by C.S. Lewis

Discussion Prompt #1 by Matt Roy

Coming soon!

Discussion Prompt #2 by Jeff Pratt

If you were forced to identify the single, greatest (non-biblical) story ever written – what criteria would you employ to make your decision?  Perhaps you would consider the powerful and imaginative use of literary device. Or maybe you would have concern for it’s multi-ethnic and multi-generational applicability.  Maybe you would be concerned about accessibility – is it understandable, easy to follow…perspicuous and wisely parsimonious?  Or, maybe, you might ask – is the story widely quotable, such that it remains by way of conviction unavoidably on one’s lips and within one’s heart?  Perhaps most importantly – you would want to know the degree to which the book provokes utterly profound reflection about the condition of our own souls as framed in how we honestly answer all of life’s most challenging questions. Or put it another way – Does the story move us and help us to be both willing to honestly ask and honestly seek answers to questions, such as: 

• Is there a God and is He Good? How can I know?
• What is the nature of what is “real?” What’s reality, and how can I know?
• Am I created, thus to some degree rightly “belong” to my Creator, or, am I just a random result of cosmic mysteries, and thus must console myself that I’m ultimately on my own in the universe, with a limited number of breaths left in my lungs?
• What is my identity, i.e. the true meaning of my life, and how can I know it?
• Is my soul eternal? Am I more than the sum total of my physical chemistry?
• Is there a heaven? Is there a hell?
• Do I suffer from inherent “brokenness” that I am able to know and recognize as being out of my control to “fix”, and thus recognize my desperate need for salvation, redemption, etc?
• Is my brokenness ultimately the result of disordered loves, i.e. loves which are actually gifts from The Creator (e.g. love of children, love of beauty, love of learning, love for justice, etc)?

The above are the primary criteria that I have used to deem The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis the greatest non-biblical story ever written.  Now…I confess that I am nowhere near well-read enough to have the authority to make such a claim. I can’t wait, however, to read the story which surpasses the profundity of The Great Divorce.  

So – let’s lift a glass to toast the undeniable genius of Lewis, and hear what y’all have to say – how well do you think The Great Divorce measures up on the criteria I have proposed, as well your additions?