I FINALLY went to see Prince Caspian tonight with my sister, and I absolutely loved it. I went in with low expectations since a lot of friends had told me it was "alright," and "slow in the beginning," but I was totally misguided! I liked it much better than The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. I give it an 8.5 out of 10. The writing and special effects were never cheesy, the fight scenes were wonderfully choreographed, and Regina Spektor was a nice surprise at the end! It's also great to see the actors and actresses develop. I feel that they were much more believable in this film.
Anyway, before I took my little trip to the cinema, I spent the day pouring through C.S. Lewis's Mere Christianity. Although I had heard most of it before, and already believe pretty much all of its claims, it had me rethinking some basic principles in a different light that brought me to a deeper understanding of them. It has definitely brought valuable illumination.
Here is one of the passages I found myself meditating on for a while:
"...free will is what made evil possible. Why, then, did God give them free will? Because free will, though it makes evil possible, is also the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having. A world of automata - of creatures that worked like machines - would hardly be worth creating. The happiness which God designs for His higher creatures is the happiness of being freely, voluntarily united to Him and to each other in an ecstasy of love and delight compared with which the most rapturous love between a man and a woman on this earth is mere milk and water. And for that they must be free. Of course, God knew what would happen if they used their freedom the wrong way: apparently He thought it worth the risk."
3 comments:
Hey Berny,
First, in regards to the movie, I read Prince Caspian over 10 years ago, so I couldn't really compare it to the original story, but I can see where you are coming from. : /
And second, I should have known better than to post something so theologically controversial knowing full well that BERNY BELVEDERE might read and comment on my blog! ^_^ haha
Anyway, I don't pretend to have an extensive knowledge on philosophy, and as a matter of fact, I am not inclined to be so! And it's not that I think I have a mind incapable of being so, or because I think theological debate is unnecessary, I just don't have the patience or humility for it. However, I AM grateful for people like you who are better equipped!
So by all means, please keep commenting; I enjoy reading your thoughts! I just may not have a brilliant response that is up to par for you.
I will leave you with this, though:
"...the thing itself is infinitely more important than any explanations that theologians have produced.
...theories are not themselves the thing you are asked to accept.
A man can eat his dinner without understanding exactly how food nourished him. A man can accept what Christ has done without knowing how it works..."
-C.S. Lewis
And Amen to that!
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