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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. In Part I, Essay 1, "Evil and God", what state does Lewis assert that the concepts of good and evil have failed to reach?

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

3. According to Lewis, how does God view death?

4. What forces alter the characters of individuals, according to Christian doctrine?

5. How does Lewis view the laws of the universe?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the theory of dualism?

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

3. What two premises are necessary for belief in miracles, according to Lewis' argument in Part I, Essay 2, "Miracles"?

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

5. According to Lewis' writings in Part I, Essay 17, "Answers to Question on Christianity", what is problematic for Christians about healing the sick, and why is this action acceptable anyways?

6. Why does Lewis believe that the gospels are not legend?

7. According to Lewis, what distinction does Christianity carry, compared to other religions?

8. Explain the way that Lewis states that probability judgments of events in Christianity should be made?

9. According to Lewis, how could a Materialist lead a good life without Christianity?

10. How did Lewis' Socratic Club operate?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Lewis concedes that animal pain is a major problem for theist belief. Although there are many classical arguments to explain the experience of pain by humans, who are able to learn and grow as a result of suffering, there are very few ways to explain the necessity for animals to suffer.

1) Summarize the "problem of pain" for Christianity specifically and for theist belief as a whole that Lewis outlines. Explain how Lewis resolves this problem in the case of human beings.

2) Discuss why the experience of pain by animals remains problematic for Christian apologists.

3) Describe Lewis' theory of "animal stages" and how it acts to explain away some of the problem of animal pain.

Essay Topic 2

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.

Essay Topic 3

Lewis suggests that one of the major reasons that women should not serve as priests is because one of a priest's roles is to represent God on earth, and the Christian God has apparently asked, through Jesus Christ and the prophets of the Old Testament, to be referred to as a man. The concept of a perfect divine begin having or desiring to be thought of as having a gender is a strange one, but Lewis contends that it is supportable.

1) Discuss the importance of masculinity in the Christian church. What elements of the church as essentially masculine or patriarchal and would be dramatically different without the masculine interpretation of God.

2) Describe some of the behaviors that the Christian God exhibits according to Lewis' assessments in the book which support the concept of God being more masculine than feminine.

3) Explain the evidence that supports the concept that the Christian God desires to be thought of as a man. Assess the strength of the evidence and other possible interpretations of it.

4) Speculate as to why an all-powerful divine being might prefer to be thought of as being one gender or another.

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