C.S. Lewis: Learning in War-Time

  At first sight the title of this sermon may be “off-putting” as the British say.  What relevance has this subject for me today?  As one begins reading, however, the relevance to our individual lives becomes very clear.  Lewis was addressing Oxford students in 1939, at the beginning of World War II, but his thought is perennially pertinent. 

Lewis asks, given the awesome fact that each of us, and all people, will eventually be in either heaven or hell, how can we possibly be concerned about the everyday affairs of our humdrum lives? : “How can you be so frivolous and selfish as to think about anything but the salvation of human souls?”  But we live in an incredibly rich world and we are creatures of varied talents and great potentials. What should be our attitude towards all the possibilities of life, towards its cultural demands, towards our varied and compelling desires for knowledge and beauty?

There are obligations that life puts upon us, and it is for us to respond to them earnestly, doing all that we do to the glory of God.  Lewis concludes: “All our merely natural activities will be accepted, if they are offered to God, even the humblest, and all of them, even the noblest, will be sinful if they are not.”  Nor are we to be preoccupied with the relevance of our pursuits to a vision of God: “the existence of the impulse and the faculty prove that they must have a proper function in God’s scheme,” Lewis remarks.  Wisdom is to develop our talents–that which God has made us to be, to the best of our abilities.

Speaking to an intellectual audience, Lewis argues that his hearers have a duty to acquire true knowledge.  “Good philosophy must exist if, for no other reason, because bad philosophy needs to be answered.” The observation is especially pertinent for the Christian scholar.  But scholars are not more important than others.  It is for all to develop whatever talents and abilities they have, and to strive to do all they do for the glory of God.

Since he is speaking during a war, he addresses certain “enemies”: the excitement  of thinking about the war when one ought to be addressing one’s studies, but distractions are not uncommon and must simply be dismissed; the frustration of feeling that one may not be able finish, but all anyone has is simply the present and we are to heed that; and lastly fear of being killed, but this may really be a blessing, since all die sooner or later, and we are responsible only for the present.  The advice is pertinent to all of us.  

DOES LEWIS’S ARGUMENT STIMULATE SOME FURTHER THOUGHTS?  SHARE THEM.




Comments

Sarah W said…
I so appreciate Lewis' argument here. Its really, in many ways, an argument for what he or Chesterton or someone called "the democracy of the dead". . . allowing other cultures and generations to have an actual voice in how we view the world. I think this idea, and maybe this essay, have been instrumental in pushing me to read viewpoints that I don't immediately agree with. I like to say, "there is fruitfulness in difference" (for example, male and female); I need the difference of actually listening to many voices from many times and places.

Lewis' 3 views of "turn the other cheek" is also extremely helpful. The first interpretation, "the duty of nonresistance on all men in all circumstances" has been the means by which many of people are kept in bondage. The second, that "you should put up with a lot and be placable" again is used as a bullying tool by those who wish to wield power over others. The third, the one that Lewis believes to be its meaning, has to do with learning to accept and forgive insult and not retaliate - the only possible way that the Kingdom can come.
This quote “All our merely natural activities will be accepted, if they are offered to God, even the humblest, and all of them, even the noblest, will be sinful if they are not.” . . . whew. Wendell Berry says, "There are not unsacred places; There are only sacred places and desecrated places." What hallows a thing, a place, an action? I think we either bring my spirit to it, or Holy Spirit. All that is offered in Holy Spirit is sacred, all that my spirit grasps is mere dust. Something like that!
March 16, 2021 at 6:08 AM
Tim M said…
I was looking online for a source to read this sermon and came across an article by Jason Stevens who is an Associate Professor of English at Cornerstone University. He assigned this sermon to his senior class students and was reporting on the responses he got. His summary was helpful as we all look for ways to deal with our emotions and thoughts thru this COVID time which in many ways wasn't all that different from 1939 and anticipating war. We too can identify with the "excitement" or distraction of the shutdown, the frustration of not being able to finish, and the fear of potential death. The encouragement of Lewis was helpful that our main priority needs to center on God and His promises. And that out God-given tasks are still important if done in His service ... Even in the throes of a pandemic.
March 17, 2021 at 8:07 AM
Rolland Hein said…
Yes, one of the great values of a liberal arts education is acquiring a breadth of view and understanding of other modes of thinking from our own. And only those activities in life that are conscientiously offered to God have true value.

And yes, it is helpful to observe the relevance of Lewis's thought to our own present experience in grappling with the restrictions imposed on us because of Covid-19. Wisdom is to seek God's help in adapting to them and to follow His leading, offering what we do back to Him.
March 20, 2021 at 9:12 AM
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