C.S. Lewis: The Long Terrible Story of Man

By C.S. Lewis

What Satan put into the heads of our remote ancestors was the idea that they could "be like gods" - could set up on their own as if they had created themselves - be their own masters - invent some sort of happiness for themselves outside God, apart from God. And out of that hopeless attempt has come nearly all that we call human history - money, poverty, ambition, war, prostitution, classes, empires, slavery - the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy.

The reason why it can never succeed is this. God made us: invented us as a man invents an engine. Now God designed the human machine to run on Himself. He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed to feed on. There is no other. That's why it is just no good asking God to make us happy in our own way without bothering about religion. God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.

That is the key to history. Terrific energy is expended – civilizations are built up – excellent institutions devised; but each time something goes wrong. Some fatal flaw always brings the selfish and cruel people to the top and it all slides back into misery and ruin. In fact, the machine conks. It seems to start up all right and run a few yards, and then it breaks down. They are trying to run it on the wrong juice. That is what Satan has done to us humans.

From Mere Christianity ("The Shocking Alternative").

Thanks to :

http://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/search/label/C.S.%20Lewis

 

 

 

Abbot Tryphon - LOVING OUR DETRACTORS

All-Merciful Saviour Orthodox Christian Monastery

LOVING OUR DETRACTORS
When We are the Occasion for
Another Person's Disdain
Because we are all brothers and sisters, we are responsible for the way we impact others. Often we are entirely innocent, yet by our very existence we become a source of great irritation and anxiety for other people. The only way we can change that is by loving them, and praying for them.
We don't offer our prayers that they see their errors in not appreciating us, and loving us, but that they may see that their hatred for us is bad for their soul. We pray that they be relieved of the burden of resenting us, or anyone.
...

If someone is awkward and socially blocked, their pain can be great, so we pray that they be relieved of their pain, not that they change their minds about us, or love and accept us, but that they find the inner peace that dispels their resentment for anyone.
Avoiding people who dislike us does not prosper our soul, for in avoiding people, or ignoring them because they dislike is, is not the way Christ would have us act. We love these people, and we pray for them, not to change their attitude about us, but that they find peace by seeing that their resentment is destroying their soul.

Love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon

posted:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/All-Merciful-Saviour-Orthodox-Christian-Monastery/104578182913886

 

Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit: Then and Now - Joseph Torres

Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit: Then and Now

Apr 6

Posted by Joseph Torres

Ever wondered about the “unpardonable sin”? Many believe this particular sin is so heinous once committed a person is forever cut off from the possibility of redemption.
This is enough to strike fear into the heart of any Christian.
Is this sin that big of a deal? Yes. But the real question is whether the sin in question is a one-time action.  After all, sin isn’t merely an act, but also a condition.
The passage in which Christ mentions the sin is unique in one way, and not unique in another. The unique sense is found when we think through the historical circumstance which triggered Christ’s mention of this sin. Here’s the passage:

And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.” And he called them to him and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house.
“Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”—for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.” (Mark 3:22-30, with parallels in Matt. 12:31-32, and Lk. 12:10)

The act in question that draws Christ’s strong language is unique. Jesus, the  Messianic King had appeared on the scene and was inaugurating the promised kingdom of God through the power of the promised end-time endowment of the Spirit. The Jewish leaders were watching the climactic moment of redemptive history and attributed it to the power of Satan. It was the equivalent of equating the work of the Holy Spirit, through the actions of God’s royal son, with witchcraft.  This specific sin is unique because the King isn’t on the earth any longer. We couldn’t commit it if we wanted to.
But the underlying condition that lead the Jewish leaders to make such a rash and damming judgment persists to our day as well. The problem wasn’t a single act, it was a spiritual condition that they (culpably) suffered from. They were witnessing the signs of the in-breaking of the “age to come” in front of their faces and suppressed it, choosing instead to blind themselves to the truth rather than “see.” This is a persistent hardness of heart that is hostile to the Holy Spirit’s convicting ministry to the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment (Jn. 16:8). They loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. This kind of condition is irredeemable and unforgivable because it puts the person outside of the sphere in which forgiveness can he obtained. As N. T. Wright has put it,

To say such a thing ['This is the work of the devil.'] was to paint oneself into a corner from which there was no escape. Once define the battle for your liberation as the work of the enemy, and you will never be free. (N.T. Wright, Jesus And The Victory Of God, 454)

Where there is no repentance, and only hostility to God’s singular provision for redemption (“blasphemy”) there is no forgiveness. And there is no do-over, there is neither forgiveness now nor in the eternal statement, “they are guilty of an eternal sin.”


Thanks to source:

http://apolojet.wordpress.com/2012/04/06/blasphemy-against-the-holy-spirit-then-and-now/
 

Quote by N.T. Wright

To say such a thing ['This is the work of the devil.'] was to paint oneself into a corner from which there was no escape. Once define the battle for your liberation as the work of the enemy, and you will never be free.


(N.T. Wright, Jesus And The Victory Of God, 454)


Sources:


around the 1hr 37min mark
http://www.ancientfaith.com/podcasts/aftoday/making_sense_of_the_difficult_sayings_of_jesus

http://apolojet.wordpress.com/2012/04/06/blasphemy-against-the-holy-spirit-then-and-now/