Listening to the Giants

One of the most strange (and possibly disturbing) facets of Lewis’ life was his consistent commitment to a woman who is called, “Mrs. Moore”. A recent Lewis’ biographer sets the background, "Jack," as Lewis was known to his family, enlisted during the First World War while still a teenager. While undergoing training, he befriended a young man named Paddy Moore, who had a divorced mother (Mrs. Moore) and younger sister, Maureen, back at home. The young men promised each other that if one of them were to be killed in combat, the other would look after his friend's parent.” As providence would have it, Jack survived and made good on his promise…. a promise that would last for more than 30 years. To those who are unfamiliar with this feature of Lewis’ life, this commitment likely seems very noble and even ethical. Yet it was the degree of commitment and concurrent mystery surrounding this relationship that concerned many of Jack’s friends. Since Jac...

One of the most engaging seminars on C.S. Lewis was done by Dr. Knox Chamblin (who died earlier this year) at Reformed Theological Seminary. This series explored primarily Lewis’ life, his works and his theology. In one of the earlier seminars, Dr. Chamblin shared this historic interaction between the well-known fundamentalist Dr. Bob Jones Jr. and C.S. Lewis. Asked afterwards for an assessment regarding the Oxford Don, Dr. Jones stated, “That man smokes a pipe….and that man drinks liquor….but I do believe he is a Christian!” This quote leads us into the central thesis of this blog post, “What is the Christian’s position regarding alcohol and tobacco?” I admit grappling with this issue is nothing new in the blogosphere or in pockets of evangelicalism.  Furthermore, I will gladly confess that this blog post will not bring anything original to this provocative topic. Being a Christian is not about abstaining from alcohol or tobacco. I used to judge the indiv...