Tag Archives: Christian disciplines

THAT HIDEOUS STRENGTH: Chapter 17

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The cover art for the 2014 edition of That Hideous Strength by C. S. Lewis, published by Kindle and by Create Space Independent Publishing Platform. The image suggests the taming of fallen Venus by her more powerful original in the good order of creation. In this way, eros finds its true home within the greater virtue, the greater heart of agape. How is this a symbol for Jane and Mark, for St. Anne’s future, and for ours?

VENUS COMES TO ST. ANNE’S

Overview Question

In this final chapter, Lewis brings a few things to a sort of penultimate completion, for example the roles of Merlin and of Dr. Ransom. At the same time, he leaves us with a set of characters and questions that, rightly engaged, pull us back into the world of our own lives (our families, our congregations, our communities, and nation) to ponder our own course on the road ahead.

We have seen in earlier chapters how Ransom and Merlin, and the members of the community at St. Anne’s, have so far responded to the spiritual battle with Belbury and Edgestow in which they have been engaged. Now, in the final chapter we overhear, so to speak, their conversations about the ongoing battle that they have yet to face, and the parameters within which they must make their battle plans for the future. These parameters include hints about the ongoing “conversions” of Mark and Jane and the others at St. Anne’s (Parts 1 and 2); but also some more explicit statements about the nature of Logres, going forward, when the community at St. Anne’s must be prepared to meet again and to fight back against “other Edgestows” (Parts 4 and 5) under the same kind of distorted leadership as before (e.g., Curry, the well-informed man in the train of Part 5). This brings us to our final Overview Question:  

Taking the story of THS as a whole, especially the sense of future direction that arises in the final chapter, what would you say are the key principles—both at St. Anne’s and for us—that define the goal of their/our lives, and the signs that they/we are in fact making progress toward this goal?

“Just” another English manor house with gardens and natural stonework suggesting the kind of place and culture created by the community of St. Anne’s on the Hill in Lewis’s story. And yet, this is also the kind of place that represents and symbolizes the critical spiritual values, virtues, and strengths of Logres in the history of England which are determinative for the future of this tradition. How is all of this attacked by the Belbury and the NICE of our day?

DEEPER-DIVE QUESTIONS

1. In Part 1, after the debacle of the banquet, Mark is making his way to St. Anne’s on the Hill to find Jane and to give her “her freedom.” What are the signs that the conversion already begun in him is really taking root and expanding into various parts of his personality and the habitual way of life (the lifeworld) that he had formerly considered so important? What does this portend for Mark’s future, his marriage, and his potential for a different role in society?

2. In Part 2, Jane is with the other women of St. Anne’s trying on beautiful dresses in preparation for a great meal that the men of St. Anne’s are preparing. What are the signs in Jane’s thoughts and attitudes that the conversion already begun in her is also expanding into the wider regions of her personality and her former habitual way of seeing herself and trying to present herself to others? What does this portend for Jane’s future, her marriage, and her potential for a different role in society?

3. In Part 3, Lord Feverstone comes to his end swallowed up in an earth quake at Edgestow. He dies in a manner reminiscent of the sons of Korah in Numbers 16, and for the same reason: He has placed his own fame and fortune above everything else in life, and so he vanishes into nothing. At the same time, Part 3 gives us the last mention of Merlin who rides away on a horse yet, as Jane has seen earlier in one of her dreams, he has also been like a pillar of light used up completely in God’s good work of deliverance at Belbury. What do these very different “ends” tell us about the worldviews and lifeworlds of Merlin and Feverstone?

Anyone who knows the reality of farming or ranching, or any life that is lived closely within the powers and forces of nature, also knows how these powers offer immense opportunity for the training of the virtues and the fruits of the Spirit. This is the world of God’s continuing creation (creatio continua) in which we live and move and have our being, and within which we give thanks for our sufferings because we know that our Maker is using them to remake us in the image of his son, our Lord (Romans 5:3; 8:29). It is also the world of everyday ordinary life when we embrace this life with all of its challenges, in Christ.

4. Part 4 begins with Camilla’s question, “Why Logres, Sir?” which she asks of Ransom; though it is Dr. Dimble and Grace Ironwood who do most of the answering. In their answers, they talk about the importance in Logres (the ancient realm of King Arthur, which we commented on at some length already in Chapter 13) of a certain understanding of “Nature” (what I would call creatio continua), and of the tradition of faith and freedom that “haunts” English history all the way back to Arthur (and before), and of how this tradition must often be pursued in the most mundane ways, as they have in fact been pursuing it steadily at St. Anne’s. Working with your earlier answers in Chapter 13 and elsewhere, how would you define the meaning and significance of Logres, both in the story and in the present world of American culture and politics which also reaches back into this history?  

5. At the end of Part 4, there is also a discussion about the status of other countries in relation to Logres (this haunting of England) and about the seeming unfairness of the judgement of the people of Edgestow. What do the conversations about these two issues tell us about the traditional worldview, at least as C. S. Lewis understood it and recommended it through the characters in his story? What parallels can you find in Lewis’s other works to support your answer?

6. Part 5 is all about the future prospects of Curry, the Sub-Warden (“Dean”) of Bracton College. This is the Curry who in Chapter 1 manipulated the faculty of Bracton to sell Bragdon Wood to the NICE with a view to padding the purse of the college as well as his own career, and without even considering the moral or spiritual dangers. In Part 5, Curry discovers a way to turn the tragedy of the destruction of Edgestow and the college into a “providential” turn of affairs for himself. Why is it significant in the story that Lewis portrays Curry as the kind of man that people will see as empathetic and wise, though in reality Curry is only thinking of the future (and even of God’s providence) in terms of his own fame.

Garden With Beans and Flowers, watercolor by Craig Gallaway, copyright 2005 by Gallaway Art. A simple painting of a well-kept garden seems an appropriate image by which to contemplate the future imagined in the story for Jane and Mark, St. Anne’s, and Logres. For a garden is symbolic in the traditional worldview both of where we began, and of how we move forward toward the goal of the New Creation. There is, of course, a battle to engage along the way; but then we have our Lord’s own Spirit and power to guide and strengthen us.

7. The final part of the chapter, Part 6, is focused on the theme from which the chapter takes its title: “Venus Comes to St. Anne’s.” In addition to all of the echoes of Genesis 1 among the animals (“be fruitful and multiply”), why does it make perfect sense, given where the story of THS begins (with Jane contemplating the emptiness of her marriage) that the story would end in a chapter with this title? That is, with Jane and Mark Studdock coming together as husband and wife in a way they have never before been able to do? What are the chief virtues that seem to characterize this new potential for marital union? And how will this practice of faithful marriage strengthen their ability to promote the cause of Logres in England going forward?

THAT HIDEOUS STRENGTH: Chapter 15

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The angelic figures of the eldils in C. S. Lewis’s space trilogy are drawn from the allegorical interpretation of the planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn, and Jupiter) as described in classical and Medieval literature. See, C. S. Lewis, The Discarded Image. The artwork above comes from the cover of a Study Guide for Lewis’s space trilogy by Vicki Tillman.

THE DESCENT OF THE GODS 

Overview Question

In this chapter, especially in Part 1, Merlin is finally equipped with the virtues of the heavenly powers that he will need in order to do battle with the fallen powers of Belbury. Our overview task, therefore, is to draw out (at least provisionally) some conclusions about how best to understand the nature and character of these powers, both in their true, created form and in their fallen, corrupted deformation.

We may begin with a quick review of insights that we have already gathered from earlier chapters. In Chapter 9, for example, we saw how Lewis was using the classical and Medieval identification of the planets and virtues to portray the angelic beings known as the eldil. Thus, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn, and Jupiter represent five specific powers or virtues that are built into the natural order of God’s good and unfolding creation.[i] And then, in Chapter 12, we saw (in keeping with the biblical sources of the traditional worldview) how each of these good powers can be corrupted and turned to evil purpose by the fallen angels or eldil. Furthermore, in Chapter 13, we discovered the telling insight that while the dark eldil are quite willing to work by coercion and domination to achieve their goals in human society, the good eldil insist on working only through human beings who willingly choose to be obedient partners with God in caring for and restoring the good creation (the 7th law). In this way, as we suggested in our questions for Chapter 13, the role of Merlin in Lewis’s story actually becomes our role as free human beings under God’s power and guidance to fight back against the cultural dissolution of our own time. In other words, we need the same virtues and strengths for our battle that Merlin needs and receives in the story!  

All of this echoes, of course, with themes from Scripture about spiritual warfare (Ephesians 6); about our Lord’s battle with the fallen powers (1 Corinthians 15:20-28); about the “fruits of the Spirit versus the works of the flesh” (Galatians 5), and also with Jesus’s own description in the beatitudes about the traits that characterize those who are committed to the victory of God’s kingdom (Matthew 5). Indeed, if we keep these scriptural themes in mind, we will gain many insights into the nature and character of the battle between the powers as Lewis portrays them, and as they are relevant to our own battles today. This brings us to the Overview Question for this week:

What are the virtues and strengths that Lewis associates with each of the planets–that is, with the good eldil and the good order of creation? How do these relate or compare to Paul’s list of the fruits of the Holy Spirit in Galatians 5? Also, what are the vices and corruptions that arise when these powers are misused, misconstrued, or made into idols?

As you read through Lewis’s powerfully poetic descriptions of each eldil in Part 1, keep in mind the insights from earlier chapters, and the aforementioned Scriptural themes. Try to create a basic chart or “map” of the virtues, strengths, and spiritual fruits that are given to Merlin (and to the other people at St. Anne’s). How do each of these work, and what would they look like if they were corrupted? It may help to think about different characters, both at St. Anne’s and at Belbury, as you ponder the embodiment and practice of each of the virtues and vices. For example, in what way do the Dimbles or Dr. Ransom reflect the virtue of Venus, while Fairy Hardcastle and even Mark and Jane (at least at the beginning of the story) reflect the corruption and dissolution of this created power? Remember, these planetary virtues, rightly understood, align with the fruits of the Spirit and with the beatitudes of the Kingdom of God. As such they represent strengths that we also need for our “Merlin” work today.

This image of an English village by a river suggests the kind of place and culture (like the village of Cure Hardy in Chapter 4 of THS) that keeps pulling Mark Studdock’s memory and conscience away from his job aspirations at Belbury. This type of place (and its people) are surely the source in Mark’s mind and heart for what he calls “Normal.” And it is this connection with traditional society and the traditional worldview (its cultural, moral, and religious values) that finally strengthens Mark enough to resist the “objectivity” training of Prof. Frost.

DEEPER-DIVE QUESTIONS

1. One of the really curious and funny things about Chapter 15 (in Parts 2 and 3) is the way Wither and Frost are reduced by Merlin (who is now among them at Belbury and fully equipped with the heavenly powers) to a pair of bowing and scraping buffoons. These great leaders and spokespersons for the future of technocratic society and its ideological “science” are almost completely duped about the true identity both of the Tramp and of the real Merlin. What account can you give for this deficiency of intelligence on the part of Wither and Frost? What explains their epistemological blindness? As you ponder this question you might also consider a similar pattern in the following sources: [a.] the inability of the fallen powers, according to Paul, to understand what Jesus was about at the cross (1 Cor. 2:8). [b.] The short-sightedness of the White witch in the Narnia Tales to understand the “deep magic” of Aslan’s willing sacrifice at the stone table. And [c.] The inability of Sauron in Tolkein’s trilogy to foresee that anyone would try to destroy the ring of “power.”

2. As you read through Parts 2, 3, and 5, try to identify places or moments in the action where you can see the powers of the good eldil shining through the actions of Merlin. Where is the Mercurial power of language, wit, and intelligence at work? What about Mars and the capacity for courage in the face of danger? Or Venus and the virtue of charity and the spiritual fruits of agape and kindness? At the same time, watch for the shadow side of the dark eldil in the various attitudes (vices and passions) of envy, anger, or suspicion, that arise among the characters of Belbury. Can you think of any ways that Merlin’s actions might provide a model for how we engage the agents of destruction today?  

3. In Part 4, Mark’s battle with the dark eldil comes to a head in the “objectivity room” when Frost demands that Mark commit an act of sacrilege against the Christian religion by defacing one of its central symbols, a crucifix. Mark is still not a Christian believer; but his conversion toward what is Normal has also been a hard turn away from the wanton abolition of all traditional religious and moral values. In the course of his struggle to resist Frost’s demands, Mark comes to realize that the cross is not just a story; but something that really happened. Furthermore, he realizes that the cross is what, as he puts it, the” crooked” does to the normal and the “straight,” indeed, what Belbury will do to him. He realizes that the man on the cross was the embodiment of what is good, and true, and normal. In the end, even though he knows Frost may kill him, he refuses to enact the defamation; and suddenly Merlin breaks into the room to release Mark from the diabolical training. How does Mark’s battle with Frost over the meaning of the symbol of the cross illuminate what is most deeply at stake in the spiritual battle between the heavenly powers of the Creator (Maleldil) and the dark fallen powers of Belbury?   

[i] Lewis also has Dr. Dimble (in Chapter 13) call these powers “intelligences,” that is, types of creaturely intelligence that are built into creation itself, and are amenable to human beings made in their Creator’s image. Thus, for example, to understand language (Mercury) or love (Venus) or courage (Mars) or grief (Saturn) or joy (Jove) aright is to be faithful and true to the nature of our own creation. But to subvert these, or to misconstrue them for the cause of rebellion and self-centered power (by turning them into their shadows: linguistic trickery, lustful conquest, domineering violence, willful indifference, and mindless debauchery) is to plant the seeds of our own destruction.

THAT HIDEOUS STRENGTH: Chapter 14

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An English manor house and grounds suggests the kind of place–with gardens and stone walls in close proximity with nature–that Lewis describes as the setting for the traditional community of St. Annes. We might imagine Mr. MacPhee at work in his garden, or Camilla and Arthur Denniston standing out on the hill watching the weather and rejoicing in the clouds of an English sky.

“Real Life Is Meeting”

Overview Question

In this chapter, both Jane and Mark move further along the path of what can only be called, in Christian terms, “conversion.” They have come a long way since the beginning of the story. They are both being converted from their earlier formation in the Enlightenment worldview, during their college and professional years; and they are being converted to what we have called (from the beginning of our study) the traditional worldview. The latter also includes what we came in the last chapter to identify with the role of Merlin in Lewis’s story: Merlin the advocate of God’s order of creation in nature, and of Christian marriage, and of English common law with its conservation of basic human rights and freedoms (the 7th law) as these are shaped by biblical faith. All of these are integral parts of the traditional worldview (lifeworld) as it came to expression in England from the Middle Ages onward until it was challenged head-on in the 17th and 18th centuries by the anti-tradition and anti-religious worldview of the Enlightenment.

Jane and Mark are being converted from their former college training and formation; and both are coming to see and appreciate why the traditional worldview (with its inherent lifeworld) holds much that they now want to re-embrace if they can only discover how. But each of them comes to this by a different set of means or mediations. This brings us to our Overview Question for this chapter:

Look carefully at Mark’s “conversion” in Parts 1 and 4 (note Lewis’s use of the term) from Prof. Frost’s deconstruction of all traditional values, and toward what Mark only knows to call the “Normal.” Then, look closely also at Jane’s struggle (in Parts 2 and 5) first with Mother Dimble’s traditional ways about marriage, and then with her own licentious fantasies, until she turns in the garden (after her talk with Ransom) toward the “presence” of God. Based on your observations, try to identify the means by which each of them is helped along this path of conversion. What kinds of things are involved in each of their cases (e.g., mentors, memories, conscience, innate or instinctual longings or repulsions, Scripture, and other traditional echoes). By what means from within the traditional worldview are Jane and Mark drawn into the orbit of God’s further influence and healing? 

Norman Rockwell’s painting, Saying Grace (1951), though set in America, reflects the place of religious faith in mid-twentieth century English culture as well. The deep biblical roots of the Christian religion were still visible in public life but were beginning to be pressed to the margins and to become a novelty.

DEEPER-DIVE QUESTIONS

1. The title of this chapter may hold a clue to the importance of several “minor” characters at this point in the story, characters whose impact we might be inclined to ignore unless we understand the deeper significance of the conversion that is taking place in both Jane and Mark. For example, in Parts 1 and 4, Mark is introduced to the Tramp—Frost’s and Wither’s false Merlin—whom they hope will help them advance their plans to combine ancient magic with modern technocratic controls. During Mark’s sentry duty, however, he finds that he is able to bond with the Tramp in a way that is more grounded in common humanity than he had ever achieved in his efforts to join the inner ring of power with Frost and Wither.  Similarly, Jane is at first put off by Mother Dimble and Ivy Maggs because they represent a kind of storied traditional role for women and marriage to which Jane has been averse; but then she begins to discover that they are part of something that is much deeper and truer to real life than her habitual feminist ideas have led her to believe. Why is it that these “common people,” with their uneducated and even uncouth ways (the Tramp), embody the promise of meeting real life in a deeper and truer way? What is the source of this real life that Jane and Mark are meeting in these common people?

2. In the middle of the chapter, Part 3, we find a brief digression on the fate of Mr. Bultitude, the bear. Lewis goes to some lengths (as he always does in his descriptions of the bear) to notice how Mr. Bultitude’s way of processing information is not the same as that of a human being. Mr. Bultitude does things by instinct, not by moral choice, reflective deliberation, or conscience. This echoes Lewis’s traditional sense of the hierarchy among animals, humans, and angels (an echo of his love for the “triadic” thinking of the Middle Ages[i]). The result of this triadic thinking is to highlight, by contrast and comparison, the specifically human task of being human. How do the innate limitations of Mr. Bultitude’s instinctual behaviors help to clarify the specifically self-reflective and moral nature of the choices and loyalties that are now required of Mark and Jane if they are to complete their conversions and become fully “human” in the traditional sense?

3. All along the way in our study of THS, since we began early last August, we have tried to evaluate the relevance of Lewis’s insights regarding the cultural battles of his time (the mid-1940s) with the cultural and political battles of our own. With only three chapters after this one left to consider, this may be a good time to take an interim inventory. Here are some of the major discoveries that we have made along the way so far. Consider briefly how each one of these may find a counterpart in the events and agencies of our own day.

A high-tech image of a head suggests the kind of technocratic vision of the future promoted by the NICE. This has only grown and become more lurid and explicit since Lewis’s day among groups like the WEF and the “transhumanism” movement.

a. In Chapter 2, the faculty and Feverstone discuss how their ideology will spread through all the institutions of society—including education, politics, science, business, the press, etc. (cf., the neo-Marxist Long March Through the Institutions). Where is this sort of thing taking place today?

b. Also in Chapter 2, we saw how Busby and Mark and others endorse a kind of “applied science” which is really a mask for their social ideology and a way to gain control both of society and academia, for example, by rejecting traditional scientists such as William Hingest (who still require empirical evidence to support their claims). Where have we seen this sort of thing today?

c. In Chapter 6, Mark caves in to the NICE and assumes the role of an “activist journalist,” writing propaganda articles that whitewash the NICE for public consumption. What are the primary arms of activist journalism today, and on what stories have they practiced this kind of white washing? Are there any news agencies today that practice traditional journalism?

d. In Chapter 7, Jane discovers that she has held a view of marriage and sexuality that is centered, like her Enlightenment worldview, on the freedom of the individual self (self-expression, self-definition, self-indulgence). This has led her to regret her marriage to Mark, and to be vulnerable to adulterous thoughts. Where do we see this self-centered view of sexuality and even of marriage in our culture today?

e. In Chapter 8, Filostroto proclaims to Mark his vision for a future technocratic society where people are programmed by technology, and where human beings achieve a kind of immortality through artificial intelligence. Where do we see this kind of ideology at work today?

f. In Chapter 10, the NICE take control of Edgestow as the four stages of cultural revolution come full circle with the declaration of emergency powers. At the same time, normal people become jaded against their fellow citizens in a kind of mass formation which allows them to “stay under the radar,” protect themselves and their own jobs, while they “go along in order to get along.” Where have we seen this sort of thing at work today?

g. In Chapter 11, Jane goes with other members of the St. Anne’s community to look for Merlin, and they all find themselves shaken awake by the nominal degree of their own faith when they have to face some kind of real spiritual power or danger. Where have we seen, in recent events, the awakening of faith as a result of coming face to face with the denial of human rights and basic freedoms, including the freedom of religion and conscience under God?

h. In Chapter 13, Ransom explains to Merlin why God will only work to set things right by working through human beings who are willing to be his partners in the work of restoration (the 7th law). Where in our political debates today do we find this concern to preserve the role of human conscience and agency under God? And where do we find this calling either manipulated (made to serve a prior state agenda), rejected, or simply absent from the discussion of how to restore and renew society?

[i] C. S. Lewis, The Discarded Image (Cambridge, 1964) pp. 56-57, 71-72.

START THE NEW YEAR in 2023 WITH COVENANT RENEWAL

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Blue Current, watercolor by Craig Gallaway, copyright 2008. Clear water flowing over exposed rock, reflecting the blue light of the sky, reminds me of the waters of baptism. And those waters represent, for those who put their lives in his hands, the cleansing and transforming power of Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection at work in their lives by the presence of his Spirit. A fitting image for the renewal of our covenant with our Maker and Redeemer.

Here is a shortened version of John Wesley’s Covenant Renewal Service which he began using with the Methodist people in England in 1755. It was especially used at the beginning of the New Year to give the people an opportunity to think seriously about their calling to embrace whole heartedly the life of faith. This version leaves out two longer sections of the original service (Thanksgiving, Confession) which are needed in order to experience the full depth and breadth of the service. I have shortened these in the interest of making the central prayer more accessible (in violet type face below). You can find various versions of the service online. The best ones stick close to Wesley’s original.   

If you have access to a United Methodist Hymnal, No. 606 is the hymn that Charles Wesley wrote especially for this service, Come Let Us Use the Grace Divine.   

Leader: Let us pray. Almighty God, unto whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid; cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of Thy Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love Thee, and worthily magnify Thy Holy name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Scripture Readings: Jeremiah 31:31-34 . . . . The renewal of the covenant.

John 15: 1-8 . . . . . . . . . . The vine and the branches.

Leader: What does it mean to renew our covenant with God?

Dear friends, the Christian life, to which we are called, is a life in Christ, redeemed by Him from sin, and through Him, consecrated to God. Upon this life we have entered, having been first admitted by faith into the new Covenant of which our Lord Jesus Christ is the mediator, and which He sealed with His own blood, that it might stand forever.   

On one side the Covenant is God’s promise that He will fulfill in and through us all that He has promised in Jesus Christ, who is the author and perfecter of our faith. That His promise still stands we are sure, for we have known His goodness and proved His grace in our lives day by day.

On the other side we stand pledged to live no more unto ourselves, but to Him who loved us and gave himself for us and has called us to serve Him, that the purpose of His coming might be fulfilled.

From time to time we renew our vows of consecration, especially when we gather at the table of the Lord; but on this day we meet expressly, as generations of our fathers and mothers have met, that we may joyfully renew and solemnly reaffirm the Covenant that binds us to God.

Let us then, remembering the mercies of God, and the hope of His calling, examine ourselves by the light of His Spirit, that we may see wherein we have failed or fallen short in faith and practice, and, considering all that this Covenant means, may give ourselves anew to God.

(This is where the longer sections on Thanksgiving and Confession occur in the original service.) 

The Covenant

Scripture Reading: Romans 12: 1-2 

Leader (with the people now standing):

And now, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us bind ourselves with willing bonds to our Covenant God, and take the yoke of Christ upon us. This taking of His yoke upon us means that we are heartily content that He should appoint us our place and work, and that He alone is our reward.

Christ, our King, has many services to be done; some are easy, others are difficult; some bring honor, others bring reproach; some are suitable to our natural inclinations and temporal interests, others are contrary to both. In some we may please Christ and please ourselves, in others we cannot please Christ except by denying ourselves. Yet the power to do all these things is assuredly given us in Christ, who strengthens us.

Therefore, let us make the Covenant with God our own. Let us engage our heart to the Lord, and resolve in the strength of His Spirit never to go back. As we kneel again together, let us make the Covenant with God our own.

Leader: O Lord God, you have called us through Christ to be partakers of the new Covenant in Him. We take upon ourselves with joy the yoke of obedience, and engage ourselves, for the love of Thee, to seek and do Your perfect will. We are no longer our own, but Yours.

Leader and People together:

I am no longer my own, but Yours. Put me to what You will, rank me with whom You will; put me to doing, put me to suffering; let me be employed for You or laid aside for You, exalted for You or brought low for You; let me be full, let me be empty; let me have all things, let me have nothing; I freely and heartily yield all things to Your pleasure and disposal.

And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, You are mine, and I am Yours. So be it. And the Covenant which I have made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.

Closing (All stand)

Leader: Lift up your hearts.

People: We lift them up to the Lord.

Leader: Let us give thanks to our Lord God.

People: It is fitting and right that we should at all times, and in all places, give thanks unto Thee, O Lord, Holy Father, Almighty, Everlasting God.

Leader and People together:

Therefore, with angels and archangels, and with all the company of heaven, we praise and magnify Your glorious name; evermore praising Thee, and saying, Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of hosts; heaven and earth are full of your glory. Glory be to Thee, O Lord most high. Amen. 

FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT 2022, Week 4: You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere and the Wedding Banquet of the Lamb

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Saint Nicholas of the Dowry, Graphite drawing by Craig Gallaway, copyright 2011. Saint Nicholas is famous for his affirmation of marriage and for his support of young women who could not afford a dowry. In some cases, it seems, he was all that stood between them and a life on the streets.

Some might think it odd for Deb and me to choose an old Bob Dylan song, about the challenges of getting married, to celebrate the birth of our Lord and his purpose to restore the good order of creation. But then, in the Bible, there are few things that need restoration more than God’s good gifts of marriage and sexuality. And there is something in the very structure of Dylan’s song that echoes what the Bible has to say about this—how our incarnate Lord, born at Bethlehem to be both King and Bridegroom, wants to restore the order of marriage in his kingdom. [i]

We learn from the Apostle Paul and others that Jesus is the true bridegroom of his people, the church, and that he has suffered much to make the church his bride (Ephesians5:21-32). The epistle to the Hebrews tells us that, “He was tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin,” and this is why “he is able to sympathize with our weaknesses.” (Hebrews 4:15). Paul tells us that he was “obedient even unto death on a cross . . . and so God has highly exalted him and given him the name that is above every other name, Lord” (Philippians 2:8-11). And Hebrews again speaks of how “He endured the cross for the joy set before him, and then sat down by the throne of God,” (Hebrews 12:2) from whence he now reigns, “until God has put everything in order under his authority” (1 Corinthians 15:20-28).

This is the basic biblical narrative of the incarnate Son of God, from the time of his birth, through his faithful life and death, his resurrection and sending of his Spirit, and on now with his people, the church, toward the time when the great restoration will be fulfilled. And this is the narrative of our lives as well, if we have joined our lives to the living reality of his, by faith. For we are called to live our lives in him, and this means to follow him in the way of faithfulness and, yes, in the way of sacrifice. Paul puts it like this in Ephesians 5.

“Husbands love your wives, as Christ loved the church, and gave himself for it . . . so that it might be holy and without blame” (verses 25-27). “Wives, be subject to your own husbands as to the Lord” (verse 22).

In this way, Paul calls wives to exemplify what every Christian, including husbands and the unmarried, are called to do (cf., Romans 12:1-2). And he calls husbands to imitate the faithfulness of Christ, so that they may encourage and strengthen their wives in the pattern of life (in Christo) to which all people are called, again including the unmarried. We are all called to imitate the greatest Bridegroom of all, in the power of his Spirit, so that our lives may become whole and strong in him.

Saint Nicholas of the Dowry, detail, Graphite drawing by Craig Gallaway, copyright 2011. A younger sister looks out the window where Nicholas stands, having left a bag of gold on the windowsill. (In some early accounts, he would have dropped the gold down the chimney, or secretly left it inside the house.) Her older sister dances in the background because she has hope now to marry. My drawing no doubt makes their accommodations look more convenient than they would have been.

Of course, there are ramifications that ring out into our lives from this narrative. For example, we must not make an idol of sex–that is, to give it more power in our lives than it is due–unless we want to become confused about its real purpose. The degradations that result from idolatry are what Paul has in mind in Romans 1:18ff. Also, we should recognize that marriage has several purposes—mutual help, comfort, the procreation of life, and the preservation of chastity (Genesis 1-2, 1 Corinthians 7)—not all of which are focused on sex. If we are to follow our Lord, and live in his Spirit, we must be ready to take up the larger and wider callings that come with being good wives and husbands, as well as good neighbors and members of his bride, the church. Whether in our own personal lives, or in our corporate life together as his people, eros must be governed by agape. [ii]

But what, then, does all of this have to do with an old Bob Dylan song about a prospective bridegroom who is struggling to manage his inner fears, temptations, and doubts as he anticipates the arrival of his wedding day? Will he bolt and run, for fear of failure in the challenges of married life ahead? Or will he “get his mind off of wintertime” and rejoice in the arrival of his bride? Will he listen to the siren voices of romantic wanderlust, and travel to some distant place, or will he “pick up his money and pack up his tent” and look forward to the coming of his bride? What did Jesus do? What is he doing now?

By the third verse of Dylan’s song, we discover what our protagonist has decided to do. He will stay and embrace the covenant of marriage, with all that it entails. He plants his feet on solid ground and calls for the instruments of creativity and provision (perhaps also of procreativity): “Buy me a flute and a gun that shoots, I won’t accept no substitutes.” He intends now to honor his bride, like the Bridegroom is doing. He will fight for her against the enemy’s opposing forces, even if some of his own troops are weary or lagging. [iii] And he will “climb that hill no matter how steep,” so that he may rejoice in the joy set before him.

Thus, with the scriptural narrative ringing in our ears, we know what our Lord, our Bridegroom, has done (in his faithful life, death, and resurrection) and is doing (in the presence and power of his Spirit) in anticipation of the great day when his faithfulness will be fulfilled, when we too shall rise like him from the dead, and there shall be a new heaven and a new earth, and there shall also be a great wedding banquet for the Lamb and for us.

Can you hear, as Deb and I do, his voice echoing beyond our own as we sing about the place of our marriage in his New Creation purpose and care?

Ooo wee, ride me high, tomorrow’s the day my bride will arrive.

O Lord, are we gonna fly, down in that easy chair.

[i] Deb and I aren’t saying that Dylan intended or foresaw all of the biblical allusions that we see reflected in his imagery. But he did become a Christian later in life; and he was always deeply influenced by the Bible, as he once told Paul Stookey.  

[ii] This seems to be the main point of C. S. Lewis’s reflections in The Screwtape Letters, regarding the demonic strategy that uses certain art forms to confuse people about the importance of “being in love,” that is of romantic or erotic passion, as if this were the foundation and purpose of marriage. If the demons win this battle, says Lewis, they also create an excuse for divorce when the level of excitement changes over time. But then, Lewis also portrays, in That Hideous Strength, how the affection of eros can be restored where husband and wife learn to embrace the larger pattern of servant love (agape) and obedience to God. Eros can return as a result of a more caring and wholesome way of life together, not as the goal or purpose of marriage itself.

[iii] Given the culture wars in America today, many of which turn on the definition of sex, gender, and marriage; and given the strong rhetoric of “hate speech” that has been cast against Christians for trying to uphold, much less to recommend the covenant of marriage as a source for sexual healing in our culture; Paul’s discussion of spiritual warfare (Ephesians 6) just after his instructions regarding marriage (Ephesians 5) does not seem at all accidental. In any event, to promote the Christian practice of marriage in our present culture will be a spiritual battle, to be sure; but one that the church must accept with a whole heart.  

THAT HIDEOUS STRENGTH: Chapter 12

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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

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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

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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

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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 7

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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?