#C. S. Lewis

[nochd]

I don't know where people get the idea that Treebeard is a portrait of C. S. Lewis. (Lewis himself thought he might be a self-portrait of Tolkien.) Also Lewis and Tolkien were friends, but never best friends. Also the idea of Treebeard being "a grumpy old tree who never gets to the point" is Peter Jackson's idea, not Tolkien's; Treebeard is fairly high up the long list of things in Tolkien's thought that Jackson Did Not Get.

Also the evidence around Tolkien, Edith Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, Lúthien and Beren, and The Silver Chair tells a fascinating story which reflects decidedly poorly on Lewis. I can elaborate if anyone wants me to.

jrr tolkien: i really love my wife. i will make her into a beautiful, unearthly half-angel princess who beat satan almost single-handedly and won an argument with the keeper of the halls of the dead

jrr tolkien: i really love my best friend. i will make him into a grumpy old tree who never gets to the point

[who-canceled-roger-rabbit]

One funny difference between J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis is that Tolkien seemed entirely uninterested in writing about sex, whereas Lewis's writing was also chaste but with barely repressed kinkiness simmering just beneath the surface

[perfectquote]

There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.

C. S. Lewis

[derangedrhythms]

To be eaten and to be married to the god might not be so different.

C. S. Lewis, from ‘Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold’

[healerqueen]

“Where sky and water meet, Where the waves grow sweet, Doubt not, Reepicheep, To find all you seek, There is the utter East.” ― C.S. Lewis, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

More: The Silver Chair aesthetic moodboard

[writtenforthesoul]

Płacz trochę pomaga – dopóki się płacze. Ale w końcu, wcześniej czy później, trzeba przestać płakać, a wtedy trzeba się zdecydować, co robić dalej.

C. S. Lewis, „Opowieści z Narnii. Srebrne krzesło”

[thoughtkick]

There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.

C. S. Lewis

[thehopefulquotes]

There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.

C. S. Lewis

[moonwaterstories]

The chronicles of Narnia illustrations

-by Pauline Baynes x x x x

[resqectable]

There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.

C. S. Lewis

[faeriefully]

C. S. Lewis is credited for popularizing the three Ls explanation for the logic of Christ’s divinity.

Taking the gospels and Christ’s own words, there are only three options. Christ is either a Liar, a Lunatic, or He is Lord of all (God incarnate).

Why is this the only logical conclusion?

Christ Himself claims to be God.

In the book of John we find many “I Am” statements made by Christ.

“He said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.””

‭‭John‬ ‭8‬:‭23‬-‭24‬ ‭ESV‬‬

*note that the “he” is an addition for English translation. The Greek does not contain it. It is Ego Eimi: I Am that I Am.

—

“So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I Am.” So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.”

‭‭John‬ ‭8‬:‭57‬-‭59‬ ‭ESV‬‬

—

“Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”

‭‭John‬ ‭6‬:‭35‬ ‭ESV‬‬

—

These two, along with others “I Am” statements in the book of John, are constructed in the Greek as Ego Eimi.

“The Greek construction lying behind this phrase is very important. To emphasize the “I” in an “I am” statement, writers and speakers would use the construction ego eimi meaning “I, I myself, am.” This is done very rarely in the Bible but ego eimi is the construction we find behind every “I AM” statement in the gospel of John. Significantly, the ego eimi construction is also found in the Greek translation of Exodus 3:14 when God declares of Himself: “I AM WHO I AM.” Over and over again when Jesus utters these “I AM” statements, He is making reference to His own deity. No first century Jew who was trained in the Scriptures would have missed this.”

— R. C. Sproul

—

Why does this matter?

Because, if Jesus is claiming the name of God, claiming to be divine, to be able to forgive sins, then there is a lot of weight on the validity of his statements.

Jesus is claiming to be God.

This means:

He is either a liar— a blasphemer in which is was correct for the Jews to attempt to kill Him. It would also mean that He is not a “moral” teacher whose lessons should be obeyed. Nothing He says is of trustworthiness. He is an enemy of God. And we should not believe, obey, nor follow His teachings. He is incapable of forgiving sin. He is a sinner. He cannot provide righteousness on our behalf. He cannot atone for sin nor bear the wrath of God without perishing. He is temporal. He is dead. He offers no salvation.

Or

He is a lunatic. A madman who believed Himself to be God and a blasphemer. Nothing He says is of trustworthiness. In which, again, it is correct for the Jews to attempt to kill him. He is an enemy of God. And we should not believe, obey, nor follow His teachings. Again, he is a sinner, incapable of providing substitution or forgiveness. He is dead. He is temporal, unable to atone for anyone, not even himself. He offers no salvation for anyone.

OR

He is Lord.

He is telling the truth. He is the Bread of Life. He is the Light of the World. He is the great I Am. He is the good shepherd. He is the lamb slain before the foundation of the world— capable of forgiving sin, able to intercede for us. He is our comforter. He is our caretaker. He is perfect, incapable of sin, deceit, lies, or failure. He is infinite and eternal, capable to bear the wrath of God without perishing for all His people’s sins, present, past, and future.

He provides righteousness and salvation for all who place their trust in Him.

He is God, our savior.

—

If Jesus is not God, there is no salvation.

Listen to our Lord who calls you,

“All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.””

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭11‬:‭27‬-‭30‬ ‭ESV‬‬

-

Come. Repent. Cast your burdens and your sin upon Jesus, our God who can remove your iniquity and comfort your grief.

[jessmalia]

I’m curious about this so,

* You may interpret this as you want. Like, Peter and Susan both certainly have older sibling syndrome and eldest daughter is kind of a category of it’s own, so if you’re a woman and the eldest child in your family and your favorite is Susan that can still count as birth order aligning. But there’s probably eldest daughters who act more like Peter in the family dynamic and vice versa, so then the interpretation would be different.

This poll is mostly to see, since Narnia is so intrinsically about sibling relationships, how much the character you like the most have to do with them being relatable to you in the family dynamic. Or, alternatively, if a lot of people don’t like the character aligned with their birth order because they see too much of their flaws in them.

Please elaborate on your thoughts in the tags!

[surqrised]

There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.

C. S. Lewis

[haveyoureadthisbook-poll]

[philosophors]

“The greatest evils in the world will not be carried out by men with guns, but by men in suits sitting behind desks.”

— C. S. Lewis

[healerqueen]

“Suppose we have only dreamed, or made up, all those things―trees and grass and sun and moon and stars and Aslan himself. Suppose we have. Then all I can say is that, in that case, the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones. Suppose this black pit of a kingdom of yours is the only world. Well, it strikes me as a pretty poor one.” ― C.S. Lewis, The Silver Chair

More: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader aesthetic moodboard