In my previous blog I suggested that the death of Osama Bin Laden posed some significant theological problems from two differing points of view claimed in popular culture.  The one is of Pastor Rob Bell who claimed in his latest book Love Wins, that there is a hell, but God may be so gracious as to save people out of hell after they are placed there.  Stephen Hawking takes an opposite approach for he claimed last month that there is no heaven, that humanity is no more than a computer that fails, saying, “There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark.”  The basic point I was making is that Bell and Hawking’s views on the afterlife are incompatible with C.S. Lewis’ understanding of moral law, the Law of Human Nature.  I also argued that those two views were not only incompatible with Lewis, but the Bible as well.  Here I would like to propose how this negative stance, does have a positive outcome.

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Last month the U.S. Navy Seals killed Osama Bin Laden, the world’s most wanted terrorist.  A man promoting an ideology of death and destruction through his acts and plots of terror was met with praise at his death.  People throughout the media world were praising the job of Seal Team 6, and condemning Bin Laden to hell.  This occurred throughout various media outlets like talk show host Sean Hannity, as well as comics like Jimmy Kimmel, who declared Osama Bin Laden in hell.  They were not the only ones who espoused this, but there wasn’t a large outcry against such declaration.  Why?

I believe the reason is because of what C.S. Lewis refers to as the Law of Human Nature.  This Law of Human Nature is a moral law which he sums up as “human beings, all over the earth, have this curious idea that they ought to behave in a certain way, and cannot really get rid of it.  Secondly, that they do not in fact behave in that way.”(C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity,19)

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It’s almost June, the month where Bridal magazines fly off the shelf and thousands will show up on our shores, a few friends in tow to have their long dreamed of wedding on the beach in.

I could make a lot of money just by performing wedding ceremonies for these people. After all, I live near the major tourist destination on Kauai and the inherent romantic beauty of the place begs to be enfolded into vows.

In fact, in the twenty years I have been performing weddings (that, I ask no fee for I might add) I have only done two inside of a church building, all the rest were on the beach or in some lush outside location.

To get into the economic gush all I would need to do is to make sure that I was on the list of the hotels and wedding planners, set a “price of paradise” going rate and ba-boom! my kid’s college tuitions would be paid for.

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Miracles in the Bible—especially the miracle of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead—are a problem for many people. To those who operate within a worldview of naturalism , a miracle is a violation of natural law (naturalism by definition excludes the supernatural). They don’t believe in miracles of any kind, most of all the resurrection.

The historical records of people seeing Jesus after the resurrection are meaningless to naturalists, because the events happened so long ago during a time when people were more prone to believe myths and fables. Of course, naturalists don’t have a problem believing in the existence of Julius Caesar, probably because he never performed any miracles.

Deists don’t go much for miracles either. Thomas Jefferson famously removed all the miracles from the New Testament and published what is known as The Jefferson Bible, or The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth. His goal was to present Jesus as a great moral teacher, without the miracles or the resurrection.

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Last Friday I invited a local Mormon leader to speak to my 11^th grade theology class. This is the first time I have ever done this. Typically I take my students on trips to visit other people, but some students don’t go on those trips so I wanted them all to hear from a Mormon firsthand. He was thoughtful, kind, prepared, and very articulate. In fact, I was very impressed by how well he knew his stuff and how confidently he portrayed it. He even quoted from C.S. Lewis, although he took him out of context. I wish more Christians had his poise and confidence.

I learned a couple things from this encounter that Christians may consider taking to heart.

First, the higher degree of education a Mormon receives the higher is his/her participation in the church. And yet the exact opposite is true for evangelicals. Even though the Mormon faith is essentially built on a subjective experience (see Moroni 10:4), Mormons have come to value the intellect and education. Mitt Romney and Glenn Beck are good examples of leading Mormon intellectuals who are having a positive impact on culture. Why is it that a faith built on subjective experience produces many leading thinkers?

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We may, indeed, be sure that perfect chastity—like perfect charity—will not be attained by any merely human efforts. You must ask for God’s help. Even when you have done so, it may seem to you for a long time that no help, or less help than you need, is being given. Never mind. After each failure, ask forgiveness, pick yourself up, and try again. Very often what God first helps us towards is not the virtue itself but just this power of always trying again. For however important chastity (or courage, or truthfulness, or any other virtue) may be, this process trains us in habits of the soul which are more important still. It cures our illusions about ourselves and teaches us to depend on God. We learn, on the one hand, that we cannot trust ourselves even in our best moments, and, on the other hand, that we need not despair even in our worst, for our failures are forgiven. C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, p. 93-94

Sorrow is underrated in our culture. We don’t like to be sorrowful and try to avoid it like the plague. When sorrow hits us and we truly feel regret for something we did, or we are grieving because of something that happened to us, our goal is to get past it and move forward as soon as possible. Nobody likes to live with sorrow. We would much rather have joy in our lives.

I've been doing some study in the book of James, and I ran across this startling verse: "Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom" (James 4:9). Talk about a buzzkill. What are we supposed to do with that. Our natural response is probably to ask “Why?”

Why would anybody want to deliberately stop laughing and start mourning? Isn’t laughter the best medicine and the perfect way to deal with our present troubles? Didn’t James himself say in the opening to his letter that we are to “count it all joy” when we encounter trials? Yes he did, but apparently James believes the path to that joy comes not through laughter, but through sorrow. It's taken me a while for this to sink in, but I think I know what he means.

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As a child, I fondly remember reading C.S. Lewis “The Chronicles of Narnia” with my father. Most memorable was the first book, “The Lion, the Witch, and The Wardrobe.” The rest is admittedly a blur.  So, while no doubt many of you who read this will share contentment and discontentment with the adaptation of Lewis’ world to the big screen, my objective in viewing it was how the film worked…as a film. For Walden Media’s third outing (and its first without Disney), I had a mainly great experience with it.

The story in “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” is themed around temptation. A mysterious green smoke is swallowing people whole and transporting them to a place called “Dark Island” where they mainly have…just disappeared. Our heroes are led into the journey by the King “formerly known as Prince” Caspian, who has thankfully dropped his Spanish style accent and stuck with an English accent. The heroes – now Lucy and Edmund – have entered Narnia through a painting that happened to also take their annoying cousin Eustace with them.

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The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader opens in theatres worldwide on Friday, December 10th.

Pastors can take their congregations right now on a very special journey by hosting their very own NARNIA NIGHT! All the materials are FREE and located at:

http://www.narniafaith.com/engage/narnia-night/

As part of the worldwide release of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, 20th Century Fox and Walden Media have created an exclusive event just for churches – Narnia Night. This totally customizable event includes a multi-part documentary on renowned author and theologian C.S. Lewis, a behind-the-scenes look at how the filmmakers used a little Hollywood magic to make the bedroom flood with water, the popular “Undragon Your Life” testimony from Jim Burgen of Denver’s Flatirons Church, and an exclusive, never-before-seen look inside the new film!

All of these elements are available as fully downloadable hi-res files (all the visual materials can be previewed in low-res form). Everything is free so pastors can create their very own Narnia Night to engage their church as well as their community at large!

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