Tag: Screwtape Proposes a Toast

RETROSPECT: May 11th – 21st

William OFlaherty Jack in Retrospect, Special Feature

Highlights for the second of May (11th – 21st) include: Initial publication of Miracles, the landmark first meeting with a famous friend and securing his longest employment.

“Miracles” is among the many misused words in our vocabulary today. This was true even back in 1947 when Miracles: A Preliminary Study was released on the 12th by C.S. Lewis. Of course, Lewis was addressing more of an unbelief in the miraculous. In fact, as the inside dusk jacket of the first edition notes, the subtitle isn’t about Lewis giving his tentative thoughts on the subject, but rather the book is designed to be “a study preliminary to any historical inquiry into the actual occurrence of miracles.” That is, before any examination of specific miracles one has to believe that the miraculous can genuinely occur. Nearly thirteen years later (as mentioned in the previous column) a new edition was released containing a revised third chapter.

Fact / Quote / Quiz: January 22nd

William OFlaherty Daily Lewis

FACT OF THE DAY:

The poem “On Another Theme from Nicolas of Cusa” was published on 1/21/1955 in The Times Literary Supplement.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY:

“Our relation to those who trusted us only after we were proved innocent in court cannot be the same as our relation to those who trusted us all through.”

On Obstinacy In Belief
(Published in Screwtape Proposes a Toast on 1/4/1965)

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QUIZ OF THE DAY:

Finish the quote and name the source (five words):
“…it is certainly my opinion that a book worth reading only in childhood is ___ ___ ___ ___ ___.”
(Click “Read More” to SEE Answer)

Fact / Quote / Quiz: January 21st

William OFlaherty Daily Lewis

FACT OF THE DAY:

Lewis’s “Prudery and Philology” was published today (1/21) in 1955 in The Spectator. It is available in the Present Concerns book.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY:

“You and I have need of the strongest spell that can be found to wake us from the evil enchantment of worldliness.”

The Weight of Glory
(Published in Screwtape Proposes a Toast on 1/4/1965)

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QUIZ OF THE DAY:

Which broadcast series from what became part of Mere Christianity did Lewis begin on what day this month?
(Click “Read More” to SEE Answer)

Fact / Quote / Quiz: January 16th

William OFlaherty Daily Lewis

FACT OF THE DAY:

“The Romantics” is a poem that was found in The New English Weekly today (1/16) in 1947, but is now know as “The Prudent Jailer.”

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QUOTE OF THE DAY:

“Of all the passions, the passion for the Inner Ring is most skillful in making a man who is not yet a very bad man do very bad things.”

The Inner Ring
(Published in Screwtape Proposes a Toast on 1/4/1965)

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QUIZ OF THE DAY:

What is the name of Aslan’s father?
(Click “Read More” to SEE Answer)

Fact / Quote / Quiz: January 4th

William OFlaherty Daily Lewis

FACT OF THE DAY:

The book Screwtape Proposes a Toast, an essay collection was first published (but now out of print) on this day (1/4) in 1965.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY:

“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”
from “Is Theology Poetry?”
(Published in Screwtape Proposes a Toast on 1/4/1965)

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QUIZ OF THE DAY:

What is the first book of essays that Lewis himself had published?
(Click “Read More” to SEE Answer)

RETROSPECT: January 1st – 10th

William OFlaherty Jack in Retrospect, Special Feature

Highlights for the first third of January (1st – 10th) include: Two books published for the first time (one posthumously), two paperback debuts, and initial US versions of two of his books.

If you’ve been reading this series for any three month span, you likely noticed he wrote a good variety of books (some being published after his death). Sometimes I’ve noted when Lewis’s books were released in the US for the first time or when debuting in paperback editions. During this short period a total of six books became available in one of these forms or another.

It was on the 6th in 1944 that The Abolition of Man was released. This is the only book of totally new material during this third segment of January.

RETROSPECTIVE: December 11th – 20th

William OFlaherty Jack in Retrospect

Highlights for the second third of December (11th – 20th) include: A follow-up piece to The Screwtape Letters, a warning about seeking to be a part of “the inner ring” and the printed version of Lewis’s final radio broadcast.

Lewis received many requests to write more material found in The Screwtape Letters but he always refused. It was almost twenty years between the time he wrote his first letter to Wormwood and something new from Screwtape would appear. However, on the 19th in 1959 readers of The Saturday Evening Post discovered the senior demon had more to say. “Screwtape Proposes a Toast” has the esteemed devil giving a speech “at the annual dinner of the Tempters’ Training College for young Devils.” After commenting on the poor quality of