FACT OF THE DAY:
Today (5/16) in 1941 the third Screwtape Letter was published in The Guardian.
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QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“Keep his mind off the most elementary duties by directing it to the most advanced and spiritual ones.”
The Screwtape Letters III
(Published in The Guardian on 5/16/1941)
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QUIZ OF THE DAY:
Lewis’s first Christian book came out this month…what was it?
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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 OF THE DAY:
Yesterday (5/9) in 1941 the second Screwtape Letter premiered in The Guardian before being available in the famous book.
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QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“You don’t see Nature till you believe in the Supernatural: don’t get the full, hot, salty tang of her except by contrast with the pure water from beyond the world. Those who mistake Nature for the All are just those who can never realise her as a particular creature with her own flamed, terrible, beautiful individuality.”
Letter to Dom Bede Griffiths OSB on 5/10/1945
(Published in The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, Volume II)
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QUIZ OF THE DAY:
What article by Lewis that had “self” in the title was published some year this month?
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(Click “Read More” to SEE Answer)
FACT OF THE DAY:
The revised edition of Miracles: A Preliminary Study was published today (5/9) in 1960 containing a revised third chapter.
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QUOTE OF THE DAY:
(Screwtape boasts:) “All the habits of the patient, both mental and bodily, are still in our favour.”
The Screwtape Letters II
(Published in The Guardian on 5/9/1941)
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QUIZ OF THE DAY:
What series of letters began to be published this month?
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(Click “Read More” to SEE Answer)
Highlights for the first third of May (1st – 10th) include: Publication of a book about how Narnia started, the debut of Wormwood’s uncle and the release of a revised Miracles.
Over a decade apart on the exact same day two major events occurred in Lewis’s life during the first third of May. The origins of Narnia finally became known and the first of thirty-one soon to be famous letters were released. If you are even vaguely familiar with Lewis, then you are aware that I’m speaking of The Magician’s Nephew and the start of The Screwtape Letters.
The Magician’s Nephew came out on the 2nd in 1955, just eight months after the previous Narnia story (The Horse and His Boy). This was the shortest
FACT OF THE DAY:
The first of The Screwtape Letters debuted this month (May 2nd) in 1941 when it appeared in The Guardian (a weekly newspaper).
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QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“We are not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us: we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be.”
Letter to Father Peter Bide on 4/29/1959
(Published in The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, Volume III)
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QUIZ OF THE DAY:
Who was the first of the Pevensie children to visit Narnia?
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(Click “Read More” to SEE Answer)
C.S. Lewis made comments on the Incarnation and Resurrection in several writings over the years. Previous on my C.S. Lewis Minute blog I shared this post and felt there were those who probably hadn’t seen it there, and so it would be useful to add it here.
From “Christianity and Literature” (found in Christian Reflections):
To believe in the Incarnation at all is to believe that every mode of human excellence is implicit in His [Jesus’] historical human character. . . . But if all had been developed, the limitations of a single human life would have been transcended and he would not have been a man; therefore all excellences save the spiritual remained in varying degrees implicit.
FACT OF THE DAY:
The Four Loves was released on this day (3/28) in 1960 and had first been a ten-part series of broadcasts.
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QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“Affection is responsible for nine-tenths of whatever solid and durable happiness there is in our natural lives.”
The Four Loves
(Published on 3/28/1960)
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QUIZ OF THE DAY:
To whom did Lewis dedicate The Screwtape Letters?
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(Click “Read More” to SEE Answer)
Highlights for the final third of February (19th – 29th) include: The beginning of his fourth and final BBC series of talks, a landmark lecture series that would become one of his most insightful works aimed at a mainstream audience, and a new edition of The Screwtape Letters containing a second preface.
The fourth and final BBC radio series kicked off on the 22nd in 1944. The series itself was first called “Beyond Personality” and the first talk was entitled “Making and Begetting.” However, on the 24th the text was reprinted in The Listener and it was called “The Map and the Ocean.” This was the first time Lewis’s broadcasts were made available before being collected in a book.
The two different titles for the fourth series debut provides some hints at what was presented by Lewis. He noted the words “begetting” or “begotten” are not used today, but its
(Click “Read More” to SEE Answer)FACT OF THE DAY:
71 years ago today (2/16/1943) The Screwtape Letters was published in the U.S., but was released in the UK in 1942
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QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“It is funny how mortals always picture us as putting things into their minds: in reality our best work is done by keeping things out.”
The Screwtape Letters
(Released in the U.S. on 2/16/1943)
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QUIZ OF THE DAY:
Finish the quote and name the source (three words):
The human mind has no more power of inventing a new value than of planting a new sun in the sky or a ____ ____ ____ in the spectrum.
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