In his “biographical” The Great Divorce, Lewis and his heavenly guide, George MacDonald, witness the tragic encounter of a Sarah Smith – a beautifully “heavenized” being, glorified in her experience of “deep heaven” – and her ghostly husband (Lewis describes him as a “ghost dwarf”), Frank, who is being de-humanized before their eyes, literally withering away into nothingness. [...]
Archive for March, 2008
“He Descended into Hell”: Reflections on Holy Saturday
Posted in Atonement, C.S. Lewis, von Balthasar on March 22, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
The Death of God: Reflections on Good Friday
Posted in Atonement, Christology, God, Incarnation, Jesus on March 21, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Good Friday means God dies for us. Dies so death might be defeated. Dies so sin’s power might be overthrown and its effects undone. Dies so we might enter into “eternal life,” the kind of life proper to our status as God’s children and co-regents. This is the center of our faith. All else is [...]
Jesus as our Re-Placement: Reflections on Good Friday
Posted in Atonement, God, Gospel, Jesus on March 21, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
We often hear it said that Jesus died in our stead, and this is correct – if correctly understood. Usually, it isn’t. It is mistaken to think Jesus died for our pardon, as if his suffering death convinced the Father to overlook our guilt in spite of the facts of the case. That, by any [...]
Go Green or Go to Hell: The (New) 7 Deadly Sins
Posted in Consumerism, Gospel, Liberation Theology, Politics, Seven Deadly Sins on March 19, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Bishop Girotti, a Vatican official, has listed seven sins to supplement the original deadly seven. The new seven are “social” in orientation, he says, because though “sin used to concern mostly the individual, today it has mostly a social resonance, due to the phenomenon of globalization.” Here’s the list:
1. “Bioethical” sins (e.g., birth control) 2. “Morally dubious” scientific experiementation (e.g., [...]
Theology of the Last Judgment & the Final State: Timothy Keller
Posted in C.S. Lewis, Eschatology, Hell, Timothy Keller on March 18, 2008 | 1 Comment »
In this sermon, Keller contends that accepting the reality of Hell is crucial for understanding your own heart, living at peace in the world, and knowing the love of God. Following C. S. Lewis and Soren Kierkegaard, among others, Keller argues that “Hell” is not retributive punishment God imposes upon all those who disappoint God, but the condition to which one [...]
