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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. How common is the belief in the conflict between religion and science?

2. What belief has had the biggest effect on the decrease in reports of miracles?

3. Which of the following is one word Lewis uses to describe religions that he views to be true?

4. According to materialism, reasoning is the result of what?

5. According to Lewis, how do many Westerners react to miraculous experiences?

Short Essay Questions

1. According to Lewis' writings in Part I, Essay 19, "What Are We to Make of Jesus Christ", what possible contradiction makes it difficult to discount the miracles associated with the life of Jesus?

2. According to Lewis, how are laws of nature, causes, events, and the creator related?

3. How is Christianity transmitted, according to Lewis' writings in Part I, Essay 13, "On the Transmission of Christianity"?

4. What does Lewis believe about the roles of suffering and discomfort in Christianity?

5. What mistakes does Lewis believe that the Bishop of Woolwich makes in his arguments about scripture?

6. What justification does Lewis use to explain that the universe is not meaningless?

7. Why does the answering of prayers not always necessitate supernatural intervention?

8. Explain the distinction that Lewis makes between thinking and imagining.

9. What are the problems with dualism, according to Lewis?

10. What is an "animal stage"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Dogma is the more or less unchanging set of beliefs and rules that establish and maintain a religion's identity. Although often vehemently despised by materialist thinkers and liberal churches, Lewis contends that dogma is an important component of faith and essential for a mature religion.

1) Explain what dogma is, especially in the Christian church, and how and why is remains unchanging. Explain one element of Christian dogma that has not changed significantly in a very long time.

2) Discuss the problems that outsiders, liberal thinkers, and materials have with dogma.

3) Explain how dogma aids a religion in maintaining its cohesion, and explain Lewis' suggestion that dogma's unchanging nature is a strength, and not a weakness.

Essay Topic 2

According to Lewis and the scholars he shares correspondence with, suffering appears to be nearly universal in the world. It is not difficult to find human suffering, even in wealthy first-world nations, and animals suffer both in the wild and in human captivity. These scholars agree that the problem of suffering is a significant and important one for Christians, who believe that God is loving and moreover, pure good.

1) Explain the argument that some use to explain how suffering shows that the Christian God does not exist.

2) Describe the counter-arguments made by Lewis and others on this subject, to show that suffering may be an important and necessary component of the world.

3) Assess whether or not suffering is inherently evil, and which position this quality of suffering supports.

Essay Topic 3

Lewis recognizes the supreme importance of a human being's right to pursue happiness, but he loudly opposes anyone's explicit right to happiness itself.

1) Discuss the concepts of a "right to happiness" and a "right to pursue happiness" according to Lewis, and explain their differences.

2) Explain Lewis opinion regarding the importance of the right to pursue happiness within a free, democratic, and capitalist society.

3) Explain the way that Lewis believes that attempting to guarantee a right to happiness will lead inexorably to severe social problems.

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