Beyond the Shadowlands: C.S. Lewis On Heaven And Hell is a book by Wayne Martindale in which he uses C.S. Lewis' writings to explain Heaven and Hell. I have to admit I have only read The Chronicles of Narnia. I just finished the series last fall. My daughter will start reading it soon and I plan on reading it again when time permits.
Mr. Martindale has done a wonderful job in this book. He used many of Lewis' works. I did not even know he wrote a space trilogy. He walks us through the Demythologizing and Remythologizing of both Heaven and Hell all from Lewis' own writing. He notes Lewis took us deeper into Heaven and Hell, although he never took us into deep Heaven or Hell. Lewis believed both will be beyond any description he or any words we can use could ever describe fully.
He was able to bring new references to me about the imagery in the books of Lewis I have read. It is inspiring me to reread them again to look for these and other hidden references and treasures.
It becomes very obvious that Lewis believes Heaven is a real place and that it will be more real and exceptional than we can imagine. It is filled with love and Joy. It surrounds us and fills our being and all that we do. Hell is the opposite. It is virtually nothing. It is the sin we have chosen and what is left of us are our remains in Hell.
He points out, as Lewis does, that we have to understand the truth that "there is no neutral ground in the universe" (p 79, para 1). Also with this is the observation that "we are becoming every moment souls suited for one or the other." He explains how we see this all the time around us. There are people who so exude Christ's love that Heaven is the only place they can go. Others hate good so much already, that they have chosen Hell and their own sin. They reject all good that comes near them as because it condemns their evil choices.
He effectively points out that a key theme throughout Lewis’ work is “Choice is destiny. Obedience brings life and Heaven; disobedience brings death and Hell.” The best example given of this is the Tree episode with Digory on “The Magician’s Nephew”. This example also shows how the same thing can bring different results if done in manner according to God.
This episode shows how a single thing can elicit opposite responses, depending on the respondent’s heart (like seeing Aslan’s face and as illustrated in 2 Corinthians 2:15-16) ….
Aslan gives Digory fruit from the tree to heal his mother when he returns to earth. The boy buries the core in the backyard, which grows into a tree that is felled by a storm years later. Its wood is used to build the magic wardrobe through which the Pevensies enter Narnia in the next book. The episode of the tree illustrates the principle of the ripple effect of single acts of obedience or disobedience. Digory’s earlier sin in Charn, which brought Jadis into Narnia, had huge ripples in the other direction.
Another of the glories of Heaven will be that we will not want any wrong things anymore. We will be so free we can act on every thought and desire because they will all be good and pure. It would be nice to have that here on Earth, but we will be able to enjoy that freedom soon enough.
Article comments
1 - DrPat
The end result of umpty-nine posts about the same book (for me, anyway) is that I wouldn't be caught dead reading it! (It's the same reason I eschew Oprah Club books.)
It would be different if BlogCritics were some sort of online reader's club, where we were all be reading and discussing the same book, but it's not.
2 - Eric Olsen
I understand the satiation and ennui DrPat, but we can't blame the individual reviews: that would be interpolating blame to the individual for what is a group issue
3 - DrPat
No, that's true, Eric - but the end result comes not from multiple reviews, but from their being posted one after the other. I am reminded of persistent carnival barkers yelling, "Roll up! Roll up!"
It's just my own personal reaction - as another BlogCritic constantly reminds us, "your mileage may vary."