FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT 2022: Gabriel’s Message and Mary’s Obedience

Posted on by
Reply

She Kept These Things and Pondered Them in Her Heart, linoleum block print by Craig Gallaway, copyright 2000. After Antonella Da Messina, Virgin Annunciate, 1465.

Gabriel’s Message, a 13th century Basque carol paraphrased into modern English (mid 19th century) by the Anglican priest Sabine Barring-Gould. This arrangement for cello and guitar by Craig and Deborah Gallaway (copyright 2019) influenced by a live-video performance of the recording artist, Sting.

“BE IT UNTO ME, O LORD, ACCORDING TO THY WILL.”

When the angel Gabriel came to Mary to announce that she would give birth to a very special son, Mary already knew and loved the ancient Scriptural story of the covenant and the promise of which he spoke; and thus, though initially startled by his appearing, she came quickly to see why he called her “favored one.” Her son would become the promised King of Israel in the line of David (that is, the Messiah, Christos). And he would fulfill the promise that God made to Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3): “All the nations of the earth shall be blessed in you.” Given this background, we may find it only reasonable, an almost predictable response, that Mary would answer Gabriel, “Be it unto me according to what you have said.” But then we would miss the chain of difficulties, warnings, and dangers that the angel’s message brought into Mary’s life. Her faithfulness was never untested.  

For one thing, the angel’s message put Mary’s approaching marriage in jeopardy. How would she explain this unprecedented pregnancy? Matthew’s gospel is candid about Joseph’s initial misgivings. We know that Joseph eventually stood faithfully with Mary as her husband; but she did not have assurances of this when she first embraced Gabriel’s life-altering news. And yet, in this way, Mary also gave her own marriage back to God, the Creator of marriage itself. She did not make an idol of it or bend it into some other shape that would come between her and her Maker. Her marriage would be a place where God’s purpose to restore the world, to restore the faithfulness of marriage as well, would be at home.

Then, after Jesus’s birth at Bethlehem, Mary and Joseph took their son to have him circumcised at the Temple in Jerusalem (Luke 2:22-35). And there, meeting Simeon, Mary faced another fierce test of faith. For though Simeon confirmed Jesus’s identity as the promised King whose reign would bless the whole world; he also warned Mary that her son would be a cause of division and conflict in Israel and that “a sword will pierce your own heart as well.” Yet here again, Mary did not pull back. She did not make an idol of her own or her son’s future safety by grasping at security. How “normal” that sort of family-anxiety would have been. Instead, she offered her life and waited to see how God’s promise would yet unfold. Did she foresee clearly or fully how Jesus would defeat the fear of death and the stubborn idols of anxiety and avarice at the cross, in his resurrection, and with the gift of his Spirit? No, surely not, at least not as yet; but she put her faith in the God whose promise to Abraham was to restore the world, and whose covenant was now focused somehow in this Son to whom she had so recently given birth.  

Study for Saint Nicholas of the Dowry, graphite drawing by Craig Gallaway, copyright 2011.

And then there came the Magi, the three wise men from the East, who brought gifts to honor the King whose birth even the stars of heaven bore witness. They came by way of power-hungry Herod. They departed Bethlehem wisely by another route. They were warned in a dream, as Joseph was warned by an angel: Herod, the existing authority of state in Jerusalem, would kill the child if he could find him. And so, Mary and Joseph became a kind of outlaws, running away to Egypt until Herod did his worst and finally died. They were not against the government or the state in principle. They had, after all, come to Bethlehem to participate in the census for the purpose of taxation. But neither would they make an idol of the government. If the government set itself up against the purpose and promise of God, they would not cooperate. They would not obey. Afterall, the government was given to serve God’s purposes, not the other way around.  

And so, when Mary responded, “Be it unto me according to what you have said,” she did the most basic thing of all: she placed herself in obedience to the One true God of Israel, the God of Abraham, and David, the Creator of the universe, her Creator. She placed her whole life into God’s hands—her marriage, her hopes for a family, her future security and safety, her social standing and political influence. And though we have an advantage over Mary, at least at that early stage in her life—for we look back on Jesus’s birth from the other side of his faithful life and death, his victorious resurrection, and the sending of his Spirit with power—yet we are also very much like her and Joseph. For we also look forward through the haze of challenging personal, moral, social, and political trials and temptations to the ultimate fulfillment of our Lord’s promise to restore the whole world, and our own lives as well.

Mary no doubt came to know more fully in her life what the apostle Paul would later describe as the general pattern of life for all Christians, what we sometimes too readily soft pedal or skirt around, that we must be prepared to suffer and do battle, and yes to “groan,” as we make our way toward the fulfillment of the new creation. Indeed, Paul describes our calling with great clarity and spirit (Romans 12:1-2): “In view of the mercies of God,” he says, “present your bodies as a living sacrifice . . . that you may prove what is the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God.” Thus, in our own time and place, like Mary, we also can say with growing faith and hope, “Be it unto me, O Lord, according to thy will.”

Preparing for Advent 2022: The Promise of New Creation

Posted on by
Reply

The Promise Image

FATHER ABRAHAM, watercolor by Craig Gallaway (copyright 2018). After the fall of Adam and Eve with its many branching consequences (Genesis 3-11), God came to the old man Abraham and his wife Sarah (Genesis 12) promising to use their descendants (as yet unbegotten and unborn!) to restore the broken, sinful, and divided world. 

Father Abraham, words and music by Craig Gallaway, arrangement for cello and guitar by Craig and Deborah Gallaway, copyright 2020. Based on a traditional 17th century Swedish folk melody, Hoken.

Saint Athanasius in the 4th century asked a very important question: “Why the incarnation?” Why did the Son of God, the Word of God, become a human being? Why did he become a man living among us, suffering, dying, and rising again to new life? And Athanasius’s answer was the full and salutary biblical answer (John 1:1-12): He did this in order to restore the fallen world, to bring about the New Creation, as his Father had promised Abraham He would do. This, according to the Apostle Paul, is what has happened (with results that continue to unfold today) in Jesus’s victorious death, resurrection, ascension, reign, and the sending of his Spirit into the world. Thus, when we celebrate Christmas, the birth of Jesus, the incarnation of the Son of God, we celebrate this whole grand sweeping story of the renewal of the world in which we are still living and making our journey with him toward the final fulfillment. The whole creation waits eagerly for that day (Romans 8:19).

FATHER ABRAHAM (detail), watercolor by Craig Gallaway, copyright 2018.

This is why Deb and I begin our Advent preparation this week with a song about the promise God made to Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3). And it is why each verse of “Father Abraham” anticipates the other themes and songs that we will share with you in the weeks ahead, all of them proclaiming the ongoing New Creation work of the risen and exalted Christ. For our Lord is even now putting all sorts of things back into their proper creation order (1 Corinthians 15:20-28). For example, the third verse of “Father Abraham” speaks of how we lean into his kingdom work as he builds within us the virtues of justice, beauty, and love. And we will sing again about each of those virtues in the weeks ahead as we celebrate our Lord’s special reordering through his Spirit of how we see the value of our own work, and how we approach the problem of racism, and how we recover a life of holiness in marriage. All, as a result of the incarnation. All, as a consequence of Christmas. All, a matter of his new creation purpose.

So, Yes! Christmas is about all of these things because it is about the birth of the baby Jesus who took our nature upon himself in order to restore it. And it is about his faithful life and death, because that was the initial battleground upon which he achieved the restoration by defeating sin, death, and the devil in his own body, irrevocably, at the cross. And it is about his resurrection and ascension and the sending of his Spirit, because that is how he makes the power and glory of his victory available to us even now as we make our journey with him toward the ultimate fulfillment of his plan and purpose. No wonder, then, that Charles Wesley’s famous hymn has remained so resonant among all who love and celebrate Christmas:

Come, thou long expected Jesus, born to set thy people free;

From our fears and sins release us, let us find our rest in Thee.

Israel’s strength and consolation, hope of all the earth thou art;

Dear desire of every nation, joy of every longing heart.

In the weeks of Advent just ahead, then, Deb and I will be sharing one song and at least one work of art each week that celebrate some of the different facets of this grand Christmas story. Here is a brief preview:

She Kept These Things and Pondered Them in Her Heart, Linoleum Block Print by Craig Gallaway, copyright 2000. After Antonello Da Messina, Virgin Annunciate, 1465.

Week 1, Nov.27 – The Angel Gabriel and the story of Mary’s obedience, “Be it unto me according to Thy will.” In a way, Mary did what Paul calls all Christians to do in Romans 12:1-2, “In view of God’s mercies, present your bodies as a living sacrifice . . . that you may prove the full extent of God’s holy purpose.”

Snow Dance, watercolor by Craig Gallaway, copyright 2010. Based on C. S. Lewis’s Narnia Tales.

Week 2, Dec. 4 – In the Bleak Midwinter and the call to lay our talents, our gifts, and our work at our Lord’s feet in service to others (Romans 12:3-16). This might seem simple enough at a glance; but it is actually very difficult in a world that trains us constantly to be concerned about our own status in comparison to others, especially in our areas of work and professional life. This song quietly reminds us to give our hearts to the Master, who took a towel and a bowl of water . . .

Saint Nicholas Praying for the Recovery of His Tradition, watercolor by Craig Gallaway, copyright 2005.

Week 3, Dec. 11 – Some Children See Him and the celebration of our common humanity in Christ (Galatians 3:28). In a world where the charge of racism is abused by neo-Marxist critical theory to stir up envy and to divide, the Lord’s call to unity and to the simple affirmation of cultural differences is a healing balm indeed. “So, lay aside each earthly thing; and with your heart as offering . . .”

Saint Nicholas of the Dowry, graphite drawing by Craig Gallaway, copyright 2012. Based on the stories of Nicholas’s provision of dowry resources for daughters of the poor.

Week 4, Dec. 18 – You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere and the joyful recovery of marriage following the bridegroom’s example (Ephesians 5:21-33). Again, in a world riddled with sexual decadence, pornography, and licentiousness, the Lord’s example of a life of caring, faithful, self-disciplined stewardship on behalf of one’s spouse is like a harbor for the soul and for society as well. “Ooh wee, ride me high, tomorrow’s the day my bride will arrive . . .”

All Creation Waits in Eager Expectation, watercolor by Craig Gallaway, copyright 2004.

Dec. 25 – On Christmas day, then, we’ll share Charles Wesley’s great hymn of invocation, personally welcoming and inviting our Lord’s ongoing work in our lives both at Christmas and in the year ahead.

If you choose to make use of these Advent offerings from our house to yours in the weeks ahead, we hope they will bring an added element of worship, praise, thanksgiving, and hope to you and your house.

THAT HIDEOUS STRENGTH: Chapter 13

Posted on by
Reply
An image of Merlin’s countenance hovering above Merlin’s Well in Bragdon Wood evokes the cultural legacy of King Arthur and Logres for which Merlin himself stands. This image was the cover art for
the 1983 Pan Books edition of THS.

THEY HAVE PULLED DOWN DEEP HEAVEN ON THEIR HEADS 

Overview Question

This is the first of three chapters (along with Chapters 15 and 16) which clarify in one way or another who Merlin is, and what is his special role in the spiritual battle between St. Anne’s and Belbury. Chapter 15 will show how Merlin is equipped by the heavenly powers to undertake the battle. And Chapter 16 will show the destructive results for Belbury of Merlin’s engagement, like live video of an ongoing battle. In this chapter, however, we discover why God has chosen to use Merlin in the first place. Why doesn’t God just send down the heavenly powers themselves to destroy Belbury? Why wait for a man of ancient Logres and work through him?

This aspect of God’s strategy is announced most clearly in Part 5 of the chapter when Ransom explains to Merlin why God will not break the “Seventh Law” by allowing the planetary powers to work directly on the earth. As Ransom explains, “They will work only through man.” And then he goes on to explain why Merlin is precisely the sort of man that God needs for the job. One who is a Christian and committed to the ancient “natural” order of creation, yet also one who is a penitent and knows the ways of sinful man.

There is much in Ransom’s longer explanation that is simply part of Lewis’s fairytale (for example, his travels in space, and Merlin’s travel through time, as we saw in Chapter 9). These do not require a literal or concrete interpretation. But the principle of the Seventh Law, of God’s choosing to work only through a human agent, is another matter. Overview Question: 

Given what you have already learned about the traditional worldview and its understanding of human nature (for example in the portrayal of Mark’s struggle with his own vanity until he finally calls out to God for help) why would God refuse to produce a spiritual victory by divine fiat rather than requiring the obedient response and practiced discipline of faithful human beings who turn to him for help? Why won’t God break the Seventh Law?

 

An ancient ruin deep in an old forest evokes the fictional setting in THS of Merlin’s Well and Bragdon Wood. The real history of the ancient Celts and Druids is, however, consistent with the Christian and biblically grounded portrayal that Lewis provides of Merlin, Arthur, and Logres in the 5th and 6th centuries. (See, for example, Peter Berresford Ellis, The Druids.)

Deeper-Dive Questions

1. In Parts 1 and 3, Merlin and Ransom and the people of St. Anne’s must “vet” each other as to their respective bona fides—that is, they must test and prove to each other their allegiance to the right side. They do this by asking and answering questions that ferret out the principles upon which each of them takes their stand. In this way, Merlin discovers that Ransom is in fact the Pendragon, the heir of King Arthur and the realm of Logres; and Ransom discovers that Merlin is a Christian who affirms the gifts and disciplines of faithful marriage as well as the biblical tradition of God’s creation and providence. Similarly, the search party (upon their return and surprise at finding Ransom and Merlin together) are finally convinced of Merlin’s good faith when the Director vouches for his loyalty to the Christian essence of Logres (which Dr. Dimble had long wondered about and hoped for).

In this light, our own question about the bond between Merlin and St. Anne’s must be equally probing: To what group or tradition do these principles (King Arthur, Logres, the Bible, Christianity, faithful marriage, etc.) correspond in the cultural and spiritual battles that we face and fight today, and that Lewis faced and fought in post-war England? What is it that Merlin stands for (along with the people of St. Anne’s) in the battle against the dark spiritual forces of the NICE?

2. Part 2 of Chapter 13 gives us another peek into the troubled lifeworld of those at Belbury who hold the modern worldview. While discussing their strategy for working with the tramp (their false “Merlin”) Wither and Frost are drawn into a set of sniping and threatening remarks toward each other. What is it about the modern worldview (with its conception of the individual, the “freedom” of the individual, and “universal” reason) that seems to provide the perfect seedbed for this kind of combative and divisive social atmosphere?

3. In Part 4, Dr. and Mrs. Dimble discuss the effect of Merlin on the people at St. Anne’s and speculate about how Merlin’s influence will affect the whole course of their battle with the NICE. Dr. Dimble notes Merlin’s ancient and intimate connection with nature in contrast to the modern view of nature as a machine, and even more in antipathy toward Belbury’s desire to change, alter, and work against nature (the anti-nature posture that we have noted before). And then Dimble observes how everything in the cultural and political atmosphere seems to be polarizing, “coming to a point,” as he puts it: “Good is always getting better and bad is always getting worse.” Then Mrs. Dimble sees how this is like the biblical portrayal of judgement when the “wheat is separated from the chaff.” Where in the polarizing events of our own time do you see such a separation between good and evil taking place, and what other biblical grounds can you suggest for advocating this view of our own cultural, political, and spiritual battles, especially right now as the midterm elections pressure everyone to make the “terrible choice” (Mrs. Dimble’s reference to Browning).   

4. In Part 5, Ransom defines for Merlin what will be the necessary tools and methods by which the battle with the dark eldil can be won, but only if Merlin will submit to the part he has to play. At the same time, Ransom also clearly and forcefully rejects certain other tools and methods that Merlin finds more congenial to his tastes and confidence. Thus, Ransom rejects Merlin’s acquaintance with ancient natural magic and remedies because they are no longer “lawful,” and because they are merely earthly in scope. Something more powerful is needed. Also, Ransom rejects the resort to national, global, or ecclesial authorities because they are already tainted with the same evil infection and anyway, they also do not possess the necessary kind of power to defeat the dark powers.

Instead, according to Ransom, what is needed is a human being, a Christian and a penitent, who is willing to be invaded by the powers of heaven in order not only to withstand the evil influences of the dark eldil, but also to draw them out into the light where they will have to face the ultimate consequences of their own choices. What is needed is a person who is willing to have his own heart changed in this way so he can be used by heaven in the wider world to expose and defeat the dark powers, and to help establish under God’s rule the good community of the restored creation. How does this definition of Merlin’s role expand and fill in the principles we have already noted regarding the tradition of Arthur and Logres, the Bible and Christian marriage? Is there a political, spiritual, and cultural tradition in our own time (as well as in Lewis’s time) that embraces these same basic principles and commitments? If so, what is it? And what would it take to recover it today?

THAT HIDEOUS STRENGTH: Chapter 12

Posted on by
Reply

A striking image of a large bear reminds me that Mr. Bultitude, though subdued by Dr. Ransom’s Adam-like understanding of the animals (Genesis 1-2) is still an animal by nature. He is not a human being. Nor is he something to be trifled with or presumed upon as the animals are in the vivisection lab at Belbury. (Image from PixelsTalk.net)

WET AND WINDY NIGHT 

Overview Question

This is another whirlwind chapter with numerous sub-plots moving around each other: Jane, Dimble, and Arthur are still out searching for the elusive Merlin. Wither has his own people searching as well, but they are on a false trail. Meanwhile, Frost is trying to train Mark in the ambitions of the NICE but Mark is changing inside and only feigns his full devotion. At the same time, the people back at St. Anne’s have a conversation with MacPhee and Dr. Ransom about the nature of their animals (Mr. Bultitude and the cat) in contrast to the emotions and virtues that shape a human life. And back at Belbury, the leaders are welcoming the tramp (thinking they have captured the real Merlin) while Mark barely escapes another demonic attack of vanity by engaging in a kind of desperate elementary prayer. So much going on; but is there a thread that ties it all together?   

For me, the clue comes with the different images and ideas set forth in this chapter about what it means to be human, especially regarding the role of emotion and virtue in the constitution of a truly human life. On the one hand, we have Frost’s insistence to Mark (echoing closely the first principles of the modern worldview) that the “objectivity” of the NICE requires ridding oneself of all emotional (that is “merely chemical”) attachments that might keep one from pursuing a line of experiment no matter where it leads. And, on the other, we have Ransom’s insistence, in the discussion about Mr. Bultitude, that what makes a human being fully and truly human is precisely the emotional capacities (virtues) for intentional friendship that lead ultimately to Love (charity, agape).

These two opposing visions of the place of emotion and virtue in human life clearly represent the two worldviews (modern and traditional) with which we have been working from the beginning. And they lead to our Overview Question for this week:

What are the two views of emotion and virtue that are expressed by Frost and Ransom, and how does this contrast help to clarify what is at stake in practical terms by choosing to commit one’s mind and heart to one vision or the other?

As you think about this question, it may also be helpful to remember Lewis’s statement (in the Preface of THS) that his modern fairytale has behind it the same point he was trying to make in The Abolition of Man: The modern conception of “objectivity” (which defines poetry and emotion as purely “subjective”) has created “men without chests,” that is, men whose hearts and minds are no longer shaped by the virtues and emotions that arise from the biblical story and worldview. As Lewis also knew, he was affirming the traditional view of the passions (the evil thoughts/demons of pride, vanity, greed, impurity, etc.) which impair human reason and cut us off from a true perception of reality and nature. See also, John MacMurray, Reason and Emotion, and Alasdair MacIntyre, After Virtue, which also examine the importance of emotion and virtue for the formation of human nature, freedom, and reason.

Detail from Michael Angelo’s Sistine Chapel painting of the Creation of Adam. The frescos of the Chapel portray the larger story from Genesis 1-2 of the creation of man, male and female, in God’s image.

DEEPER-DIVE QUESTIONS

1. Frost’s modern view of “objectivity” (stripped of all traditional emotional values) is directly counter to the biblical and classical view which claims that the virtuous life—far from interfering with reason, or objectivity, or the accurate perception of nature—actually connects us to them. Frost’s account of reason and objectivity, note well (and by his own reckoning) readily leads to the most horrific experiments and treatment of other human beings that would formerly (under the traditional worldview) have been considered unthinkable (e.g., genocide). Where in the world of contemporary “politicized” science are we seeing a similar break with the traditional values of religion and virtue combined with an anti-nature” or “anti-reality” agenda?

2. In his conversation with MacPhee about the difference between animals and humans, Dr. Ransom alludes to the biblical and traditional hierarchy of being: mineral, vegetable, animal, human, and angelic. Furthermore, in keeping with his sources (Genesis 1 and classical cosmology, see Lewis’s The Discarded Image) Ransom locates our human calling specifically between the animal and the angelic. Like the animals, we have sensation (the sensitive soul), but like the angels we also have understanding and reason (the rational soul). Thus, according to Ransom, human beings are created and called to embody not only appetites and sensations (like animals) but also intentional virtues such as friendship and charity. To be truly human, then, contrary to Frost’s vision of technocratic man, is precisely to embrace a certain shaping of our emotional life centered in Christ and rejecting the evil passions.  How does this conversation bring out the very different conception of human nature, reason, and emotion in the traditional worldview at St. Anne’s? And how does Mrs. Dimble’s self-discipline to control her own anxieties, earlier in this section, demonstrate the task?    

3. In Part 6, Wither and Frost welcome to Belbury the tramp, whom they suppose to be the real Merlin.  There is a great irony at work here in Lewis’s portrayal of Wither and Frost (the enlightened elite) being strung along by an ordinary and unsophisticated vagrant who is himself driven by little more than his sensate (animal) appetites. But this is, perhaps, part of Lewis’s hidden point. For this downtrodden human being has a kind of natural shrewdness that neither Wither nor Frost can penetrate. For all of their pretense to elite knowledge about the technocratic “man” of the future, they are completely duped by their present quarry. How does the tramp, in this regard, register points for the traditional view of nature and human nature over against the modern?

4. In the 7th and final Part of Chapter 12, Mark goes through a terrible gauntlet of temptation and resistance. He has discovered how evil are the leaders at Belbury, and he wants to escape their clutches. And yet, God help him, he cannot stop himself from feeling pulled again and again by the fallen power of his own vanity, his desire to be someone important in the inner ring of NICE. This terrible juggernaut culminates in Mark’s brief but earnest prayer, “Oh don’t, don’t let me go back into it.” After which, the room is suddenly cleansed and he simply goes to sleep. How does all of this illustrate the role of human emotion and the human will in response to God’s provision to which Ransom has earlier alluded?   

THAT HIDEOUS STRENGTH: Chapter 11

Posted on by
Reply

First published in 1945, the original dust cover for That Hideous Strength evokes something of what it feels like to walk into a shadowy forest at night. And that, of course, is what the opening scene of chapter 11 is all about. “I can’t see a thing,” said Jane.

BATTLE BEGUN 

Overview Question

In this chapter, Belbury and St. Anne’s are both seeking to strengthen their sources of strategic knowledge (“military intelligence” one might say) in order to undermine and defeat the other side. Belbury hopes to capture Jane and make use of her clairvoyance to reveal the plans of their as yet unlocated and unidentified enemies. St. Anne’s hopes to find Merlin in case he will be on their side, but also to try to stop him from helping the NICE if that is his inclination. Neither side is omniscient; but each uses very different methods to try to achieve their goals. Overview Question:

Based on what you already know about these two groups of people, as well as what you learn in this chapter (especially Frost’s speech to Wither toward the end of Part 2), how would you characterize the different goals of each group, and how are these goals consistent with the very different methods that each group uses?

The following quotation from Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters (Letter VIII) should also help with considering this question in greater depth. (Screwtape, the senior devil, is speaking to Wormwood, his understudy.)  

“To us a human is primarily food; our aim is the absorption of its will into ours, the increase of our own area of selfhood at its expense. But the obedience which the enemy demands of men is quite a different thing . . . He really does want to fill the universe with a lot of loathsome little replicas of himself . . . not because he has absorbed them but because their wills freely conform to His. We want cattle who can finally become food; He wants servants who can finally become sons.” (emphasis added)

 

Cover art for the 1961 edition of The Screwtape Letters.

DEEPER-DIVE QUESTIONS

1. As Jane, Dr. Dimble, and Arthur Denniston look for Merlin in the fields and woods at night, each of them begins to realize that, up to now, their ideas and beliefs about Merlin, or King Arthur, or the ancient Druids, or even about the Christian God and religion in the modern world, have often been either theoretical and abstract (Dimble) or shallow and poorly informed (Jane). Now they are about to encounter something in person, and it all looks very different. What parallels can you find in the culture wars of America today among some groups or individuals for this kind of awakening to the deeper reality and seriousness of faith and religion, and to the possibility that one might have to sacrifice something, even to give one’s life, in order truly to serve the good cause of God? Have you yourself felt or experienced this kind of sharpening of religious focus? 

2. Continuing a theme that we saw in Chapter 10, the leaders at Belbury believe they can use coercive techniques to manipulate Mark into doing their will (to bring Jane to Belbury). And yet there are signs of a kind of myopia or blindness built into their worldview, in particular their view of “man” (in this case Mark and others). What signs of this blindness can you detect in the chapter, and why do you think these types of ideological blindness are particularly endemic to the modern worldview?

3. In Part 3, after being arrested, Mark goes through another series of realizations and reactions about himself and Belbury; but he seems unable to sort it all out. As the narrator informs us, Mark is a materialist. He has no absolute reference point for moral judgement; and yet his conscience is still functioning at a level high enough to allow him to realize that he has been a fool to trust the people of NICE (Wither, Feverstone, Curry, Frost). He even has a momentary picture of his own corruption and villainy in the ways he has treated Jane and other friends from the past. According to the narrator, what is missing from Mark’s worldview that might have allowed him to understand his own foolish behavior more fully, more deeply? What is it in his current lifeworld that has blocked him from acquiring these other insights? 

 

THAT HIDEOUS STRENGTH: Chapter 10

Posted on by
Reply

This is the cover art for the 1960 edition of That Hideous Strength from Pan Books in London. The artwork by S. R. Boldero suggests the devastation of Edgestow as refugees flee from homes and buildings that have been destroyed by rioting. The Saracen’s head hovers in the background.

THE CONQUERED CITY  

Overview Question

In this chapter, the efforts of NICE to take over and control the town of Edgestow and surrounding villages has reached a crescendo. The “stages of cultural revolution” (demoralization, destabilization, crisis, new normal) that we observed earlier in Mark Studdock as an individual (see Chapters 5 and 6) have now reached the level of “mass formation” for the people of Edgestow as a whole. And yet, due to the nature of these dynamics, not everyone is being affected or responding to the trouble in the same way or at the same time. This brings us to our Overview Question for this chapter:

What are the different ways that people at Edgestow are responding to the troubles stirred up by the NICE? What explanation can you give for these differences? Try to identify at least two different sub-groups. Also, what parallels for these differences can you identify in recent cultural and political events of American society?

As you ponder this question, you may find it useful to revisit our earlier discussion (in the general Introduction) of the “Stages of Cultural Revolution” as described by Yuri Bezmenov, and of “Mass Formation” as described by Mattias Desmet. Neither of these models is difficult to understand in itself; and both cast a good deal of light on the kinds of psychological and social dynamics that Lewis portrays among the people of Edgestow. Both also help clarify the cultural dynamics at work in society today.

“What struck Mark deeply was the almost complete absence of indignation among the speakers, or even of any distinct sympathy with the refugees.”

DEEPER-DIVE QUESTIONS

1. In Part 1, the leaders at Belbury (Wither and Fairy Hardcastle) continue with their efforts to manipulate Mark so they can force him to bring Jane to Belbury. They seem confident that they can pull this off, given their view of Mark’s nature, by framing him for the murder of Prof. Hingest. At times they seem to be succeeding. And yet, as we work through the chapter as a whole, we find Mark at other times responding in ways they do not predict. Indeed, by the end of the Part 3, he almost responds to Dimble’s offer to help him leave the NICE; but then he settles back again into his double-minded ways. What account would you give of this inner conflict in Mark so unforeseen by the NICE? 

2.  In Part 2, Mark makes his second attempt (this time successful) to escape from Belbury. He goes to Edgestow to look for Jane; but first he encounters a continuous flow of refugees leaving their homes under Emergency Regulations. In a local pub he overhears other residents (not yet displaced) discussing how the refugees must have brought this on themselves. He goes home and finds Jane gone but an envelope addressed to Mrs. Dimble. By the end of this part, despite having just run away from Belbury, Mark is thinking of himself as a victim of the Dimble’s interference, and of how nice it is (all things considered) to be part of NICE. What kinds of resources or practices, and what view of the world would Mark and the people of Edgestow need in order to avoid being sucked into this powerful mass formation?   

3. In Part 3, Mark has gone to Northumberland College to confront Dr. Dimble about the whereabouts of Jane. But here, Mark meets someone for the first time who is clearly not under the influence of the NICE; and, indeed, Dimble stands in direct and forceful opposition to everything that the NICE represents. Lewis leaves several clues in this part and at the beginning of Part 4, as to the sources of Dr. Dimble’s strengths and virtues in this regard. Why and how is Dimble able to stand for what is good and true despite Mark’s adoption of the “victim” and “shaming” mentality. What practices and sources can you identify that help Dimble take this stand, even though he clearly struggles at times?  

4. In Part 4, back at St. Anne’s, and based on Jane’s dreams, Ransom is putting together a team to go out and look for Merlin, though no one can yet be sure which side Merlin will take. One thing is clear, however, those who go must be in a relationship of obedience to Maledil. On this basis, Jane can go; and MacPhee cannot. Why does MacPhee’s lack of obedience leave him less suited than Jane to face the unknown forces of spiritual warfare? What strengths or virtues are enhanced simply by placing oneself under the obedience?

5. Extra Credit: In Part 4, Ransom talks about Merlin, Logres, and the “parachronic” (alongside time) state, a state where time is suspended in some way that allows the influence of ancient figures upon current life. Can you think of anything in the sphere of human experience today where something like this influence of character and principle across time really does take place? (This question is a first stab at an important issue that we will come back to in later chapters.)    

THAT HIDEOUS STRENGTH: Chapter 9

Posted on by
Reply

Cover illustration for Harper Collins January 2000 edition of That Hideous Strength. The image is a depiction of the grotesque head of Alcasan (an experiment in artificial intelligence) hoovering over the peaceful and natural landscape of the fictional town of Edgestow.

THE SARACEN’S HEAD

Overview Question

In this chapter we come at last, more directly and in greater detail, to the most challenging elements of Lewis’s science fiction fairytale. Indeed, now that we are about halfway through the novel, one of our primary tasks going forward will be to try to discern where the science fiction and fairytale end in Lewis’s story, on the one hand, and where the reality of spiritual forces at work in human life begins, on the other.

For my part, I will say from the outset that I think Lewis intends for his readers to regard the bodiless head experiment, with which the chapter begins and is titled, as well as the descriptions of Ransom’s space travels, which come later in this chapter (as well as in the earlier volumes of the trilogy) as science fiction. He does not want us to get tied up in knots trying to figure out if or how these things might really have happened.[1] The real question we must answer in order to understand their role in the story is what they represent.

Similarly, the idea of a bodily return of Merlin, the 5th century Druid, to 20th century England is, I feel sure, of allegorical importance and meaning. This does not mean that Merlin never existed (in Lewis’s own view) nor that he is of less importance in the modern setting of THS. The real question again is: What does the return of Merlin represent? What is it that the figure of Merlin brings into this story about a battle for the soul of England in the twentieth century that is of critical importance to what the story itself is trying to tell us? This, then, leads to our Overview Question for this week, focusing first on the eldil:  

If we are not really asked to believe in Ransom’s space travel and his meetings on other planets with the so-called eldil, nor per se in the dark eldil who inhabit our planet and control Belbury, then what do these eldil and their planets represent in the real world and spiritual experience of human beings on planet earth? 

In order to answer this question, you will need to call upon your knowledge of Scripture and of the history of Christian thought regarding the identity and role of angelic beings? Where do the good angels dwell? What do they do? What is their role in relation to human beings? What stories from Scripture can you recall that provide insight into any of these questions? And for the dark eldil: Who is the devil? By what names is he known? What are the demons? What are the fallen powers of which Paul writes? And what, according to Scripture, are the aims and methods of all of these dark creatures in the fallen world? How do they operate?

I don’t imagine that all of you will have lengthy responses to all of these questions. It isn’t a subject that many Christians today have spent much time studying. But the questions should, at any rate be familiar to you. And the answers you give can be measured against Lewis’s portrayal of the eldil, which is filled with biblical allusion as well as with the medieval allegories of the virtues and the planets (see also his, Discarded Image). We shall also, by the way, refer to Lewis’s Screwtape Letters for additional help with his views on this subject.  

______________________________________________

[1] Just as Dante knew there was no opening in the ground near Florence leading down to hell, and John Bunyan knew there was no actual city of Vanity Fair, Lewis employs the classical and medieval imagery of the planets as an allegory related to the human experience of virtue, temptation, and vice. 

Another illustration of “Alcasan’s Head,” this one by artist, M. S. Corley.

DEEPER-DIVE QUESTIONS

1. The chapter opens with Jane’s most vivid dream yet, this time of Mark getting sick and fainting when he is forced to bow with Filostroto and Straik before the disembodied head (see the end of Chapter 8). Then in Part 2, when Mark wakes up the next morning at Belbury, he is full of disgust for what he has seen; yet afraid of what will happen to him if he does not cooperate and bring Jane to Belbury. How does the narrator (Lewis) account for this double-mindedness in Mark which finally leaves him unable to break away from Belbury even though he wants to? What would need to change in Mark’s worldview and lifeworld practices in order for him to become the kind of person that can stand up to Belbury?

2. In Part 3, Mr. McPhee, the household skeptic at St. Anne’s, tells Jane about Ransom’s story of space travel and meeting with the eildils on other planets, as well as the role of the dark eldils on earth (see also the first two volumes of the trilogy). But MacPhee is a strict empiricist, despite his own religious heritage that he seems to respect but does not embrace (his Scottish Presbyterian uncle). He will not believe in anything that cannot be proven by strict adherence to observable (physically measurable) evidence. How does this empiricism make MacPhee a great asset to the cause at St. Anne’s, yet leave him sadly shorthanded when it comes to understanding or dealing with the spiritual powers?

3. In Part 4, the council at St. Anne’s comes together to discuss the reality-status of the head in Jane’s dream. We saw in the last chapter, and now again in this one, how the head represents a desire at Belbury to achieve immortality through artificial intelligence and thus to give the NICE technological power and control over society and the world. What analogs for this kind of technocratic vision can you identify in American society and the world today? How widespread is this phenomenon? 

4. At the end of Part 4, and in part 5 of Chapter 9, Ransom and Dimble wrestle further with the question of Merlin’s role in everything that is happening. They can’t seem to make up their minds about whether the Merlin they know from the Arthurian legend would come back today as a representative of the powers of coercive black magic and the dark eldils (such as Morgan Le Fay with her corrupting passions run amok) or as a representative of something much closer to the Christian view of nature and of man’s role in creation. Ransom is sure, however, that Belbury’s interest in Merlin is under the power of the dark eldil and, therefore, has to do with black coercive magic. He is also clear, moreover, that the good eldil will not use coercive power to accomplish the goals of Maleldil. What does this tell us about the methods and the goals of the good eldil? And why is Ransom so concerned about the danger of combining the technocratic vision at Belbury with the old dark powers of the passions and the fallen angels? What would be an example of this dreadful and destructive combination today?

5. Extra Credit: Given what you have learned about the importance of free participation and human partnership in the cause of the good eldil and of the people at St. Anne’s on the Hill, what sense can you make of Camilla’s love for the quotation from Charles William’s poem, Taliesin Through Logres, which portrays how the battle of Badon Hill (in the Arthurian legend) was won by an act of “patience” on the part of the poet Taliesin? Note that Camilla uses this quote to interrupt MacPhee’s interview with Jane: “Fool, All lies in a passion of patience, my Lord’s rule.” How does the quotation sum up the basic traditional worldview of the people at St. Anne’s?  

THAT HIDEOUS STRENGTH: Chapter 8

Posted on by
Reply
A rather comical illustration for the character of Professor Filostroto in That Hideous Strength by C. S. Lewis. Filostroto, in a grotesque experiment with a disembodied head, hopes to escape the natural order of life and death by creating a form of “immortal” (perpetual) artificial intelligence. Illustration by J. P. Cokes.1

MOONLIGHT AT BELBURY

Overview Question

In this chapter, as Mark and Jane become more involved at Belbury and at St. Anne’s, they begin to uncover some of the deeper implications of the two worldviews that are calling for their allegiance. This concerns especially the concept of nature--that is, the role of the natural world in each worldview. How does the modern worldview at Belbury, with its emphasis on the freedom and reason of the individual (free from moral or religious constraint) affect the way the people at Belbury think about nature, and how they propose to use and interact with it? At the same time, how does the traditional worldview at St. Anne’s, with its emphasis on the religious and moral tradition of the Bible where freedom and reason are constrained by obedience to God (the Creator of nature) redirect this community’s awareness of and interaction with nature along very different lines? Overview Question: 

What are the differences concerning the role of nature that Mark and Jane encounter at Belbury and at St. Anne’s, and why do these particular differences arise from each of the worldviews? 

As you read through the different parts of the chapter—with the various accounts of Fairy Hardcastle’s sexual deviance, and Filostroto’s vision for a disembodied existence of virtual immortality free from the difficulties of organic nature and the body, and then of Jane’s difficulties adjusting to the rhythms of life at St. Anne’s with gardens, animals, shared chores, and no British class structure—try to reflect on the role of nature in each account. Which of the accounts suggests a cooperation with the order of creation or nature, and which, a rejection of that order? 

It may also be interesting to note here that Lewis, in his book on the Medieval worldview, entitled The Discarded Image, tells of how the moon was regarded as a metaphorical boundary between the heavenly realm (where the angels dwell in heavenly order) and the earthly realm of “nature” (where fallen angels exercise their evil influence). We shall encounter this lunar metaphor more than once in the chapters ahead. In this chapter, lodged as it is both in the title and in Filostroto’s long speech to Mark, it probably is meant to suggest the lunacy that has infected the lifeworld at Belbury.  

 

An illustration for the character of Fairy Hardcastle in That Hideous Strength by C. S. Lewis. Fairy is head of the NICE police at Belbury, and uses this position as an outlet for her own controlling and sadomasochistic tendencies. Illustration by J. P. Cokes.1

DEEPER-DIVE QUESTIONS

1. The character of Fairy Hardcastle is a revealing study in the ethical results of the modern worldview at Belbury. Fairy often seems somewhat aloof to the ideological principles of the NICE, and yet Belbury affords her a platform for the controlling and sadomasochistic habits that rule her character. How would you assess the fit between Fairy’s personal formation, especially her sexual proclivities, and the worldview that guides Belbury, especially its view of nature? What parallels can you discern in the attitudes and ideas that dominate the topics of sex and sexuality in American culture today?  

2. After going “home” to St. Anne’s, Jane must get used to a very different social atmosphere at the manor–more easy-going, one might say, more “natural.” Jane has always seen herself as a modern liberated woman, and yet she finds it difficult to accept Ivy Maggs, her former maid, as an equal partner sharing chores in the community. Likewise, she doesn’t quite know what to make of an obedient bear and the other tame animals at large in the house. And she is still wrestling with the Director’s conception of marriage (Chapter 7), which also requires evidently a practice of submission and obedience. What conception of nature is at work at St. Anne’s, and why does it interfere in all of these ways with Jane’s former ideas and habits? 

3. In Part 3 of the chapter, Mark is finally drawn into and made nearly a full participant in the network between the NICE activists who cause riots, the leadership at Belbury who control the local police, and the propaganda media for whom Mark now works. What parallels for this collusion between government authorities, corporate leadership, law enforcement, and media propaganda can you discern in the events of American culture and politics today? 

4. Also in Part 3, Professor Filostroto proclaims to Mark in much greater detail his view of the ultimate goal at Belbury. This goal is to achieve a kind of virtual immortality through disembodied artificial intelligence (of which the experiment with the Head is a rough prototype). And Rev. Straik translates all of this into a contorted interpretation of traditional Christian beliefs and symbols; so that the NICE’s rather gnostic vision of a dis-embodied and immortal virtual existence is proclaimed by Straik as the real meaning of the resurrection and the kingdom of God. One can sense that Mark is both drawn in by this vision, and yet also repelled.  

What parallels for this vision of virtual existence, free from the difficulties of natural life, can you discern in the cultural trends and political battles of 2022? And what do you think should be the genuine Christian response to the various issues involved? (In your answer, consider the role of the body, of sexuality, birth, and the family, and of the inherent difficulties involved in natural life, and the place of these “sufferings” in the development of the Christian virtues.)

______________________________________________________

  1. It may seem odd in a way to use these rather comical illustrations for what are admittedly very dangerous and harmful characters in THS–characters like Filostroto and Fairy Hardcastle. But then Lewis himself wrote with both insight and humor about the motives and short-sightedness of the demonic characters in his Screwtape Letters. So, perhaps there is a place for laughing against the darkness even as we try to take seriously the task of exposing it in our own time. 

THAT HIDEOUS STRENGTH: Chapter 7

Posted on by
Reply
If Chapter 6, Fog, focused at length on Mark’s miserable struggle to establish himself at Belbury; Chapter 7, The Pendragon, shifts the focus to Jane and how her self-understanding is challenged and begins to unfold in a wild roller coaster ride of new discoveries about herself and her potential as a human being in a very different kind of community at St. Anne’s.

THE PENDRAGON

Overview Question

From the opening sentence of THS, and scattered throughout the chapters, we encounter various clues concerning Jane’s ideas about marriage and sexuality, and these are always unresolved ideas. In the opening paragraphs of the story, for example, we find Jane struggling with her ideas about romantic love and with the reality of her marriage to Mark in comparison to the high ideals of the marriage rite in the Church of England. Then, when Jane first goes to St. Anne’s, she is caught up in a train of thought about sex and gardens, Freud and female beauty that leaves her rattled and ill-at-ease until, embarrassed and trying to compose herself, she pulls herself together to meet the people she has come to see. And then, clearly, when she finally meets Ransom, the Director of St. Anne’s (aka the Pendragon) she goes into a bewildering spate of emotional reactions that includes overpowering attraction to him as an almost mythical figure of masculinity and, at the same time, a strange disloyalty and indifference to her own husband, Mark. And all of this happens to Jane, of all people–a woman who wants, above all, to be (or at least to appear to be) in full rational control of her own thoughts and passions, and to write a cutting-edge dissertation on John Donne’s “triumphant vindication of the body.”  Overview Question:

Given what you know already about Jane’s worldview and her personal self-image as an independent, rational, egalitarian woman, how would you explain this meltdown in her composure and self-control when she first meets the Pendragon?

Of course, the wild career of Jane’s story in this chapter doesn’t end with her interview. Ransom tries to help her by introducing her to the role of faith, faithfulness, obedience, and submission in religion and in marriage. And when she leaves, she finds that she is indeed beginning to see her own beauty in a very new, though still confused and conflicted, light. And then she is subjected to physical and sexual abuse by Fairy Hardcastle upon her return to Edgestow, before deciding to go straight back to St. Anne’s to seek recovery.  The whole chapter, then, pulls back the curtain on the deep conflict in Jane between her preferred outward self-image, on the one hand, and the inward terrain of a still very disordered and confused though seeking self, on the other. And so, again, how would you explain this? Keep in mind the two worldviews (modern and traditional) and the two lifeworlds, including both the principles and the practices of each, that either prepare the soul or leave it unprepared for various kinds of challenges.

 

An English manor house that may, in some ways, suggest the kind of place where Jane went to seek help with her troubling dreams. And she found help that both challenged her self-understanding and welcomed her into a new sense of human calling and purpose.

DEEPER-DIVE QUESTIONS

1. “Pendragon” is, of course, the traditional name in the Arthurian legend for the line of kings that descend from King Arthur himself. Jane has not really wanted to meet with this man, this “Director,” also called Ransom and the “Fisher-King.” But her encounter with Prof. Frost in Edgestow, after having seen him first in a troubled dream, has jolted awake her sense of danger. Then, when she does meet with Ransom, she is “undone,” as the narrator tells us in Part 1; and she becomes distracted, giddy, “all power of resistance . . . drained away.” Given what you know about Jane so far (her feminism, her desire for rational control, her distaste for vulnerability, her modern worldview) what do you think could explain this sudden meltdown?

2. In a way, Jane’s conversation with the Director goes from bad to worse. She finds herself attracted to him. She argues with him about the nature of her marriage to Mark and the role of equality in marriage. And then when he tries to explain to her the connection between obedience to God and love for one’s spouse in marriage, she seems to lose herself in a kind of seductive fantasy about Ransom himself, until Ransom tells her to “Stop it.” He then goes on to try to help her understand the role of “obedience” (humility, faithfulness, submission) in romantic or erotic love (Part 2). What does this conversation suggest about the relevance and value of Ransom’s traditional worldview for Jane?

3. When Jane leaves the Director in Part 3, the narrator tells us that she is divided within her own mind and emotions between four different “Janes.” Identify these, and try to explain what each one means in terms of the spiritual journey that Jane now finds herself embarked upon.

4. When she arrives back in Edgestow, Jane is caught up in a riot that has been ginned up by the activists from Belbury. Jane is then taken prisoner for interrogation by Fairy Hardcastle, and subjected to painful physical and sexual abuse. In the turmoil of the riot, Jane manages to escape and to ask some strangers to take her “home” to St, Anne’s.  After this day of wild extremes and emotions—both of deeper good and of really horrible evil—how would you assess Jane’s decision to regard St. Anne’s as her home, rather than her own flat in Edgestow?

THAT HIDEOUS STRENGTH: Chapter 6

Posted on by
Reply

Within the space of two chapters (5 and 6) Mark Studdock goes through in microcosm and as an individual all four stages of the neo-Marxist “cultural revolution” described by Yuri Bezmenov. When this occurs at the societal and collective level it may also exhibit the characteristics of “mass formation” described by Matthias Desmet (see Introduction).

FOG

Overview Question

Another way to analyze the content of Chapters 5 and 6 is to evaluate what is happening to Mark as an individual within the framework of Yuri Bezmenov’s “Four Stages of Cultural Revolution” (as described in the Introduction). Given the four stages–1. Demoralization, 2. Destabilization, 3. Crisis, and 4. New Normal–how would you track Mark’s progress through these stages from his first interviews with Wither and Miss Hardcastle, to the job-insecurity that arises from Feverstone, to his frantic effort to regain solid footing with Curry, and finally to his capitulation to what he knows to be the nefarious yet required role of churning out propaganda for the NICE. This will reveal how the stages of Bezmenov’s model appear in the life of one individual; but the wider collective phenomenon will also appear in future parts of Lewis’s story. Overview Question:  

Given the four stages of Bezmenov’s model, try to locate Mark’s “progress” as he makes his way through the difficulties that he faces in Chapters 5 and 6. For example, at what point does he become demoralized, and when does this shift to the more serious stage of being destabilized? At what point does Mark enter a condition of crisis? And when does he finally cave into what is, at least for a period of time, his new normal?  

DEEPER-DIVE QUESTIONS

1.In Part 1, Wither continues to work on Mark with a style of communication that leaves Mark at sea about whether he has a job, or not. At the same time, Mark’s own self-absorbed motives, especially his ambition to be part of the inner circle, make him very vulnerable to this kind of manipulation. Describe the “fit” between Wither’s leadership style and Mark’s personality. What different character traits or virtues might have provided Mark with a means of resistance to Wither’s mechanizations?

2.  Absent the needed character traits to resist, Mark finally caves in and begins to do the bidding of the NICE. He begins to work as a fake news “journalist,” providing the kind of cover, spin, and suppression that are needed to keep the NICE from taking responsibility for their own destructive actions. What parallels can you see between the kinds of problems that the NICE causes, the kinds of articles that Mark writes to cover them, and the events and media coverage that have shaped public opinion in America over the last 5 or 6 years? Try to be specific and think of at least three examples.

3.  In Part 3 of Chapter 6, we meet again the Rev. Straik whose reflections on Jesus and the resurrection typify the role of religion in the modern worldview. What is that role, according to Straik, and where do you see a similar use of religion at work in the political and cultural battles of our time?

4. In part 5, Jane goes into Edgestow and runs into Professor Frost of Belbury, whom she has seen previously only in her dreams (see part 2). The nature of this man’s actions in her dreams, and the atmosphere of his person when she nearly touches him on the street, send a shock of repulsion through her. She hadn’t really wanted to go to St. Anne’s to see the Director, but now her desire to go is urgent. What do these hints suggest about what is happening in Jane’s inner life, quite apart from her initial or deliberative plans?