Tag: The Weight of Glory

RETROSPECT: February 10th – 18th

William OFlaherty Jack in Retrospect, Special Feature

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

Fact / Quote / Quiz: February 10th

William OFlaherty Daily Lewis

FACT OF THE DAY:

The World’s Last Night collection of essays book was first published on this day (2/10) in 1960. Lewis also gave a talk now known as “Membership” today in 1945.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY:

“We are forbidden to neglect the assembling of ourselves together.”

Membership
(Talk given on 2/10/1945; now found in The Weight of Glory)

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QUIZ OF THE DAY:

Who is Reepicheep’s successor?
(Click “Read More” to SEE Answer)

RETROSPECT: January 22nd – 31st

William OFlaherty Jack in Retrospect, Special Feature

Highlights for the final third of January (22nd – 31st) include: The publication of one of the last books Lewis wrote, the first meeting of a special Oxford club and the last sermon Lewis ever preached.

Lewis was working on several books before he died in 1963. The first one published posthumously was Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer. It came out on the 27th in 1964. While Lewis is known for writing in a variety of styles, this book is somewhat unique in that though they are present as letters to someone, they were really letters to an imaginary person. Today we have a large collection of actual letters Lewis wrote, so those new to his writings should be careful to note this fact. This leads to the obvious question as to why he would deal with such a serious subject to a fictional person.

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

RETROSPECTIVE: November 11th – 20th

William OFlaherty Jack in Retrospect

Highlights for the second third of November (11th – 20th) include: The American debut of Mere Christianity, an explanation of why “Fairy Stories,” and the publication of a landmark sermon.

This series has already noted at various times (including the last installment) why the material making up Mere Christianity is such a great book. While I’d used any excuse to say more, this time it is easily justified as those in the US first had the opportunity to purchase the combined book that consisted of all four BBC broadcast talks on the 11th in 1952. This is only four months later than the release in the UK. The main new material for this edition was Lewis’s preface, but the convenience of having all three short books together in one volume was invaluable. While many are aware that the book was adapted from material on the radio, fewer are familiar with any of the details behind this fact. I mentioned last time that Focus on the Family had a new radio

Weight of Glory Anniversary Reflections (Revised)

William OFlaherty CSL Minute

“The Weight of Glory” was first published in the November, 1941 issue of Theology. Thus, I felt it appropriate to post a reflection of it that I did five months. Only minor edits have been done to the piece.

This year (2013) marks the 72nd anniversary of C.S. Lewis giving his famous sermon “The Weight of Glory.” He preached it on June 8, 1941 at St. Mary the Virgin in Oxford. If I understand correctly this was only the second time he was in any pulpit. His debut sermon was actually at the same location on October 22, 1939. On that date the message was called “None Other Gods: Culture in War-Time,” but it’s known today as “Learning in War-Time.” That talk was enjoyed so much that when Ashely Sampson was

Fact / Quote / Quiz: November 4th

William OFlaherty Daily Lewis

FACT OF THE DAY:

“The Weight of Glory” was published in the November, 1941 issues of Theology.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY:

“The load, or weight, or burden of my neighbor’s glory should be laid daily on my back, a load so heavy that only humility can carry it, and the backs of the proud will be broken.”

The Weight of Glory
(Published in November, 1941 issue of Theology)

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QUIZ OF THE DAY:

Once Lewis began to seriously write the Narnia books, which one took the longest for him to write?

RETRO: October 22nd – 31st

William OFlaherty Jack in Retrospect

Highlights for the final third of October (22nd – 31st) include: First sermon preached, three significant posthumous books and Lewis defines “the great sin.”

There are many hats that C.S. Lewis wore: children’s author, Christian apologist, and literary critic being the three most common realms people are familiar with. While similar to his role as a defender of the faith, many are not aware that he also spoke on Sunday mornings several times in his life. The very first occurred on the

RETRO: September 22nd – 30th

William OFlaherty Jack in Retrospect

Highlights for September 22nd – 30th include: Debut story of a Sci-Fi trilogy, a landmark book published anonymously and the death of Lewis’s father to cancer.

It’s no secret that Lewis is known for being a versatile writer. One of his earliest efforts that spotlighted this fact is what happened 75 years ago on September 23rd. In 1938 Lewis released the first of what is referred to its fans as the Ransom trilogy. That’s because Dr. Elwin Ransom is a