This document summarizes and analyzes C.S. Lewis's conversion to Christianity and how it was influenced by his understanding of mythology. It discusses Lewis's conversation with J.R.R. Tolkien in 1931 where Tolkien challenged Lewis's view that Christianity and myths were untrue by pointing out that myths point to an actual historical event of Jesus's death and resurrection. This conversation helped Lewis see Christianity in terms of mythology and led to his conversion. The document then contrasts Lewis's view of mythology with that of literary critic Rene Girard, who saw myths as concealing violence rather than revealing truth like Christianity. It analyzes how Lewis's last novel Till We Have Faces reflects Girard's view of
This document analyzes two passages from Sir John Mandeville's Book that depict God in different ways. The Prologue portrays God as the feudal lord and king of the holy land who favors Christians. Later in the book, God is described as loving all people who love him, regardless of religion. The document argues that scholars typically treat references to God as having a stable meaning, rather than examining how representations of God change over time and context. It proposes analyzing "God" as a text composed of multiple cultural influences, allowing for contradictory ideas about God's nature. Analyzing Mandeville's multiple depictions of God as existing in dialogue could provide insight into changing religious ideas in late medieval England.
Flannery O'Connor's reputation as a writer first flowered because of her remarkable short stories and novels. The vision of reality which underlies her works seems strangely out of harmony with our materialistic essentially no-religious society. Although her stories are Southern to the core, she was never actively part of any Southern literary movement and for the most part of her fiction does not reflect social issues, particularly the social problems, which beset the South during her lifetime. Despite her Catholic Faith, the characters of the bulk of her fiction are Protestant Fundamentalists or Fanatics. Miss O'Connor's sympathies were clearly aligned the mistaken truth-seekers, the raging, and the irrational, even sinful prophets, some of whom seem to have wandered into the modern world from the pages of the Old Testament. They at least have some awareness of reality, some cognizance of the Divine Plan, she contended. They may reject or prevent the world but they cannot escape it. On the other hand Miss O'Connor's utmost scorn was showered upon the secularities bogged in their material world and unable or unwilling to perceive the grand design of existence, the plan of Redemption. Hazel Motes presents a figure reminiscent of Milton's Satan, a Christ of Evil. Consumed by evils as he is, Hazel like Satan cannot ignore nor even long be away from Christ. His suffering is the realization of loss, of man's fall. So darkened is his spirit by the chaos of his soul that grace cannot penetrate it, and he plunges deeper into darkness. O'Connor's work is littered with characters like Hazel Motes, who starts a heretical Church and commits murder before his conversion. Throughout the Bible, readers encounter figures such as Paul, who began sinning his way to Jesus as a persecutor of the early Christian Church before his conversion at Damascus, or Moses, who murders an Egyptian and flees to Midian before being called by God to free the Israelites. Throughout O'Connor's works there are significant biblical allusions which have been overlooked. O'Connor's unique approach, that is her attempt to engage her biblical source material in a unique way in order to reach a mass audience, grows out of her frustration over her parish's tendency to avoid the intellectual and spiritual problems confronting Catholicism in the twentieth century since she was opposed to practiced form of worship that enabled people to recite 'readymade' prayers
instead of searching their own souls; instead O'Connor frequently encouraged growing interest in Biblical studies. The novel Wise Blood recapitulates the story of St. Paul of the New Testament. This study compares Hazel Motes with the Biblical parallel St. Paul.
Beyond Belief: The Transformative Power of Mythic FictionLisaConnors6
This paper examines the transformative power of mythic fiction. It discusses how mythic fiction can expand readers' worldviews and beliefs by transporting them into an engaging secondary world. The paper analyzes how successful works of mythic fiction establish credibility and motivate readers to suspend disbelief, entering into a transformative reading experience. Specifically, it explores three craft techniques used by mythic fiction authors: 1) Contracting, or constructing an intriguing threshold between the primary and secondary worlds; 2) Pathmaking, enticing readers along a journey with wise guides; and 3) Rattle and Ache, crafting endings that provoke thought about one's core beliefs. The author aims to apply these techniques in their own work of mythic
Hosea 2:1-13 is one of the most challenging passages in the Hebrew Bible due to its violent and pornographic imagery against a female antagonist. This paper will examine the passage through two lenses:
1. It will examine the metaphorical language and rhetoric used to illuminate who the oracle was originally situated against.
2. It will employ feminist deconstructionism and redaction criticism to provide greater clarity on the metaphorical language and reveal an unintended heroine - a group of self-empowered women prostitutes straining against patriarchal violence.
The language uses "dissonant bias" - a contradiction between terminology and application that undercuts the argument. Exam
This document provides a detailed summary and analysis of Robert Gagnon's book "The Bible and Homosexual Practice" which argues that the Bible unequivocally condemns homosexual acts. It also summarizes Gagnon's examination of key biblical passages and comparison with other scholars who take a more liberal view. The summary analyzes Gagnon's methodology, controlling convictions, and interpretations of Old and New Testament passages related to homosexuality. It provides insight into Gagnon's motivations and concerns about being seen as intolerant while vigorously advocating for the conservative position that homosexual acts are sinful. The summary is concise yet captures the essence of Gagnon's arguments and approach.
Anna M. Griffith writes a book about the spiritual lessons she learned from her cat Peanut. She divides the book into 26 chapters, each titled with a theme and containing an anecdote about Peanut, a discussion of the spiritual lesson, and a concluding Scripture quote. Griffith draws analogies between a cat's dependence on its owners and people's dependence on God. The book provides lighthearted and humorous stories but also meaningful spiritual lessons about security, worth, and trust in God. It encourages readers to find these lessons in their own lives and read the applicable Scripture passages.
In this brief book, Moshe Halbertal analyzes the concepts of religious and secular sacrifice. For religious sacrifice, he examines Hebrew sources and distinguishes between sacrificing "to" a god as a gift versus later notions of sacrificing "for" a cause. In secular contexts, people may sacrifice themselves for a nation or cause. However, misguided self-sacrifice can justify terrible acts by portraying perpetrators as martyrs. While solidarity and obligations to traditions sometimes require sacrifice, prioritizing self-sacrifice over morality can be dangerous.
In this brief book, Moshe Halbertal analyzes the concepts of religious and secular sacrifice. For religious sacrifice, he examines Hebrew sources and distinguishes between sacrificing "to" a god as a gift versus "for" a cause. In secular contexts, people sacrifice for nations or political causes. Halbertal then explores dangers of "sacrificing for," such as justifying violence by viewing oneself as a martyr. Overall, the book provides a nuanced discussion of sacrifice in religious and secular realms and the ethics surrounding sacrificing for a cause.
This document analyzes two passages from Sir John Mandeville's Book that depict God in different ways. The Prologue portrays God as the feudal lord and king of the holy land who favors Christians. Later in the book, God is described as loving all people who love him, regardless of religion. The document argues that scholars typically treat references to God as having a stable meaning, rather than examining how representations of God change over time and context. It proposes analyzing "God" as a text composed of multiple cultural influences, allowing for contradictory ideas about God's nature. Analyzing Mandeville's multiple depictions of God as existing in dialogue could provide insight into changing religious ideas in late medieval England.
Flannery O'Connor's reputation as a writer first flowered because of her remarkable short stories and novels. The vision of reality which underlies her works seems strangely out of harmony with our materialistic essentially no-religious society. Although her stories are Southern to the core, she was never actively part of any Southern literary movement and for the most part of her fiction does not reflect social issues, particularly the social problems, which beset the South during her lifetime. Despite her Catholic Faith, the characters of the bulk of her fiction are Protestant Fundamentalists or Fanatics. Miss O'Connor's sympathies were clearly aligned the mistaken truth-seekers, the raging, and the irrational, even sinful prophets, some of whom seem to have wandered into the modern world from the pages of the Old Testament. They at least have some awareness of reality, some cognizance of the Divine Plan, she contended. They may reject or prevent the world but they cannot escape it. On the other hand Miss O'Connor's utmost scorn was showered upon the secularities bogged in their material world and unable or unwilling to perceive the grand design of existence, the plan of Redemption. Hazel Motes presents a figure reminiscent of Milton's Satan, a Christ of Evil. Consumed by evils as he is, Hazel like Satan cannot ignore nor even long be away from Christ. His suffering is the realization of loss, of man's fall. So darkened is his spirit by the chaos of his soul that grace cannot penetrate it, and he plunges deeper into darkness. O'Connor's work is littered with characters like Hazel Motes, who starts a heretical Church and commits murder before his conversion. Throughout the Bible, readers encounter figures such as Paul, who began sinning his way to Jesus as a persecutor of the early Christian Church before his conversion at Damascus, or Moses, who murders an Egyptian and flees to Midian before being called by God to free the Israelites. Throughout O'Connor's works there are significant biblical allusions which have been overlooked. O'Connor's unique approach, that is her attempt to engage her biblical source material in a unique way in order to reach a mass audience, grows out of her frustration over her parish's tendency to avoid the intellectual and spiritual problems confronting Catholicism in the twentieth century since she was opposed to practiced form of worship that enabled people to recite 'readymade' prayers
instead of searching their own souls; instead O'Connor frequently encouraged growing interest in Biblical studies. The novel Wise Blood recapitulates the story of St. Paul of the New Testament. This study compares Hazel Motes with the Biblical parallel St. Paul.
Beyond Belief: The Transformative Power of Mythic FictionLisaConnors6
This paper examines the transformative power of mythic fiction. It discusses how mythic fiction can expand readers' worldviews and beliefs by transporting them into an engaging secondary world. The paper analyzes how successful works of mythic fiction establish credibility and motivate readers to suspend disbelief, entering into a transformative reading experience. Specifically, it explores three craft techniques used by mythic fiction authors: 1) Contracting, or constructing an intriguing threshold between the primary and secondary worlds; 2) Pathmaking, enticing readers along a journey with wise guides; and 3) Rattle and Ache, crafting endings that provoke thought about one's core beliefs. The author aims to apply these techniques in their own work of mythic
Hosea 2:1-13 is one of the most challenging passages in the Hebrew Bible due to its violent and pornographic imagery against a female antagonist. This paper will examine the passage through two lenses:
1. It will examine the metaphorical language and rhetoric used to illuminate who the oracle was originally situated against.
2. It will employ feminist deconstructionism and redaction criticism to provide greater clarity on the metaphorical language and reveal an unintended heroine - a group of self-empowered women prostitutes straining against patriarchal violence.
The language uses "dissonant bias" - a contradiction between terminology and application that undercuts the argument. Exam
This document provides a detailed summary and analysis of Robert Gagnon's book "The Bible and Homosexual Practice" which argues that the Bible unequivocally condemns homosexual acts. It also summarizes Gagnon's examination of key biblical passages and comparison with other scholars who take a more liberal view. The summary analyzes Gagnon's methodology, controlling convictions, and interpretations of Old and New Testament passages related to homosexuality. It provides insight into Gagnon's motivations and concerns about being seen as intolerant while vigorously advocating for the conservative position that homosexual acts are sinful. The summary is concise yet captures the essence of Gagnon's arguments and approach.
Anna M. Griffith writes a book about the spiritual lessons she learned from her cat Peanut. She divides the book into 26 chapters, each titled with a theme and containing an anecdote about Peanut, a discussion of the spiritual lesson, and a concluding Scripture quote. Griffith draws analogies between a cat's dependence on its owners and people's dependence on God. The book provides lighthearted and humorous stories but also meaningful spiritual lessons about security, worth, and trust in God. It encourages readers to find these lessons in their own lives and read the applicable Scripture passages.
In this brief book, Moshe Halbertal analyzes the concepts of religious and secular sacrifice. For religious sacrifice, he examines Hebrew sources and distinguishes between sacrificing "to" a god as a gift versus later notions of sacrificing "for" a cause. In secular contexts, people may sacrifice themselves for a nation or cause. However, misguided self-sacrifice can justify terrible acts by portraying perpetrators as martyrs. While solidarity and obligations to traditions sometimes require sacrifice, prioritizing self-sacrifice over morality can be dangerous.
In this brief book, Moshe Halbertal analyzes the concepts of religious and secular sacrifice. For religious sacrifice, he examines Hebrew sources and distinguishes between sacrificing "to" a god as a gift versus "for" a cause. In secular contexts, people sacrifice for nations or political causes. Halbertal then explores dangers of "sacrificing for," such as justifying violence by viewing oneself as a martyr. Overall, the book provides a nuanced discussion of sacrifice in religious and secular realms and the ethics surrounding sacrificing for a cause.
Man's Search for Spirituality: A Chronological presentation by E Christopher ...echristopherreyes
A detailed chronology of the rise and fall of various religious beliefs, focusing on Christianity and its contributions to society and various cultures.
The lies perpetrated by the Saints to the Glory of God.
Biblical Revisions Alterations Rewriting History.
Brian Ghilliotti: Gateway Community College: Philosophy 111: Term PaperBrian Ghilliotti
1) The document summarizes the story of Arjuna's Dilemma from the Hindu text Bhagavad Gita, where Arjuna questions whether he should fight in an upcoming battle because he will have to kill family members and former teachers.
2) Krishna attempts to convince Arjuna to fight by arguing that killing in battle is not really killing since souls are eternal, and that Arjuna must fulfill his destiny as a warrior. However, the author finds these arguments unconvincing and potentially justifying violence and suffering.
3) In the end, Arjuna decides to fight after Krishna intimidates him by shape-shifting, though the author believes Arjuna really
CHAPTER VII Is there any hereafter ? . . . . -199
CHAPTER VIII What is the Christian doctrine of immortality? 227
CHAPTER IX What are Christian Churches worth to the MODERN WORLD ?
CHAPTER X What is the revival most needed in Christendom ? 305
The Lightning Thief by LaTava Rauch is about Percy Jackson, a 12-year old boy who learns he is a demigod son of Poseidon. The main characters include Percy, his friend Annabeth, and mentor Chiron who teach him about his powers and take him to Camp Half-Blood to train. There, Percy goes on a quest with his friends to find Zeus' stolen lightning bolt and prevent a war between the gods.
Ormond Rush discusses how Catholic orthodoxy is an ongoing process rather than a fixed point, with truth lying in the future as the Church continues to develop over time through the interplay between scripture, tradition, magisterium, theology, reason, and experience. He argues for a via media approach between extremes of maximalism and minimalism regarding doctrines, authority, and revelation, recognizing different levels of definitiveness. Overall he presents a nuanced, dialogic model of discerning truth through the interaction of multiple witnesses rather than a monologic notion of fixed, propositional truths.
The document discusses various narrative techniques and themes in Dan Brown's novel The Da Vinci Code. It analyzes the use of omniscient narration, parallel narration covering both sides of the story, and point of view changes between chapters. It also examines the novel's use of science, mathematics, paintings, and conspiracy theories questioning religious beliefs and myths. Feminism is a theme as the novel deals with suppression of the sacred feminine and the possibility of Jesus having a daughter.
The document discusses the themes of reincarnation and eternal recurrence found in Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. It summarizes key points about each theme:
1) Reincarnation is represented through recurring birthmarks on the main characters that tie them to their past lives.
2) The novel and film both use circular structures to demonstrate the repetition of events throughout history in line with the idea of eternal recurrence.
3) Eternal recurrence suggests that all people will relive their lives infinitely, so one must live passionately and make choices that can disrupt negative cycles from reoccurring.
4) Together these themes of reincarnation and eternal recurrence are major structural and thematic elements that show
A verse by verse commentary on Matthew chapter 23 dealing with the seven woes of judgment against the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus calls them hypocrites and pronounces severe judgment on them. That generation was going to suffer the worst judgment of any generation in history.
The document discusses the Gospel of Judas, a text discovered in Egypt in the 1970s that provides an alternative account of Judas Iscariot's role in betraying Jesus. The Gospel of Judas portrays Judas and Jesus as enlightened beings, with Jesus instructing Judas to turn him over to the Romans to help fulfill his divine mission. While some scholars argue it is authentic based on carbon dating and language, others question its validity. The document analyzes the text through theoretical frameworks like intertextuality and codes to understand how it provides an oppositional meaning to the traditional depiction of Judas in the canonical gospels.
Friedrich Nietzsche was a 19th century German philosopher best known for questioning traditional western religion and morality. One of his most influential ideas was the theory of eternal recurrence, which held that the universe repeats itself in an infinite cycle such that all events recur over and over again. Nietzsche presented eternal recurrence as a thought experiment, asking how one would live if told they would relive their life repeatedly for eternity. While Nietzsche did not claim eternal recurrence was fact, he believed embracing it fully affirmed life. In his later years, Nietzsche suffered from deteriorating mental health until his death.
Iris Murdoch's novels, constantly confront with the central dilemma of European civilization in the modern era, the loss of Christian faith on which it was built and
from which it constantly struggles to escape. She refuses to be dogmatic, but her novels are haunted by a sense of loss of a sustaining faith and the need to recapture
what is lost. The novels display the author's profound knowledge of Christian doctrines, as well as its intellectual and spiritual traditions. Writing at the time when the
'grand narratives' of the past are declared dead, Murdoch cannot escape the reality of evil and its irrationality that manifested itself in the rise and fall of political
dogmas and the devastations they brought in their wake. European thinking today finds itself at the crossroads of the 'post Christian' era. This era covers the modernist
and post-modernist period. Murdoch is a representative of that era. She tries to evolve a 'religion without God' and a moral system that is based not on Christianity but
on the idea of the 'goodness' developed out of classical Greek metaphysics. She feels the need to re-establish certain lost concepts and in her fiction engages in a search
for morality and sustaining religious values. This takes her to the world of Eastern religions and Platonism. At the same time she is haunted by the imagery, doctrines
and rituals of Western Christianity. This makes her a uniquely interesting writer who is constantly wrestling with the problems of a post-Christian age.
Who should study the Catholic and Lutheran Catechisms? Everyone! Everyone, even if you are neither Catholic nor Lutheran. Everyone who wants to live a godly life should study the Catechism. Both the Lutheran and Catholic Catechisms have sections for the Ten Commandments, the Sacraments, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Creeds. If you ignore the sections in the Large Catechism where Luther curses the Pope and calls him names, studying both the Catholic and Lutheran Catechisms will improve your soul. Vatican II teaches that Catholics can learn from their separated Protestant brothers, which means that Catholics can read Luther.
The Catholic Catechism was reviewed by thousands of bishops before publication, many thousands of suggestions were pondered, more thought and care was invested in the editing of the Catholic Catechism than probably any modern book in print. You ignore this wisdom at your moral peril. These teachings are not merely preachings, they are annotated by thousands of footnotes to both Scripture verses and the writings of the Church Fathers and the decrees of Vatican II, Trent, and the other councils, so you can go back to the sources yourself. By design, the Catholic Catechism references both the Eastern Church Fathers, so beloved by the Orthodox, and the Western Church Fathers, staring with St Augstine, in roughly equal proportion.
Cardinal Ratzinger, who would later become Pope Benedict, in an in-depth interview in 1985 that the spirit of Vatican II had faded, that it failed to generate a new enthusiasm, but instead Catholicism had become trapped in a spirit of “boredom and discouragement.” What the opponents and supporters of Vatican II shared in common is neither understood nor studied the actual decrees of Vatican II. The solution would be a new Catechism to summarize the teachings of Vatican II.
We are planning a course of study, starting with the Decalogue, or Ten Commandments, and read most of the works quoted in the footnotes of the Catholic Catechism, many of them are church fathers. We will also ponder what the church fathers, the medieval rabbis, Luther in his Large Catechism, and preachers and scholars can teach us about the Decalogue.
The video draws from this blog: http://www.seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/who-should-study-the-catholic-catechism/
Please support our channel when purchasing these books from Amazon:
Catechism of the Catholic Church, UCSSB Bishop's Edition
https://amzn.to/3kca1sT
Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions, Book of Concord
https://amzn.to/3ghTJxK
Introduction to the Catechism of the Catholic Church
https://amzn.to/37UXEMm
A Compendium of Texts Referred to in the Catechism of the Catholic Church
https://amzn.to/2W4cxK2
Gospel, Catechesis, Catechism: Sidelights on the Catechism of the Catholic Church, by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
https://amzn.to/3za3RQu
Ratzinger Report: An Exclusive Interview on the State of the Church
https://amzn.to/2W2DNIU
This document is the preface and first chapter of Leo Tolstoy's book "The Kingdom of God is Within You". The preface outlines how Tolstoy's previous book "What I Believe" was suppressed by Russian censorship for explaining why he does not believe in the Church's doctrine of Christianity. This sparked criticism and debate on the topic of non-resistance to evil by force. The first chapter discusses how the doctrine of non-resistance has been professed by a minority throughout Christian history, referencing various theological writers and pacifist sects such as Quakers and Mennonites that reject the use of weapons and military service.
El documento proporciona información sobre el alcohol, incluyendo su historia, epidemiología, definiciones de abuso y dependencia, y enfoques para la identificación y tratamiento de problemas relacionados con el alcohol en atención primaria. Se describe que el alcohol es una de las sustancias sedantes más antiguas conocidas y su uso data de hace miles de años, y que la OMS informa sobre los niveles globales y regionales de consumo. También se definen términos como abuso de alcohol, dependencia y patrones de consumo, y se discuten cuestionarios
STNC Catalog
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El documento habla sobre sistemas como herramientas para el diálogo. Menciona a los caminantes y a Mitchel Resnick y la aplicación de un método que involucra imaginar, jugar y compartir.
El documento presenta un sinopsis y tratamiento para la película "El Choripanero". La película sigue a Tony, un vendedor ambulante de choripanes en un pueblo de Argentina, y su amor prohibido por Juliana, la hija del ex comisario. La llegada de un nuevo intendente amenaza el negocio de Tony y desata corrupción en el pueblo.
Este documento describe la parada cardiorespiratoria, la reanimación cardiopulmonar y el soporte vital básico. La parada cardiorespiratoria es la interrupción brusca e inesperada de la circulación y la respiración. La reanimación cardiopulmonar incluye maniobras para reemplazar estas funciones con el objetivo de recuperar la función cerebral. El soporte vital básico incluye RCP básica, llamada de emergencia y la cadena de supervivencia que conecta a la víctima con la ayuda médica.
O documento descreve o Iluminismo no século XVIII, um movimento intelectual que promoveu a razão, a ciência e a liberdade contra o absolutismo e a intolerância religiosa. Menciona pensadores como Voltaire, Montesquieu, Rousseau e Newton que questionaram a autoridade e defenderam direitos naturais.
Man's Search for Spirituality: A Chronological presentation by E Christopher ...echristopherreyes
A detailed chronology of the rise and fall of various religious beliefs, focusing on Christianity and its contributions to society and various cultures.
The lies perpetrated by the Saints to the Glory of God.
Biblical Revisions Alterations Rewriting History.
Brian Ghilliotti: Gateway Community College: Philosophy 111: Term PaperBrian Ghilliotti
1) The document summarizes the story of Arjuna's Dilemma from the Hindu text Bhagavad Gita, where Arjuna questions whether he should fight in an upcoming battle because he will have to kill family members and former teachers.
2) Krishna attempts to convince Arjuna to fight by arguing that killing in battle is not really killing since souls are eternal, and that Arjuna must fulfill his destiny as a warrior. However, the author finds these arguments unconvincing and potentially justifying violence and suffering.
3) In the end, Arjuna decides to fight after Krishna intimidates him by shape-shifting, though the author believes Arjuna really
CHAPTER VII Is there any hereafter ? . . . . -199
CHAPTER VIII What is the Christian doctrine of immortality? 227
CHAPTER IX What are Christian Churches worth to the MODERN WORLD ?
CHAPTER X What is the revival most needed in Christendom ? 305
The Lightning Thief by LaTava Rauch is about Percy Jackson, a 12-year old boy who learns he is a demigod son of Poseidon. The main characters include Percy, his friend Annabeth, and mentor Chiron who teach him about his powers and take him to Camp Half-Blood to train. There, Percy goes on a quest with his friends to find Zeus' stolen lightning bolt and prevent a war between the gods.
Ormond Rush discusses how Catholic orthodoxy is an ongoing process rather than a fixed point, with truth lying in the future as the Church continues to develop over time through the interplay between scripture, tradition, magisterium, theology, reason, and experience. He argues for a via media approach between extremes of maximalism and minimalism regarding doctrines, authority, and revelation, recognizing different levels of definitiveness. Overall he presents a nuanced, dialogic model of discerning truth through the interaction of multiple witnesses rather than a monologic notion of fixed, propositional truths.
The document discusses various narrative techniques and themes in Dan Brown's novel The Da Vinci Code. It analyzes the use of omniscient narration, parallel narration covering both sides of the story, and point of view changes between chapters. It also examines the novel's use of science, mathematics, paintings, and conspiracy theories questioning religious beliefs and myths. Feminism is a theme as the novel deals with suppression of the sacred feminine and the possibility of Jesus having a daughter.
The document discusses the themes of reincarnation and eternal recurrence found in Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. It summarizes key points about each theme:
1) Reincarnation is represented through recurring birthmarks on the main characters that tie them to their past lives.
2) The novel and film both use circular structures to demonstrate the repetition of events throughout history in line with the idea of eternal recurrence.
3) Eternal recurrence suggests that all people will relive their lives infinitely, so one must live passionately and make choices that can disrupt negative cycles from reoccurring.
4) Together these themes of reincarnation and eternal recurrence are major structural and thematic elements that show
A verse by verse commentary on Matthew chapter 23 dealing with the seven woes of judgment against the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus calls them hypocrites and pronounces severe judgment on them. That generation was going to suffer the worst judgment of any generation in history.
The document discusses the Gospel of Judas, a text discovered in Egypt in the 1970s that provides an alternative account of Judas Iscariot's role in betraying Jesus. The Gospel of Judas portrays Judas and Jesus as enlightened beings, with Jesus instructing Judas to turn him over to the Romans to help fulfill his divine mission. While some scholars argue it is authentic based on carbon dating and language, others question its validity. The document analyzes the text through theoretical frameworks like intertextuality and codes to understand how it provides an oppositional meaning to the traditional depiction of Judas in the canonical gospels.
Friedrich Nietzsche was a 19th century German philosopher best known for questioning traditional western religion and morality. One of his most influential ideas was the theory of eternal recurrence, which held that the universe repeats itself in an infinite cycle such that all events recur over and over again. Nietzsche presented eternal recurrence as a thought experiment, asking how one would live if told they would relive their life repeatedly for eternity. While Nietzsche did not claim eternal recurrence was fact, he believed embracing it fully affirmed life. In his later years, Nietzsche suffered from deteriorating mental health until his death.
Iris Murdoch's novels, constantly confront with the central dilemma of European civilization in the modern era, the loss of Christian faith on which it was built and
from which it constantly struggles to escape. She refuses to be dogmatic, but her novels are haunted by a sense of loss of a sustaining faith and the need to recapture
what is lost. The novels display the author's profound knowledge of Christian doctrines, as well as its intellectual and spiritual traditions. Writing at the time when the
'grand narratives' of the past are declared dead, Murdoch cannot escape the reality of evil and its irrationality that manifested itself in the rise and fall of political
dogmas and the devastations they brought in their wake. European thinking today finds itself at the crossroads of the 'post Christian' era. This era covers the modernist
and post-modernist period. Murdoch is a representative of that era. She tries to evolve a 'religion without God' and a moral system that is based not on Christianity but
on the idea of the 'goodness' developed out of classical Greek metaphysics. She feels the need to re-establish certain lost concepts and in her fiction engages in a search
for morality and sustaining religious values. This takes her to the world of Eastern religions and Platonism. At the same time she is haunted by the imagery, doctrines
and rituals of Western Christianity. This makes her a uniquely interesting writer who is constantly wrestling with the problems of a post-Christian age.
Who should study the Catholic and Lutheran Catechisms? Everyone! Everyone, even if you are neither Catholic nor Lutheran. Everyone who wants to live a godly life should study the Catechism. Both the Lutheran and Catholic Catechisms have sections for the Ten Commandments, the Sacraments, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Creeds. If you ignore the sections in the Large Catechism where Luther curses the Pope and calls him names, studying both the Catholic and Lutheran Catechisms will improve your soul. Vatican II teaches that Catholics can learn from their separated Protestant brothers, which means that Catholics can read Luther.
The Catholic Catechism was reviewed by thousands of bishops before publication, many thousands of suggestions were pondered, more thought and care was invested in the editing of the Catholic Catechism than probably any modern book in print. You ignore this wisdom at your moral peril. These teachings are not merely preachings, they are annotated by thousands of footnotes to both Scripture verses and the writings of the Church Fathers and the decrees of Vatican II, Trent, and the other councils, so you can go back to the sources yourself. By design, the Catholic Catechism references both the Eastern Church Fathers, so beloved by the Orthodox, and the Western Church Fathers, staring with St Augstine, in roughly equal proportion.
Cardinal Ratzinger, who would later become Pope Benedict, in an in-depth interview in 1985 that the spirit of Vatican II had faded, that it failed to generate a new enthusiasm, but instead Catholicism had become trapped in a spirit of “boredom and discouragement.” What the opponents and supporters of Vatican II shared in common is neither understood nor studied the actual decrees of Vatican II. The solution would be a new Catechism to summarize the teachings of Vatican II.
We are planning a course of study, starting with the Decalogue, or Ten Commandments, and read most of the works quoted in the footnotes of the Catholic Catechism, many of them are church fathers. We will also ponder what the church fathers, the medieval rabbis, Luther in his Large Catechism, and preachers and scholars can teach us about the Decalogue.
The video draws from this blog: http://www.seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/who-should-study-the-catholic-catechism/
Please support our channel when purchasing these books from Amazon:
Catechism of the Catholic Church, UCSSB Bishop's Edition
https://amzn.to/3kca1sT
Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions, Book of Concord
https://amzn.to/3ghTJxK
Introduction to the Catechism of the Catholic Church
https://amzn.to/37UXEMm
A Compendium of Texts Referred to in the Catechism of the Catholic Church
https://amzn.to/2W4cxK2
Gospel, Catechesis, Catechism: Sidelights on the Catechism of the Catholic Church, by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
https://amzn.to/3za3RQu
Ratzinger Report: An Exclusive Interview on the State of the Church
https://amzn.to/2W2DNIU
This document is the preface and first chapter of Leo Tolstoy's book "The Kingdom of God is Within You". The preface outlines how Tolstoy's previous book "What I Believe" was suppressed by Russian censorship for explaining why he does not believe in the Church's doctrine of Christianity. This sparked criticism and debate on the topic of non-resistance to evil by force. The first chapter discusses how the doctrine of non-resistance has been professed by a minority throughout Christian history, referencing various theological writers and pacifist sects such as Quakers and Mennonites that reject the use of weapons and military service.
El documento proporciona información sobre el alcohol, incluyendo su historia, epidemiología, definiciones de abuso y dependencia, y enfoques para la identificación y tratamiento de problemas relacionados con el alcohol en atención primaria. Se describe que el alcohol es una de las sustancias sedantes más antiguas conocidas y su uso data de hace miles de años, y que la OMS informa sobre los niveles globales y regionales de consumo. También se definen términos como abuso de alcohol, dependencia y patrones de consumo, y se discuten cuestionarios
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El documento habla sobre sistemas como herramientas para el diálogo. Menciona a los caminantes y a Mitchel Resnick y la aplicación de un método que involucra imaginar, jugar y compartir.
El documento presenta un sinopsis y tratamiento para la película "El Choripanero". La película sigue a Tony, un vendedor ambulante de choripanes en un pueblo de Argentina, y su amor prohibido por Juliana, la hija del ex comisario. La llegada de un nuevo intendente amenaza el negocio de Tony y desata corrupción en el pueblo.
Este documento describe la parada cardiorespiratoria, la reanimación cardiopulmonar y el soporte vital básico. La parada cardiorespiratoria es la interrupción brusca e inesperada de la circulación y la respiración. La reanimación cardiopulmonar incluye maniobras para reemplazar estas funciones con el objetivo de recuperar la función cerebral. El soporte vital básico incluye RCP básica, llamada de emergencia y la cadena de supervivencia que conecta a la víctima con la ayuda médica.
O documento descreve o Iluminismo no século XVIII, um movimento intelectual que promoveu a razão, a ciência e a liberdade contra o absolutismo e a intolerância religiosa. Menciona pensadores como Voltaire, Montesquieu, Rousseau e Newton que questionaram a autoridade e defenderam direitos naturais.
Costa Rica ha desarrollado leyes y estrategias para apoyar a las pequeñas y medianas empresas (PYMES), que constituyen el 98.1% de las empresas privadas registradas y se concentran principalmente en el comercio y los servicios. Las PYMES enfrentan obstáculos como la falta de conocimiento de los mercados financieros para exportar y la falta de investigación para desarrollar nuevos productos y procesos. El Sistema Nacional de Apoyo a las PYMES de Costa Rica ofrece programas de capacitación e investigación para ayudar a las PYMES a
O documento descreve como, após a queda da União Soviética e com a globalização da economia, investidores e empresários dos países capitalistas descobriram que grande parte da África não era lucrativa, a não ser que pudessem subornar políticos locais para gastar dinheiro do povo em projetos militares ou de prestígio. Isso levou a uma exploração desproporcional do continente africano por esses países.
Perspectives of Generation 2000 and Their Parents on ECommunication Addiction...inventionjournals
This study aimed to compare the perspectives of Generation 2000 (born 1982-2002) and their parents on whether Generation 2000 is addicted to e-communication in Turkey. Surveys were administered to 1,784 university students from Generation 2000 and 2,240 of their parents. Generation 2000 reported a low level of e-communication addiction, while their parents perceived a high level of addiction. However, the results were not conclusive on e-communication addiction for Generation 2000. Perspectives differed between the groups in terms of age, internet use frequency, gender, and age.
El documento resume la historia de las tecnologías de la información y la comunicación (TIC) en México desde 1958 hasta 2003, mencionando los principales modelos de computadoras utilizados por instituciones como la UNAM, IPN, IMSS e IBM, así como hitos como la creación de Televisa en 1972 y la llegada de las primeras microcomputadoras personales en 1978.
Los insectos son artrópodos invertebrados con tres partes principales en su cuerpo - cabeza, tórax y abdomen - que se alimentan de plantas como hojas y semillas. Pueden encontrarse en todo el mundo debido a su capacidad de adaptarse a diferentes climas, aunque se presentan con mayor abundancia en regiones tropicales y boscosas húmedas.
O primeiro reinado no Brasil (1822-1831) foi marcado por:
1) Reconhecimento da independência do Brasil por outros países;
2) Promulgação da primeira Constituição em 1824, que estabeleceu uma monarquia constitucional;
3) Abdicação de Dom Pedro I em 1831, dando início ao período regencial.
Este documento define CSS como un lenguaje de estilo que controla la presentación de documentos HTML definiendo propiedades como fuentes, colores, márgenes y posicionamiento. CSS ofrece beneficios como controlar la presentación de múltiples documentos desde una hoja de estilo y mejorar el posicionamiento web. El documento también cubre la sintaxis básica de CSS y temas como colores, fuentes, enlaces y posicionamiento.
Este documento explica cómo crear y modificar tablas en SQL. Primero se describe la sintaxis básica para crear tablas, incluyendo la definición de campos, tipos de datos, tamaños, valores predeterminados y restricciones. Luego, se provee un ejemplo detallado de tres tablas y sus relaciones. Finalmente, se explica cómo modificar tablas existentes usando los comandos ALTER TABLE, MODIFY y ADD.
How christianity was invented Bertin, ClaudeClaude Bertin
This document provides background on the historian Flavius Josephus and examines whether his works corroborate or contradict the biblical accounts of Jesus. Josephus was a contemporary historian who lived during the alleged time of Jesus. His father Matthias held a high-ranking position and would likely have known about major events involving Jesus. However, Josephus makes no mention of Jesus in his works, despite his thorough coverage of the time period and interest in different Jewish sects. This raises questions about whether the biblical narratives are historically accurate accounts. The document argues that Josephus provides an important historical perspective to analyze alongside the biblical sources.
STUDY OF RELIGION HANDOUT, PART I 1800-1900Prof. Daniel Alvar.docxpicklesvalery
STUDY OF RELIGION HANDOUT, PART I: 1800-1900
Prof. Daniel Alvarez, Florida International University
Bibliography and History: William Baird, History of New Testament Research: From Deism to Tubingen (Fortress, 1992); John Rogerson, Old Testament Criticism in the 19th Century (S.P.C.K, 1984).
Friedrich Schleiermacher (d. 1834). Major works: On Religion: Speeches to its Despisers among the Educated (1799, 3rd edition, 1821); Celebration of Christmas (1806); The Christian Faith (1821); Life of Jesus (published posthumously in the 1864); Introduction to the New Testament (1829-1832); and an influential work on Hermeneutics [Biblical interpretation], based on handwritten manuscripts (first published in 1838, but published in a critical edition without student notes in 1959). English translations of these works are in print, except for the Introduction to the New Testament.
One of the founders of the University of Berlin in 1810, preacher, classical scholar, whose translation of Plato’s Dialogues is the standard translation in Germany today. S. had close Jewish friends and was instrumental in the rise of Reform Judaism and Jewish emancipation. Otto von Bismarck, who in 1871 unified Germany, was S.’s catechumen as a young man. That in the same year that he became chancellor of a united Germany Jews were recognized as citizens with full civil rights might not be an accident (nor perhaps an accident either that Germany embarked on a path towards militarism and imperialism under Bismarck). Brought to Berlin W. M. L. de Wette (father of modern Old Testament criticism), Augustus Neander (father of modern church history, and famous for his dictum “the heart makes the theologian”), G. W. Friedrich Hegel (d. 1831), as well as E. W. Hengstenberg (d. 1866), the leader of German conservative theology from 1827 until his death. Influenced his young colleague, Friedrich Tholuck (d. 1877), specialist in Oriental languages, who became a conservative under the influence of E. W. Hengstenberg, but who in his early career believed Islam was superior to Christianity, and who wrote an important book on Sufism (Sufism, or the Pantheistic Philosophy of Persia [1821]) and a translation of Islamic mystical writings, Eastern Mysticism (1825). David F. Strauss (d. 1873) was his student at Berlin and was later to criticize severely S.’s Life of Jesus as seriously defective from a historical standpoint.
Scheliermacher is considered the father of Liberal theology. Although influenced by Kantian idealism, he shifts the essence of religion from dogma and revelation (orthodoxy) and ethics (Kant) to feeling. As he says elsewhere, religion is a matter of the heart, not the head, of the affections, not concepts (reminiscent of the theology of the American Puritan theologian, Jonathan Edwards [d. 1758]). He accepted the new historical criticism coming into its own in the 18th century, including the Kantian critique of religion that challenged the viability of the dogmatic and epis ...
C. S. Lewis was a British author, scholar, and theologian. As a child he created an imaginary world called "Animal-Land" where animals wore clothes and talked. He grew up in a house filled with books and developed a love of reading and writing stories. Lewis converted to Christianity as an adult influenced by his friends J.R.R. Tolkien and others. He became a well-known Christian apologist and author, writing many popular works including The Chronicles of Narnia and Mere Christianity. Lewis never married but took in his brother's sons as stepsons later in life after marrying Joy Davidman. He died in 1963 at the age of 65.
1. The document summarizes philosopher G.E.M. Anscombe's life and work, including her criticism of C.S. Lewis's argument in his book Miracles.
2. It discusses Anscombe's attack on Lewis at the Oxford Socratic Club, focusing on Lewis's statement about irrational causes and his ambiguous use of terms.
3. Lewis later revised his argument in the 1960 edition of Miracles in response to Anscombe's criticism.
C.S. Lewis used his works of fiction to portray his Christian views on topics such as the struggle between faith and doubt, humanity's relationship with God and temptation, and the need to put faith in God over technology. Some of his most famous works that incorporated Christian themes included The Space Trilogy, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and Mere Christianity. Lewis aimed to explain Christianity to both educated and uneducated audiences and show the importance of living out faith despite life's temptations.
1. The novel Azazeel by Youssef Ziedan provides a fictional account of 5th century Christian theological debates from the perspective of a monk named Hypa.
2. While the story is compelling and highlights important historical issues, the character of Hypa holds several views that would have been unacceptable to Christians at the time, such as denying that stories have beginnings and endings.
3. The novel also seems to promote an incorrect view that early Christian doctrine was incoherent, and represents Hypa as favoring apocryphal gospels despite a lack of evidence that monks viewed them as credible.
1. The novel Azazeel by Youssef Ziedan provides a fictional account of theological debates in early Christianity through the story of a 5th century Egyptian monk.
2. While the story is compelling, the character of the monk Hypa is not believable as the novel suggests he gave credence to heretical Gnostic gospels, which there is no evidence monks at the time would have.
3. The novel also misrepresents early Christian views on women and sexuality, failing to acknowledge evidence that high views of women were widespread and not universally seen as evil. This undermines the fictional premise of the story.
Brochure - NEW REVELATION - About God, Trinity and the Son of God - ed 1Simona P
This document provides an overview and introduction to the New Revelation, a collection of spiritual writings received by Jakob Lorber and Gottfried Mayerhofer between 1840-1877. It summarizes that:
1) Lorber and Mayerhofer maintained that the writings were received through inner dictation from Jesus Christ himself, providing profound spiritual teachings far beyond their abilities.
2) The manuscripts were carefully preserved and the process of receiving them was witnessed, showing Lorber and Mayerhofer received the writings fluently without corrections.
3) The New Revelation answers fundamental human questions at a profound spiritual level while also making accurate scientific predictions, confirming Christian scripture. It aims to motivate love of God and others
Brochure - NEW REVELATION - About the Death and Resurrection of the LordSimona P
The words of the Lord Himself from the New Revelation about His death and resurrection, bringing not only the natural facts, but mostly a great spiritual light concerning the greatest performance of God's infinite love and mercy
The document discusses C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia series and the Christian allegories and symbolism contained within. It notes that Lewis himself stated the books were about Christ and analyzed characters like Aslan and the White Witch as representations of Jesus and Lucifer. While some Christians fully support the religious aspects, others see the influences from mythology as problematic or the parallels to Christianity as imperfect. Overall, the author argues the stories can act as a way to introduce people to Christianity through their imaginative worlds and meaningful messages.
An Epoch Of Belief Religion In Dickens S Quot A Tale Of Two Cities QuotScott Faria
This document discusses religion in Charles Dickens's novel A Tale of Two Cities in historical context. It describes the shift in Victorian England from early evangelicalism to the mid-Victorian Broad Church movement. Early Victorian religion emphasized personal conversion and spreading Christianity, while mid-Victorian religion focused more on Jesus's teachings of charity. The document also examines Dickens's own religious views, noting he criticized overt displays of religiosity and clericalism. Finally, it provides an overview of how religion is portrayed in A Tale of Two Cities and how this relates to Dickens's beliefs.
Let us vote on each of the sayings on Jesus, a red bead for each truly authentic saying of Jesus, a pink bead when the saying sure sounds like Jesus, gray, maybe, a black bead for a saying Jesus could not have said, although centuries of biblical scholars thought and taught otherwise.
Using this voting method, the self-appointed members of the Jesus Seminar in 1985 pronounced that only fifteen sayings were truly said by Jesus, while another seventy-five sayings were probably words of Jesus. There were a few eminent scholars in the group, most were middling academics, none were from the most eminent theological universities. But it was great television, great headlines, great press, controversial conspiracies, grabbing ten minutes of fame for this or that ignorant expert.
The original attendees of the Jesus Seminar have mostly been forgotten, with only a spare mention by Dr Wikipedia, but unfortunately the historical Jesus baton was passed to Bart Ehrman, one of the foremost textual critics of the New Testament, which means his specialty is examining the ancient Greek manuscript texts for variants. Dr Timothy Johnson wrote a book disputing the claims of the historical Jesus, The Real Jesus, which will be our main source. This book first looks back to the history of the church since the Reformation, and in the United States since World War II and the GI Bill, to understand how such beliefs can become widespread.
In addition to Professor Johnson's book, The Real Jesus, we will be consulting other works. If you wish to purchase these books, these links will help support our channel with a small affiliate commission:
The Real Jesus: The Misguided Quest for the Historical Jesus and the Truth of the Traditional Gospels, by Luke Timothy Johnson
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The Jesus Quest: The Third Search for the Jew of Nazareth, by Ben Witherington III
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Scripture in Tradition: The Bible and Its Interpretation in the Orthodox Church, by John Breck
https://amzn.to/3E5Kmuh
The History of Christian Theology, Audiobook, by Phillip Cary, The Great Courses
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The Historical Jesus: The Life of a Mediterranean Jewish Peasant, by John Dominic Crossan
https://amzn.to/3CaZaYi
Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time: The Historical Jesus and the Heart of Contemporary Faith, by Marcus Borg
https://amzn.to/3puaHyk
The History of the Bible: The Making of the New Testament Canon, Audiobook, by Bart D. Ehrman, The Great Courses
https://amzn.to/3C6zQT2
The Greatest Controversies of Early Christian History, Audiobook, by Bart D. Ehrman, The Great Courses
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These are my blogs on this topic:
https://wp.me/pachSU-5Z
https://wp.me/pachSU-63
https://wp.me/pachSU-7O
https://wp.me/pachSU-97
In continuation of my studies of falsehood of all Abrahamic religions from 20...Navid Khiabani
In continuation of my studies of falsehood of all Abrahamic religions from 2008 to 2014
Complete historical study to indicate Jesus is a fictional character
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Flannery O Connor Analysis
The obscure religious agenda in J.K. Rowling s Harry Potter series, supported by that of J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, is akin to that found in Flannery O Connor s works. This similarity allows for the identification of Rowling as the O Connor of this generation. Three main elements influence both Rowling and O Connor s works respectively. Religious background, writing as a means to spread the gospel, and a specified and intended audience are shared components and are essential to the crediting of Rowling as this generation s O Connor. Religious background acts as a commonality for the two authors. While the two authors belonged to different denominations (O Connor devotedly Catholic and Rowling Presbyterian), religion held substantial...show more content...Milbank explains that in the post Christian phase , where there is a decline in institutionalised religion, fantasy seems to have the ability to give glimpses of the Gospel, allowing the story of Christ to persist in the echo of the public value (2). Anastasia Apostolides and Johann Albrecht Meylahn state Tolkien, Lewis, and in a contemporary world, Rowling, use glimpses of the Gospel in their work to expose and challenge the effects of the dominant discourses of their societies that they see as fragmenting and hurting people s identities and binding them to material things (5). In the same article, it is later stated that As the Harry Potter series has the Christ discourse threaded in its sacred story, it allows the reader glimpses of the values of the Gospels from an everyday perspective and that makes the series function as lived theology (6). Also stated is the idea that, Rowling s wizardin
SEVENTH DAY ADVENTIST HISTORY; (ADVENTIST HERITAGE) Credits to Adventist University of the Philippines Theology Students Reports, From the Class of Pastor Cadao
From August - December 2018.
- Report 1 (R1) - Report 23 (R23)
The original teachings of Jesus Christ were an outcome of
Buddhism, says Holger Kersten, a German theology teacher.
Hence one of the titles of the chapters in his book, "The
Original Jesus" (sub-titled 'Buddhist sources of Christianity') is 'Jesus the Buddhist'!
Brochure - NEW REVELATION - About the Birth of the LordSimona P
Lord's description of the condition of His birth on earth as a son of man and the spiritual mysteries surrounding it, as give to humanity through His scribes, Jakob Lorber and Gottfried Mayerhofer
Brochure - NEW REVELATION - About the Birth of the Lord
Renatta Gorski Capstone
1. “The Complaint Was the Answer”:
A Girardian Analysis of C.S. Lewis’s Till We Have Faces
By: Renatta Gorski
2. Those familiar with C.S. Lewis’s works are most likely also familiar with his
midlife conversion to Christianity—from being baptized in the Irish Church to atheism to
Christianity. Probably less well known, however, is the thought process that led to
Lewis’s conversion one night in 1931. Ultimately, the death of his father, the writings of
G.K. Chesterton, and his friendship with fellow author J.K. Tolkien all contributed to
Lewis’s conversion. Even more important was the role that mythology played in the
author’s change of heart. Indeed, this role was so important that it ultimately led to
Lewis’s final—and best, according to his own opinion—novel, Till We Have Faces: A
Myth Retold.
Many years prior to writing the novel Lewis put the death and resurrection of
Jesus Christ in terms of mythology in order to understand and accept Christianity. Noting
the similarities between the Gospels and mythology, he held fast to the difference of the
two: the Christian story actually happened. Because he was already so familiar and
comfortable with the general pattern of myth—that is, the story of a god dying and then
coming back to life—Lewis was able to come to terms with Jesus Christ’s death and
resurrection because though it was not unlike mythological stories, it was an actual event
in the world’s history. Thus, his conception of mythology was that the pagan stories were
not much different from the Christian story, other than that the Gospels are a true account
of history. The comparison he draws between mythology and Christianity was so
important to Lewis that it is the subject of a letter to Arthur Greeves, one of his close
friends, written shortly after and concerning his conversion.
3. Gorski 3
However, when Lewis re-writes the myth of Cupid and Psyche in his last novel, it
does not seem as though he is illustrating the notion that myth and Christianity are similar
but for one important difference. Instead, Till We Have Faces actually understands
mythology in such a way that is more in line with French literary critic René Girard’s
conception of myth: mythology serves to conceal the violence at the heart of culture
whereas Christianity reveals it. Perhaps best known for his 1972 book Violence and the
Sacred, Girard (1923-2015) focused on patterns in literature that indicated the prevalence
of mimetic desire in personal relationships as well as an inherent link between violence
and religion. Eventually, he came to the conclusion that mythology contains this
paradoxical link, but the violence is concealed by way of a scapegoat, or a victimization
process. Instead of focusing on the similarities between mythology and Christianity as
Lewis did, Girard observes the difference: while myth is based on a falsehood that covers
up violence, Christianity is based on the truth of revealing that violence.
In spite of what Lewis seems to have believed about myth, he writes his myth
retold according to an opposite, Girardian perception of myth. That is, the truth is
concealed from the characters in Till We Have Faces; specifically, the narrator Orual is
blind to her jealous love for her younger sister, though it is apparent to the reader. In this
sense, the novel is Girardian because while the characters shield themselves from the
truth, Lewis exposes the truth to the readers.
The True Myth: Lewis’s Conversion to Christianity
C.S. Lewis’s famous works, including The Chronicles of Narnia, The Screwtape
Letters, and Mere Christianity, can undoubtedly be traced back to his conversion to
4. Gorski 4
Christianity; it is unlikely that the atheist Lewis would have written a series modeled after
the Gospels or a satire written from the point of view of a demon. His conversion to
Christianity, meanwhile, can be traced back to J.K. Tolkien, the Inklings, and mythology.
According to biographer John Ryan Duncan, author of The Magic Never Ends:
The Life and Work of C.S. Lewis, “Lewis’s conversion to Christianity began to crystallize
on a dreary September evening in 1931” when he was dining with Tolkien and Dyson at
Magdalen College (Duncan 56). He had converted to Theism in 1929 while teaching at
the college; as he writes in his autobiography, “I gave in, and admitted that God was God,
and knelt and prayed: perhaps, that night, the most dejected and reluctant convert in all
England” (Surprised by Joy 228). Though he believed in God, Lewis was still confused
about Jesus Christ. His confusion led him to ask important questions, and his curiosity
frequently revealed itself in conversations with his Christian friends.
That September night in 1931, Lewis explained to his friends that he had been
putting myth and Christianity in the same category: because he perceived myths as
untrue, he therefore considered Christianity to be untrue. However, Tolkien challenged
Lewis on this idea; he pointed out that myths are not totally false, for they point to an
actual event that happened two thousand years ago. Tolkien insisted that myths point to
something actual and historical. Allegedly, Lewis asked Tolkien, “Do you mean… that
the death and resurrection of Christ is the old ‘dying god’ story all over again?”
(Carpenter 47). Understandably, Lewis was troubled: for if myths were untrue, and
Christianity was the same as a myth, then Christianity must also be untrue. Yet Tolkien
responded yes, the resurrection is the same old story, “except that here is a real dying
God, with a precise location in history and definite historical consequences. The old myth
5. Gorski 5
has become a fact. But it still retains the character of myth” (Carpenter 47). Thus, Tolkien
encouraged Lewis to transfer his attitude about myth to the story of Christ’s resurrection.
“Could [Lewis] not treat [the resurrection] as a story, be fully aware that he could draw
nourishment from it which he could never find in a list of abstract truths? Could he not
realize that it is a myth, and make himself receptive to it?” (Carpenter 47). Taking
Tolkien’s advice, Lewis decided to do just that: put the resurrection in terms of
mythology in order to become receptive to it.
It was twelve days after this rather life-changing conversation with Tolkien that
Lewis wrote to Arthur Greeves about his conversion. He first explained that while he
could easily understand the necessity of salvation, he could not resolve the issue of
sacrifice as it relates to “help[ing] us here and now—except in so far as his example
helped us” (Letters 288). In other words, Lewis could not reconcile the continuing
importance of Jesus Christ, other than that Christians should model their thoughts and
actions based on Him. He adds, “the example business, tho’ true and important, is not
Christianity” (Letters 288). Lewis knew that there was much more to the Gospels, but he
could not grasp what exactly that was. As an academic motivated by logic, his conversion
essentially relied on his complete understanding of the religion.
In the letter, Lewis borrowed Tolkien’s teachings as he noted that the main
distinction between Christianity and “Pagan stories,” or myths, is that “the story of Christ
is simply a true myth: a myth working on us in the same way as the others, but with the
tremendous difference that it really happened” (Letters 288). Essentially, Christianity is
an account of a sacrifice that actually did work to save humankind from its depravity. Yet
6. Gorski 6
it is still similar to mythology in that both concern a dying god as sacrifice and a
victorious resurrection as a result.
Lewis acknowledges the fact that putting the resurrection in the same category as
myth had a great impact on him; he tells Greeves, “the Pagan stories are God expressing
Himself through the minds of poets, using such images as He found there” (Letters 289).
Myth and Christianity, as told by the Bible, are similar in that God uses human authors as
instruments to reveal a meaningful truth in terms that human readers can best understand.
Lewis believed, “God sent the human race what I call good dreams: I mean those queer
stories scattered all through the heathen religions about a god who dies and comes to life
again, and by his death, has somehow given life to new men” (Mere Christianity 54).
Such “good dreams,” though historically untrue, still contain structural forms important
to Christianity: the aforementioned “dying god” and the triumphant ending.
Lewis further notes the similarity of the two when he writes, “this Christian story
is to be approached, in a sense, as I approach the other myths” (Letters 289). Rather than
fully rejecting mythology because of its origins in Pagan religions, Lewis accepts, and
then essentially ignores, its shortcomings in favor of understanding the “moving” truth of
the notion of sacrifice. In an essay in the book God in the Dock, Lewis talks about
Christianity as “The old myth of the Dying God, without ceasing to be myth, comes down
from the heaven of legend and imagination to the earth of history,” that actually occurs
(God in the Dock). Thus the biblical story is recognizable, as it repeats similar motifs
gleaned from ancient myths, but is profoundly more meaningful in that it actually
occurred at an actual time and place in history.
7. Gorski 7
Thirty years after his letter to Greeves, Lewis would analyze myths in more depth
in his 1961 book An Experiment in Criticism. In addition to analyzing other genres of
literature, Lewis lists what he believes to be six criteria of myth. According to Lewis, a
myth is extra-literary, or outside the bounds of genre in literature, and has a simple shape,
“like a good vase or a tulip” (Experiment 42). Second, it is not dependent on a twist or
surprise ending, but rather is felt to be inevitable. Another important component of myths
is that “Human sympathy is at a minimum,” or that the characters are merely a part of
something much bigger than themselves (Experiment 44). For example, in the original
myth of Cupid and Psyche (which is the basis for Lewis’s Till We Have Faces) the king,
queen, and their daughters are nameless, thus drawing little connection to the reader.
Fourth, myths have fantastical elements; they contain “impossibles and
preternaturals” (Experiment 44). Not only are myths fantastical, but they are also serious,
lacking comic elements. Again, the myth of Cupid and Psyche represents this criterion by
including a near-suicide and torturous tasks. Finally, Lewis’s sixth criterion of myths is
that it is “awe-inspiring” (Experiment 44). In the original Psyche myth, the goddess
completes seemingly impossible tasks. Of course, the author admits that these criteria are
not necessarily all-encompassing, but rather that “the same story may be a myth to one
man and not to another” (Experiment 45). Yet Lewis’s list of components remains
significant in that they are indicative of the progression of the formation of his perception
of myth, from his musings to Greeves to his publication of literary criticism. His criticism
shows the prevalence that myth held in Lewis’s life, which makes the analysis of Lewis’s
rewritten myth even more important, especially considering the curious imbalance
8. Gorski 8
between Lewis’s personal feelings about myth and the way that myth is portrayed in Till
We Have Faces.
The False Myth: Girard, the Scapegoat, and the Gospels
Lewis’s ideas concerning myths would probably have appalled fellow literary
critic René Girard. Like Lewis, Girard also analyzed myth and the Gospels side-by-side,
but he came to an entirely different conclusion: myths are not truthful because they cover
up an act of scapegoating violence.
In his initial study of major novelists including Miguel de Cervantes and
Doystoyevsky, Girard conceived the idea that all desire is mimetic. In other words, every
individual desires according to another’s desires: “our neighbor is the model for our
desires” (Satan 10). In doing so, he dismisses what he called the “romantic lie,” or the
notion that every person desires or acts entirely independently. Instead, an individual will
“desire any object so long as he is convinced that it is already desired by another person
whom he desires” (Deceit 7). Girard explains this phenomenon with a picture of a
triangle: if the desiring individual is one point and the desired object in question is
another, the mediator—or the person according to whose desires the first individual is
desiring—is the point between the first two. In other words, the desired object only
becomes valuable when the mediator desires it first.
However, the mediator is in the way, preventing the desiring individual from
attaining the object in question, and ultimately leading to antagonism between the two
individuals. In a later work, Theatre of Envy, Girard puts forth one of the most famous
examples of mimetic rivalry: Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, the story of the group
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assassination of the Roman emperor. Though he claims to love Caesar, the senator Brutus
is at the center of the assassination plot. Readers may be tempted to view this rivalry as a
manifestation of political differences, but Girard insists that mimetic desire is actually
causing the conflict. Though Brutus wants what Caesar has—or desires according to
Caesar’s desires—he cannot have possess it because Caesar already possesses it. Caesar
is in the way between Brutus and Caesar, thus causing the former to hate the latter, and
the two to become rivals.
Girard explains, “Mimetic desire is the mutual borrowing of desire by two friends
who become antagonists as a result. When mimetic rivalry becomes intense, tragic
conflict results” (“Collective Violence” 400). As Shakespeare shows in the play, Brutus
loves Caesar. Because Caesar loves Rome, Brutus loves Rome. It is not that Caesar is a
threat to the republic, then, that causes Brutus to hate Caesar—it is his imitation of
Caesar’s desires.
Girard posits that mimetic rivalry can easily spread to the rest of the community;
he dubs this phenomenon “mimetic contagion” (Satan 22). Indeed, in Shakespeare’s
Rome, “the rivals engage in endless conflicts which undifferentiates [sic] them more and
more; they all become doubles of one another” (“Collective Violence” 401). Thus, the
members of the Senate all begin to turn on each other and destroy the Republic.
Many years prior to Shakespeare, Girard argues, the same cycle occurs in myths.
In I See Satan Fall Like Lightning, Girard points out that myths “almost always begin
with a state of extreme disorder” (Satan 62). For example, in the myth of Oedipus, the
city of Thebes is on the brink of destruction due to famine; in other cases, the imminent
threat may be an otherworldly being rather than a natural phenomenon. In the end, the
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details of the threat itself are not of much importance. As Michael Kirwan explains in his
book Discovering Girard, these threats are actually just “veiled references to an
escalating mimetic crisis” (Kirwan 46). In Girard’s own words, “At the height of the
crisis the unanimous violence is set off” (Satan 63). Essentially, mass violence inevitably
erupts once the threat has fully escalated.
The “outside” threat in myths is actually individual personal rivalries that tend to
create a snowball effect as they increase. Eventually, the rivalries escalate until the point
where “all against all would finally annihilate the community if it were not transformed,
in the end, into a war of all against one” (Satan 22). The conflict inevitably transforms
itself, aimed at a single person. This individual, typically an outsider or possessing
characteristics that somehow separate him from the community, is blamed for the
escalated threat. The goal for the rivals then becomes the expulsion of that one person
instead of against one another.
At this point of heightened violence, the war is transformed into “all against one”:
the violent mob turns on a single individual, a scapegoat, believing that outsider to be the
true cause behind the population’s distress. Once that outsider is marked, the mob turns
on him, intent on expelling him from their community along with their troubles. At the
death of the victim, peace is restored to the community. The restoration gives rise to the
victim’s transformation from guilty party to deity because the mob now attributes the
peace to the very individual they had just victimized. This moment is paradoxical in that
it combines two seemingly unrelated things: religion, often related to pacifism, and
violence and death. To return to Girard’s Shakespeare example, the mimetic crisis that
began with Brutus and spread to the other leaders ultimately leads to the assassination of
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Julius Caesar. The murder of Caesar, then, marks an attempt to re-found the Roman
Republic—his killers even bathe in his blood.
Though the jealousy underneath the violent actions may seem obvious, the
characters themselves are blind to what is beneath the entire process. Likewise, Girard
notes that attributing the restoration of peace to the victim from the start covers up the
transformation from scapegoat to deity. This process of transformation characterizes
myths: “Lynchings restore peace at the expense of the divinized victim. This is why they
are associated with manifestations of this divine figure and the communities recall them
in transfigured accounts that we call ‘myths’” (Satan 66). To recall Lewis’s language,
myths are “the old dying god story.” They explain the origin of religious communities,
but in doing so, they disguise the cathartic violence that brought them to the point of the
deity’s creation.
Even more significant than the violence itself, though, is the fact that the victims
in myths are transfigured. In other words, the myths cover up the violence that caused the
deification of the victim and instead suggest that the individual existed as a god the entire
time. The participants in mythology lie to themselves about the true nature of their gods;
they refuse to see the “god” as victim first. In Satan, Girard uses the example of
Apollonius of Tyana and the city of Ephesus to illustrate this mythological pattern, which
Girard describes by using the borrowed label “scapegoat mechanism.” In order to cure
the Ephesians of some persistent epidemic, Apollonius encourages the crowd to hurl
stones at “the enemy of the gods,” who is actually an old, blind beggar—an outsider
nonetheless. Doing so ultimately cures the city of its plague, for the Ephesians become so
caught up in their actions that “they finally see [the beggar as]… the source of all their
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misfortunes, the ‘plague demon’ that must be expelled in order to heal the city” (Satan
51). The beggar seemingly turns into a wild dog and the Ephesians put up a statue
honoring the god Hercules in the exact same spot. Yet in the Ephesians mind, the god had
been responsible the entire time.
Girard’s perception of myths is best described as an origin story that conceals or
covers up the wrongdoings of a people group. In consideration of myths as stories that
account for the foundation of a religion, the author claims, “The peoples of the world do
not invent their gods. They deify their victims” (Satan 70). Pagan gods only become so
following a violent victimization.
Significantly, this appears to be true of Christianity as well. The Gospels and
foundational myths are similar in that both point to a sacrificial ritual of a single victim as
the foundation of religion. Yet Girard insists that the main and most important difference
between myths and the Gospels is that the biblical story is transparent; it reveals the
mimetic contagion rather than tries to cover it up or deny it. Though both contain
collective violence, Girard poses the question “Is [the violence] warranted? Is it
legitimate?” of each (Satan 109). In myths, the collective violence is always justified
through the deification of the scapegoat. In the Bible, the violence is never justified, but
rather is shown to be unwarranted and illegitimate.
In order to highlight this fundamental difference, Girard points to both the Old
Testament and the New Testament. Similar to myth and the New Testament, the Old
Testament contains examples of rivalry, mimetic crisis, and collective violence.
However, it differs from both in that the victim of the crisis is never deified. Also similar
to the New Testament, though certainly not to myth, is that in the Old Testament the
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victim is never implied to be guilty of what he is accused. Girard uses Joseph from
Genesis as an example. Though Joseph is sold into slavery by his brothers—an event
which is analogous to the mythological victimization of a single character—he is
innocent; he is innocent of his brothers’ envy, he is innocent of the charges that put him
in the Egyptian prison, and he is innocent of the accusations of rape. His innocence is
also revealed when his brothers fail to idolize him as a sacred being; instead, he is still
Joseph, their brother.
Likewise, the New Testament is similarly transparent in revealing the truth about
its victim: Jesus is innocent—completely innocent. Departing from the Old Testament,
though, the Gospels do indeed show a deified victim. However, because Jesus is not
guilty of what he is accused of, “his divinity cannot rest on the same process as mythic
deifications” (Satan 123). The biblical story reveals the concealing nature of myths by
discussing the violence for what it really is and by not attempting to justify it. Girard
believes the Gospels indicate that, “the resurrection of Christ sheds the light of truth on
everything that had always been concealed from human beings” (Satan 125). Because of
the revelatory nature of the Gospel story, the New Testament cannot be considered in the
same genre as myths; though the two certainly share common characteristics, mythology
masks violence whereas the Gospels exposes it.
Though both Lewis and Girard found myths to be especially important in relation
to the Christian story, they evidently held very opposing perceptions of the two. While
Lewis believed that myths contain some of the truth revealed in the biblical story, Girard
held that myths are concealing and dishonest by nature. In fact, it almost seems as though
Girard is responding to Lewis’s ideas about mythology in I See Satan, when he writes,
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The myth and the biblical account are much closer to one another and resemble
each other much more than most readers suspect. Is this to say they agree on
everything essential? Can we view them as more or less equivalent? Completely
to the contrary. Locating the common data allows us to take note of an irreducible
difference, an impassable gulf between the biblical story (Satan 108).
Ironically, however, Lewis’s novel Till We Have Faces is more in line with Girard’s
conception of myths than with his own. Lewis’s retelling of the myth illustrates how the
characters of the novel, Orual in particular, cannot see the truth. In other words, Lewis’s
myth conceals the truth for the novel’s characters while revealing the truth to the readers.
The Cupid and Psyche Myth: Lewis Versus Girard
First, it is necessary to understand how Lewis made an ancient legend his own.
The original myth of Cupid and Psyche is found the Latin novel Metamorphoses, also
called The Golden Ass, written by Apuleius. According to the ancient novel, Psyche is the
youngest daughter of a king and queen of an unnamed city. Not only is she far more
beautiful than her two older sisters, she is also so astonishing that men choose to worship
her as a goddess over Venus. The jealous Venus sends her son Cupid to pierce Psyche
with one of his arrows, thereby afflicting her with intense love for the first thing she sees.
Meanwhile, Psyche’s father gleans from the oracle of Apollo that his daughter will not
have any human suitors but will instead be prey for a dragon. Psyche is therefore taken to
a mountain, giving Cupid the perfect opportunity to fulfill his mother’s wishes.
Yet when he finally sees Psyche, Cupid is so captivated by her beauty that instead
of obeying his mother’s orders, he takes her to a secret palace. He visits her only in the
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night so that he can hide his identity. Eventually, Psyche convinces her mysterious suitor
to allow a visit from her sisters. The other princesses are filled with envy when they see
the luxurious life that their youngest sister now leads and thus seek to rob Psyche of her
happiness. They convince the girl that her husband must surely be a hideous monster and
should therefore be destroyed; naïve Psyche agrees to take a covered lamp and a knife
with her to bed in order to expose her husband and then kill him.
That night, Psyche brings a lamp into their bedchamber Instead of being repulsed
by Cupid, though, Psyche falls desperately in love with him. He wakes to find her
looking at him and quickly vanishes, angered by her betrayal. Despairing, the beautiful
princess seeks to take her own life, but is thwarted by the god Pan. Ultimately, Venus
captures Psyche and forces the girl to perform a series of seemingly impossible tasks.
Psyche does manage to complete these tasks and is also forgiven by Cupid. Ultimately,
the pair marries and lives happily ever after.
In the introduction to Till We Have Faces, Lewis claimed he was haunted by this
myth his entire life. Lewis sets his retelling in Glome, a kingdom that worships the
goddess Ungit. Glome is ruled by Trom, the father of three girls. Orual, the eldest, is the
story’s narrator, and the youngest is Psyche. As in Apuleius’s myth, Psyche is an
astonishing beauty But unlike in the original myth, Psyche develops a close relationship
with her eldest sister, Orual. In fact, Orual considers her half-sister her best friend as well
as her beloved child: “I wanted to be a wife,” says Orual, “so that I could have been her
real mother” (Faces 23).
When Glome eventually becomes plagued by bad harvests, widespread fever, and
trouble with neighboring cities, the priest of Ungit informs the king that a sacrifice—a
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“Great Offering”—must be made in order to expiate the god’s anger toward the city
(Faces 47). Typical sacrifices like a bull or a ram are not enough in this instance; instead
the “Accursed” must die by way of sacrifice. He tells the king that upon casting lots,
Psyche is the unfortunate victim: “She is the Accursed. The Princess Istra must be the
Great Offering” (Faces 55). Psyche must die in order to save the kingdom.
Orual of course is adamantly against the sacrifice and she implores her father to
prevent it and even insists that she takes the place of her younger sister. Psyche, however,
is strangely willing to go to the mountain. In a private meeting, Psyche explains to her
sister the “longing for death” she has always felt, which Orual takes personally, asking,
“Have I made you so little happy as that?” (Faces 74). Though older and more
experienced, Orual fails to understand that Psyche’s longing for death is less of a desire
to escape life but instead a longing for something else, something that she cannot quite
comprehend. Despite her best efforts, Orual is unable to prevent the sacrifice and
mournfully watches from the sidelines as her beloved, beautiful younger sister is “painted
and be-wigged… like a temple girl” and led up to the mountain by her father (Faces 80).
Some days following the sacrificial offering, Orual journeys to the Tree on the
Mountain to collect her remains. Astonishingly, she is reunited with her sister and listens
to the girl explain about the beautiful god and the god’s House that she now inhabits—yet
unlike the original myth, Orual cannot see this palace. Later on, as in the original myth,
Orual gives Psyche a lamp and oil to test the god, only convincing the younger girl to
perform the test by way of threat. Unlike the original myth, Psyche’s reluctance to test
her husband stems from her love for him rather than her fear of him. Yet, presumably
from the god himself, Orual learns of her sister’s test and subsequent exile; an impossibly
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bright figure tells her, “You shall also be Psyche” (Faces 174). In anguish, Orual finds
her guard Bardia and retreats from the mountain, once again believing her sister to be lost
forever.
Unlike the original myth, the rest story focuses on the rest of Orual’s life instead
of on Psyche’s impossible tasks. Orual eventually inherits the kingdom, serving as the
veiled ruler of Trom for the rest of her life. A visit to a temple where she learns of the
goddess Istra ultimately inspires Orual to bring a charge against the gods, thus revealing
the original purpose of the story.
Understood through the prism of a myth, the sacrifice of Psyche seems to
resemble the Gospel account of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. In the common
understanding of the Gospels, Jesus takes on the sins of mankind and restores order to
humanity in that his sacrifice absolves every man of their guilt. Jesus is the perfect
sacrifice because He is without sin. This condition is precisely what we see in Faces,
where the priest of Ungit announces, “In the Great Offering, the victim must be perfect”
(Faces 49). Furthermore, both the story of Psyche’s death and the biblical account of
Jesus’ death are stories of “a god who dies and comes to life again, and by his death, has
somehow given life to new men” (Mere Christianity 54). Of course, the original myth
and Lewis’s fictional retelling are not a part of history while Jesus’ crucifixion really did
take place. However, Lewis’s myth is still clearly in the same category as he would
consider all the others: the dying god come back to life, similar to the Gospels.
While this comparison is accurate, it is not sufficient, for the novel contains more
depth. In addition to the biblical story, the novel also shares similarities with Girard’s
interpretations of myths versus the Gospels. Not unlike Girard’s explanation of the
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plagued Ephesus or the state of the world in the Gospels, the city of Glome is similarly
afflicted by a number of things including famine, plague, and lions; this is fitting, for
Girard points out that, “myths almost always begin with a state of extreme disorder… In
all cases the initial mythic situation can be summarized in terms of a crisis that threatens
the community and its cultural system with total destruction” (Satan 63). In fact, as the
conditions in Glome worsen, the citizens gather at the doors of the palace. The “mob”
cries out, “We are starving,” accusing the King’s lack of a male heir as the cause for the
famine. Indeed, their protests become so fierce that the King orders a bowman to kill one
of the mob men (Faces 36). Evidently, the city is on the brink of destruction and is
desperate for an antidote. Just as Apollonius’s cure was to expel the enemy of the god by
means of murder, the alleged only cure for Glome is to expel a member from the
community, transforming him or her into “the Brute’s Supper” (Faces 49). The priest’s
language connotes violence, for the Accursed in Lewis’s novel is destined to be
devoured.
The sacrifice of Psyche is similar to Jesus’ death for other reasons as well. Like
Jesus’ claim to be the Son of God (or like Oedipus’s limp and foreign birth, for instance),
Psyche’s beauty separates her from the majority. First, the people of Glome throw stones
at her and talk amongst one another, claiming, “’She is the curse itself’” (Faces 39).
Then, an authoritative figure, the Priest of Ungit, uses her uniqueness to name her
removal the cure for the city. The case of Psyche is just like other mythological stories
because the crises in the cities are transformed from what Girard dubs “a war of all
against all” into a “reconciliation of all against one” (Satan 53). Instead of continuing to
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war against each other and against the king, the citizens of Glome turn against a single
victim.
Perhaps most significantly, the sacrifice is successful; following the violent death,
order is restored to the community. In Glome, the drought is broken, the cattle are saved,
and the fever is gone once Psyche is brought up the mountain. As a result, the violence is
justified and thus, the violence is concealed. Instead of being regarded for what it is—that
is, violence—the brutal sacrifice is a healing mechanism. At this point especially,
Lewis’s novel is no longer a mythic story containing some truth of the biblical story
because, as Girard asserts, the violence in the biblical story is not warranted and is not
justified. The crucifixion of Jesus is told for what it is, whereas myths, including Lewis’s
retelling of myth, condone the sacrifice.
Another important element of Lewis’s story to consider is the ultimate deification
of Psyche. Her sacrifice, of which the ultimate purpose is to save Glome, certainly bears
resemblance to the crucifixion account in the Gospels. Furthermore, Psyche’s story does
not end with her death—she reappears on the mountain. Of course, Lewis never intended
for Psyche to be an allegory for the death and resurrection of Jesus (say, for example, like
Aslan in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe may have been). Instead, as he tells his
friend Clyde Kilby in a letter, Psyche is only Christ-like in the same way that every man
or woman is like Christ (Sammons 180). Nevertheless, the similarities between the two
stories remains and thus indicate that Lewis may have been pointing out the truth that is
present in all myths, including his own retelling.
In fact, his stated intention to Kilby to not make her Christ-like, except insofar as
that every human is like Christ, echoes Lewis’s ideas about myths as similar to the
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Christian story, but not necessarily the real thing. He writes in God in the Dock,
“Christians also need to be reminded… that what became Fact was a Myth, that it carries
with it into the world of Fact all the properties of a myth,” something Girard would no
doubt disagree with (Duncan 60). According to Girard, such “properties of a myth”
would mean that the Christian story also conceals the truth, just as mythological stories
conceal the truth. If the Christian story did have all the properties of a myth, as Lewis
believed, then it would be inherently untrue.
Indeed, the incorporation of a Christ-like figure is once again an illustration of a
Girardian principle of myths. As aforementioned, Psyche reappears on the mountain
following her death, claiming to be the bride of a god; much later in the novel, Orual
visits a temple where she learns from the priest of Istra that her sister Psyche, is now
regarded as a goddess. The priest of Istra even suggests that Orual make an offering to
the altar, explaining to the queen that the goddess wanders the earth, weeping, until she is
released and “becomes a goddess” (Faces 246). She remains a goddess throughout all
spring and summer. Such a transformation, from scapegoat or sacrifice to benevolent
god, is precisely what Girard found in myth after myth—and, notably, not in the story of
Jesus. Despite the evident similarities, the story of Jesus contains no scapegoat
transformation because, as the Gospels show, Jesus was innocent from the beginning to
the end.
Notably, in no part of the priest’s story does he mention that Psyche was unjustly
accused. He only explains that she was made to be an offering for a brute on a mountain.
The subsequent deification of the sacrificed girl implicitly justifies the sacrifice.
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Therefore, Lewis’s myth seems like all other myths in that, as Girard would say, it is
concealing the truth for the characters in the novel.
Because it conceals and covers up the truth for the characters but reveals it to the
readers, Faces cannot be considered in the same light that Lewis considered mythology.
Instead, it is far more Girardian: Girard explains that Christ’s divinity is unlike the
process of mythic deifications in that Christians maintain Jesus’ innocence instead of
justifying his persecution. Not only is there no justification for the mimetic cycle, but
“contrary to what happens in the myths, it is not the unanimous mob of persecutors who
see Jesus as the Son of God and God himself; it is a rebellious minority” (Satan 123).
These few people—Christians or Jesus disciples—reject the story of Jesus’ guilt from the
beginning. On the other hand, in myths, the majority deifies the victim. By paralleling the
sacrifice of Jesus to the sacrifice of Psyche, Lewis is not so much indicating the
similarities, but instead pointing out the “irreducible differences.” In the Gospels, namely
only Jesus’ disciples insist He is God, even though they are scorned for their beliefs. On
the other hand, in Lewis’s myth, the “unanimous mob of persecutors,” that is, the citizens
of Glome, affirm Psyche’s deity.
Interestingly, Orual’s character and first-person narration actually best illustrate
these “irreducible differences.” She is unable to see that her actions are motivated by a
jealous love, but this fact is undeniably clear to the reader—her own story acts to conceal
the truth. For example, when Orual first decides to journey up the mountain with Bardia
in hopes of giving Psyche’s bones a proper burial, the act is considered noble and
courageous. Orual’s decision makes her out to be a mourning, loving sister. Surely, her
joyous reunion with Psyche confirms this role. However, as Orual listens to her younger
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sister, now so mature, tell her about her new home on the mountain and her Bridegroom,
the god, Orual’s possessiveness and disbelief begin to overcome her.
First of all, Orual cannot bear that Psyche might love anyone more than she loves
her older sister. She cries out to Psyche, “Do you even hear me? I can’t reach you…. You
loved me once… come back” (Faces 124). Not unlike an overprotective parent, Orual
refuses to accept Psyche’s personal growth without her. The fact that Psyche might not
need her anymore upends Orual’s world and takes her most prized role from her. Second
of all, Orual cannot acknowledge that the gods might actually be good because this belief
would go against the conviction that she has held her entire life. In Orual’s own words,
“If this is all true, I’ve been wrong all my life. Everything has to begin over again”
(Faces 115). Unwilling to relinquish her role as Psyche’s most beloved and her belief that
the gods are cruel, Orual retreats from the mountain.
Despite physically leaving Psyche on the mountain, Orual is unable to move
forward with her life while such troubling thoughts still linger. Disguising her actions as
“a time for love to be stern,” she resolves to return for a second time to the mountain
(Faces 152). Rather than admit to herself that her troubles stem from her jealousy, Orual
insists that she is acting out of an almost parental “tough love.” She claims that she
simply does not want Psyche to be taken advantage of by whomever it is that she is
claiming is her husband.
Much to her dismay, Psyche repeats what Orual does not want to hear: that
Psyche belongs to her husband now and that he, a god, is good. At this point, Orual
decides to take extreme measures. She insists that Psyche expose her mysterious husband
using the oil and lamp she has brought for her. When Psyche refuses to disobey the god,
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Orual threatens to end her own life, forcing a dagger through her own arm to indicate her
seriousness. Allegedly out of love, she tells Psyche, “Both of us die here, in plainest truth
and blood, unless you swear” (Faces 165).
By forcing Psyche’s hand, Orual is in a way recreating the unjust sacrifice of
Psyche. Ironically, she had previously told the Fox, “If anyone in Glome knew that she
had not died, they would seek her out and sacrifice her again” (Faces 147). In order to
resolve her inner turmoil, Orual drives out Psyche and all of her unbearable truths. Just as
the communities in myths are enveloped in chaos before turning on a single victim, the
stability of Orual’s life up to this point has completely erupted since her reunion her
sister—unless she can expel what she believes to be the source of this chaos. Indeed, after
Psyche “goes out in exile,” and Orual returns to Glome, life becomes relatively ordered
again. Peace is restored: Orual dons a veil for almost the rest of her life, becomes her
father’s trusted advisor, and ultimately is named queen.
Even though Lewis the literary critic, the Christian convert, found myths to be in
part truthful, Lewis the novelist participates in the misleading myth by concealing the
truth from Orual. Orual’s first-person narration does not initially admit that her need for
Psyche’s expulsion stems from a jealous, possessive love—it instead disguises her need
by the cover of protective love. Orual justifies her actions by telling Psyche, “There’s
your lover, child. Either a monster—shadow and monster in one, maybe, a ghostly, un-
dead thing—or a salt villain” (Faces 160). She acts as though her scapegoating is
necessary and not a culmination of and a way to resolve her inner unrest. Not only is this
part of the plot a further replication of the Girardian scapegoat mechanism, it also echoes
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the Girardian belief that myths are by nature concealing. Evidently, Orual is blind to what
is happening beneath the surface.
But the reader is not. The first person narration invites the reader into Orual’s
mind, but thanks to Lewis’s artistry, does not ever imply that Orual should be completely
trusted. The truth behind Orual’s scapegoating is revealed to the reader even if it is not
initially revealed to Orual. In this way, Lewis is conveying a distinctly Girardian
conception of myth: the violence is concealed to the participants, but not to the
readers/observers. Thus, Lewis’s critical understanding of myth differs from his
novelistic understanding of myth.
Finally, the myth at the end of the novel is worth revisiting. As previously
mentioned, Orual encounters a temple dedicated to a goddess whom she soon learns is
actually Psyche. She is deeply troubled by what the priest tells her, however, because the
story is not at all what actually took place between her and Psyche. According to the
priest’s sacred story, both sisters visited Psyche on the mountain and both sisters saw the
palace that the real Orual could not see. Orual’s narration in regards to the priest’s tale
could just as easily be Lewis speaking as himself in regards to myth: “That much of the
truth [the gods] had dropped into someone’s mind, in a dream, or an oracle, or however
they do such things” (Faces 243). Similarly, Lewis had written to Greeves, “the Pagan
stories are God expressing Himself through the minds of poets, using such images as He
found there” (Letters 288). In other words, Orual might as well say that the priest’s tale
would be another example of what Lewis called “good dreams.”
As Orual’s narration proceeds, however, her musings become distinctly Girardian.
She continues, “That much [truth]; and wiped clean out the very meaning, the pith, the
25. Gorski 25
central knot, of the whole tale” (Faces 243). The fact that the true story—the story in
which Orual visits Psyche alone and cannot see the palace—is so far removed from what
the priest tells her happened forces Orual to come to the conclusion that the myth is
covering something up. Of course, it should be noted that Orual believes that the gods are
responsible for this dishonesty whereas Girard solely blames the men who invent the
stories to cover up their violence and scapegoating. Regardless, in consideration of the
priest’s sacred story, or myth, Orual and Girard observe the same problem. Though she is
blind to any concealment on a personal level, Orual recognizes the dishonesty from afar.
Just as Orual participated in the scapegoating of her own sister, though, she also
participates in the dishonesty of the myth of what actually happened. Although she
accurately finds that the priest’s myth is masking the truth of the events on the mountain,
she still denies her own motivations for what happened between her and Psyche. As she
is listening to the priest, she resolves to write the very book the reader is holding to bring
her charge against the gods and set her story straight. She exclaims, “Jealousy! I jealous
of Psyche? I sickened not only at the vileness of the lie but at its flatness” (Faces 245).
By refusing to admit her jealous love for Psyche, Orual is doing precisely what she had
accused the priest of doing: wiping clean the very meaning of the whole tale.
However, by writing her own story, Orual does eventually come to know the
truth. She explains visions in which she reveals that she is Ungit, the bloodthirsty
goddess. Her attitude toward Psyche was no better than what she thought was the god’s;
she was not acting out of love, but out of jealousy. Once she brings her charge against the
gods, Orual realizes, “The complaint was the answer” (Faces 294). Following this
revelation, she is reunited with the Fox. Together, they consider paintings on the walls of
26. Gorski 26
the palace, viewing pictures that depict Psyche performing seemingly impossible tasks,
then a picture of both Psyche and Orual toiling together, then a recreation of the scene on
the mountain. Horrified, Orual asks the Fox, “Did we really do these things to her?…
And we said we loved her” (Faces 304). The Fox replies, “And we did. She had no more
dangerous enemies than us” (Faces 304). At last, with the help of the Fox and her own
writing, Orual understands the truth that the reader has known from the beginning. Orual
sees the entire myth for what it is: a story that serves as a mere veil.
Just as Orual understood the truth about her own life through writing her story,
Lewis reveals the truth about myth in writing this novel. Though the conflation of
Christianity and myths may have helped Lewis become a devout Christian, writing the
novel conveys a different, Girardian perspective about myth and Christianity: while one
conceals, the other reveals.
Conclusion
Orual’s transformation and understanding does not truly begin until she begins to
write; she reflects, “The change which the writing wrought in me… was only a
beginning” (Faces 253). This literary move makes a statement about the power of
writing, which no doubt would have resonated with Girard. In an essay on Marcel Proust
and the author’s book Remembrance of Things Past, Girard writes, “The book made the
author, no less than the author the book” (Mimesis 57). Though Proust never declared
himself a Christian, “his masterpiece espouses the Christian structure of redemption more
perfectly than the carefully planned efforts of many conscientious Christian artists”
(Mimesis 68). Perhaps the act of writing revealed the truth to Proust just as the act of
27. Gorski 27
writing revealed the truth to Orual—and maybe even to Lewis. The conception of myth
that is revealed in Faces—despite Lewis’s prior beliefs about myth formed in 1931—
suggests that the author may have undergone a transformation not unlike his narrator’s.
Perhaps penning his final novel wrought a change in Lewis that may have been “only the
beginning,” had his life not ended in 1963. Though it is impossible to say for sure,
considering the Girardian configuration of Till We Have Faces, Lewis may have
experienced a deeper conversion more in line with Girard’s perception of myth and the
Gospels.
28. Gorski 28
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Carpenter, Humphrey. The Inklings: C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Charles William, and
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Duncan, John Ryan. The magic Never Ends: An Oral History of the Life and Work of C.S.
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---God in the Dock: Essays on Theology and Ethics. Print.
---Mere Christianity: Comprising the Case for Christianity, Christian Behaviour,
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