{"id":5040,"date":"2018-07-05T16:34:34","date_gmt":"2018-07-06T00:34:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/?p=5040"},"modified":"2018-07-05T16:34:34","modified_gmt":"2018-07-06T00:34:34","slug":"the-four-loves-introduction-and-chapter-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2018\/07\/05\/the-four-loves-introduction-and-chapter-one","title":{"rendered":"The Four Loves: Introduction and Chapter One"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_5041\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5041\" style=\"width: 192px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-5041\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/220px-The_Four_Loves.jpg?resize=192%2C300&#038;ssl=1\" alt width=\"192\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/220px-The_Four_Loves.jpg?resize=192%2C300&amp;ssl=1 192w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/220px-The_Four_Loves.jpg?w=220&amp;ssl=1 220w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 192px) 85vw, 192px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-5041\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Four Loves by C. S. Lewis<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><em>Blog read\u00aders: Chi Alpha @ Stan\u00adford is engag\u00ading in our annu\u00adal sum\u00admer read\u00ading project. As we read through three books by C. S. Lewis, I\u2019ll post my thoughts here (which will large\u00adly con\u00adsist of excerpts I found insight\u00adful). They are all tagged <a href=\"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/tag\/summer-reading-project-2018\">sum\u00admer-read\u00ading-project-2018<\/a>. The sched\u00adule is <a href=\"https:\/\/xastanford.org\/summer-reading\">online<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We live in an area that often over\u00adval\u00adues the love of nature and under\u00adval\u00adues the love of coun\u00adtry. At the end of \u201cLik\u00adings and Loves for the Sub-human\u201d (the first chap\u00adter of <em>The Four Loves<\/em>) Lewis makes some astute obser\u00adva\u00adtions about each. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Con\u00adcern\u00ading nature, he makes the claim that nature doesn\u2019t teach us any\u00adthing on its own. <\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you take nature as a teacher she will teach you exact\u00adly the lessons you had already decid\u00aded to learn; this is only anoth\u00ader way of say\u00ading that nature does not teach.\u2026 Over\u00adwhelm\u00ading gai\u00adety, insup\u00adport\u00adable grandeur, som\u00adbre des\u00ado\u00adla\u00adtion are flung at you. Make what you can of them, if you must make at all. The only imper\u00ada\u00adtive that nature utters is, \u201cLook. Lis\u00adten. Attend.\u201d (page 755 in <em>The C.S. Lewis Sig\u00adna\u00adture Clas\u00adsics<\/em>)<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While I think his main point is sound, he words things too strong\u00adly here. If I adopt\u00aded this per\u00adspec\u00adtive as he phrased it, I wouldn\u2019t be able to make sense of such pas\u00adsages as Romans 1:20 and Psalm 19. <\/span><\/p>\n<ul class=\"simple-list\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Romans 1:20, \u201cFor since the cre\u00adation of the world God\u2019s invis\u00adi\u00adble qualities\u2014his eter\u00adnal pow\u00ader and divine nature\u2014have been clear\u00adly seen, being under\u00adstood from what has been made, so that peo\u00adple are with\u00adout excuse.\u201d <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Psalm 19:1\u20132, \u201cThe heav\u00adens declare the glo\u00adry of God; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;the skies pro\u00adclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;night after night they reveal knowl\u00adedge.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These and oth\u00ader Scrip\u00adtures clear\u00adly teach that there are things God expects us to learn from nature. But there are not many of these things. Lewis is right that nature gives con\u00adfus\u00ading mes\u00adsages \u2014 we can con\u00adstruct clever nat\u00adur\u00adal argu\u00adments for cru\u00adel\u00adty as well as for mer\u00adcy. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rather than look\u00ading to nature to pro\u00advide our entire sys\u00adtem of moral\u00adi\u00adty and mean\u00ading, Lewis says it is enough to allow nature to give us a frame\u00adwork for think\u00ading:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nature nev\u00ader taught me that there exists a God of glo\u00adry and of infi\u00adnite majesty. I had to learn that in oth\u00ader ways. But nature gave the word glo\u00adry a mean\u00ading for me. I still do not know where else I could have found one. I do not see how the \u201cfear\u201d of God could have ever meant to me any\u00adthing but the low\u00adest pru\u00adden\u00adtial efforts to be safe, if I had nev\u00ader seen cer\u00adtain omi\u00adnous ravines and unap\u00adproach\u00adable crags. And if nature had nev\u00ader awak\u00adened cer\u00adtain long\u00adings in me, huge areas of what I can now mean by the \u201clove\u201d of God would nev\u00ader, so far as I can see, have exist\u00aded. (pages 755\u2013756)<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Good stuff and well worth pon\u00adder\u00ading.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lewis goes on to make some great obser\u00adva\u00adtions about patri\u00ado\u00adtism. Patri\u00ado\u00adtism is a virtue for Chris\u00adtians as Dou\u00adglas Wil\u00adson points out in his 2016 essay <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/dougwils.com\/books-and-culture\/s7-engaging-the-culture\/110097.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Amer\u00adi\u00adcan Jesus<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Patri\u00ado\u00adtism, right\u00adly devel\u00adoped, is a duty that falls under the fifth com\u00admand\u00adment. I am to hon\u00ador my father and moth\u00ader, and this extends beyond them in such a way as to include my peo\u00adple, my tribe. Ordi\u00adnary and ordered patri\u00ado\u00adtism is not just okay; it is a duty, one that needs to be cul\u00adti\u00advat\u00aded.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I high\u00adly com\u00admend that essay to you. Wil\u00adson is on point and adds all the caveats you might be wor\u00adried about.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One of Lewis\u2019s insights about patri\u00adot\u00adic love is that it allows us to love and respect peo\u00adple from oth\u00ader nations:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Of course patri\u00ado\u00adtism of this kind is not in the least aggres\u00adsive. It asks only to be let alone. It becomes mil\u00adi\u00adtant only to pro\u00adtect what it loves. In any mind which has a pen\u00adny\u00adworth of imag\u00adi\u00adna\u00adtion it pro\u00adduces a good atti\u00adtude towards for\u00adeign\u00aders. How can I love my home with\u00adout com\u00ading to realise that oth\u00ader men, no less right\u00adly, love theirs? Once you have realised that the French\u00admen like <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">cafe com\u00adplet<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> just as we like bacon and eggs\u2014why, good luck to them and let them have it. The last thing we want is to make every\u00adwhere else just like our own home. It would not be home unless it were dif\u00adfer\u00adent. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br>\n<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And he has par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly strong words to say about those who try to replace the love of coun\u00adtry with a com\u00admit\u00adment to high\u00ader ideals:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If peo\u00adple will spend nei\u00adther sweat nor blood for \u201ctheir coun\u00adtry\u201d they must be made to feel that they are spend\u00ading them for jus\u00adtice, or civil\u00adi\u00adsa\u00adtion, or human\u00adi\u00adty. This is a step down, not up.\u2026 If our country\u2019s cause is the cause of God, wars must be wars of anni\u00adhi\u00adla\u00adtion. A false tran\u00adscen\u00addence is giv\u00aden to things which are very much of this world. (page 761)<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Much of what Lewis says in this sec\u00adtion reminds me of the way G.K. Chester\u00adton talked about patri\u00ado\u00adtism in <em>Ortho\u00addoxy<\/em>&nbsp;chap\u00adter 5, \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ccel.org\/ccel\/chesterton\/orthodoxy.viii.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Flag of This World<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u201d Chesterton\u2019s point is that patri\u00adots see the flaws of their nation and grieve them. Because they love their nation they want to fix it. <\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Let us sup\u00adpose we are con\u00adfront\u00aded with a des\u00adper\u00adate thing\u2014say Pim\u00adli\u00adco [Glen\u2019s note: Pim\u00adli\u00adco is part of Lon\u00addon]. If we think what is real\u00adly best for Pim\u00adli\u00adco we shall find the thread of thought leads to the throne or the mys\u00adtic and the arbi\u00adtrary. It is not enough for a man to dis\u00adap\u00adprove of Pim\u00adli\u00adco: in that case he will mere\u00adly cut his throat or move to Chelsea. Nor, cer\u00adtain\u00adly, is it enough for a man to approve of Pim\u00adli\u00adco: for then it will remain Pim\u00adli\u00adco, which would be awful. The only way out of it seems to be for some\u00adbody to love Pim\u00adli\u00adco: to love it with a tran\u00adscen\u00adden\u00adtal tie and with\u00adout any earth\u00adly rea\u00adson. If there arose a man who loved Pim\u00adli\u00adco, then Pim\u00adli\u00adco would rise into ivory tow\u00aders and gold\u00aden pin\u00adna\u00adcles; Pim\u00adli\u00adco would attire her\u00adself as a woman does when she is loved. For dec\u00ado\u00adra\u00adtion is not giv\u00aden to hide hor\u00adri\u00adble things: but to dec\u00ado\u00adrate things already adorable. A moth\u00ader does not give her child a blue bow because he is so ugly with\u00adout it. A lover does not give a girl a neck\u00adlace to hide her neck. If men loved Pim\u00adli\u00adco as moth\u00aders love chil\u00addren, arbi\u00adtrar\u00adi\u00adly, because it is THEIRS, Pim\u00adli\u00adco in a year or two might be fair\u00ader than Flo\u00adrence. Some read\u00aders will say that this is a mere fan\u00adta\u00adsy. I answer that this is the actu\u00adal his\u00adto\u00adry of mankind. This, as a fact, is how cities did grow great. Go back to the dark\u00adest roots of civ\u00adi\u00adliza\u00adtion and you will find them knot\u00adted round some sacred stone or encir\u00adcling some sacred well. Peo\u00adple first paid hon\u00adour to a spot and after\u00adwards gained glo\u00adry for it. Men did not love Rome because she was great. She was great because they had loved her.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So to sum\u00adma\u00adrize:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul class=\"simple-list\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nature is wor\u00adthy of love but not wor\u00adthy of wor\u00adship. Our cul\u00adtur\u00adal cel\u00ade\u00adbra\u00adtion of envi\u00adron\u00admen\u00adtal\u00adism far to often runs beyond the con\u00adcerns of ecol\u00ado\u00adgy and veers into reli\u00adgious ter\u00adri\u00adto\u00adry. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nations are wor\u00adthy of love but not wor\u00adthy of wor\u00adship, and we ought to cul\u00adti\u00advate a healthy and mea\u00adsured patri\u00ado\u00adtism in our\u00adselves what\u00adev\u00ader our home\u00adland may be.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">See you next week!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Blog read\u00aders: Chi Alpha @ Stan\u00adford is engag\u00ading in our annu\u00adal sum\u00admer read\u00ading project. As we read through three books by C. S. Lewis, I\u2019ll post my thoughts here (which will large\u00adly con\u00adsist of excerpts I found insight\u00adful). They are all tagged sum\u00admer-read\u00ad\u00ading-project-2018. The sched\u00adule is online. We live in an area that often over\u00adval\u00adues \u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2018\/07\/05\/the-four-loves-introduction-and-chapter-one\" class=\"more-link\">Con\u00adtin\u00adue read\u00ading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> \u201cThe Four Loves: Intro\u00adduc\u00adtion and Chap\u00adter One\u201d<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"CS Lewis on why both nature and nations are worthy of love but not worthy of worship.","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[8],"tags":[230,229,232],"class_list":["post-5040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-resources-reviews","tag-c-s-lewis","tag-summer-reading-project-2018","tag-the-four-loves"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6Ded-1ji","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5040"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5040\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7715,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5040\/revisions\/7715"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}