In Integrative Essay On The Nature Of Man

Over the past few weeks we have looked at various topics written by both Plantinga and C.S. Lewis. Throughout all of the essays and books that we have read there have been many common themes. One of these  themes that I found very helpful to my understanding of the world and myself was the nature of human beings . Both Plantinga and Lewis have their own views on what it means to be human but they agree on many issues.

Once particular aspect of human nature that I found particularly interesting was the human nature that makes us search, to better ourselves by searching both in God’s word and within ourselves. This is done through  endless searching for morality and virtue through learning.  In Plantinga’s Book he says “ A little reflection tells us that Christians want such skill not to impress the less skillful and simply to become more employable. Christians hope to increase the net amount of shalom in the world.” This means that Christians search for skills and virtues should be done simply to further Gods kingdom. Instead of what happens many times, which is a search for knowledge and skill for personal gain. This is slightly different from Lewis, who said that “Human life means to me the life of beings for whom the leisured activities of thought, art, literature, conversation are the end, and the preservation and propagation of life merely the means. That is why education seems to me so important: it actualizes that potentiality for leisure, if you like for amateurishness, which is man's prerogative.” Lewis’s view of learning is directed toward learning as an end in itself. Lewis would say that learning should be done simply for the sheer joy of learning. Even through Plantinga and Lewis have different views  on the education aspect of learning they would both agree in the importance of learning to understand Gods world and to Bring Gods kingdom.

Another part of furthering oneself that both Lewis and Plantinga look into is the quest for morality. Plantinga says that “As we’ve noted before, good and evil seldom appear alone, and a Christian response to them is therefore bound to be mixed. Part of the goal of Christian higher education, then, is to “test the spirits,” including all the spirits that are in competition with the Holy Spirit.” Plantinga also says that “Scripture and the confessions give us solid principles and directions for reforming life, but they also invite us to find creative ways of applying them in the contemporary world. This is one of the reasons why a Christian college education is such an adventure for believers in Christ. In a community of faith, blessed with an abundance of intelligence, devotion, and experience, bound together by mutual respect and accountability, Christians can explore “the heights and depths” of the contemporary world.” Plantinga’s view of morality is always within the greater context of the Christian faith but even though we are saved we must test everything to see where it stands.  Some things will be always immoral and others will be bad only in curtain contexts. This means that as long as we are within God’s law we have a little elbow room to move around, as long as we are careful and within Gods word. Lewis takes a similar approach to his view of morality, although coming from an atheist background he first addresses them. He proposes the question can a man be good (moral) without Christianity. Ultimately, the answer is no not really. The first reason is that the man who doesn’t address Christianity is a coward for not looking into Christianity, which promises a moral life if followed correctly. Another reason is that non-Christians can’t save the world with only a sliver of truth. They need the whole truth otherwise they will only treat symptoms instead of the sickness. Lewis gives the example of the mountain climber to explain morality, he says “Morality is a mountain which we cannot climb by our own efforts; and if we could we should only perish in the ice and unbreathable air of the summit, lacking those wings with which the rest of the journey has to be accomplished. For it is from there that the real ascent begins. The ropes and axes are 'done away' and the rest is a matter of flying.” So Lewis and Plantinga are in agreement that morality can only be understood once a person is within Christ. So once we are in Christ how should we go about studying morality? Firstly, the bible should be our guide for interpreting the morality of our experience s, but Lewis gives us another method in addition to be used with the bible.  He calls the different ways to view an experience, the along and looking at method. Lewis says, “One must look both along and at everything. In particular cases we shall find reason for regarding the one or the other vision as inferior.” This method gives us an additional view to the one that we have already experience so that we may use are new vantage point to determine whether what we are doing is right or wrong. So  now we have a good basis to choose to continue or change our behavior.

Both Lewis and Plantinga would agree that humans do indeed need to change our behavior because we keep falling into the same traps.  These include corrupting ourselves, loving eros in a distorted way, setting in place an inner ring to exclude others. All of these things are some of the worst parts of human nature and Lewis and Plantinga devise ways to overcome them. Plantinga says that because of Adam and eve’s original sin every single human is now corrupt in nature. He describes a personal corruption as “ A corrupted person turns God’s gifts away from their intended purpose. She perverts these gifts. For example, she might use her excellent mind and first-class education not to extend God’s kingdom but just to get rich.” Then Plantinga gives another example that describes the corruption of the our relationships. “He pollutes his relationships with foreign elements that don’t belong in them.” Many cases of corruption come from either a conscience or unconscious choice to put one’s self ahead of God. After this choice is made then all different kinds of evils follow. This is because man must have a master. In Joshua 24:15 its says “ If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or ^(A)the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." This shows that since human nature tends to push us toward being corrupt. We must place God in the place of master otherwise, we will end up corrupting our selves.

Another form of sinful human nature that also stems from putting ourselves first, is the act of distorting eros. The first example of this that Lewis gives is an addiction to the act of love. When someone becomes addicted to sex, the women ceases to be a person, she is now only a means of pleasure. Lewis says “ one doesn’t keep the carton after one has smoked the cigarettes” This is the most distorted view possible of eros but not the only view. Another distortion is falling in love  on eros alone. This can also stated as loving being in love. When people base their relationship on only this, their relationship is almost always doomed to fail unless major changes are made. This is because this form of love is fast to wear off, and when it does if the relationship isn’t based on anything stronger, it will fail. The final type of a distortion of eros is similar to the first because it is also an addiction but this form is also the result often of the first. It is an addiction to being loved, what some would call being clingy. This is often a result of an unbalanced relationship where one person needs the other more than the other needs the person. Even though this is the least distorted view of the nature of eros, it still causes huge problems in relationships because the balance between man, woman, and God is uneven. In addition, clinginess is the most easily fixed of the three distortions because all it requires is more attention focus on God in order to rebalance the scale.

The final aspect of sinful human nature that I will talk about is the concept of the inner ring. Lewis describes this phenomenon in such a way that it seems almost mystical. The concept is simple in any group of friends there will always be an in-group and an out-group. The in-group has its own lingo, signs, inside jokes, that the outside group isn’t a part of. Additionally, the phenomenon is an unspoken universal, people who are in the group don’t talk about being in, and people who aren’t in the group refer to the group differently that the group refers to themselves. Now many people don’t see this as a possible evil of human nature and alone the inner ring itself is morally neutral . However, the desire to be part of the in-group causes people large amounts of pain and suffering. This is because the tendency is for those who are part of the group to remain in the group and the people who aren’t to remain on the outside. This is maintain by the in-group people giving the out-group people an extremely hard time by not allowing the out group in. Lewis says, “all the passions, the passion for the Inner Ring is most skillful in making a man who is not yet a very bad man do very bad things.” This perfectly describes the issue of the inner ring. The desire to be excepted by everyone will only lead to disappointment. Lewis also says “As long as you are governed by that desire you will never get what you want. You are trying to peel and onion: if you succeed there will be nothing left. Until you conquer the fear of being an outsider, an outsider you will remain.” The only way to overcome the evil part of the inner ring is by making an honest attempt to avoid the rings behavior and instead work on obtaining virtues. Naturally, others will see the progress and want to be part of the group that is focused of progress.

Now that this class is finished I have a better understanding of the nature of man. I understand better the different views on how to learn and obtain virtue. Also I am able to discern Gods word within its context and view personal experiences from different viewpoint. Finally I am able to recognize my fallen nature by getting rid of corruption, avoid the distortions of eros and the folly of following the inner ring.

Holy Bible New International Version. N.p.: New International Version, 2010. Web. 24 Jan. 2011. <http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=joshua%2024:15&version=NIV>.

Lewis, C.S. The Four Loves. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 2-3. Print.

Lewis, C.S. "The Inner Ring." University of London. London. . Keynote speech.

Lewis, C.S. Man or Rabbit. Yes: n.p., n.d. 113. Print.

Lewis, C.S. Meditation in the Toolshed. Yes: n.p., n.d. 2-3. Print.

Lewis, C.S. Our English Syllabus. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 83. Print.

Plantinga, Cornelius Jr. Engaging God's World. Grand Rapids MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2002. 54,55,101,131-133. Print.

 Integrative essay on the Nature of Man

Over the past few weeks we have looked at various topics written by both Plantinga and C.S. Lewis. Throughout all of the essays and books that we have read there have been many common themes. One of these  themes that I found very helpful to my understanding of the world and myself was the nature of human beings . Both Plantinga and Lewis have their own views on what it means to be human but they agree on many issues.

Once particular aspect of human nature that I found particularly interesting was the human nature that makes us search, to better ourselves by searching both in God’s word and within ourselves. This is done through  endless searching for morality and virtue through learning.  In Plantinga’s Book he says “ A little reflection tells us that Christians want such skill not to impress the less skillful and simply to become more employable. Christians hope to increase the net amount of shalom in the world.” This means that Christians search for skills and virtues should be done simply to further Gods kingdom. Instead of what happens many times, which is a search for knowledge and skill for personal gain. This is slightly different from Lewis, who said that “Human life means to me the life of beings for whom the leisured activities of thought, art, literature, conversation are the end, and the preservation and propagation of life merely the means. That is why education seems to me so important: it actualizes that potentiality for leisure, if you like for amateurishness, which is man's prerogative.” Lewis’s view of learning is directed toward learning as an end in itself. Lewis would say that learning should be done simply for the sheer joy of learning. Even through Plantinga and Lewis have different views  on the education aspect of learning they would both agree in the importance of learning to understand Gods world and to Bring Gods kingdom.

Another part of furthering oneself that both Lewis and Plantinga look into is the quest for morality. Plantinga says that “As we’ve noted before, good and evil seldom appear alone, and a Christian response to them is therefore bound to be mixed. Part of the goal of Christian higher education, then, is to “test the spirits,” including all the spirits that are in competition with the Holy Spirit.” Plantinga also says that “Scripture and the confessions give us solid principles and directions for reforming life, but they also invite us to find creative ways of applying them in the contemporary world. This is one of the reasons why a Christian college education is such an adventure for believers in Christ. In a community of faith, blessed with an abundance of intelligence, devotion, and experience, bound together by mutual respect and accountability, Christians can explore “the heights and depths” of the contemporary world.” Plantinga’s view of morality is always within the greater context of the Christian faith but even though we are saved we must test everything to see where it stands.  Some things will be always immoral and others will be bad only in curtain contexts. This means that as long as we are within God’s law we have a little elbow room to move around, as long as we are careful and within Gods word. Lewis takes a similar approach to his view of morality, although coming from an atheist background he first addresses them. He proposes the question can a man be good (moral) without Christianity. Ultimately, the answer is no not really. The first reason is that the man who doesn’t address Christianity is a coward for not looking into Christianity, which promises a moral life if followed correctly. Another reason is that non-Christians can’t save the world with only a sliver of truth. They need the whole truth otherwise they will only treat symptoms instead of the sickness. Lewis gives the example of the mountain climber to explain morality, he says “Morality is a mountain which we cannot climb by our own efforts; and if we could we should only perish in the ice and unbreathable air of the summit, lacking those wings with which the rest of the journey has to be accomplished. For it is from there that the real ascent begins. The ropes and axes are 'done away' and the rest is a matter of flying.” So Lewis and Plantinga are in agreement that morality can only be understood once a person is within Christ. So once we are in Christ how should we go about studying morality? Firstly, the bible should be our guide for interpreting the morality of our experience s, but Lewis gives us another method in addition to be used with the bible.  He calls the different ways to view an experience, the along and looking at method. Lewis says, “One must look both along and at everything. In particular cases we shall find reason for regarding the one or the other vision as inferior.” This method gives us an additional view to the one that we have already experience so that we may use are new vantage point to determine whether what we are doing is right or wrong. So  now we have a good basis to choose to continue or change our behavior.

Both Lewis and Plantinga would agree that humans do indeed need to change our behavior because we keep falling into the same traps.  These include corrupting ourselves, loving eros in a distorted way, setting in place an inner ring to exclude others. All of these things are some of the worst parts of human nature and Lewis and Plantinga devise ways to overcome them. Plantinga says that because of Adam and eve’s original sin every single human is now corrupt in nature. He describes a personal corruption as “ A corrupted person turns God’s gifts away from their intended purpose. She perverts these gifts. For example, she might use her excellent mind and first-class education not to extend God’s kingdom but just to get rich.” Then Plantinga gives another example that describes the corruption of the our relationships. “He pollutes his relationships with foreign elements that don’t belong in them.” Many cases of corruption come from either a conscience or unconscious choice to put one’s self ahead of God. After this choice is made then all different kinds of evils follow. This is because man must have a master. In Joshua 24:15 its says “ If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or ^(A)the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." This shows that since human nature tends to push us toward being corrupt. We must place God in the place of master otherwise, we will end up corrupting our selves.

Another form of sinful human nature that also stems from putting ourselves first, is the act of distorting eros. The first example of this that Lewis gives is an addiction to the act of love. When someone becomes addicted to sex, the women ceases to be a person, she is now only a means of pleasure. Lewis says “ one doesn’t keep the carton after one has smoked the cigarettes” This is the most distorted view possible of eros but not the only view. Another distortion is falling in love  on eros alone. This can also stated as loving being in love. When people base their relationship on only this, their relationship is almost always doomed to fail unless major changes are made. This is because this form of love is fast to wear off, and when it does if the relationship isn’t based on anything stronger, it will fail. The final type of a distortion of eros is similar to the first because it is also an addiction but this form is also the result often of the first. It is an addiction to being loved, what some would call being clingy. This is often a result of an unbalanced relationship where one person needs the other more than the other needs the person. Even though this is the least distorted view of the nature of eros, it still causes huge problems in relationships because the balance between man, woman, and God is uneven. In addition, clinginess is the most easily fixed of the three distortions because all it requires is more attention focus on God in order to rebalance the scale.

The final aspect of sinful human nature that I will talk about is the concept of the inner ring. Lewis describes this phenomenon in such a way that it seems almost mystical. The concept is simple in any group of friends there will always be an in-group and an out-group. The in-group has its own lingo, signs, inside jokes, that the outside group isn’t a part of. Additionally, the phenomenon is an unspoken universal, people who are in the group don’t talk about being in, and people who aren’t in the group refer to the group differently that the group refers to themselves. Now many people don’t see this as a possible evil of human nature and alone the inner ring itself is morally neutral . However, the desire to be part of the in-group causes people large amounts of pain and suffering. This is because the tendency is for those who are part of the group to remain in the group and the people who aren’t to remain on the outside. This is maintain by the in-group people giving the out-group people an extremely hard time by not allowing the out group in. Lewis says, “all the passions, the passion for the Inner Ring is most skillful in making a man who is not yet a very bad man do very bad things.” This perfectly describes the issue of the inner ring. The desire to be excepted by everyone will only lead to disappointment. Lewis also says “As long as you are governed by that desire you will never get what you want. You are trying to peel and onion: if you succeed there will be nothing left. Until you conquer the fear of being an outsider, an outsider you will remain.” The only way to overcome the evil part of the inner ring is by making an honest attempt to avoid the rings behavior and instead work on obtaining virtues. Naturally, others will see the progress and want to be part of the group that is focused of progress.

Now that this class is finished I have a better understanding of the nature of man. I understand better the different views on how to learn and obtain virtue. Also I am able to discern Gods word within its context and view personal experiences from different viewpoint. Finally I am able to recognize my fallen nature by getting rid of corruption, avoid the distortions of eros and the folly of following the inner ring.

Holy Bible New International Version. N.p.: New International Version, 2010. Web. 24 Jan. 2011. <http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=joshua%2024:15&version=NIV>.

Lewis, C.S. The Four Loves. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 2-3. Print.

Lewis, C.S. "The Inner Ring." University of London. London. . Keynote speech.

Lewis, C.S. Man or Rabbit. Yes: n.p., n.d. 113. Print.

Lewis, C.S. Meditation in the Toolshed. Yes: n.p., n.d. 2-3. Print.

Lewis, C.S. Our English Syllabus. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 83. Print.

Plantinga, Cornelius Jr. Engaging God's World. Grand Rapids MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2002. 54,55,101,131-133. Print.

Personal Pain

I thought that by reading the problems of Pain I would be better equip to understand my own pain in my life ,but C.S Lewis’s arguments only tinkers with different ideas of pain. So now I find myself roughly in the same place I was before reading it. I understand that in a fallen world, where there is sin the body will rot and nothing will last. However, I have learned through personal experience, it is also possible for the mind to be just as bad and this is the type of pain which I have struggled with. Since an early age I have struggled with depression and the immense pain and troubles that it has brought me.  I get that bad things happen, people die in wars, children starve, the world is a hostile place. But what I don’t understand is why some people get relief from their suffering while others are stuck in what seems like lifelong misery. I’ve tried very hard to understand depression and different methods of relief. Ive tried different combinations of every medication on the shelves and either the side effects are as bad as the depression or the medication makes it so, I am only able to function.  The hardest part is its all internal, which makes it hard to talk about, I almost skipped this blog and wrote something else here, because its normal to pretend that everything is okay when it isn’t and talking about personal suffering gets mixed responses.

In class today we talked a little about pain and Adriana said that to those who belong in Christ their pain is always for the glory of God. I really can’t see that to be true. Ive studied the book of Job, he was an honest man who lost everything and questioned God, Then God comes and asked Job who is he to question the things God has set in place. Then the book ends on a higher note because Job ends up getting more than he had before. I understand the story ,but If I were to go to Job while he was in his pain and say this is part of Gods will what would he say “oh thank you I feel better now” No  probably not. Telling someone who is suffering and doesn’t have much hope that this is part of Gods plan doesn’t make them feel better especially when they have prayed endlessly for either God to show his face or at least do something.

Ive talked to some of my closest friends about this, thinking that together we could figure something out. Someone brought up something that I thought was interesting. They brought up the idea that my suffering could be used later on in my life to help understand someone else’s suffering. I have no idea if this is true, I don’t think so though because I believe that it isn’t good to compare  peoples suffering because each person’s experience with pain is unique and it doesn’t help someone who is suffering to tell them you know what they are going through, because you really don’t.

To end this rant I just would like to say that everyone has a different amount of suffering in their lives at different times and the healthiest thing to do is talk about it with close friends, because even through this doesn’t take away pain and they can’t completely understand what you’re going through. It at least shares the pain between friends and makes it easier to handle.

Man or Rabbit

C.S. Lewis’s article Man or Rabbit  poses an interesting question can a man be good without being a Christian? This question in its self is interesting to Lewis because he wonders why wouldn’t someone want to learn more about Christianity . Because he says that either Christianity is the biggest lie ever concocted or humanities greatest hope. It would be the greatest hope, because it explains the mystery of a creator, moral law, and gives us the ability  to overcome sin and to have a relationship with that God.  So Lewis can’t understand why this idea should be overlooked in the quest to live a good life. Next he says that trying to help the world with only a sliver of truth is possible , but its only addressing the physical problems of the world.  Lewis gives the example that it is similar to a non-Christian saving the world from its problems, Say a man finds another man that is starving and takes pity on him. Not being a doctor the first man gives the starving man a full meal, but because he isn’t a doctor the starving man dies because he can’t handle the nourishment. Without Christianity good things can be done, however often times without the full truth even though they have the best intentions bad results happen.

Then Lewis continues the discussion in a different direction, he asks another question, without the truth that Christianity brings, can a non-Christian understand what good really is? Lewis would say no instead he says “Morality is a mountain which we cannot climb by our own efforts; and if we could we should only perish in the ice and unbreathable air of the summit, lacking those wings with which the rest of the journey has to be accomplished. For it is from there that the real ascent begins. The ropes and axes are 'done away' and the rest is a matter of flying.” This means that a knowledge of what is good can only come from an understanding of moral law, and moral law can only be understood within the greater context of Christianity. 

What is my calling

“When our earthly kingdoms has had a good year, we don’t necessarily long for the kingdom of God to break in. We like our own setup just fine.”

I thought that this quote from Plantinga summed up  many people’s feelings about our daily lives and also some of our views on vocation.  Many times people that are in college are just busy enjoying life along with trying to figure out what they want to do with their lives. However,   in addition they  should be asking themselves where does God want me to be, and what does he want me to do with my life.  When we take our vocation into our hands instead of trying to follow Gods will, then we completely miss out on the journey of faith expect of life.  That’s part of the reason that I came to Calvin College,  I wanted to figure out what I’m supposed to do with my life. So far I’ve tried doing this at Calvin by building my talents, and searching for God along the way

So far in my life I have definitely felt a push toward issues of sustainability and all things plant related. So I was glad when Plantinga brought the issue of sustainability because I am always interested in what other people have to say on the issue.  He says that it’s a shame that the secular realm has taken charge of the issue of sustainability. It’s sad because Christians are the ones that have a God given mandate to be stewards of the earth, yet many times we have been way less than satisfactory in this area. We should be leading the movement of reformation toward new ideas, instead of watching from the sidelines as the world around us changes. I was also in agreement with Paulo that the change should come from the bottom up. Otherwise either change won’t happen fast enough or changes will be made from the top down. This isn’t optimal because the majority won’t be represented when changes are made. Even if I don’t end up with a job in this area it will still be important to me. But whatever my calling is I’m sure that as long as I’m doing what God wants instead of whatever I want (which changes constantly) ill be okay.

Another concept that Plantinga brought was the building of virtues like, diligence, patience, charity, and ta-da stewardship. In my last philosophy class, we talked about the building of virtue through a conscience effort to improve oneself.  However, in addition to this it’s important to also ask God to help us work on virtues. It’s important to remember that God won’t just give you virtues , but he will put you into opportunities and situations where you need to use specific  virtues to get through. So be careful!!! I asked God for patience because I used to be a very impatient person. I naively thought that he would just give my more patience ,but instead he gave me hard family and friend issues that could only be worked out through patience. So I learned it in sort of a trial by fire kind of way.

The Inner Ring

Once again Lewis sees a phenomenon, analyzes it and is able to relay the information he has gained  from reflection perfectly to  his readers, In order that they can also recognize problems in their lives, so they can work on improving themselves. This time the phenomenon Lewis is describing what he calls the inner ring. Now a days we call these things clicks, either way the concept of inner ring is universal  and timeless.  The concept is relatively simply in every group of friends there will always be the tendency to keep people out of the group . Also people on the outside of the group view the group differently than the people in the group.  In response to the morality of the inner circle, Lewis says that the inner circle itself is morally neutral but most times the way that people are excluded  from the group is wrong. Lewis says, “Of all the passions, the passion for the inner ring is most skillful in making a man who is not yet a very bad man do very bad things.” From this, I think back to my early high school years when I was working at a greenhouse. There was always a group of older high school workers that I tried to be friends with. However, It took almost  a year before I became friends with them.  Over that time I did tons of things that made me look stupid so that I could be friends with them.  Of course I can look back now and see how foolish I was, also im sure that everyone is able to look back and find an example of the inner ring.

Another part of the inner ring that is discussed is how once you are in the inner circle you make it hard for others to enter. Lewis says “you will always find them hard to enter, for a reason you very well you know.  You yourself, once you are in, want to make it hard for the next entrant, just as those who are already in made it hard for you.” At the same greenhouse,  when I was a junior I gave the new kids a really hard time and kept them out of my inner circle.  Even though it seems innocent the subject of being either in or out of the inner ring can overtake people’s lives if they aren’t careful.

Lewis says that if inner ring starts become a major focus of one life than the way to break it is by, first realizing its existence. Then work instead of their gifts and personal qualities. The realization alone takes away some of the power of the circle. The rest of the power of circle can be taken away by doing your best because when your whole energy is placed in your gifts instead of circles than others will realize this and you will find new friends that value the same things you value.

Eros, Gardens, Lust

In the section of The Four loves Lewis describes a form of love, eros as “being in love or if you prefer, that kind of love which others are in.” From reading this section and the talks we had in class. I think that this is the most dangerous form of love, because it grabs us by the hand and leads us into situations without thinking.  Using the example of the senior scramble at Calvin I wonder how many of these relationships are healthy. Many times people see all of their friends getting married and they themselves want that  type of relationship that others have, so they try too hard to speed along a relationship by getting married early(over tending a garden). This is okay as long as they work at their marriage ,but often times when the eros wears off there isn’t anything left. In class the example was given of being given a garden, As someone who owns a garden (and hopes to get a MS degree in Botany) I can easy relate. There are always curtain plants in the garden that you “love” more than others, and there are plants that are picky and are almost more trouble than worth keeping them. However, each plant in its entirety makes the garden great. Also with the garden example we talked about what happens to an untended garden. Here is a personal story to illustrate the summer of my sophomore year I worked a ton, and didn’t have time to do the garden. Since the garden is kind of my thing, my family didn’t really mess with the garden at all. So by the end of the summer it was more like a weed garden than a vegetable one with the weeds being the majority of the plants overshadowing the vegetables. Same with our relationships, however not all divorces end because of one major weed in the relationship often times it’s a bunch of little ones that have deep roots that choke out the existing plants.

Another part of the section of eros that I found interesting was the difference Lewis gives between lust and eros. He says that when lust is the goal than it’s not really the woman a man is after.  Its only the service she can provide to him. Then he gives the example of throwing a cigarette pack away after using it. Its sad cause I know people like this who only continue relationships because it extends the service. To his girlfriend’s face he is the nicest person but behind her back he could really care less about her. This situation is complicated because she thinks her garden is beautiful but everyone else can see its weeds.

Finally I liked what was said about men being spiritual leaders of the household ,because I know in my house it’s not that way. I would like that f one day when I have a family if I could be their spiritual leader because that seems like a noble and worthwhile job.

Learning and War

In times of war people tend to question what matters in life, this is because the reality of war is surrounded by death.  Many people would say that academic life should be put on hold in times of war and students should fulfill the duty owed to their country. However,  Lewis disagrees with this for many reasons and on many different levels. So I will only highlight a few of my favorite points of his many arguments. In one argument Lewis is refuting the point about what war does to death. First, the argument is that in times of war more people are dying.  While it is true that some people will die earlier, the frequency of death is still one-hundred percent so that debate about more death goes out the window. Another point about how war changes our view of death is that in times of war people’s suffering before death increases. However, once again Lewis counters this with the idea that natural death is just as painful, if not more as death in war. Especially if the final blow is a headshot and the soldier feels nothing.  Another point about death that is brought up next is that people who are dying aren’t really to meet their maker. Lewis also disagrees with this by saying that no one is more prepared to meet God than someone that is on the front lines. Then Lewis concludes by saying that the only thing that war and death have in common is that when war is around people think more about their own mortality because of a fear of death.

Another thought that Lewis speaks on briefly is the idea that history is important especially in times of war. He says that the past isn’t special to study however, since we can’t study the future and the present  needs something to be set against we have no choice but to study the past. From here, he gives the paradigm of the man that lived in many places.  Then when returning to his native village he becomes immune to local errors because of his experience. In this same way, scholars need to tell about what has happened in the past otherwise humans will be doomed to repeat the same mistakes. It is this duty to serve which puts education at a higher step then war.

Another argument that Lewis battles against is the one that claims that Christians shouldn’t have any leisure time because the battle against the devil is endless. Lewis quotes scripture to turn away this idea, St. Paul says “Whether ye eat or drink or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” This means that the Christian life isn’t supposed to replace our natural life only transform it. This means that God can be glorified in any wholesome activity even rest.