This Tuesday we will be discussing chapters 4-6 of C.S. Lewis’ The Great Divorce. Within these chapters, we will meet three of the bus riders who came from Hell. As you read through these chapters, try to annotate the story with Biblical references. (If you don’t know chapter and verse, Google or Biblegateway are great places to look things up.) And, as you read through the chapters, see what part of your life Lewis is speaking to. Also, as with any author we read, don’t be afraid to disagree with Lewis or question his perspective.
As you read through Chapter 4 on the Big Man ask yourself:
· What is the Big Man’s concept of “decency”?
· What prevents him from staying in heaven?
· Read Phil 2:4-6. How does the Big Man share Paul’s perspective on God prior to his Damascus experience?
· If the Big Man were a regular churchgoer, do you think it would make him more or less likely to want to stay in heaven?
· According to the Big Man’s friend, what is the secret to getting into heaven?
· How are you the Big Man? What does God owe you, and why?
As you read through Chapter 5 on the Episcopal Ghost (“Episcopal” meaning bishop, not the Episcopal Church), ask yourself:
· What caused the Bishop to become an apostate?
· What does the solid spirit recommend as the cure?
· What does the solid spirit mean when he says “Because the Middle Ages erred in one direction, does it follow that there is no error in the opposite direction?” Can there also be an apostate reaction against the views of the wayward Bishop?
· A quote attributed to either St. John Chrysostom or St. Athanasius is that “The road to (or floor of) hell is paved with the skull of bishops” (cite). How does this Episcopal ghost fulfill that quote?
· In response to his friend, the Episcopal Ghost quotes Paul: “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly.” 1 Cor. 13:11-12a. What is the Episcopal Ghost missing from Paul’s teaching?
· Paul says that Christ crucified is a stumbling block to Jews and a folly to Gentiles. 1 Cor. 1:23. How is this applicable to the Ghost?
· How are you the Episcopal Ghost? How do you shy away from the reality of God?
As you read through Chapter 6, ask yourself:
· Is this ghost the Intelligent Man we met in Chapter 2?
· Why is the Ghost trying to take the apples?
· The Voice says there is no room in Hell for the apples. What does that mean?
· What are the apples that you labor over?
Dinner is at 6. The menu is corned beef and cabbage. Discussion about 6:45. Hope to see you here.
You have given me a mere handful of days,
Psalm 39:6-8
and my lifetime is as nothing in your sight;
truly, even those who stand erect are but a puff of wind.
We walk about like a shadow,
and in vain we are in turmoil; *
we heap up riches and cannot tell who will gather them.
And now, what is my hope? *
O Lord, my hope is in you.