The Joyful Christian: 127 Readings »

C. S. Lewis was famous both as a fiction writer and as a Christian thinker, and scholars sometimes divide his personality in two. Yet a large part of Lewis's appeal, for both his audiences, lay in his ability to fuse imagination with instruction. "Let the pictures tell you their own moral," he once advised writers of children's stories. "But if they don't show you any moral, don't put one in."

C.S. Lewis, himself a convert, wrote of being "surprised by joy" when he discovered his belief in Jesus Christ. In these 127 devotional readings, selected from Lewis's many works on faith and spirituality, Christians everywhere can share in the joy of this master theologian as he discusses topics ranging from the nature of prayer and good works to psychoanalysis and fascism. In The Joyful Christian, Lewis offers inspiration for all those who hunger and thirst after joy.

Contents

Foreword

Right and Wrong

The Universe

Life on Other Planets

God in Outer Space

Atheism

Seeing and Believing

Miracle and the Laws of Nature

Morality

The Tao

Illustrations of the Tao

Joy

Theology

Divine Omnipotence

Divine Goodness

Begetting and Making

Spirit, Spirits, Spiritual

The Three-Personal God

The Trinity

The Fall of Man

The Incarnation

The Virgin Birth

Miracles of Fertility

Miracles of Healing

Miracles of Destruction

Miracle of the Resurrection

Miracle of the Walking on the Water

Miracle of the Raising of Lazarus

Miracle of the Transfiguration

Miracle of the Ascension

On Seeing a Miracle

The Second Coming

What Are We to Make of Jesus Christ?

"Putting on Christ"

Perfection

First Fervor

Scruples

Liturgy

Holy Communion

Devotions to Saints

Church Music

Ready-made Prayers

Festooning Ready-made Prayers

When and Where to Pray

The Moment of Prayer

Mechanics of Meditation

Answered Prayers

The Efficacy of Prayer

Mysticism

Spiritual Reading

Reading the Gospels

Biblical Exegesis

Thought, Imagination, Language

Scripture

The Psalms

Prayer of Praise

Modern Translations of the Bible

Moral Choices

Virtue

Prudence

Temperance

Justice and Fortitude

Chastity

Belief

Belief and Disbelief

Faith

Faith and Good Works

Good Work and Good Works

Hope

Charity

Humility

Forgiveness

Almsgiving

Obedience

The Devil

Screwtape to Wormwood on

Prayer

War

Anxiety

Peaks and Troughs

Lust

Worldly Companions

Humility

Laughter

Irregular Churchgoing

Gluttony

Reinterpreting Jesus

Everythingism

Sins ofThought

Pride

Human Wickedness

Laziness

Guilt

Anxiety

Psychoanalysis

Social Morality

Christian Society

Ecumenism

Other Religions

Fascism and Communism

Is Christianity Hard or Easy?

Apologetics

Money

Gift-love and Need-love

Appreciative Love

Love of Nature

Love of Country

Storge or Affection

Philia or Friendship

Eros and Venus

Agape or Charity

"Love Thy Neighbor"

Sex

Marriage

Divorce

Intercourse in the Afterlife

Christmas and Xmas

The Ego and the Self

The Airplane, the Wireless, and the Contraceptive

Human Pain

Animal Pain

Suffering

The Crown and the Cross

Death

Judgment

Resurrection of the Body

Purgatory

Hell

Heaven

Bibliography

Sources