tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7091756463128804432.post2068724711859744253..comments2024-03-27T02:55:10.109-07:00Comments on Irish Papist: Why Didn't C.S. Lewis Become a Catholic?Maolsheachlannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09406722311993627528noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7091756463128804432.post-9512953204117056302012-04-26T19:15:21.411-07:002012-04-26T19:15:21.411-07:00I too am a great fan of Peter Hitchens. However, r...I too am a great fan of Peter Hitchens. However, religion is definitely a blind spot for him. For example, he likes to state that God's existence cannot be proved or disproved. He resolutely ignores the Christian, and fellow travelers, rational and Intellectual arguments in favour of Theism and Christianity. At the very least he should pay attention to the utter philosophic and rational barrenness of the materialism, naturalism, and scientism that forms the background for much popular nonsense on the subject of religion. I suppose one reason is he simply doesn't want to be involved in such discussions. I have surmised another reason is his experience of philosophy has largely been the philodoxy, consisting of the word games, hairsplitting, and rank sophistry, that modern 'philosophy' has become (indeed largely was from its beginnings). This is understandable up to a point, but getting Mr.Hitchens to realise there is a completely idea and practice of philosophy in the great classical tradition of Plato, and Aristotle, as well as in the Fathers, the Schoolmen, and the great Christians sages, thinkers, and mystics has proved a problem so far. <br /><br /><br />More than that, Peter lets cultural aspects have too great a role in theological, philosophical, and spiritual matters. He often seems to slight communion, such as in his The Abolition of Britain, not on theological grounds, but on its supposed Catholic attributes. <br /><br /><br />The same goes for his claim that Catholicism is somehow foreign to England. Yes, the full Counter-Reformation Catholicism may not have been culturally, and in ambiance, quite the same as medieval, English Christianity. However, England is hardly simply a puritan or Calvinist nation either, and has many, many survivals of popular Medieval Christianity, and even many Catholics survivals in its established Church. <br /><br /><br />When it comes to Vatican II I tend to agree with those like Rama Coomaraswamy who consider it a massive, almost fatal, blow against traditional Catholicism and an almost total surrender to modernism. But, as I said, this is not the place to have such a debate. If I were a Roman Catholic, however, if I didn't attend a Sedevacantist church I would make sure I attended one with a traditional Tridentine mass.Westcountrymanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14604565103836807803noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7091756463128804432.post-35923763751947373122012-04-26T12:35:50.991-07:002012-04-26T12:35:50.991-07:00Thanks for your comment, Andrew. I wish I had such...Thanks for your comment, Andrew. I wish I had such a connection to "Jack"!<br /><br />Interestingly, Peter Hitchens (of whose writings I am a big fan, and whose blog I keenly follow) reacts with the same kind of grumpiness when people ask him why he doesn't convert to Catholicism. He says that "the bishop of Rome hath no jurisdiction in this realm of England" and that he considers Catholicism to be a "foreign" religion. I suggested to him that it's a good thing the first Christian missionaries to England wouldn't have had much luck if everybody followed that logic, but he didn't take up my comment.<br /><br />Newman did indeed hold the same belief, as he says in Apologia Pro Vita Sua, until (he says) the Church of England made it (in his opinion) clear in various ways that it did not really consider itself a Catholic church, such as its reaction to Tract 90.Maolsheachlannhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09406722311993627528noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7091756463128804432.post-87559654664844766452012-04-26T12:15:43.499-07:002012-04-26T12:15:43.499-07:00My mother, Anne Scott (nee Renwick), knew Lewis sl...My mother, Anne Scott (nee Renwick), knew Lewis slightly, as she was an undergraduate who attended his lectures, and she became very close friends with Charles Williams - another great Anglican and, along with Tolkien, one of Lewis' closest friends at Oxford. There are letters between them in the published collections.<br /><br />She recounted that you could ask any question, however naive, ignorant or ill-informed, of Lewis and he would always answer with patience, courtesy, learning, and generally wisdom; any question but one: why do you not convert to Roman Catholicism? That was a question with which he had no patience. As she understood it, his reasons were not to do with Ulster prejudice at all, but rather with his belief that as an Anglican, he was part of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. (I think Newman held to the same belief before his conversion?) I wonder if his impatience with the question betrayed an unease about the strength of his answer...<br /><br />I agree with Walter Hooper that Lewis would no longer be able to hold onto that belief, were he alive now.Andrew Plasom-Scotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06391682337958783174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7091756463128804432.post-10028145175110738642012-04-26T07:30:30.345-07:002012-04-26T07:30:30.345-07:00Hi Westcountryman
Thank you so much for your very...Hi Westcountryman<br /><br />Thank you so much for your very kind comment.<br /><br />As for the point you make-- I have to admit I'm rather stumped. I have a deep respect for the Orthodox Church, and I pray continually that the long schism between it and Roman Catholicism will be soon healed. I would not pretend to any but the skimpiest knowledge of its theology.<br /><br />I suppose the reason I am Roman Catholic rather than Orthodox is because the New Testament seems to me to clearly establish the Petrine supremacy. I understand that the Orthodox Church disputes that this refers to the bishop of Rome, but that interpretation seems convincing to me. <br /><br />Also, it seems to me that the Catholic Church best fulfils Christ's imperative to "go forth and make disciples of all nations", since it has taken root in all continents and in such extremely different cultures.<br /><br />I don't think it's a question of prizing pre-modernism per se, but rather doctrinal purity and continuity. The Amish and Mennonites and the Plymouth Brethren are plenty pre-modern. Also I believe that Vatican II was a gift of the Holy Spirit-- it is only the so-called "spirit of Vatican II", beloved of liberal Catholics, that is to be opposed.<br /><br />But as I say, I admit I haven't got a sufficient answer for you. I need to learn more about the Orthodox Church. Maybe Joseph Pearce should write a sequel-- CS Lewis and the Orthodox Church!Maolsheachlannhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09406722311993627528noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7091756463128804432.post-85273767480265251622012-04-26T04:15:14.044-07:002012-04-26T04:15:14.044-07:00This post of yours is well written and interesting...This post of yours is well written and interesting.<br /><br />However, continuing in the tradition of Roman Catholic historiography and historical framing of Anglicanism, Protestantism, and Catholicism, that goes back at least to Cardinal Newman, you leave out one key factor. Like Newman with his quip that when you're deep in history you cease to be a Protestant, you forget the Orthodox Church.<br /><br />The issue of the Orthodox Church seems to complicate the implicit position that Roman Catholicism is the single embodiment of pre-modern Christianity. This would give more support to Lewis's 'Mere Christianity', as well as his being able to square his general 'Romish' proclivities without thinking he need convert to Roman Catholicism. It also offers a different option for us beleaguered, conservative and 'Catholic' Anglicans. If (probably when) I jump ship it will almost certainly be to Orthodoxy.<br /><br />One may also ask whether, after Vatican II, the Roman Church itself is in a much more healthy position than the Anglican Church, but that is a topic too broad for such a setting.Westcountrymanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14604565103836807803noreply@blogger.com