The Screwtape Letters is one of many great books by C.S. Lewis. As the publication of my book about it draws near I’m sharing a fact about it each day. Prior to Geoffrey Bles publishing The Screwtape Letters they released a book by Lewis in 1940 called The Problem of Pain. Learn more about my …
Read the full post →“Fascinating Facts About The Screwtape Letters #15”
FACT OF THE DAY: Narrative Poems was released today (10/27) in 1969. It included the entire contents of Dymer, Lewis’s second poetry book. – – – QUOTE OF THE DAY: “We want in fact not so much a father in Heaven as a grandfather in heaven – a senile benevolence who as they say ‘liked …
FACT OF THE DAY: The Problem of Pain, Lewis’s first apologetic book was published today (10/18) in 1940. – – – QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Evil comes from the abuse of free will.” The Problem of Pain (Published 10/18/1940) – – – QUIZ OF THE DAY: What radio talk was illegally published? (Hint: It’s from …
UPDATED (6/30/18) – The Misquotable C.S. Lewis is my book that examines 75 quotations attributed to Lewis that I caution you not to share. Some are falsely attributed to him, others are paraphrases of his words, and a few have context issues. Don’t share a quote attributed to Lewis unless you can confirm he wrote it and the meaning …
FACT OF THE DAY:
Narrative Poems was released today (10/27) in 1969. It included the entire contents of Dymer, Lewis’s second poetry book.
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QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“We want in fact not so much a father in Heaven as a grandfather in heaven – a senile benevolence who as they say ‘liked to see young people enjoying themselves.'”
The Problem of Pain
(Published 10/18/1940)
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QUIZ OF THE DAY:
This order for the Narnian books is surely one of the most common in the world: 1) HHB, 2) LB, 3) LWW, 4) MN, 5) PC, 6) SC and 7)VDT. Despite being so common perhaps no one has ever actually read them in this order. Can you guess why that order is so common? (submitted by Stanley Anderson)
TODAY’S ANSWER WILL BE POSTED TOMORROW.
ANSWER TO YESTERDAY’S QUESTION:It is the order one would find them on the shelves of any public library – ie, in alphabetical order by title (with any preceding “The” moved to the end of the title, of course)
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(Click “Read More” to SEE Answer)
Highlights for August 1-11 include: Lewis’s first time ever on the radio, earning of a second First at Oxford and two more letters from Screwtape.
In one sense not a lot of events occurred in Lewis’s life over the years during the first week and a half in August; but then the most significant from this period is likely among the highest points in his entire life. It was on the 6th in 1941 that he stood before a microphone to kick-off the first of four scheduled talks about “Right and Wrong: A Clue to the Meaning of the Universe.” The place was the offices of BBC Home Services and the local time was 7:45 p.m. Over the next fifteen minutes he would speak on “Common Decency,” but later this first chapter of book one in Mere Christianity would be called “The Law of Human Nature.”
Highlights for the second third of February (10th – 18th) include: The concluding talk from the “What Christians Believe” BBC series, an explanation of the word “membership” in a talk to a group and the publication of a selection of Christian-themed essays.
In 1945 on the 10th Lewis gave a talk, simply called “Membership,” to the Society of St. Alban and St. Sergius in Oxford. It was also published later in the year and is now best found in The Weight of Glory. Lewis explained in his presentation that the word “membership” in the New Testament differs from the way it is used today. Instead of speaking of it in the sense of a group containing like items, the Christian meaning is close to “what we should call organs, things essentially different from, and complementary to, one another.” He also pointed out that believers are
Highlights for the first third of February (1st – 9th) include: Two more BBC talks from the second series, “What Christians Believe,” an often misunderstood debate and the first book that made Lewis famous.
An idea that started in 1940 led to international fame for Lewis. This is before he gained fame for being the author of The Chronicles of Narnia and even before he was loved as a defender of the Christian faith. A small book containing thirty-one letters set things in motion that made Lewis gain international fame. Although The Screwtape Letters had been released weekly in 1941, it was not until a year later, on the 9th of this month that all of them could be found in one place. The first edition of 2,000 copies sold out even before the date of publication! In fact it was reprinted eight times before the end of 1942. Despite being so popular, it is well known that Lewis actually didn’t enjoy writing it.
“We want in fact not so much a father in Heaven as a grandfather in heaven – a senile benevolence who as they say ‘liked to see young people enjoying themselves.'”
The Problem of Pain
(Published 10/18/1940)
