Tag: C. S. Lewis

Are You Reading the Bible or a Secondary Source?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date December 18, 2022

Be Careful When You Study Books about the Bible

I recently heard about a minister who said that none of his seminary classes studied the Bible. Instead, each professor had students study books about the Bible. Though this minister learned theology, he knew the Bible from a distance in a sterile, formal manner. He didn’t know Scripture in an up close and personal way.

I wonder how widespread this is. I fear that it may be. Thinking back to the thousands of sermons I’ve heard, I’d call some of these messages Bible lite or Bible basic. A few didn’t even mention Scripture. It’s a sad reflection on seminary degrees, on the overall failure of advanced education to produce practical application.

This is why I don’t study theology as an intellectual pursuit.

My College Experience

Yet I get this practice. In college I took an elective class on C. S. Lewis. I was most excited about what I’d learn—until I read the syllabus.

During the semester, we only read one book by Lewis. The rest of our time—most of the class—we spent reading about Lewis. These scholarly tomes—authored by academics who had spent their career studying Lewis—left me bored and “none the richer” when it came to Lewis’s writing and his wisdom.

Aside from reading Mere Christianity, that class did little else to enhance my appreciation for the work of C S Lewis. (I’d already read The Great Divorce, The Screwtape Letters, and several other of his books.)

Books about the Bible

Am I saying we shouldn’t read books about the Bible? No.

But we must be careful in how many we read. If we only read books about the Bible and never actually read the Bible itself, something is out of balance.

Books about Scripture that help us to better read, study, and understand the Bible are ideal resources. This is the goal of every book I write about the Bible, including me Dear Theophilus Bible studies, Christian devotionals, and Bible resources. My books are not the end but the means to move into a deeper understanding of Scripture.

Though I occasionally consult resources as I study Scripture, it’s not often. But I’m grateful for those books and the authors who wrote them. Mostly, however, I rely on the Holy Spirit to teach me and help me better understand a text.

As I move forward in studying Scripture, I find I use books less and the Holy Spirit more. This is as it should be.

Scripture Points Us to God

The point of the Bible, of course, is to point us to God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—and deepen our connection with him. Learning about Scripture for the sake of learning is a shallow pursuit that offers no eternal value. Yet too many fall into this trap, including, I fear, some seminaries.

This is why I encourage daily Bible reading and studying. It’s become a lifelong habit for me, and I pray that it becomes one for you too.

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Tags Bible Study, C. S. Lewis, Holy Spirit, read the Bible

Christian Living

Who is Jesus?

Learn about Jesus through the Testimony of Others in the Bible

Who is Jesus? C. S. Lewis attempted to answer this question when he popularized a trilemma (a dilemma with 50 percent more content) about Jesus.

He argued that Jesus is either a liar, a lunatic, or the Lord. If you’ve read many of my posts, you know that I pick the third option.

Jesus is Lord. Jesus is my Lord.

Of course others deride Jesus, calling him a charlatan or a crazy man. And other people have other characterizations of Jesus too. But let’s set all these perspectives aside and look at what the Bible provides as an answer to the question, “Who is Jesus?”

We’ll start and end with what father God says about his only Son, but we’ll also consider many other biblical voices as well. This list isn’t extensive, but it is what I could quickly come up with.

Interestingly, I found the most input from my outspoken namesake, the disciple Peter. (These are all taken from the NIV.)

Who Is Jesus?

“You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased” -God, Luke 3:22
“Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life.” -Peter, Luke 9:19
“the Son of God” -religious leaders (incredulously), Luke 22:70
“the King of the Jews” -Pilate (questioningly), Luke 23:3
“a righteous man” -the Centurion (confidently), Luke 23:47
“God’s Messiah,” -Peter, Luke 9:20
A man who has “done nothing wrong” –the criminal on the cross, Luke 23:41
“the Messiah, the Son of the living God” -Peter, Matthew 16:16
Jesus is “a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people,” -the pair on the road to Emmaus, Luke 24:19
“My Lord and my God!” -Thomas, John 20:28
“Rabboni!” (which means Teacher) -Mary Magdalene, John 20:16
“Rabbi” -Peter, Mark 11:21, along with many others, including Judas who eventually betrays him
“the Son of God; you are the king of Israel” -Nathanael, John 1:47
“This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” -God, Matthew 17:5

So Then, Who is Jesus?

Putting these together gives us a composite understanding of who Jesus is and how we can relate to him. Most importantly, we can focus on God’s own testimony: Jesus is the Son of God and we should listen to him.

May we do exactly that.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

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Tags C. S. Lewis, Jesus, John the Baptist, Peter

Christian Living

How to Learn about the Bible

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date May 8, 2016

Don’t study books about the Bible, study the Bible.

In college I was excited to take a class on C.S. Lewis. My enthusiasm, however, didn’t last long. I wrongly assumed we would study the writings of Lewis. Instead we focused on what scholars said about what he wrote.

Yes, we did read one of C.S. Lewis’s books in the class, but the rest of the syllabus had us merely examining books about him. My interaction with Lewis was filtered through intermediaries.

This approach disappointed me. It left me frustrated. With so much we could have learned, we were diverted to secondary sources.

Many people wrongly take this same approach with the Bible.

Instead of reading the Bible, they read books about the Bible. Instead of studying the Word of God, they study what scholars say about it. What if the experts are wrong? What if our authoritarian sources lead us astray?

After all, theologians stand in stark opposition to one another on what the Bible means, so we have a very real chance of picking up the wrong book to teach us about the Bible.

If we want to know what the Bible says we need to simply read it and not scour some secondary source.

I extend this same errant thinking to Sunday morning where trained clergy teach us about the Bible, spending the majority of their lecture sharing what they think the Bible says (and what other people think the Bible says).

Why not just read the Bible together to learn what is in it?

In the past, when the laity was illiterate and didn’t have access to the scriptures in their language, it made practical sense for the clergy to teach what the Bible said.

Never mind that throughout history trained ministers have consistently led their people astray.

If you disagree with this assessment, then why are there 42,000 Protestant denominations in the world today? Why did we need the Protestant Reformation?

We needed it to correct wrong teaching. Surely there is much disagreement among our learned leaders over what the Bible says.

Today we are literate. We have access to the Bible in multiple versions, both in print and online. And if we follow Jesus, we have the Holy Spirit to guide us as we study the Bible.

We don’t need a human guide to tell us about God; we have God and his Word to tell us about God.

Yet I write about God and the Bible. Do I consider myself an exception? Certainly not.

My goal in writing about the Bible is to encourage others to delve into it themselves, to read it, study it, and seek Holy Spirit guidance as to what the Bible means. (My website ABibleADay.com focuses on this.)

I seldom cite secondary sources. I don’t hold myself up to be an expert. I share my journey and encourage others to do the same.

Paul affirmed the Jews in Berea as having noble character, for they studied the Bible daily to make sure that what Paul said was true (Acts 17:11). We must do the same.

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Tags C. S. Lewis, Paul, Protestant Reformation, read the Bible

Christian Living

Why Do I Love God and Hate Theology?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date October 18, 2015

A simple definition of theology is studying God. Since I love God so much and love reading about him in the Bible you’d think I’d love theology, too. Right? Well I don’t.

Learning about God and contemplating him through his word excites me. I look forward to it every day. Yet theology leaves me cold.

Start explaining the essential elements of a particular theological perspective and my eyes will glaze over. I’ll either get angry or yawn. Why is this?

Theologians Make God Boring

It’s understandable. Theologians are academics, and if anyone can squeeze the life out of something it’s academia.

While working on my PhD I took a class on C. S. Lewis. I was so excited—until I read the syllabus. Though we would read one book Lewis wrote, the majority of the class would focus on books other people wrote about Lewis.

Instead of reading Lewis we would read people who had read Lewis. While we could have studied Lewis firsthand, the professor inserted a degree of separation, and we studied Lewis secondhand.

Theologians do the same thing. They insert a degree of separation between us and God. While we can read God’s word directly, they effectively insert a middleman who interprets the Bible for us.

This made sense 500 years ago when no one had a copy of the Bible and most people couldn’t read anyway. But now we have our own copies of the Bible, and we can read it ourselves. So why do we need someone else to explain it? We don’t.

Yet I will go to church today and listen to someone explain the Bible.

Something’s wrong with this. It dates back to the middle ages when illiterate, uneducated people filled the pews. Things are different today. We can read and think for ourselves. We don’t need someone else to do it for us.

Why can’t we cut out the middleman and learn about God through his word, without a theologian or preacher who forces the Bible’s words to fit into a particular theological package?

I love God. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t stick my neck out to encourage everyone to remove all human filters and read about him firsthand.

Read the Bible. Cut out the middleman. Let’s start a revolution.

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Tags C. S. Lewis, church attendance, minister, read the Bible

Christian Living

When Will Winter End?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date April 1, 2014

Always Winter and Never Christmas

In C. S. Lewis’s classic book The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, the land of Narnia is under duress: it is always winter and never Christmas. As winter drags on this year, I feel the same way.

In Michigan, we enjoy all four seasons and in about equal proportions. According to the calendar, winter lasts ninety days. However, this year our winter weather started sooner, piled snow deeper, inflicted frigid temperatures, and lasted longer.

Everyone I talk to is anxious for spring. Even people who claim winter as their favorite season, look forward to warmer weather.

A couple weeks ago enough snow melted to where our deck was bare (aided by my snow shovel—an act of desperation on my part). On Facebook, I asked about setting out our patio furniture.

The answer was “no.” They were right, of course, and I was rushing spring. Winter will remain with us a while longer, causing us to ask, “When will winder end?”

Yet as I wait for spring to arrive, I focus on the future and forget the present. In some ways, I’ve placed my life on hold, squandering today as I wait for tomorrow. I need to stop doing that.

On Tuesday it snowed some more. Today the temperature is above freezing. I’m declaring an end to winter. And even if that doesn’t happen, I won’t waste another day waiting for something better to come along.

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Tags C. S. Lewis, Christmas, holiday, seasons

Reviews of Books & Movies

Book Review: Mere Christianity

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date March 21, 2014
2 Comments on Book Review: Mere Christianity

By C. S. Lewis (reviewed by Peter DeHaan)

C. S. Lewis’s book, Mere Christianity, is based on a series of BBC radio broadcasts in the early 1940s.

Initially, published as three separate volumes Broadcast Talks (1942), Christian Behaviour (1943), and Beyond Personality (1944), the works were combined in 1952 to result in Mere Christianity, that is to say, merely expounding on Christianity.

Mere Christianity is divided into four sections: The first is “Right and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning of the Universe,” which aptly serves as a strong foundation on which the rest of the book—and Christianity—is built.

The second section, “What Christians Believe,” shows that we have free will to love God or deny Him, but Satan, our enemy, wants us to think we can be like God (which explains all of history).

God sent Jesus into the world; his death puts us right with God, yet it evokes a response: change. “Christian Behavior” is the title for part three, which covers practical behavior issues. Doctrine is addressed in the book’s final section.

Lewis concludes with the encouragement to “look for Christ and you will find Him, and with Him everything else thrown in,” a fitting conclusion to this intellectual treatise on what is merely Christianity.

[Mere Christianity, by C. S. Lewis. Published by Harper San Francisco, 2009, ISBN: 978-0060652920, 227 pages.]

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Tags C. S. Lewis, spiritual growth

Christian Living

The Good, Better, and Best of Spiritual Understanding

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date May 12, 2013

In my post “What I Learned From The Great Divorce,” I shared three levels of spiritual understanding for a book: reading it, seeing it preformed, and discussing it afterward. These have parallels to our spiritual journey.

1. Read

I was intrigued when I read C. S. Lewis’s The Great Divorce. However, my primary reaction was confusion. There was too much for me to grasp, especially in one read.

The same is true about the Bible. It’s certainly an intriguing book, but a common response is confusion. There is much there—and we will never fully grasp it all, especially if we read and study it in isolation.

That’s not to imply reading the Bible is without value. Bible study is important, critically so. But reading the Bible should never be the sole means for spiritual growth and knowing God. We need more.

2. Watch and Listen

Analogous to attending a play is going to church. There’s something valuable about the shared experience. When we see and hear the minister talk about the Bible, our understanding deepens.

However, church is a passive experience. With the extent of our involvement limited to singing along with the musicians, we mostly watch. The rest of the service is one way, with our leaders performing and us observing. There needs to be more.

3. Discuss

Talking about the play (or the book) allows for interaction. It’s with the give and take of dialogue that deeper understanding emerges.

The application is a faith community that allows members to mutually edify and minister to one another, not passively receiving (as in church), but actively engaging with each other: sharing insights, offering encouragement, and suggesting application.

It’s iron sharpening iron, the intersection of belief with practice. It’s spirituality at its best.

Spiritual Understanding

When it comes to spiritual understanding, reading the Bible is good, going to church is better, but existing in community is best.

May we do all three, as we focus on what’s best.

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Tags Bible, C. S. Lewis, church attendance

Christian Living

What I Learned From The Great Divorce

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date May 5, 2013

Many years ago I read C. S. Lewis’s book The Great Divorce. It’s an allegory about heaven and hell, the connection between the two, and the perspective of their residents.

The imagery intrigued me, providing much to contemplate, yet I was mostly confused.

Yesterday, I attended a theatrical production of The Great Divorce. Being able to see and hear Lewis’s words helped me better understand, yet again, full clarity eluded me.

However, they offered an after-show Q & A with the director and one of the cast members who had studied Lewis. About a quarter of the crowd stayed and several cast members joined us.

A dialogue took place, a fuller understanding emerged. One person would share a line or passage they liked, and as more joined the conversation, greater insight resulted.

Some admitted to not understanding certain parts, but as others shared their perspective, the scene came into better focus.

One person asked a question and I thought, “He doesn’t get it at all.” But the discussion revealed that I was the one who didn’t get it.

The same applies to faith.

If we make the journey on our own—just like reading a book by ourselves—we may be intrigued, but confusion abounds. The result is more questions than answers.

If we add more senses and tap other ways of learning—just like watching a play—greater understanding can result, though clarity is still lacking.

However, when we experience faith in community, having a safe place to ask questions and engage in dialogue—just like our Q & A session—that’s when a deeper meaning and fuller comprehension unfolds.

The result is added depth and increased appreciation.

Faith isn’t supposed to be a solitary journey but a shared experience—anything less is a mere shortcut that serves to shortchange.

[Check out my follow-up post about The Great Divorce.]

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Tags C. S. Lewis, heaven, hell

Reviews of Books & Movies

Book Review: The Aedyn Chronicles

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date April 26, 2013

The Aedyn Chronicles: Chosen Ones

By Alister McGrath (reviewed by Peter DeHaan)

In tween fantasy book, The Aedyn Chronicles: Chosen Ones, Peter and Julia’s parents send them to live with their grandparents in rural England.

Amid their bickering, they discover a mysterious garden and its enchanted pool, which transports them to an ancient mythical island.

Once idyllic, corrupt leaders turned the land into a dreary place. Ruled by otherworldly creatures—at one time human, but no longer so—these tyrants oppress the people. Some fall under their control, while others flee.

Those who’ve escaped live in hiding, waiting for the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy that foretells the arrival of liberators.

Peter and Julia fall on opposite sides of this classic battle between good and evil. Which side will prevail? Will they remain apart? Can they ever return home?

Author Alister McGrath is both a theologian and Oxford professor.

The parallels between him and this book to C. S. Lewis and The Chronicles of Narnia are unavoidable. When comparing a book to a classic, the former almost always falls short.

With clear religious references, Chosen Ones may resonate with mid-grade readers and perhaps even more so when read to younger children.

However, older readers and those familiar with The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe will likely find it lacking and an unsatisfying substitute for the original.

Even so, Chosen Ones—abounding with spiritual references and void of objectionable content—is worth considering for a quick romp in a fantasy world.

[The Aedyn Chronicles: Chosen Ones, by Alister McGrath. Published by Zonderkidz. 2010; ISBN: 978-0-310-72192-5; 202 pages.]

Read more book reviews by Peter DeHaan.Save

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Tags author, C. S. Lewis, Christian fiction

Bible Insights

Book Review: Mere Christianity

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date September 4, 2008

By C. S. Lewis

Reviewed by Peter DeHaan

C.S. Lewis’s book, Mere Christianity, is based on a series of BBC radio broadcasts in the early 1940s.

Initially, published as three separate volumes Broadcast Talks (1942), Christian Behaviour (1943), and Beyond Personality (1944), the works were combined in 1952 to result in Mere Christianity, that is to say, merely expounding on Christianity.

Mere Christianity is divided into four sections:

1. The first is “Right and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning of the Universe,” which aptly serves as a strong foundation on which the rest of the book—and Christianity—is built.

2. The second section, “What Christians Believe,” shows that we have free will to love God or deny Him, but Satan, our enemy, wants us to think we can be like God (which explains all of history).

God sent Jesus into the world; his death puts us right with God, yet it evokes a response: change.

3. “Christian Behavior” is the title for part three, which covers practical behavior issues.

4. Doctrine is addressed in the book’s final section.

Bogged Down Reading the Bible?

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Tags C. S. Lewis, spiritual growth