world, turn to God, or perhaps something else altogether. Although each story differs in climactic endings, both protagonists in each story reflect the struggle of one’s very soul by their reluctance to fully submit to God.
C. S. Lewis answers these questions and more as he uses structure and devices to explain this complex idea and allows his reader to incorporate this belief into their relationship with the Christian God. To aid the reader with completely grasping this controversial topic, Lewis utilizes multiple metaphors to demonstrate the advantages of both viewpoints. For example, when observing a savage, one records his participation in a fertility ritual. However, in the mind of the savage, this
Theme Analysis Essay: Having and Losing Faith In God Freedom of religion is a fundamental human right that protects all people. Religions faith can be tested under certain circumstances, which can falter the relationship one can have with their God. In the memoir Night, by Elie Wiesel, the author creates the universal theme that religious faith is questioned and challenged during traumatic events. Throughout the story, we see many relationships with God scarcely survive, and some completely fail entirely. For the duration of the memoir, Wiesel uses plenty of narrative elements to help convey this theme.
1 In Hawthorne 's essay “Young Goodman Brown”, does it matter whether or not the protagonist, Goodman Brown, dreamt the events in the story? The idea and drive behind religious faith and belief is a concept consistently explored in Young Goodman Brown (YGB). The story explores Brown 's journey in a single night which inexplicably ends with a tarnished perspective on religious faith as portrayed by his fellow villagers. Brown himself grows to be disillusioned on faith but the events leading up to this shift however, is ambiguous at best, with the debate mostly centred towards the notion that Brown merely dreamt the events, resulting in an unfair and biased outcome in terms of his sentiment towards the villagers and his own belief.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” Having faith in a higher archy is a prelevant theme in the memoir Night by Elie Wiesel. Set during the Holocaust, a time of extermination of the Jews, Wiesel’s faith in his god wavers as he describes the situations he endures. One will notice as Wiesel’s faith decreases his identity goes downhill. Although, changing views in religion can affect more than just one’s identity, Wiesel explains his faith in god has a huge impact on his personality to prove one’s religious aspects can affect the way they choose to live their life.
Whitestone published her second book called Believing The Promise in the summer of 1999, she wrote this book to promote strength, faith, determination and empowerment. Her third book was Let God Surprise You, this book introduces readers to men and women whose extraordinary stories demonstrate how God can turn around any situation and bring good in the most difficult moments in our lives. Her fourth book is Heavenly Crowns, this book discusses how God’s glory is revealed in the way we live our
A common questioning of a higher power beyond the physical realm lingers in society: Who and what is God?. However, many of these theological questions cannot be answered until we, of course, die. Due to human’s innate curiosity to understand the forces beyond their own, especially in terms of religion, humans find their own reasons to believe in God in the process of discovery. Religion is a sense of belief and worship to praise a higher power (God), and it provides a guide for human beings to have the opportunity to come together and live as one image of God’s children. “Imagine There’s No Heaven” is an article in which Salman Rushdie, the author, presents an atheistic view where religion is pointless, and a higher being is non-existent.
After reading the books, they opened a new pathway to relating to other people for me. Similarly, Malcolm X felt “months passed without even thinking about being imprisoned” due to the fact reading had changed his life (X, 3). The author and I related on an emotional level; therefore we are free with the newfound ability to use our dialog to
In the time of Clive Staples life, he won many different awards, including the Carnegie medal, which is one of the most outstanding awards given to authors. Clive Staples is very well known for his strong faith in God, which later led him to write the chronicles of Narnia series. The time period of Lewis had a great impact on the way he wrote the things he did. Lewis’s college experiences had the most impact on the things he did and the books he wrote. Another experience that impacted his writing was the army.
Faith is often thought of as simply believing in a religion or deity, but in the dictionary, faith is defined as complete trust in someone or something by. This definition of faith is shown in the works of Eliezer Wiesel, Markus Zusak, Alexander Kimel, and Franklin D. Roosevelt. In Night, Wiesel portrays his struggle with his faith in God during the Holocaust. Throughout The Book Thief, Zusak shows the faith which his characters, Liesel and Max, have in the Hubermanns. Kimel writes about his faith in God as a Jewish Holocaust survivor in “The Creed of a Holocaust Survivor,” and Roosevelt speaks about America’s faith in God and their soldiers during the D-Day attacks during World War II in his well-known “D-Day Prayer.”
C.S. Lewis once said, “I believe in Christ, like I believe in the sun- not because I can see it, but by it I can see everything else.” I have used this quote as a guide for myself throughout my journey to finding the Lord. Putting my faith into someone “intangible” and having faith in Christ has not been an easy task for me, given I was not raised in an extremely religious household. However, I was about fourteen when I discovered God’s word, felt my heart swell with happiness, and fell in love with Christ. That day changed my life entirely, and completely changed my outlook of the world.
In the two short stories, “Young Goodman Brown,” by Nathaniel Hawthorne and “The Prodigal Son,” by St. Luke there is a parallel struggle of faith. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story, “Young Goodman Brown” is a very dark tale of mystery and deceit that surrounds a young man’s test of true faith in his battle against the evil one. In the parable of “The Prodigal Son,” Christ gives the reader a picture of God’s unfailing love toward His children and His ever constant surrounding presence. Faith is tested in each of these stories and the choice becomes to either succumb to this evil world, turn to God, or perhaps something else altogether. Although each story differs in climactic endings, both protagonists in each story reflect the struggle of one’s very soul by their reluctance to fully submit to God.