2. 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?

3. According to Lewis' argument in Part I, Essay 12, "Man or Rabbit?", what are the difficulties of using Christianity to become a better person ?

4. What is the difference between religion and politics, according to Lewis?

5. What is the problem with relying only on experience according to Lewis' argument in Part I, Essay 2, "Miracles"?

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

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

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

9. Why does Lewis believe that philosophy alone is insufficient for faith?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

National repentance is the phenomenon of a nation's citizens feeling as if they must each personally atone for the wrongs of the nation as a whole. Although this guilt and the consequent repentance often makes people feel good, Lewis argues that it is undesirable and dangerous.

1) Explain the concept of national repentance and why it was prominent in Lewis' time.

2) Discuss the positive aspects that Lewis believes national repentance can bring about and what it is intended to achieve.

3) Discuss the problems that Lewis sees in national repentance. Explain how it can act as a distraction from real spiritual matters, and detail Lewis' arguments against it.

Essay Topic 3

Lewis suggests that Christmas is the most important spiritual holiday in the year for many Christians. However, he complains that it has been co-opted by commercial interests, a phenomenon that he views as destructive and undesirable in many respects.

1) Discuss the commercial impact of Christmas according to Lewis and use his arguments to assess whether or not the commercial aspects of the holiday have a net positive or negative impact on the wider culture that they occur in.

2) Discuss Lewis opinion about the impact that the commercialization of Christmas has on Christians and their observance of this important holiday.

3) Summarize the unusual arguments that Lewis puts forward to denounce the commercialization of Christmas.

(see the answer keys)

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