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I.  Zachariah’s Prophesy

            A.  Called “the Benedictus” which is the first word of it in Latin, meaning “good

      words” or “blessed words”—we get the word “benediction” from this term

B.  Note the emphasis that Zechariah places on the fulfillment of the promise of

      God to Abraham (for rest and peace to worship God) found in the coming of

      the Messiah—rest and peace from our great enemy—sin

II.  The Census

            - Just be aware that Luke is setting his gospel in historical events, which helps

     us to date the birth and work of Jesus

III.  NO MAGI YET!!!!

IV.  The Shepherds

            A.  shepherds were on the bottom of the pecking order in Jewish culture, Women

      mentioned in Matthew’s Genealogy and Shepherds in Luke’s birth

      announcement, Jesus is being presented as the Savior of all kinds of people—

      even the lowliest

            B.  Three titles given to Jesus by the Angels

                        1.  Savior

                        2.  Christ (Christ is the Greek translation of Messiah from the Old

     Testament)

                        3.  Lord (Greek word ku/rioß (Kyrios)—meaning “Lord”  This is the

     Greek translation of the personal name of God hwhy (Yahweh) from the

     Old Testament—Jews would not pronounce the name of God, so

     inserted the word yn”doa] (Adonai), which means “Lord most High” in

     Hebrew—hence Lord being attributed to Jesus is a clear mark of his

     divinity

V.  Circumcision and Purification

            A.  Jesus fulfilled every letter of the Jewish commandments

            B.  From first to last shedding of blood, Jesus identified with his covenant people

            C.  Purification ritual for a mother took place 40 days after the birth and the

      sacrifice given was also for the ritual redemption of a firstborn child

      (Exodus 13)

            D.  The blessing of Simeon

                        1.  Called the “Nuc Diminitus”

                        2.  Note the Gentile focus of these words

 

I.  The Birth of John the Baptist Announced

            A.  John’s Parents

                        1.  Zechariah the priest (name means “Yahweh has remembered”)

                        2.  Elizabeth of the house of Aaron (name means “My God is an Oath”)

                        3.  Both parents from a priestly line—not a common thing to happen

            B.  Herod

                        1.  John’s righteous parents set in history against the background of a

     tyrannical ruler

                        2.  Herod the Great had been given an army by Rome to conquer as much

     as he chose to rule

            C.  Zechariah in the Temple

                        1.  Lighting the incense

                                    a.  The altar of incense was one of the pieces of furniture in the

     Holy Place of the temple

                                    b.  The Incense was lit 2x per day so that it would perpetually burn

     as a sign of the prayers of God’s people perpetually before him

2.  The prayers of the priests were ones connected with the coming

     Messiah (angel pronounces his prayers answered in Luke 1:13)

                        3.  This privilege was drawn by lot and was a once in a lifetime privilege,

     and many never got to do it—note God’s hand at work in the timing

            D.  Zechariah’s response

                        1.  Zechariah responds in doubt, his tongue mis-speaks and thus, his

     tongue is silenced

                        2.  In contrast, Mary will pose a question, but it is a question asked in

     faith, thus, she is not rebuked

            E.  Restrictions on John

                        1.  John will be forbidden to drink wine or strong drink from birth

                        2.  This is likely a Nazarite vow that is given to him (note Samuel’s

     Dedication in 1 Samuel 1:11)

                                    a.  under such a vow they could not

                                                i.  drink wine and alcohol (could not even eat grapes)

                                                ii.  cut their hair

                                                iii.  be near a dead body

                                    b.  see Numbers 6:1-10

            F.  Both John and Jesus given names

                        1.  John means “Yahweh has been gracious”

                        2.  Jesus means “Salvation” or “he will save his people from their sins”

                                    -Jesus comes from the name Joshua

 

II.  Birth of Jesus announced

A.  Note that Zechariah and Elizabeth are both in the line of Aaron and Joseph

      and Mary are in the line of Judah

            B.  The Greeting to Mary

                        1.  “Greetings O Favored One”

                        2.  Note this is an emphasis on her being favored because of what God is

     doing in her, not because of who she is.

                        3.  She responds in shock at such a greeting given her lowly status

                        4.  Though is befuddled, she responds in faith (see 1:45)

            C.  Title given to Jesus is “Son of the Most High”

                        1.  This is the Greek word u¢yistoß (hupsistos), which when used

      substantivally (as a noun) always refers to God himself

                        2.  This Greek word is used to translate the Hebrew word !Ayl.[, (elyon)

     which also is used in the Old Testament to refer to God

            -Elyon means “God most High”

3.  This is the name of God attributed to Jesus’ sonship—a clear statement

      that Jesus is the Son of the covenant God of Israel (Amy Grant song,

      “El Shaddai”—which means “God Almighty”)

            D.  Mary’s Song

                        1.  Called the “Magnificat” meaning “the praises” from Latin

                        2.  See 1 Samuel 2:1-10 and compare Mary’s Song with Hannah’s prayer

            E.  Note the 2 names given to Jesus in Matthew’s account

                        1.  Jesus-“for he will save his people from their sins”

                        2.  Immanuel-“God with us”

 

I.  The Purpose of a genealogy

            A.  they establish Jesus’ credentials

            B.  Matthew, writing to a Jewish audience takes his genealogy back to Abraham

                        1.  Matthew picks up where the genealogies in Genesis 5 and 11 leave off

                        2.  Matthew’s emphasis is on the fulfillment of Jesus’ Sonship in terms of

     the Abrahamic promise

3.  Note prominence of David and Abraham in Matthew’s genealogy

            C.  Luke, writing to a Gentile audience, takes his genealogy back to Adam

                        1.  Luke wants to show that the whole world has a connection to Jesus

                        2.  Luke emphasizes Sonship in terms of Jesus’ divine Sonship

                        3.  Luke also emphasizes Jesus as the “second Adam”, which is why the

     genealogy is found just before the temptation account—showing that

     Jesus succeeded where Adam failed (see 1 Corinthians 15:42-49 and

     Romans 5:12-14)

            D.  The point is that Jesus has the proper credentials to be the agent of salvation

      not only of the Jews but of the whole world!

II.  Differences between Matthew and Luke’s genealogies

            A.  Matthew traces from David to Solomon, Luke from David to Nathan

            B.  Luke has significantly more people in his genealogy

            C.  Matthew leaves out 4 kings in his line

                        1.  Joash, Amaziah, Ahaziah, and Jehoiakim

                        2.  These 4 kings were connected to curses in Hebrew tradition

            D.  Matthew’s three groups of 14 aren’t really fourteen (to make it work there is

      duplication in the third but not the second)

III.  Solutions

A.  Luther proposed that Luke’s genealogy was traced through Mary and   

      Matthew’s through Joseph

B.  Also has been proposed that Luke’s genealogy is a biological genealogy of

      Jesus and Matthew’s is a theological or “kingly” geneaology

C.  The point is that Jewish genealogies were not done to see all of the biological

      connections, but their purpose was to show a theological connection to the

      covenant body—Matthew’s certainly does this

IV.  The Women—Matthew’s genealogy contains 5 women—very unusual

            A.  Tamar (Genesis 38:27-30)—seduced her father in law by masquerading as a

      prostitute

            B.  Rahab (Joshua 2)—a prostitute

            C.  Ruth (Ruth)—a Moabitess, the Moabites descended from the incestuous

                    relationship of Lot and his daughter

            D.  The Wife of Uriah (Bathsheba—2 Samuel 11&12, also Psalm 51)—an

      adultress

            E.  The point?  Jesus’ messiahship is not just for those who are “in authority” but

      is for all kinds of people

 

I.  Luke 1:1-4

            A.  Note Luke’s language of having done research in preparation of this Gospel

                        1.  He is seeking to “compile” a narrative

                                    -implication is that he is drawing from many sources

                        2.  He has spoken to eyewitnesses and “ministers” or “helpers”

                                    a.  Luke quotes extensively from Mark, the earliest gospel writer,

     and a “helper” of Peter, this is most likely a reference to Mark

     as a source

                                    b.  Note the relationship to inspiration and research—God

                                            inspiration does not imply sloppy or incomplete preparation

            B.  Also note Luke’s emphasis on putting forth an “orderly” or

                 “chronological” account

                        1.  a reflection of his Greek way of thinking

                        2.  a reminder that the Hebrew writers, Matthew, Luke, and John

     sometimes moved narratives out of their chronological ordering

     to make a theological point

                        3.  Likely Luke’s account is chronologically most straight-forward

II.  John 1:1-18

            A.  Verse 1-2

                        1.  Note allusion to Genesis 1:1

                                    a.  John is emphasizing the pre-existence of the Word (Jesus)

                                    b.  John is also emphasizing the Trinitarian language about the

     relationship of the Father and the Son

                                                i.  different persons

                                                ii.  same essence

                                    c.  language also rejects Christological error

                                                i.  Rejects Sabellianism

                                                            a.  they argued that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

      were one in the same and found in different

      forms depending on their task

                                                            b.  modern day Father, Son, Grandson analogy

      stems from Sabellian beliefs

                                                ii.  Rejects Arianism

                                                            a.  believed that the Son was a created being—a

      kind of demigod, neither fully God, nor fully

      man

                                                             b.  Modern day Jehovah Witnesses and Mormons

      hold beliefs that stem from this heresy

                        2.  the “Word”

                                    a.  the Greek word used here is “logo/ß” (Logos)

                                    b.  In Greek philosophy, the Logos was a totally transcendent

     entity, powerful and eternal, but without emotion or connection

     to the physical world—totally impersonal.

                                    c.  John is connecting Jesus as the Logos to the Word of creation

     (see John 1:3, Hebrews 1:1-4, Colossians 1:16-17)

                                    d.  John also points out that the true Logos, Jesus, is both personal

     and with emotion and connection to the physical world

                                    e.  God works in the world through the Word—His Son

                        3.  The word was “with” God

                                    a.  This is the Greek word  “proß” (pros), which literally means

     “toward.”

                                    b.  You cannot speak of being “with” someone if you are not

     separate persons

c.  At the same time, scripture tells us he was God.  This demands

     the understanding of the Triune God—could not be separate

     beings and be God himself at the same time, for God is one

     (Deuteronomy 6:4)

                        4.  John is presenting the words and the works of Jesus as the very words

     and works of God himself

            B.  Vs. 3-4

                        1.  Life and Light—2 major themes in John

                        2.  This is creational language once again

                                    a.  “Let there be Light” is the first statement by God in the creation

                                         account

                                    b.  Creation is all about new life

                        3.  This is also redemptive/salvational language

                                    a.  Jesus is the light, the revelation of God to all men which brings

     life to those who believe

                                    b.  The life Jesus brings is the resurrection, offered to mankind

            C.  Vs. 5

                        1.  The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not “overcome” it

                                    a.  word (katelabe/w/”katelabeo”) used in this verse can be

     understood in 2 ways

            i.  “to overcome”—that the darkness did not overcome the

     light of Christ—this interpretation is certainly been

     evidenced by the growth of the church.

            ii.  “to comprehend”—in terms of redemption, those of this

                     world will never understand or comprehend the

       gospel—evidenced by Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians

       18-25

                        2.  John paints a picture of the world’s rejection of Christ even in light of

     the clear proclamation of the gospel

            D.  Vs. 6-8

                        -This is an introduction to John the Baptist, of whom we will speak more

  fully later.  The most important key is that John tells us that John the

  Baptist’s main role is to be a witness so that all might believe

            E.  Vs. 9-13

                        1.  The theme of “true light” comes back into the picture

                                    a.  Jesus is the true light which enlightens all

                                    b.  Jesus is the rubric by which all things are to be understood

                        2.  Note also the theme of becoming children of God—through receiving

     Jesus Christ and believing in his name

            a.  not by birth of flesh and blood

            b.  nor by the will of the flesh

            c.  but by the will of God

            F.  Vs. 14-18

                        1.  The word became flesh—the language of the incarnation

                        2.  “dwelt” with us

                                    a.  this is the Greek word  skhno/w (skanao), which literally means

     “to dwell in a tent”

                                    b.  It is this word that is used to translate the Hebrew word !k;v’

     (shakan), the Hebrew verb that means to dwell in a tent

                                    c.  The noun form, !kev’ (shaken), is the word that means

     “Tabernacle”

d.  John is drawing two connections here that are very important

            i.  In the Old Testament, God dwelt with his people in the

                tabernacle and then in the temple.  John is saying that

                Jesus is the fulfillment of both the tabernacle and the

                temple, dwelling or tabernacling with us in the flesh

            ii.  The glory of God dwelling with his people was

     something referred to as the “Shekinah Glory,” which

     comes from this word for tabernacle.  Going back to the

     theme of light—it is Jesus that is the revelation of God’s

     Shekinah Glory to mankind

                        3.  Verse 16-17 includes the language of “grace upon grace”

                                    a.  there are some that would make a contrast here between the

     language of Moses and the language of Jesus as in the law was

     bad and grace in Christ is good

                                    b.  the ideas, though are parallel ideas.  God was gracious in giving

     the law, and gracious beyond comparison in giving grace

     through Christ—they are complimentary ideas

                        4.  Verse 18

                                    a.  John reaffirms the deity of Christ to conclude his Prologue

                                    b.  also, we are told that it is in Jesus that God the Father has made

     himself known—Jesus is the exegesis of God the Father

 

Study Guide:  An Introduction to the Harmony of the Gospels

 

 

An introduction into the structure of the New Testament (see attached discussion sheet for more details):

I.  What is a Harmony and what is the value of one?

            A.  It is a chronological overlapping of the Gospels.

            B.  While each Gospel writer has their own reasons for including the material they

      choose to include, overlapping the gospels helps give us a fuller picture of the

      ministry of our Lord.

            C.  It must be noted that there are instances that one must make some decisions as

      to the timing of certain events.  Ancient writers were not as bound to

      chronological sequencing as are todays modern writers.

 

II.  Why are there four Gospels?

            A.  There were four gospels shown to have had come from an Apostolic witness

                        1.  Matthew and John were apostles themselves

                        2.  Mark wrote under the oversight of Peter

                        3.  Luke wrote under the oversight of Paul

            B.  The Gospels provide us with the story of the life, ministry, teaching, and death

      of our Lord.

                        1.  Jesus is the great covenant mediator

                        2.  Moses, as a covenant mediator, prefigures Christ/Christ is the greater

     Moses

                        3.  The structure of the New Testament is modeled on the structure of the

     Old Testament—the Old prefigures the New.

                        4.  As there were four books that dealt with the birth, life, ministry,

     teachings, and death of Moses the covenant mediator, it should not be

     surprising to find four books dealing with Christ, the greater covenant

     mediator.

 

Works By C.S. Lewis
	Date Published
Pre-Conversion Writings
Spirits in Bondage:  A Cycle of Lyrics	1919
Dymer	1926
Post Conversion Writings
The Pilgrim’s Regress: An Allegorical Apology for Christianity, Reason, and Romanticism	1933
The Allegory of Love:  A Study in Medieval Tradition	1936
Out of the Silent Planet	1938
Rehabilitations, and other Essays	1938
The Personal Heresy:  A Controversy between EMW Tillyard and CS Lewis	1939
The Problem of Pain	1940
A Preface to Paradise Lost	1942
Broadcast Talks	1942
The Screwtape Letters	1942
The Weight of Glory, and other Addresses	1942
Christian Behavior:  A Further Series of Broadcast Talks	1943
Perelandra (Reprinted in 1953 as “A Voyage to Venus”)	1943
The Abolition of Man:  Or, Reflections on Education with Special Reference to the Teaching of English in the Upper Forms of Schools	1943
Beyond Personality:  The Christian Idea of God	1944
That Hideous Strength: A Modern Fairy-Tale for Grownups (Abridged version published in 1946 as “The Tortured Planet”)	1945
George Macdonald:  An Anthology	1946
The Great Divorce	1946
Essays Presented to Charles Williams	1947
Miracles:  A Preliminary Study	1947
Authorian Torso:  Containing the Posthumous Fragment of the Figure of Arthur by Charles Williams and a Commentary on the Authorian Poems of Charles Williams	1948
Transporation, and Other Addresses	1949
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe	1950
Prince Caspian	1951
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader	1952
Mere Christianity (Revision and Expansion of “Broadcast Talks”, “Christian Behavior”, and “Beyond Personality”)	1952
The Silver Chair	1953
The Horse and His Boy	1954
English Literature in the Sixteenth Century Excluding Drama:  Volume III of The Oxford History of English Literature (In 1990, Lewis’ volume was renumbered as Volume IV, “Poetry and Prose in the Sixteenth Century”)	1954
The Magician’s Nephew	1955
Surprised by Joy:  The Shape of My Early Life	1955
The Last Battle	1956
Till We Have Faces:  A Myth Retold	1956
Reflections on Psalms	1958
Studies in Words	1960
The Four Loves	1960
The World’s Last Night, and other Essays	1960
A Grief Observed	1961
An Experiment in Criticism	1961
They Asked for a Paper:  Papers and Addresses	1962
Posthumous Writings
Letters to Malcolm:  Chiefly on Prayer	1964
The Discarded Image:  An introduction to Medieval and Renaissance Literature	1964
Poems	1964
Screwtape Proposes a Toast, and Other Pieces	1965
Letters of CS Lewis	1966
Of Other Worlds:  Essays and Stories	1966
Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Literature	1966
Spenser’s Images of Life	1967
Christian Reflections	1967
Letters to An American Lady	1967
A Mind Awake: An Anthology of Lewis	1968
Narrative Poems	1969
Selected Literary Essays	1969
God in the Dock:  Essays on Theology and Ethics (Published in UK in 1971 as “Undeceptions: Essays on Theology and Ethics”)	1970
Fern Seeds and Eliphants and other Essays on Christianity	1975
The Joyful Christian:  Readings from CS Lewis	1977
The Dark Tower, and Other Stories	1977
They Stand Together:  The Letters of C.S. Lewis to Arthr Greeves, 1914-1963	1979
Of This and Other Worlds	1982
On Stories, and Other Essays on Literature	1982
The Business of Heaven: Daily Readings from CS Lewis	1984
Boxen: The Imaginary World of the Young CS Lewis	1985
First andSecond Things: Essays on Theology and Ethics	1985
Letters to Children	1985
Present Concerns	1986
Timeless at Heart	1987
Letters:  CS Lewis and Don Giovanni Calabria:  A Study in Friendship (First issued as “The Latin Letters of CS Lewis” in 1987)	1988
All My Road before Me:  The Diary of CS Lewis, 1922-1927	1991
The Collected Poems of CS Lewis	1994
CS Lewis:  Collected Letters, Family Letters, 1905-1931, Volume 1	2000

Christianity and Literature:  Outline

 

The Big Idea:  What distinguishes Christian Literature?  Answer:  it clearly points to Christ

 

Introduction:

• Asked to discuss “Christian Literature” though unsure of value of this discussion
• Understands that Literature is a means for sharing the Gospel
• Rules for good writing are same for Christian and non-Christian
• Thus, does not see a value in a genre of “Christian” literature, just good literature or bad literature, both kinds reflecting the author’s perspective
  • Is one a “Christian writer” or a “writer that happens to be Christian?”

 

One:  What makes literature “Christian?

• Sacred in theme/starting point for devotion
  • Value is subjective (rag may be sacred for some)
  • Written by Christians for Christians, not for literary merit per say
• Christian approach to literature
  • Creative vs. derivative
  • Spontaneity vs. Convention
  • Freedom vs. Rules
  • Great authors are innovators, “breaking fetters,” not followers
• Jesus as Poet or Philosopher
  • Jesus’ limitations
  • Poetic in some senses
  • More like Socrates than Shakespeare in analogy
• Man as head of woman, God the Father as head of the Son, Jesus as head of Church
  • The subordinate is to reflect the head
  • Just as son watches Father, so Jesus observed the Father to better communicate his being
• New Testament Literary Expression
  • Originality is the prerogative of God
  • Creativity discouraged and being conformed into the image of Christ
    • “being as little as possible ourselves, in acquiring a fragrance that is not our own but borrowed, in becoming clean mirrors filled with the image of a face that is not ours
  • Lewis’ rejection of Total depravity
  • Derivative & reflective is good
    • “pride does not only go before a fall—a fall of the creature’s attention from what is better, God, to what is worse, itself.
• Applied to Literature
  • Purpose is not to create, but to reflect Christ
  • Embody or reveal what is true of eternal beauty and wisdom
  • Originality is not true originality as it comes from God
  • Non-Christian writes for vain purposes, Christian for Christ
  • Christian does not ask, “Is it mine?” but will ask “Is it good?”
• Conclusion
  • “The Christian knows from the outset that the salvation of a single soul is more important than the production or preservation of all the epics and tragedies in the world”
  • The strength of Christian literature comes not from the literature but from the God of Christian literature

 

Words to Define:

• Hagiological:  of the Saints
• Proprement dite:  French for “properly itself”
• Argumenta ad hominess: argument by opinions
• A fortiori:  “From the Stronger”
• Catena:  chain
• Redolere Christum:  “to smell of Christ”
• mi/mhsiß is derived from mimhth/ß, meaning:  imitator
• au moins je suis autre: French—“At least I am different”
• di se medesmo rise:  Italian for, “I lauged at myself”

Miracles By C.S. Lewis

 

Flow of the Argument

 

Chapter 11:

I.  The Big Idea

            a.  The difference between Tradition and a living faith

II.  “Those who make religion their god will not have God for their religion” Thomas

Erskine

            a.  Popular Religion

                        1.  God is abstract

                                    i.  God is truth

                                    ii.  God is goodness

                                    iii.  God is a spiritual force pervading all things

                        2.  Makes God impersonal

                                    i.  impersonal gods make no demands

                                    ii.  impersonal gods are more “comfortable” than a god who

demands of us

                                    iii.  hence, impersonal gods are more preferable

                        3.  this kind of religion is really pantheism

                                    i.  “the fact that the shoe slips on easily does not prove that it is a

new shoe” (131)

                                    ii.  pantheism is the permanent “natural bent” of the human mind

(132)

                                    iii.  only religions to refute pantheism

                                                a.  Platonism

                                                b.  Judaism

                                                c.  Christianity (the only truly formidable opponent)

                        4.  Pantheism leads to immoral behavior

                                    i.  racism

                                    ii.  German racial nationalism (Sprach Zarathustra)

                        5.  Christian vs Panthistic view of God

                                    i.  Pantheists believe that God is present everywhere because he is

diffused or concealed within everything

                                    ii.  Christians  believe that God is totally present at every point of

space and time but not locally present anywhere (no place

or time can contain the fullness of God)

                        6.  Good theology is a nuisance to the fancies of popular religion

                                    i.  true historian is a nuisance to one reminiscing about the “good

old days”

                                    ii.  real musician is nuisance to one indulging in self-taught music

                                    iii.  truth vs. preference

                                    iv.  “IF God is the ultimate source o fall concrete, individual things

and events, then God himself must be concrete and

individual in the highest degree.  Unless the origin o fall

other things were itself concrete and individual, nothing

else could be so; for there is no conceivable means whereby

what is abstract or general could itself produce concrete

reality.”  (138-9)

                                    v.  God “is not a universal being: if he were there would be no

creatures, for a generality can make nothing.

                                    vi.  The Limpet analogy (142-143) –note that a Limpet is a marine

slug

                                    vii.  must have a conception of what something is to say what it is

not

                                    viii.  the ultimate spiritual realities are more real, not less real than

physical existence

                                    ix.  Note that this is the Rubicon that you cross—once you reject

pantheism, you find yourself crossing into Christianity

 

Chapter 12:

I.  The Big Idea

            a.  Are Miracles “acceptable” to a mighty God?

II.  Would God break his own scientific laws

            a.  difference between elementary rules taught to schoolboys and deeper rules

employed by the masters for the purpose of style

            b.  God created the universe intentionally for a relationship with himself

            c.  Science is not the rule that constrained God’s creation; science is the byproduct

of God’s orderly creative work

            d.  “if miracles do occur then we may be sure that not to have wrought them

would be the real inconsistency” (155)

            e.  we don’t understand God’s deeper plan because “it is a very long story, with a

complicated plot; and we are not, perhaps, very attentive readers.” (15

 

 

Chapter 13:

I.  The Big idea

            a.  The probability of miracles is not the question, it is how fit miracles may seem

to one’s mind

II.  Nature and uniformity

            a.  “the fact that a thing had happened ten million times would not make it a whit

more probable that it would happen again” (162)

            b.  “Experience therefore cannot prove uniformity because uniformity has to be

assumed before experience proves anything” (163)

            c.  we have a sense of “fitness” about the way things go, so all things must be

consistent with that fitness if our minds will readily accept them

            d.  If God is “a rational Spirit and we derive our rational spirituality from it, then

indeed our conviction can be trusted.  Our repugnance to disorder is

derived from Nature’s creator and ours.” (16

            e.  “Even those who think all stories of miracles absurd think some very much

more absurd than others:  even those who believe them all (if anyone

does) think that some require a specially robust faith.  The criterion which

both parties are actually using is that of fitness.” (171)

 

 

Chapter 14:  The Grand Miracle

I.  The Big Idea

            a.  the Incarnation is the grand miracle of all from which all other miracles stem

from or lead up to

II.  The Incarnation is the Grand Miracle

            a.  greatest importance

            b.  the supernatural coming down and becoming part of nature for a time

III.  Patterns of this in Nature

            a.  Descent/ascent (death/rebirth)

                        1.  the corn god motif

                        2.  phoenix

                        3.  life and rebirth in nature

            b.  chosen-ness/God’s selectiveness

                        1.  selectiveness in nature

                        2.  selectiveness in redemptive history

            c.  Vicarious nature

                        1.  exploitation and oppression

                        2.  kindness and gratitude

IV.  How other religions respond to these themes

            a.  Natural religions deify them

            b.  anti-religions deny them

            c.  Christianity explains them as illuminated by supernatural

V.  Original vs. Imitation

            a.  Christianity is the original pattern from which all other cultic religions get their

start, not the other way around

            b.  Christianity as the one true “myth” that really did happen

 

 

Chapter 15&16:

I.  The Big Idea

            a.  Miracles can be divided in many different ways

                        1.  classes

                                    a.  fertility

                                    b.  healing

                                    c.  destruction

                                    d.  dominion over inorganic

                                    e.  reversal

                                    f.  perfecting/glorification

                        2.  Old and New creation

                                    a.  Old Creation= a reflection of what God has already done in

nature on a vast scale

                                    b.  New Creation= pointing toward that which is to come

            b.  note importance of these chapters for apologetic arguments

Chapter 17:

I.  The Big Idea

            a.  You are now prepared, having dealt with the philosophical aspects, to deal with the historical question.  Yet, if you do, make sure that you re-teach yourself what you have been taught for so many years by the culture.  Reject Everythingism as something that offers nothing.

 

 

Appendix A:

The different usages of the term “Spirit” and we must define our terms and say what we mean by the word spirit when we use it in dialogue

 

Appendix B:

On Providential matters—understand the difference between first and second causes and how Lewis is defining Providence as the miraculous and thus rejects providence.

 

Also understand Lewis’ analogy of the curved lines running parallel to one another and how God views history from the outside, not being bound to it.

 

 

 

Miracles By C.S. Lewis

 

Flow of the Argument

 

Chapter 1:

I.  The Big Idea:  Before we can argue for Miracles, we must answer the philosophical

question as to whether miracles can exist.

            a.  They either do exist or they do not.

            b.  If they do exist, we must also ask if they are likely or not.

II.  Flow of Reasoning:

            a.  What is your presupposition about miracles?

                        1.  If you don’t believe they exist, even if you are confronted by one you

will explain it away.

                        2.  If you believe that they are possible, but unlikely, you will also explain

them away even if confronted by one.

            b.  Because historical data is recorded by the observation of people with

presuppositions, historical inquiry cannot prove the miraculous unless the

initial philosophical question is answered.

 

Chapter 2:

I.  The Big Idea:  Defining the terms Miracle, Naturalism, and Supernaturalism.

            a.  Miracle:  “an interference with Nature by supernatural power” (5)

            b.  Naturalist:  Those who believe that nothing but nature exists (5-6)

            c.  Supernaturalist: Those who believe that there exists something in addition to

nature that is outside of nature (6)

II.  Flow of Reasoning:

            a.  Given the broad definition of a miracle, the naturalist must, by definition, deny

that miracles are possible

            b.  The Supernaturalist accepts the possibility of miracles by Lewis’ definition,

though the supernaturalist does not necessarily think that miracles are

probable.

            c.  For the naturalist, nature must be the “whole show” and include whatever there

is.

            d.  What is “nature” or “the natural state”?

                        1.  the state that something would be in without outside interference

                                    i.  the dog would be unkempt and have fleas

                                    ii.  the wilderness would not have roads or houses in it

                                    iii.  “The natural is what springs up, or comes forth, or arrives, or

goes on, of its own accord: the given, what is there already:

the spontaneous, the unintended, the unsolicited.”  (7)

                        2.  As everything must be explainable in terms of the whole system

                                    i.  nature must be cause and effect

                                    ii.  any spontaneity and originality is reserved for the whole

                                    iii.  Nature exists in its own right with nothing outside of it

                                    iv.  Nature is independent and depends on nothing.

           

e.  The Supernaturalist

                        1.  Agrees with the naturalist that there must be something that exists in its

own right

                        2.  this self-existing reference is the “Starting point for all explanations”

                        3.  Supernaturalist does not identify this self-existing entity with nature,

and nature is seen as being derivative from that one thing

                                    i.  “The one basic Thing has caused all other things to be.  It exists

on its own; they exist because it exists.  They will cease to

exist if it ever ceases to maintain them in existence; they

will be altered if it ever alters them.” (9)

            f.  the God of the naturalist

                        1.  a naturalist need not be an atheist if the naturalist’s god is understood to

be within or part of nature, much like the gods of Ancient Greece

and Rome or the Gnostic perspective

                        2.  the naturalist cannot accept a god who is outside of nature or one who

made nature

            g.  the Naturalist view is a view that all things exist within the framework of

nature, the supernaturalist holds that God created the framework within

which nature operates

            h.  the possibility of a plurality of “Natures” as long as they are not interconnected

in any way, nor do they influence one another.

            i.  a speculative view of a plurality of natures opens up two kinds of miracles

                        1.  God bringing two natures together for a time

                        2.  God interfering with one or both natures

 

 

Chapter 3:

I.  The Big Idea:  Naturalism rules out reasoning.

II.  Flow of Reasoning: 

            a.  By definition, Naturalism must be explainable in terms of the whole system

—no heeltaps

            b.  Anything found outside of the system ruins the naturalistic argument

            c.  This rejects science by statistics—everything must be calculable

                        i. “The movement of one unit is incalculable, just as the result of tossing a

coin once is incalculable:  the majority movement of a billion units

can however be predicted, just as, if you tossed a coin a billion

times, you could predict a nearly equal number of heads and tails. 

Now it will be noticed that if this theory is true we have really

admitted something other than Nature.  If the movements of the

individual units are events ‘on their own,’ events which do not

interlock with all other events, then these movements are not part

of Nature.” (19)

            d.  The knowledge we have of any information is observation + inference, thus all

possible knowledge depends on the validity of reasoning.

i.  our observation demands that we recognize something outside of

ourselves

ii.  when we recognize that which is outside of ourselves, then we are

reasoning

iii.  “It follows that no account of the universe canbe true unless that

account leaves it possible for our thinking to be real insight.  A

theory which explained everything else in the whole universe but

which made it impossible to believe that our thinking was valid,

would be utterly out of court.  For that theory would itself have

been reached by thinking, and if thinking is not valid that theory

would, of course, be itself demolished.  It would have destroyed its

own credentials.  It would be an argument which proved that no

argument was sound—a proof that there are no such things as

proofs—which is nonsense.” (21-22)

            e.  If nature is explainable in terms of the whole system, it must, by definition,

imply a cause & effect universe—cause and effect all of the way back to

the beginning

            f.  In this view, then, reasoning must be nothing more than “one link in a causal

chain which stretches back to the beginning and forward to the end of

time.” (24)

            g.  Thus, mental events are caused by previous mental events and nothing more—

“knowledge” plays no role in the progression of these mental events—also

mental events came into being in the same evolutionary way that physical

events came into being—mental events to the naturalist, then are nothing

more than responses to stimuli.

            h.  Yet, the experience that things are always connected (fire burns you) is only of

animal behavior, Reason comes into play when you infer something from

the events

            i.  Nature cannot show how one turns sub-rational, animal instinct, into rational

thought, thus a break in the chain occurs

            j.  Knowing is more than mere remembering what happened last time, but of

inferring that what happened in the past will continue to take place in the

future.  Inference, then is determined by genuine knowledge, not by cause

and effect.

            k.  Inference and reason are the means by which we know and understand nature

and how we explain nature and cannot be explained by nature

           

 

Chapter 4:

I.  The Big Idea:  Acts of reasoning are not interlocked in the system of Nature as all

other items are interlocked with one another.

II.  Flow of Reasoning:

            a.  Reasoning is not interlocked with the system of Nature but is connected

                        1.  the understanding of a machine is connected with the machine but not

in the same way that the parts of the machine are connected with

each other

                        2.  My understanding of the machine is outside of the functioning of the

machine

            b.  Reasoning affects the cause-effect process, but it is a one-way street

                        1.  Nature is powerless to produce rational thought

                        2.  Rational thought produces actions which change nature

                                    i.  “Nature can only raid reason to kill; but Reason can invade

nature to take prisoners and even to colonize” (39)

ii.  “The walls, ceiling, and furniture, the book, your own washed

hands and cut fingernails, bears witness to the colonization

of Nature by reason: for none of this matter would have

been in these states if Nature had her way.” (39)

            c.  Asymmetrical relationship (A yields B but B does not yield A)

                        1.  (A) is the father of (B), the reciprocal cannot be said of (B) to (A)           

d.  Does not follow that rational thought exists absolutely on its own (rational

thought is not God)

                        1.  As above, rationality would become irrationality if it is dependent on

nature

                        2.  Yet, my reason stops at night when I go to sleep or when I am

unconcious                       

3.  Reason must come from something outside of nature that also exhibits

reason

            e.  Objection:

                        1.  Rather, then of saying, “I reason,” should we not say, “God reasons

through us.”

                        2.  “Reasoning does not happen to us; we do it.” (43)

                        3.  We also have false conclusions, which would be impossible if our

reasoning were only God reasoning through us.

            f.  Objection:

                        1.  Could this greater reasoning, be a part of nature, having emerged or

evolved as we do?

                        2.  Nature, by definition, cannot beget reasoning, thus that which begets

our reasoning must be outside of nature

 

 

Chapter 5:

I.  The Big Idea:

            a.  Moral arguments are a product of reasoning and not merely a result of societal

influences

II.  The Flow of Reasoning:

            a.  Many suggest that “morals” are merely a result of conditioning by society

            b.  but “ought”, “this is good” and “this is evil” are value statements, not

preferences

            c.  “If the fact that men have such ideas as ought and ought not at all can be fully

explained by irrational and non-moral causes, then those ideas are an

illusion” (56)

            d.  Yet, “A moment after they have admitted that good and evil are illusions, you

will find them exhorting us to work for posterity, to educate, revolutionize,

liquidate, live and die for the good of the human race.” (57)

            e.  the naturalist is inconsistent—his philosophy does not match his living

            f.  “If we are to continue to make moral judgments, then we must believe that the

conscience of man is not a product of nature.” (60)

 

 

Chapter 6:

I.  Big Idea:

            a.  Our reasoning is done through the medium of the brain much like we observe

through the medium of a looking glass

II.  Flow of Reasoning:

            a.  if the brain is impaired our reasoning is impaired (though the opposite does not

follow)

            b.  When we look at a garden through a window, we are not cognizant of the

window unless we intentionally look at it or it is distorting our field of

vision

            c.  “The naturalists have been engaged in thinking about nature.  They have not

attended to the fact that they were thinking.” (65)

            d.  The implication is that we ought to discover the looking glass through which

we view nature and understand his character

 

 

Chapter 7: 

I.  Big Idea:

            a.  Does nature, by its very nature, exclude the miraculous?

II.  Flow of Reasoning:

            a.  People of old believed in miracles because they were uneducated and knew no

better

                        1.  Joseph understood that virgins did not get pregnant, which is why he

went to send her away

                        2.  Bible presents these things as miracles, not as the norm

            b.  People of old did not have good enough science to know better

                        1.  Ptolemy taught that earth was point with no magnitude in comparison

to sun 1700 years ago

                        2.  Pythagoras (525 BC) calculated

                                    i.  earth was round

                                    ii.  earth revolved around a “Central Fire” (though the central fire

was not the sun, and only reflected the sun’s light.

                                    iii.  popularized base 10 mathematics

            c.  Thus, there is no reason to write off miracles because of our chronological

snobbery

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 8:

I.  The Big Idea

a.  Recognizing that there are regular laws within nature, How does God interact?

II.  Flow of Reasoning

            a.  3 conceptions on the “Laws of Nature”

                        1.  They are “brute facts” known only by observation

                                    i.  but observation cannot give us knowledge—knowledge requires

inference (reasoning)

                        2.  They are applications of the law of averages

                                    i.  yet, if the Naturalist is correct, there must be no law of averages

and all must be predictable down to the smallest element

                        3.  Fundamental laws of Physics are “necessary truths”

                                    i.  they provide meaning to the system of nature

            b.  Thus, God’s interaction is an interaction that in itself is a “cause” and effects

come from it—God as a “cause” from which effects come

1.  “a miracle is emphatically not an event without cause or without

results.  Its cause is the activity of God:  its results follow

according to the Natural law.” (95)

 

 

Chapter 9:

I.  The Big Idea

            a.  Recognizing a God, must he be the kind that acts and is nature any less real as

a result?

II.  Flow of Reasoning

            a.  this line of objection (that God would not wish to act) is a purely emotional

one

            b.  to say nature is unreal because a God has created her is nonsense

            c.  Every aspect of nature expresses the character of nature that God wished her to

express

 

 

Chapter 10:

I.  The Big Idea

            a.  We must understand the nature of this Supernatural God through Analogy

II.  Flow of reasoning

            a.  we cannot understand many finite things but through analogy (imagining

London)—analogies being imperfect notions

            b.  Yet even an imperfect analogy does not invalidate the results (horrid red

things)

            c.  3 principles

                        1.  Thought is distinct from the imagination that accompanies it

                        2.  thought may be sound even when false images accompany it

                        3.  anyone who talks of that which cannot be seen, touched, or heard must

inevitably speak of them as if they could be seen, touched, or heard

(analogy)

            d.  We must then use analogy to explain the supernatural, not to explain it away

 

 

The Problem of Pain

C.S. Lewis

 

Overview of the Argument

 

Chapter 1:

I.  The Big Idea:

            A.  There is Pain on the earth

                        1.  In the natural world creatures prey upon one another

                        2.  In the natural world life is sustained through the death of other things

                        3.  Man has the capacity not only to feel pain, but to anticipate pain

                        4.  Philosophical fatalism abounds

                                    i.  Albert Camus (1913-1960)—“the only question modern man

has left to answer is the question of suicide”

            B.  Yet, if there is so much pain on the earth, why did human beings ever attribute

creation to a benevolent creator?

                        1.  Note that dread & awe stemming from the created order are not

physical qualities, but inferred from physical qualities

                        2.  Moral goodness/guilt is not result of cause & effect

                        3.  Men stand condemned of their moral failure regardless of their

religious theology/philosophy

                        4.  You thus cannot write off moral teaching of Jesus, and if you accept his

moral teaching you must accept his teaching about his divine being

                                    -“Either he was a raving lunatic of an unusually abominable type,

or else He was, and is, precisely what he said.  There is no middle

way.  If the records make the first hypothesis unacceptable, you

must submit to the second.”  (13)

            C.  The very fact that we have a good creator as God creates the problem of pain

rather than solving it—were God other than good, as he describes himself,

the question would never arise.

 

Chapter 2:  Divine Omnipotence

Initial Problem:  “‘If God were good, He would wish to make His creatures perfectly happy, and if God were almighty He would be able to do what he wished.  But the creatures are not happy.  Therefore God lacks either goodness, or power, or both.’  This is the problem of pain in its simplest form. “(16)

            A.  This assumes that “goodness”, “happiness,” and “omnipotence” are defined

the same for us as for God

            B.  Meaning of Omnipotence

                        1.  God does not have the power to do anything

                        2.  God has the power to do anything that is consistent with his nature

                                    a.  God cannot be righteous and unrighteous at the same time—that

would be nonsense

                                    b.  law of non-contradiction

                                    c.  the impossible/contradictions are not things but non-entities as

they are impossible

                        3.  Freedom for the creature implies that there is a choice

                                    -“their freedom is simply that of making a single naked choice—of

loving God more than the self or the self more than God.” (20)

                        4.  The Freedom of God consists in the fact that no cause other than

Himself produces His acts and no external obstacle impedes

them—that His own goodness is the root from which they all grow

and his own omnipotence is the air in which they flower.”  (27)

 

Chapter 3:  Divine Goodness

Big Idea:  God’s definition of Goodness must include human pain.

 

I.  Problem:  “If God is wiser than we His judgment must differ from ours on many things, and not least on good and evil.  What seems to us good may therefore not be good in His eyes, and what seems to us evil may not be evil.  On the other hand, if God’s moral judgment differs from ours so that our black may be His white, we can mean nothing by calling Him good; for to say, ‘God is Good,’ while asserting that His goodness is wholly other than ours, is really only to say, ‘God is we know not what.”’

            A.  The difficulty with equivocal and univocal language

                        1.  Must use analogical language

                        2.  our understanding of good and evil is neither the same as God’s nor is

it wholly different—our understanding is derivative

                        3.  Since God is our moral compass, there must then be a degree of

agreement

                        4.  “When the man of inferior moral standards enters the society of those

who are better and wiser than he…[then he] gradually learns to

accept their standards” (29)

                        5.  “His idea of ‘goodness’ differs from ours; but you need have no fear

that, as you approach it, you will be asked simply to reverse your

moral standards” (30)

            B.  Man’s Idea of God’s Goodness

                        1.  Understood in terms of God’s “lovingness”

                                    a.  Gumball machine analogy

                                    b.  The Old Man and Mr. Smith, by Peter Ustinov

                        2.  Desire not for a Father in heaven, but for a senile grandfather

                        3.  Kindness is more just giving escape from suffering

                                    a.  Euthanasia question

            C.  God’s concept for kindness

                        1.  “It is for people whom we care nothing about that we demand

happiness on any terms:  with our friends, our lovers, our children,

we are exacting and would rather see them suffer much than be

happy in contemptible and estranging modes.  If God is Love, He

is, by definition, something more than mere kindness.” (32-33)

                        2.  The Dog and master analogy

                                    a.  training a dog takes hard discipline at first

                                    b.  trained dogs enjoy benefits that wild dogs do not

                        3.  “We may wish, indeed, that we were of so little account to God that He

left us alone to follow our natural impulses—that He would give

over trying to train us into something so unlike our natural selves: 

but once again, we are asking not for more love, but less.” (36)

                        4.  God is conforming us into the image of His Son

                                    a.  that requires suffering

                        5.  “Love may forgive all infirmities and love still in spite of them: but

love cannot cease to will their removal.” (39)

            D.  Our Response

                        1.  “Our highest activity must be response, not initiative.  To experience

the love of God in a true, and not illusory form, is therefore to

experience it as our surrender to His demand, our conformity to

His desire:  to experience it in the opposite way is, as it were, a

solecism against the grammar of being.” (44)

                        2.  “When we want to be something other than the thing that God wants us

to be, we must be wanting what, in fact, will not make us happy. 

Those Divine demands which sound to our natural ears most like

those of a despot and least like those of a lover, in fact marshal us

where we should want to go if we knew what we wanted.  He

demands our worship, our obedience, our prostration…God wills

our good, and our good is to love Him…and to love Him we must

know Him: and if we know Him, we shall in fact fall on our faces.”

(46)

 

Chapter 4:  Human Wickedness

Big Idea:  We must get to the source of the problem—the source is not God, but Man

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