/lit/ — Is this a good book? Im flirting with Protestantism

>>25341148 (OP)
So you have no actual belief and it's all aesthetics at most.

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>>25341156

>>25341156
he said protestantism, not catholicism which is the religion of dazzling robes and gold and roman paganism with 10% christianity sprinkled in there.

>>25341148 (OP)
>Im flirting with Protestantism
Why? Even C.S. Lewis was hardly protestant.

I liked it. Well worth the read. It's also not long.

>>25341169
>Has never been to mass.
>Thinks Catholics worship saints, Mary, and idols.
Whatever you say, champ.

>>25341169
You're missing the point. Belief isn't where you pick out a religion like you would pick it out clothes, or in the case of OP, religion isn't like dating.

>>25341175
I have actually grew up going to catholic masses with my grandma. Never liked it and the priests gave off a weird vibe.

>>25341184
You sound very well catechized, young man.

>>25341148 (OP)
If Bible is the only true word of God himself then why waste time on anything else? If God is good and great then sincere reading of his Bible should be enough to gain all the wisdom you need. Everything else is noise.

>>25341294
>Sola scriptura retarda

>>25341148 (OP)
No it's actually poorly written, it was transcribed from some radio broadcasts he did. Just read the first chapter it's fucking retarded

>>25341183
>Belief isn't where you pick out a religion like you would pick it out clothes, or in the case of OP, religion isn't like dating.
lmao. maybe that was true before the 1500s kek

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incidentally, why is it that you cannot get a classy looking edition of any of CS Lewis works? I've only ever been able to find these ugly live laugh love looking paperbacks

Lewis had the most milquetoast liberal protestant religious views and yammered on about them endlessly

>>25341148 (OP)
Try flirting with the apostrophe.

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>>25341148 (OP)
>Is this a good book?
Yes its excellent. Definitely read his other books as well, most of them are quite concise:

>Abolition of Man
>The Four Loves
>Miracles
>The Problem of Pain
>A Grief Observed
>The Great Divorce
>The Screwtape Letters

>>25341731
Shop around for older hardcovers, I've found some pretty good ones at thrift shops.

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>>25341876
>I've found some pretty good ones at thrift shops

i'm not in a place where I'm likely to come across any CS Lewis in thrift shops, unfortunately. But it's comforting to know that they at least used to be published as nice hardcovers, because whoever has the publishing rights currently has no sense of aesthetics. I can't think of any books with a bigger discrepancy between the cover and the content than these ones. Absolutely ugly. Anyway...

>>25341920
Its sucks to find books for this. The publishers that take over for Christian authors have horrible taste and apparently such a low view of their fellow man it approaches misanthropy.
I struggle to find decent copies of John Henry Newman as well.

Slightly off topic but The Discarded Image is excellent as a primer of medieval thought

>>25341148 (OP)
The premise is already outdated because there is no longer any "mere" christianity as Lewis would have understood it. Anglicanism and other protestant religions have become so modernized and degenerate that beliefs he takes for granted in the book as ones all "mere christians" believe in is no longer the case.

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>>25341148 (OP)
>Im flirting with Protestantism
Here ya go.

>>25341616
Oh ye of manufactured faith.

>>25341183
>>25342359
What is one supposed to do as a Western atheist then? I wasn't raised in it, in fact I was actively raised in opposition to it; I arrived at primary school aged 4 and precociously told every one of my peers that God wasn't real, full of mocking derision and an atheist-er (holier) than thou attitude which I carried throughout my childhood. I used to leave the assembly hall of my own volition when prayers were recited and hymns were sung from age 8 onwards. Since my late teenage years (~2016) I have been teetering towards belief as a bulwark against the nihilism that has doomed our civilisation, and I am increasingly pointing Christianity-ward in what I read (The Gospels, Augustine, Aquinas). What do you suggest one is to do if not to manufacture faith? It's all well and good to be born and raised in a Church by Christian parents. Even if you drift from the faith in adolescent independence and rebellion you have a framework to return to, a specific denomination and Church with which you are familiar, and with which you are familially linked. What am I to do? What is OP to do?
>>25342184
A book which details the authors struggles with Catholicism as it extends to every aspect of his ethnic, political, and familial identity; clashing violently with the lust of his adolescence. A lengthy description of hell by a teacher then scares him into abstinence from his sexual behaviour, prompting him to delve deeper into religious life, even considering becoming a member of the clergy, before eventually resigning to intellectual and worldly pursuits the culmination of which is to return at least in part to his lustful ways and fleeing his country to escape the guilt associated with his faith? How is Portrait relevant to someone flirting with Protestantism? As a manual of instruction as to why you shouldn't be a catholic? It is a great book regardless of what you want from religion but how does it relate to OP's point?

>>25342553
>What am I to do? What is OP to do?
Read The Confessions and go to mass.

>>25341169
based
a hit dog hollers

It’s nicely written, but Lewis’ arguments are pretty bad. The famous Trilemma, for example, just assumes that everything written in the Gospels actually happened as reported, the three options (Jesus was mad/lying/God) are plainly not the only three options, and his arguments against the mad/lying options amount to an appeal to incredulity.
The Screwtape Letters are better at just presenting a good Christian life and using that as the ‘argument’ rather than the meagre attempts at philosophy here.

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>>25341148 (OP)

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>>25341148 (OP)
the theology of aquinas is very different from the theology of jerome and augustine that is preached by the papist pastors to their congregations, aquinas discusses metanoia at length, but jerome translated metanoia to penance

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>>25341156
maybe he doesnt want to get bullied for kneeling in front of statues

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>>25341148 (OP)
essential cs lewis books are the screwtape letters and screwtape proposes a toast

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>>25342745
ok so if Jesus didnt do any of the things the Gospels said, why was He killed ?

I've read Narnia and Screwtape Letters
Are his sci fi trilogy works closer to Narnia or Screwtape?

>>25342553
>What is one supposed to do as a Western atheist then?
You're not actually responding to Christians here, you're responding to atheists who feel superior to you because their parents were Catholic.

>>25341148 (OP)
It has horrendously flawed arguments for Christianity which are only persuasive to people already convinced.

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>>25341294

>>25342770
how stupid and/or credulous are you? the christians themselves regularly killed competing cult leaders once they became dominant in an area, why should it be surprising when the jews do it?

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>>25341148 (OP)
christianity is a dying fad kiddo, focus on science

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Mere Christianity is intentionally ecumenical rather than Protestant, as you can tell by the title. If you want Protestantism as opposed to Catholicism, reading Martin Luther is actually not a bad way to acquaint yourself with the main points.
>Heidelberg Disputation
Very short, easy read. The main point is that there is no righteousness in works, only in faith.
>Sermon on Two Kinds of Righteousness
Another short one. Makes the influential Protestant point that man needs an "alien righteousness", which is Christ's righteousness.
>To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation
An appeal to secular authorities to resist the pope, although surprisingly moderate. Also establishes the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. This is more historically situated, which will be interesting to you if you like details about medieval Catholicism. If you don't, you can read the "three walls" part and skim the rest.
>On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church
Criticizes the "seven sacraments"; argues there are only two, and they impart grace only by faith. Pleads for freedom not to believe transubstantiation, and offers an alternative view of the Supper.
>On the Bondage of the Will
Erasmus had written in a moderating spirit on free will; Luther breaks completely and argues against free will. Here he's almost completely Calvinist. It's rather long, but it's possibly his best book. Develops the theme of "law and gospel". Luther's caustic rhetoric is often funny.

>>25342881
I shouldn't but I take great pleasure knowing Luther burns eternally.

>>25342553
You've just described Lewis' own journey from atheism to his own, personal version of Christianity, you won't get anything out of him. Lewis' faith was very personal and only people who don't give much thought to their own faith accept it uncritically.
Just skip straight to Kierkegaard. You've obviously decided you want to believe, but you can't actually accept the irrationality that religion forces you to accept as an article of faith.
I just hope you get over all the God nonsense instead of giving yourself another thing to regret in five years time.

>>25342553
>I have been teetering towards belief as a bulwark against the nihilism that has doomed our civilisation,
Lol so you're a pragmatist. Sorry to burst your bubble, but pragmatists can never be true believers.

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>>25342885

>>25342770
Many Jewish preachers were killed in the 1st century AD and you wouldn't claim any of them are the messiah: John the Baptist, the Samaritan, Theudas, the Egyptian, Jesus son of Ananias, Jonathan the Sicarius, and many more whose names weren't recorded.

Jesus was seen as dangerous because he was a charismatic preacher independent of the temple and pharisee authorities, which (in their view) was blasphemous because he was rejecting the authority God had given them. And claiming he was the messiah was considered rebellious by the Romans because it meant claiming to be the jewish king independent of Roman authority, which is why he was executed alongside bandits.

The idea that the jewish and Roman authorities could only execute a preacher because he performed real miracles is ridiculous.

>>25343197
He was brought before pilate and the kikes said He says He is a king but we have no king but caesar. which of the other preachers were labeled rex iudaeorum

>>25341148 (OP)
It helped me rediscover my faith by explaining some things in a way that spoke to me.