Ancient Anglican

Nothing in and of itself is good or bad (how can the love of a child be wrong) but when that thing takes the place of God, it causes us to miss the mark (i.e. sin).  Therefore, the challenge that Lewis gives us is to see those idols in our life that draw us away from God so that they can be put in their proper place.

As Lewis shows us, non-existence overcomes the humanity in the ghosts and the grumbler becomes a grumble and the ghost of Robert’s Wife simply goes “poof.”

As we progress through the book, the ghosts and their respective problems should be getting more personal. This week, we’ll meet the ghosts of doubt – the Hard-Bitten Cynical and the Frightened Shame-filled ghost.

But He cannot defend this deity of His against the self-righteous people who are unwilling to accept grace and eternal life from Him freely but want to earn it by their own works. They simply want to rob Him of the glory of His deity.  – Martin Luther

Within these chapters, we will meet three of the bus riders who came from Hell. 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.

I think that earth, if chosen instead of Heaven, will turn out to have been, all along, only a region in Hell; and earth, if put second to Heaven, to have been from the beginning a part of Heaven itself.

For Lewis, Heaven is a state of being (ontology) whereby we become fully human and are transformed into the full likeness and nature of God.  Alternatively, Hell is that state of being whereby we un-become human and gradually decline into that state of non-being and non-existence. 

The Great Divorce gives us two primary understandings of Hell. First, Hell is a place of progressive non-existence. Second, the gates of Hell are always locked from the inside.

The Church sees the human body, which Christ himself took on, to be something good but which will be transformed in the life to come. 1 Cor. 15:25-49. The body isn’t something to be carelessly discarded, but to be renewed.

Church is Mother. In the Church we are conceived and given spiritual birth. She nurses us in our infancy, brings us up as children, and guides us into mature perfection. She is there to pick us up when we fall and to encourage us when we lag.  – John Calvin

The Spirit is the very present and active power of God that transforms a believer into something new. 

The dispute over the filioque challenges us to think more deeply about the very nature of the Trinity.