TILL WE HAVE FACES – WHAT DID C.S. LEWIS MEAN BY THIS??

TILL WE HAVE FACES

WHAT DID C. S. LEWIS MEAN BY THIS??

A GLANCE AT THE ANSWER PROVIDED BY PETER SCHAKEL

By Forrest W. Schultz

 

    Probably the deepest of all of C. S. Lewis's fiction was his Till We Have Faces. One of the puzzlers in it is exactly what Lewis meant by the phrase which is both the title and the last four words in the story. When I brought this up in a C.S. Lewis email discussion group which I recently joined, I was referred to a book published by Eerdmans in 1984 written by Peter Schakel, titled Reason and Imagination in C. S. Lewis: A Study of "Till We Have Faces". I recommend reading this book not only for the discussion it provides on this question but also for the huge amount of helpful information on Lewis which it provides.

     The pages in Schakel's book which deal explicity with the question and which I believe are most helpful are 79, 85, 118, and 173. Schakel shows there that if we are to "have faces" in order to meet God "face to face", that we need to be personal (rather than impersonal), that we need to freely offer ourselves to His view, be willing and able to meet and accept God's face, and we must divest ourselves of all masks and veils and pretenses and defensiveness. Schakel also refers to other writings of Lewis which involve this principle. One of the most dramatic is the pastor in Pilgrim's Regress who puts on a mask when he talks about God – a dramatic example of what NOT to do!

Dec. 27, 2011

THE REAL CHRISTIAN RECONSTRUCTION FROM THE WORDS OF ITS FOUNDER, R. J. RUSHDOONY

THE REAL CHRISTIAN RECONSTRUCTION

 
FROM THE WORDS OF ITS FOUNDER

 
R. J. RUSHDOONY

 

There was a popular song back in the sixties which had this repeating refrain,
"When Will They Ever Learn???"

 
     I am sick and tired of hearing both from some who claim to be Christian Reconstructionists and from some who claim to be opposing Christian Reconstruction the radically false notion that Christian Reconstruction means ramming Biblical Law down the throats of a recalcitrant populace. Over and over again in many places in his writings Rushdoony made it clear that Christian Reconstruction can only be produced by a godly God-centered people.

      And the organization which Rushdoony founded, the Chalcedon Foundation, has reiterated this also many times. In its monthly letter for November 2011 the current President, Mark Rushdoony, makes this point once again, this time by quoting from his father's book Roots of Reconstruction:
"It is my purpose to promote the basic capitalization of society, out of which all else flows, spiritual capital. Without the spiritual capital of a God-centered and Biblical faith, we are spiritually and materially bankrupt." (p. 593)

     Look at that again – it is SPIRITUAL capital which is the foundation out of which all else flows. Therefore Christian Reconstruction cannot be forced upon unwilling people. It is something which is spontaneously produced by those whose hearts and minds have been renewed by God's salvation. Our society will NOT be renewed economically and politically and culturally unless it is renewed spiritually. AMEN !!

Sincerely,

Forrest Schultz

 
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