Rediscovering Clive

I'm quite a fan of C.S.Lewis. I adored his Narnia books whilst growing up, and the recent film adaptations have brought out my inner child and inner theologian in equal measure. I've loved seeing those glorious adventures brought to life so powerfully on the screen. I do like "Mere Chrisitanity", though Lewis is far more than that. I'm also aware of the areas where Lewis is/was a bit off, but unlike some, his positives far outweigh the negatives. This, then, is a positive reconsideration, in the light of a surprising but welcome literary discovery (though, naturally, it's not a discovery so much as me personally catching up with my reading. Part of the joy of books for me, however, is the excitement at discovering something exciting I didn't know before, even if it turns out to be common knowledge. But I digress).

I've got a range of his books on my shelves. I've also started reading his science fiction trilogy on my kindle. That isn't going quite so well, but I think I'll stick at it. Recently, however, I dug out a book that I bought months ago, and started reading it. Its a collection of papers, sermons and addresses titled, with a bit of whimsy, "Fern-seed and Elephants". Containing eight different peices of his thought, it provides a fascinating and interesting window into the mind of one of recent history's most potent Christian thinkers. Two addresses particularly struck me. The first - and this perhaps betrays my congregational Grace Baptist upbringing - is the first in this book, "Membership". The second is a superb essay on theology and especially biblical criticism which bears the title of the book too; "Fern-seed and Elephants". For me, the first of these showed a different side to Lewis, and the second confirmed my hopes that he was a bold and pugnacious thinker.

The issue of church membership is one I have been aware of my whole Christian life. When I gave my life to Jesus, I strongly felt that membership in a local church is vital part of expressing that. I still do. But I am aware of - and am occasionally sympathetic to - people who follow Jesus but feel they cannot become members of a church, or even be part of one. This is sad. And, I believe, it is not what Jesus intended. In this simply titled address, Lewis approaches this issue. And he doesn't shirk from the spiritual significance of being joined to a body of believers, commenting that the "structural position in the Church which the humblest Christian occupies is eternal and even cosmic. The Church will outlive the universe; in it the individual person will outlive the universe. Everything that is joined to the immortal head will share his immortality". Cosmic hyperbole, perhaps, but essentially true! 

Indeed, as we gather, as we remember Christ's victory over death and the coming Kingdom of God, I would directly agree with Lewis as he writes "we shall share the victor by being in the Victor". Amen. Lewis closes his essay on  membership with a beautiful phrase, challenging popular Christian individualism and those who think this life is all there is; "Neither the individual nor the community as popular thought understands them can inherit eternal life: neither the natural self, nor the collective mass, but a new creature". A powerful close, emphasising at once the tension of Christ dying for individuals and the church, as well as the powerful truth of new creation in the redeemed person.

The final and title-bequeathing essay of this book is the superb "Fern Seed and Elephants". Lewis here writes on the issues of theology and criticism - from his perspective as a Christian apologist and Cambridge literary academic - with a powerful and incisive point. His starting point, in a powerful echo of much contemporary discussion, is that "there are two sorts of outsiders: the uneducated, and those who are educated in some way but not in your way". Lewis emphasises the need for theology to be accessible and understandable. 

But the crux of this essay hinges on a fascinating question - among others Lewis has identified famous figures like Loisy, Schweitzer, Bultmann and Tillich - the very essence of the criticism that these theologians engage in. Lewis is upfront; "whatever these men may be as Biblical critics, I distrust them as critics. They seem to me to lack literary judgement, to be imperceptive about the very quality of the texts they are reading". This is a crucial point. A valuable and needed breath of fresh air, perhaps, for many Christians somewhat puzzled by the maze of biblical criticism that takes place somewhat detached from the Church and their praxis. Lewis sums up the problem well; "these men ask me to believe they can read between the lines of the old texts; the evidence is their obvious inability to read the lines themselves". This is hard hitting stuff!

Lewis' second challenge, and it still stands in many cases, is particularly bold. His fundamental point is powerful; "all theology of the liberal type involves at some point - and often involves throughout - the claim that the real behaviour and purpose and teaching of Christ came very rapidly to be misunderstood and misrepresented by his followers, and has been recovered or exhumed only by modern scholars". Having read extensively around thinkers like the "Jesus Seminar" - as noted in my review of a book on the Historical Jesus - this is a very accurate assessment! I - and I assume Lewis - am not against critical study of the New Testament, the Old Testament, or Jesus himself, but there must be a removal of modern arrogance. Lewis illustrates this well, as you will be glad to know that "it turned out (most fortunately) that Plato had really all along been an English Hegelian, rather like T.H.Green". Trying to project our categories and theories back onto a work written long before our own culture was formed is an idiotic task - and this is Lewis' big challenge to liberal scholarship. 

I thoroughly enjoyed reading these little-known snippets of Lewis. The thoughts and challenges of "Membership" are ones that have aided and expanded my understanding and esteem of church membership in a big way. His thoughts on 'the new theology' (Arguably now the norm, but still somewhat flawed!) are very valid - and addressed by top-notch academics who maintain an orthodox understanding of Christian history, like N.T.Wright - are stunningly insightful. To have these observations in print, by one of the last centuries most able thinkers, is a wonderful thing. Though this is not a book review, if you do see a copy of "Fern Seed and Elephants", grab one.