Monday, November 28, 2005

Sermons on Narnia

It turns out that even my pastor has caught Narnia fever. He’s going to do three sermons on C.S. Lewis in December. I suppose it’s easy to have a bandwagon mentality considering the vast coverage that the film is receiving in not only Christian magazines and journals but also in the mainstream media. Unfortunately, one can only do so much in a sermon on a Sunday morning. I would recommend reading the following Hollywood Jesus blog, especially for the analyses of all seven books. And with regard to the life and works of Lewis, one of the best sites is C.S. Lewis: 20th-Century Knight. One could spend a lot of time following all the links to papers and other Lewis sites. Of course, although Lewis is probably my favourite writer (if he isn’t he’s definitely in the top three), there are others who deserve attention. Dostoyevsky, for example. Once you read The Brothers Karamazov you may wonder why you wasted your time on all the pap and fluff that usually passes by one’s eyes. The great mysteries of life are often best explored in works of fiction. Lewis and Dostoyevsky provide some of the best of those works.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

oooh...I second that.

son of puddleglum said...

Hmmm, all my bluster about reading has now blown up in my face, mainly because a lot of the stuff I read is too embarassing to mention here. I can't think of ten books or authors at the moment. But here are a couple of books I like and think all Christians shoud read. (Unfortunately I don't any of these books so I'm going by memory here as to how good they really are)

1. The Historical Christ and the Jesus of Faith: The Incarnational Narrative as History (Oxford, 96) by C. Stephen Evans - very readable and interesting book on why the historicity of the biblical narratives matter.

2. Jesus and the Victory of God (Fortress, 97) by N.T. Wright-the best book about JEsus I've ever read (if it's not the best it's in the top three).

3. Anything by N.T. Wright - his examination of Jesus, Paul and the New Testament are always interesting and he's firmly in the orthodox theological camp.

4. Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis.

5. Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman.

6. Confessions by St. Augustine.

son of puddleglum said...

ahem, that should read "I don't own any of these books"

Anonymous said...

Too embarassing to mention? You've got me curious...
heehee.

Anonymous said...

...a cheesy Harlequin romance, perhaps?

son of puddleglum said...

Cheese is thoroughly under-rated. OF course, those who are lactose intolerant are wise to eschew all dairy products. And I will neither confirm nor deny my intolerance to lactose. Uh, what was your point again...?

Anonymous said...

you sound like a politician...always talking AROUND the issue! ;)

son of puddleglum said...

It's always better to walk around a prickly bush than through it.

Besides, you've given the word 'politician' a bad name. You talk as though they're the most mealy-mouthed of individuals...uh, never mind.