A Literary Critique of C. S. Lewis Essays - Criticism Of Atheism

A Literary Critique of C. S. Lewis Essays - Criticism Of Atheism A Literary Critique of C. S. Lewis A Literary Critique of C. S. Lewis: The Case for Christianity, The World's Last Night and Problem with Pain I. Introduction II. Brief Biographical Information III. The Case for Christianity - Right and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning of the Universe IV. The Problem with Pain - Divine Omnipotence V. The World's Last Night - The Efficacy of Prayer VI. Conclusion A Critique of C. S. Lewis "A Relativist said, 'The world does not exist, England does not exist, Oxford does not exist and I am confident that I do not Exist!' When Lewis was asked to reply, he stood up and said, 'How am I to talk to a man who's not there?'" - C. S. Lewis: A Biography Clive Staples Lewis was born, in 1898, in Belfast. C. S. Lewis was educated at various schools in England. In 1914, Lewis began studying Latin, Greek, French, German and Italian under the private tuition of W. T. Kirkpatrick. He then moved to Oxford where his studies were interrupted by World War I (1917). Two years later he was back in Oxford resuming his studies. In 1924, Lewis was "elected" to teach Literature and Language at Magdalen College, Oxford and remained there till 1954. During this time period in his life, Lewis wrote the majority of his work. Lewis moved to Cambridge for the remainder of his life teaching Medieval and Renaissance Literature.1 C. S. Lewis was a man dedicated to the pursuit of truth who" believed in argument, in disputation, and in the dialectic of Reason. . ."2 He began his pursuit of truth as an atheist and ended up as a Christian. His works the Problem of Pain and Mere Christianity dealt with issues he struggled with. Mere Christianity consists of three separate radio broadcasts. One of the broadcasts was titled The Case For Christianity. In The Case For Christianity, Lewis discussed two crucial topics in his apologetic defense of Christianity. They were the "Right and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning of the Universe" and "What Christians Believe". This critique will address the first chapter. "Right and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning of the Universe", can be broken into three parts. The first deals with moral law and its existence. The second addresses the idea of a power or mind behind the universe, who, is intensely interested in right conduct. Also that this power or God is good. Good as in the area of truth, not soft and sympathetic. The third point moves to Christianity, its attributes and why it was necessary for the long" round-about" approach . The law of nature binds humans as would the laws of gravity apply to a falling stone. It is called the law of nature because it does not need to be taught. Lewis points out that an odd individual may exist "here and there who didn't know it, just as you find s few people who are colour-blind or have no ear for tune. But taking the race as a whole, they thought that the human idea of Decent Behavior was obvious to every one."3 Lewis brilliantly defended his statement of natural law's existence. Two arguments, which argue for relativity, posted against him are the "herd" instincts or genetic inborn in us ( i.e. motherly love, survival or sexual impulses) and that which is taught socially or learned. Historically, these to interpretations of human behavior have clashed, however, he suggest that "reason" is above both. He clarifies his position by classifying impulses as separate from the decision to follow the impulse itself. The "learned" argument is refuted by his analogy of a boy on the island who is unaware of the existence of the process of multiplication. He never attended school and learned them. The education would be classified as "human convention". This human convention, consequently, did not invent multiplication just as it did not invent the law of nature. However, this comparison is based on a false assumption. The law of nature, as Lewis argued, is not taught but some how exists as an inherent part of the human psyche. This law also presents itself in the form of decisions and actions in line with what ought to

Idiom and Expression Resources for ESL Learners

Idiom and Expression Resources for ESL Learners Sooner or later all English students learn idioms because English uses so many idiomatic expressions that it is truly impossible to learn English without learning at least a few, but these figures of speech and colloquialisms may be hard for some English as Second Language learners to immediately grasp, especially because they often rely on cultural norms in English-speaking countries to provide meaning for their use. In any case, ESL learners should employ the use of context clues to attempt to understand what someone might mean when they say I just killed two birds with one stone by uncovering that video of both of them at the scene of the crime, which means achieving two objectives with one effort. For this reason, stories involving a number of idioms - oftentimes folk tales and those written in dialectic (spoken) style - are some of the best resources for teachers and students of ESL alike. Context Clues and Weird Expressions Oftentimes a simple English-to-Spanish translation of an idiom will not make immediate sense because of the multitude of words and connotations the English language has to describe our everyday world, meaning that some of the actual intentions of the words might get lost in translation. On the other hand, some things just dont make sense taken out of the cultural context - especially considering many popular American English idioms have dubious and untraceable origins, meaning oftentimes English speakers say them without knowing why or from where they came into existence. Take for instance the idiom I feel under the weather, which translates in Spanish to Sentir un poco en el tiempo. While the words may make sense on their own in Spanish, being under weather would probably entail getting wet in Spain, but it implies feeling sick in America. If, though, the following sentence was something like I have a fever and havent been able to get out of bed all day, the reader would understand being under the weather means to not be feeling well. For more specific in-context examples, check out ​Johns Keys to Success, An Unpleasant Colleague, and My Successful Friend - which are all full of beautifully expressed idioms in easy-to-understand contexts. Idioms and Expressions with Specific Words and Verbs There are certain nouns and verbs that are used in a number of idioms and expressions; these idioms are said to collocate with a specific word such as put in put a fork in it or all in all in a days work. These general nouns are used repeatedly in English, and in the idioms are used to represent a commonality shared between multiple subjects. Like, around, come, put, get, work, all, and as [blank] as are all commonly used words associated with idioms, though the full list is fairly extensive. Similarly, action verbs are also often used in idiomatic expressions wherein the verb carries with it a certain universality to the action - such as walking, running or existing. The most common verb thats used in American idioms are forms of the verb to be.   Check out these two quizzes (Common Idiomatic Phrases Quiz 1  and  Common Idiomatic Phrases Quiz 2) to see if youve mastered these common idioms yet.