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From: gnosisandlight
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  • I would love to hear, were C.S. LEWIS to return to the earth, a debate between himself and Richard Dawkins about why they believe what they do. Ah, that would be sweet.....

  • @borecleaner1 If Lewis was going to debate someone, it should be someone of at least modest philosophical and theological sophistication with a full grasp of both the Christian tradition and the full implications of what it means to reject it and embrace atheism. And while Dawkins might be a respected biologist, his grasp of the very basics of philosophical reasoning are below that of an average college freshman.

  • @TheOrthodoxSteven Excellent Point...Well Taken and well met !!!. I have somewhat of an ongoing dialogue with my daughter about Richard Dawkins. She thinks he hung the moon...I had heard once that Dawkins had stated ''I don't believe that Good and Evil exist..We are merely ''dancing to our DNA''...I wonder of professor Dawkins possesses the requisite genitalia to utter that crass absurdity to the grieving parents of a murdered child ?

  • @TheOrthodoxSteven Interesting that you mention your assertion that Dawkins is a little bit behind the power curve on philosophical reasoning. My daughter who idolizes this man, graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelors Degree in Religion and Philosophy with a minor in New Testament Greek....I am clueless as to what attracts her to this mans ideas and worldview..I think that it's not that he ''cannot'' believe in design,he refuses to be intellectually honest and open minded

  • @borecleaner1 I've got a PhD in religion and science from a top U.S. university. None of my profs believed in God (and I didn't either), but they nevertheless regarded Dawkins as the poster boy for how NOT to engage religion. His biology texts were acknowledged as helpful, but his ideas about religion were thought not worth wasting time on. My assessment is similar (except lower). Your daughter is probably just rebelling against her father; if she keeps thinking, she'll drop Dawkins eventually.

  • This man was brilliant! Life from non life is IMPOSSIBLE!

  • There is also the recording of Lewis reading his talk on the Four Loves. It can be purchased on audio c.d. now.

  • I'm glad "Christians never say good-bye" because I am looking forward to meeting this man some day.

  • IS there any video showing Lewis? You know - not only his voice.

  • Question: What music did you use for the beginning of the video?

  • @watchthefaithrain from narnia film

  • I can't belive it... I'm hearing my favourite voice right now... I don't understand all he is saying (I'm not English, you know) but... I can't belive it!

  • @monilip *my favourite author's voice

  • A great Irishman, one of Ireland and the world's greatest writers.

  • @SolitudeNaSkellig Yes. You wouldn't know it by his accent though :)

  • It is interesting how Lewis has been embraced by the Evangelical tradition. It has to do w/ how he defended God & Chrisitanity in a general sense. A generic enthusiasm for Jesus & you can can find much comfort in most of his words. He was also a great Medievalist & a very high church kind of Anglican. He had many interesting things to say from that perspective.

  • why is it so difficult to find recordings with cs lewis?

  • Thanks so very much for making this available, and for your genuinely excellent creative editing efforts.

    Lewis was, of course, a uniquely gifted individual as (he notes) are we all.

  • I'm hearing the voice of a hero.

  • luv this man

  • @CaelahBethyBear Too bad it doesn't exist.

    You're stuck here to just appreciate him while you're alive.

  • @Llynok That is a pretty bold claim you are making there and as many atheists say "extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence". Most atheists I've talked to are open minded about the idea of an afterlife and avoid making claims that it exists or not, but it's sad that there are close minded people like you out there, who make claims without any evidential basis for them.

  • @tomdenman I'm not the one claiming it exists. I'm unable to observe evidence for it's existence, so therefore I suspend my belief in it. However, I choose to suspend it to such a degree as to actively believe that there is in fact, no place at all. People choosing to hope or speculate for an afterlife regardless of belief is irrelevant.

  • @Llynok The absence of evidence is not evidence of absence, just because you cannot observe such a thing, that doesn't mean such a place doesn't exist. Making the claim that such a place "does not exist" requires just as much evidence to support it as the claim that "it does exist". Your claim that your simply "suspending belief" in the afterlife is irrelevant as you have already made the claim that it doesn't exist, which requires evidence against it's existence.

  • legend

    

  • imagine liam neeson reading this to you in aslans voice

  • @CaelahBethyBear you will see him some day. I am god. :) I know that you will be in heaven. I can foresee the future. :) You'll get to see Lewis, I assure you

  • GEEK. OUT.

    :D

  • I can't understand what he's saying very well, can't distinguish the words, I mean.

  • @ryuuzaki13215 Narnia is very good, and I agree about Jill, Lucy and Polly. I love the books, an I still haven't finished reading the series, I also suggest you read his Space Trillogy (Out of the SIlent Planet, Perelandra and That Hideous Strength.)

  • I dont see how being white and Christian can make someone racist...

  • One million thanks to you!

  • Isn't it amazing that this only has 105 thousand views when millions of people are on youtube? I guess we know who is going to "evolve" to the next level of spirituality.

  • @ryuuzaki13215 people say that because of some of his other works, such as when he talks about wives submitting to husbands. But that is a tenant of Christianity! Are all Christians sexist? Certainly not.

  • It's good to put a voice to all the writings.

  • @ryuuzaki13215 another point is, why do people apply racism to just African-American? [Or dark-skinned races] The definition is a discrimination of ANY race. :D People are silly.

  • @TheGratitudeFiles Because it doesn't suit their agendas ;)

  • @historygenius I guess so!

  • @TheGratitudeFiles It suggests a kind of racism in itself, that certain people are immune from the label while others are more vulnerable.

  • Nice to hear his voice. Thanks for this upload.

  • @ryuuzaki13215 negative finds negative.

  • Can I just say that I was so pleased to find this clip. I am writing my thesis on Lewis and it was really appreciated to find this clip of his voice. Sounds very much like Anthony Hopkins, doesn't he? in a way....

  • @MEPolaris I just got back from Oxford and got involved in a conversation amongst Lewis enthusiasts that agreed that Hopkins did a horrific job of portraying Lewis. Hopkins is English - Lewis was Irisih. Hopkins did not study Lewis at all and therefore did not represent Lewis' outgoing personality. They just put Hopkins in the movie because they knew his name would draw in more people.

  • @logicpractitioner

    Hopkins is Welsh - not English.

    Lewis was from Northern Ireland.

  • If I ever go to Hell, I want this man to be my guide for my journey into Heaven after I get off the bus.

  • he was my relative.. its kind of weird... he looks like my dad... awkward... 

  • My mum was a pilot in WWII. She recalls the difficult times and the comfort of listening to Jack on the BBC. Hallelujah.

  • C. S. Lewis will forever be counted among the brightest flames in the world. Thank you, Jack. Look forward to meeting you in Heaven.

  • Wonderful!

    

  • @ryuuzaki13215 No, that's really not the "only reason." People "attack" him because they love him as children and then feel betrayed when they realize years later that actually... there IS sexism and racism in his books. At least, that's how it was with me and a few others I know of.

    I don't think he was a bad person. I think he was a man of his time. That was just how the British Empire was. He was a very sheltered man.

    Anyway, I still do love him. Even though he was wrong about a lot.

  • @stephantom

    Narnia didn't take anyone's right to vote away based on gender or color. His books did not wrongly arrest, accuse, judge, or condemn people based on their color or gender. His writings never refused a promotion, or a rental lease, or a public service based on color or gender.

    What do you mean that there IS sexism and racism in his books? Do you mean the clear favoritism shown towards talking animals over the dumb?

  • @TheWizzooo Plenty of stories, cartoons, movies, etc. portray different groups of people in such a way that strikes many people as hurtful, and often derived from racist or sexist stereotypes and widespread prejudices. While that may not affect people as directly or totally as the examples you brought up, it's still not good.

    One example: the smugly superior attitudes of the Narnians about their very-European-inspired culture over the very-Turkish-and-Middle-Easter­n-inspired Calormenes.

  • @stephantom

    Well, the Narnians were founded by Aslan himself. They were better than the Calormen. You're a silly politically-correct enforcer, crying racism and sexism on a fictional state!

  • @TheWizzooo You are missing my point. The places are fictional but they have real-world counterparts. The fact that the god-character is supposed to have founded a romanticized version of medieval England does not help - that's just another example of the author's euro-centric bias. He has characters look down on others for things like "curved swords," "pointed shoes" and garlic smell, and there's no indication that we the audience are supposed to disagree. We're suppose to accept that.

  • @stephantom

    Aslan is the one who founded Narnia, see The Magician's Nephew. What doesn't that help? It's part of the story's canon.

    Who taught you how to deconstruct? A community college? You can take the materials of a prose work that is presented to you, in this case Lewis' story, and you may criticize or praise the author/work according to the material. But you cannot take what is not there, construct a new story, then criticize or praise the author/work based on that.

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  • @TheWizzooo @TheWizzooo So, do you not think that cartoons can be racist? Like those from early America depicting black people as stupid, ugly and lazy, or Nazi cartoons depicting Jews as fat, greedy and ratlike? Since they never denied somebody a promotion, etc....?

    My point is: fiction/art CAN be racist. The Calormene culture is based on Turkish stereotypes AND is portrayed in a wholly negative light, unlike the people inspired by English culture and history, who are portrayed as god's people

  • @stephantom Wouldn't that be nationalism or "culturism," then? Turkey is a place, not a race.

  • @Sablestone Sure. Nationalism is the main issue. But if I'd had more space, I'd have said Arab in addition to Turkish. I don't think Lewis as an individual was a big racist -- I just think he was a sheltered member of the British Empire, who didn't really question the culture he'd been raised in, and that that sometimes slipped into his stories. It doesn't invalidate the good things about the stories and it doesn't mean we shouldn't read them. I just think we shouldn't all accept it all.

  • @stephantom Really? How can you think someone so intelligent and insightful in so many areas was sheltered? It's obvious he questioned the culture he was raised in, too. Just read the Screwtape letters. I would submit that after careful consideration he came to the correct conclusion that his nation and his culture was better.

  • @Sablestone I think it's totally possible for people to be brilliant and insightful but still have blind spots. And I have read The Screwtape Letters actually. He questions trends and norms in modern society, but doesn't do any real soul-searching about more deeply-set assumptions. And he never left the country, except for war.

    "I would submit that after careful consideration he came to the correct conclusion that his nation and his culture was better." lol Wow.

    Kind of a conversation-stopper.

  • @stephantom He challenged some of the deepest assumptions that humans make, such as the idea that predestination and free will are mutually exclusive. And while we're talking about assumptions, it looks to me like you're assuming that all cultures are fundamentally equal. Why can't some be better than others?

  • @Sablestone That assumption only matters in Western philosophy.

    Parts of cultures can be better than others. But I will be very skeptical to listen to someone who says that THEIR culture is the best. You can say reason told you so, but your bias is stronger than you realize.

    England has as brutal and ugly a history as anyone. Horrible class system, limited rights for women, torture, constant warfare, not to mention basically trying to take over most of the world and screwing poor countries

  • @stephantom He wasn't saying it was best, just better. I agree bias is strong, but so is the tendency to ignore reason in the attempt to escape bias. That combined with the facts that a culture and a history are different, and that England was defeating/had just defeated Nazi Germany as he was writing puts him and his culture in good standing in my book. Ad that to the fact that when these books were written slavery and worse was still "okay" in the Arab world. One of those sounds better to me.

  • @stephantom actually he went to greece with his wife

  • Sounds like perfectly logical rationalization to me.

  • *inspiration 

  • this is wonderful, I have never heard CS Lewis speak before.  He is one of histories truly great thinkers. thanks for posting.

  • Who is greater; FM Dostoevsky (Dream of a Ridiculous Man) or CS Lewis (The Screwtape Letters) in writing about the truth - about Christ who we will all meet after death (and some before death)?

  • during only has one r

  • Hey guess what C.S.Lewis is my great great great grandfather and i have another reel!! he talks about his book

  • @zekealewis You're an idiot. C.S. Lewis had no biological children.

  • @zekealewis uuuh post it!

  • @xdancingxQTx the sad thing is i dont have any thing to play it my grandmother did she had it buried with her

  • @zekealewis oh bummer. That would have been really cool to hear. I'm using this to do a project in my Comp II class on C.S. Lewis.

  • WOOOOOOOW THANX EVER SOOOOO MUCH FOR THIS, IT IS SOOOOO WONDERFUL , WHAT A WONDERFUL PERSON, THANX AGAIN, HAVE ENJOYED THIS ALOT, WHAT A GOD CENTERED CHRISTIAN HE WAS : )

  • After all these years I finally hear his voice. God bless you for giving us this lovely presentation. Lewis was that rare and wonderful person: an intellectual who cares about and speaks for the common man. The more you find out about him, the bettet he gets.

  • I love this man! I love his work! He's a heroe who help me understand the Christian thoughts and be free to worship him with every kind of art.

  • this music sort of reminds me of "cristofori's dream". he he awesome music.

  • Why does everyone posting below this video think they're philosophers? It just sounds like they took ethics in high school from a teacher that really didn't care so he just gave them a text book and cross-word puzzles. Either that or they're using wikipedia. Both are equally depressing.

  • I could do without the overly dramatic music. He's not Jesus, you know...

  • @timdiggerm But pretty darn close...lol :] totally jk

  • Truly a great Christian theologian and thinker

  • C.S. Lewis has a way of presenting ideas to you in a way that forces you to think about them he gives you glimpses of ideas and allows you to think about it, giving the idea residency in your mind, which is the true genius of his writings.

  • If you like intelligent videos, quotes, etc. from cs lewis, jrr tolkein, gk chesterton, and others, please visit my channel. There is a whole playlist titled "Videos for Viewers seeking intelligent programming on youtube".

  • Can anyone tell me the name of the song in the beginning of this video ???

  • @onlyone688 It's called "Only the Beginning of the Adventure" by Harry Gregson-Williams off the first soundtrack. Awesome score.

  • I have read C.S. Lewis my entire life starting with Narnia when I was younger, and then moving on to his theological works as I began to take Christianity seriously, as well as writing an essay on his life in High School. When ever my friends have questions, I quote something from Lewis. Thank you for posting this, it's truly a blessing.

  • i am an atheist and an admirer of cs lewis

  • Somehow, I imagined that he would sound more Irish. But thanks very much.

  • @BardOfShwa He was born in Belfast, N.I. but later went to school in England. First Wynyard School in England, then back to Beflast, then to Cherbourg School in England. He later went to Oxford (man I love Google :-) That explains the posh English accent. A lot of non-English people in those days (and maybe today to some extent) would change their accent to sound English if they went to school there. If he would've stayed in Belfast he would've sounded Irish (a bit Scottish even).

  • @TruthTeller878 wow you are really obsessing over this aren't you. C.S. Lewis was a man of GOD!!!!!!!!! get over your wierd paranoia and think before you speak!!!!!

  • @HeWantsUsBackNow

    I think we should hear him/her out; I mean with a name like TruthTeller878 it doesn't get any more legit then that. I bet they have a PhD in truthology.

  • @Jim1905 yeah, right. something like that. u don't know that this person has been harrassing me on my channel using the same passage from the same person over and over. I don't think this person even has a mind of thier own. anyway, i think it's a lot of crap. dumb conspiracy theory.

  • who would dislike this,NO RESPECT!!!!!!!

  • Oh man I am such a fan thank you soooooo much! I love him!

  • Throughout Lewis' writings I feel as though he is unveiling the mystery that is life, one metaphor at a time. God Bless sir.

  • I've always wondered what he sounded like. I love his accent .. he says prayaah haha I I could just listen to that all day.

  • This is my spiritual grandfather's voice.

  • @doublemandala

    actually, I admit what I've written is not perfectly accurate (better accuracy would require more comprehensive thinking and some sort of mathematics or symbolic logic), but, as I said, language can approximate truth well enough.

    I don't pretend to know any *perfect* universal truth, only to propose that there is a consistent universal truth out there--there are things that are roughly, practically knowable (otherwise there'd be no human achievement, no science)

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  • much respect for this writer. its interesting to hear his take on christian theology and how it can so differ from other perspectives.

  • His exposition on "time" (past, present, future) is similar to some thoughts I had during the 1970s -- the God of the Universe is not limited by our perception of time; in fact, he hears our prayers in His time. For instance, if we have a pang of realization that someone had surgery earlier in the day (our time), we can lift our prayers up to God who hears those prayers OUTSIDE OF our present. Thus, the effectual fervent prayers of a righteous wo/man [can still] avail much."

  • gnosisandlight, would you please provide me with the name of the introduction song. Thank you.

  • @gentleman948 the introduction song is "Only The Beginning Of The Adventure" from the Narnia Soundtrack.

  • what's the intro music?

  • I will never read the Narnia books the same way again.

  • This clip makes me almost cry, no matter what you believe, you've gotta admit Clives was a helluva guy. :)

  • As an agnostic, it is very thought provoking listening to Mr Lewis, He himself was an atheist as a young man, converting on his knees, in Oxford as a man of 30. I also like to hear a highly intelligent man such as Lewis speak (triple first at Oxford University) and not some raving evangelist or phoney pious power hungry politician.

  • @movement26 Perhaps not all evangelists are "raving". Many, after all, learn their arguments from C. S. Lewis. And many evangelists have multiple college degrees as well. As to "phony pious power hungry politician" I might suggest you back off your permanent strong bias against them and try evaluating them as individuals. You may reach the same conclusion often enough, but in some cases you'd find exceptions who are smart, humble, wise and GENUINELY pious, not phony. I'm just sayin'.

  • The "insperation" typo is very distracting.

  • Groan. I can't bear the corny Hollywood intro... 'but one survived', combined with the insipid background music. The clip is fascinating though. Note that there is no sign of his Northern Irish accent.

  • Thank you SOOOO much for this!

  • could listen to this man all day........I dont know anyone else who ever made more sense than Lewis, he conveys his message so clearly that even someone with limited intelligence (ie myself) can understand. Top three works by Lewis = 3) Screwtape Letters 2) Mere Christianity 1) A Grief Observed

  • greatest man that ever did live. knew more about christianity than the most experienced pastor.

  • thanx bro for posting htis...God speed bro ------Judah 17 So CAl

  • Time is what keeps everything from happening at once.

  • "...the whole steam of it..." - C.S. Lewis

  • May I ask, what is the music clip you used at the beginning of the video?

  • The key in prayer is not my will but let Thy will be done. So prayer does not mean you always get what you want because it may not be right. Prayer is for us to talk to God because God has already spoken in His word. You know the fool reads the parable and understands nothing but the wise man heres and sees the messages of salvation.

  • Thank God for CS Lewis and Tolkein! 2 best friends and great people and christians

  • Thanks for putting this up. I've read Mere Christianity so actually hearing it in his own voice and inflection is a treat. Take care

  • thank you so much for posting this:)

  • THANK YOU!!!!!!!!

  • Thanks for posting this. I gotta be that guy and tell you about a spelling error in the intro. "Insperation" rather than "Inspiration." :) Praise God for His plan for C.S. Lewis and his contribution to the faith.

  • He was actually Irish, though you'd never have guessed from the accent...

  • Nice video. He was a wise man.

  • lol. he's like a british version of Jay Vernon McGee

  • I cannot WAIT to meet this man someday. :)

  • @NorthWriter, unfortunately he died, I have about a million questions for him myself though.

  • @peacecanhappen27 I know. I meant in the afterlife. ;)

  • Great. Thanks very much. Small point: In the intro, inspiration is misspelled (insperation).

  • AWESOME!

  • While his points on prayer answered the question put to him, I must ask anyone here:

    How do you know if a prayer has been answered?

    Some might say that a prayer can be answered with yes, no or wait. For example, if you pray for £1000 you may either receive it immediately, receive it later, or not receive it at all. In all of these circumstances you would surely put the result down to God's will. However, in probability these terms would be seen as exhaustive - they cover every possibility.

  • Good Question. I can't give a full answer, but I think time and patience are a part of this. I have found that in most times the answer was no it was because God had something better planned. Sometimes the yes answers came immediately, and sometimes they took time and persistence in prayer. I would say there are certain prayers that can only be explained by God saying yes. Praying for peace about something, for instance, or having an answer come from someone who had no idea of your need.

  • I like the soldier cleaning his own rifle bit.

    I certainly agree that it's a good idea to contemplate your existence and conscience, at least once in a while.

  • This video is a gift. Thank you so much. for posting it.

  • What a great man!

  • love this man's contribution to Christian toughts. i was a muslim turned agnostic. his was a great influence that lead me to accepting the Son of God. God bless you, C.S. Lewis...

  • You have no idea how badly I want to hear your life story...

  • @paulmrphy Hi paulmrphy, congratulation to you for coming back to Lord. I too became christian and had muslim background before . I am reading Mere christanity the same chapter and this author has helped me a lot to grow in Christ. I just love his book. Lord bless you.

  • @paulmrphy Wow! I am so glad that you know Jesus and are now a Christian :-) and that this man played a part in that.

  • @paulmrphy Welcome home, glad your here.

  • If he is God he is able to know what the person is going to say before he says it.

  • We are indebted to you for providing this. Many thanks.

  • ...and he's more alive today than I am as I type.

    But not more than that--my life is already 'hidden with Christ in God.' God's perspective is not limited to time, and I am as good as there.

    My departed loved ones are not waiting for me--for them we are already together, because they are also beyond the limits of time. Only for me here in this moment, "yet" hasn't come already.

    Living in time is like looking at an MRI, one slice at a time, while knowing/feeling that the whole body is there.

  • I loved what you wrote about time and I love reading C.S. Lewis. I feel too that when I close my eyes here in death I will not be leaving loved ones behind but will awake to their company in God.

  • brilliant

  • This is wonderful! Thank you for posting.

  • my point of view matches up so frequently with that of christians'.

    It was just yesterday that i was thinking about the exact same thing that his point about the rifle was meant to illustrate.

    Two seperate 'beliefs', housed by two different people, can have more in common than what is supposedly the same belief held by two people

  • He kind of sounds a bit like Prime Minister Churchill.  A little bit.

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  • It's from the soundtrack to one of the "Chronicles of Narnia" movies. It's the main theme.

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  • amazing..............his actual voice!

  • This is sooooo awesome!!! It's so amazing to be able to hear Lewis's voice so many years after his death. Truely inspirational!

  • Thank you for posting this..i have been in cs lewis house and if you ever get the chance to go please do !

  • Wonderful recording. One of my heroes of the faith, and to actually hear him in his own voice is priceless.

  • i agree, his voice is priceless!

  • I found this moving to listen to.

    He sounds so characterful, and human.

    ML

  • Wow! I've enjoyed some of his work over the years but hearing him actually articulate on the virtues of prayer and the importance of walking with God shows me that this guy wasn't just a great writer; he was a brilliant human being.

  • i don't mean this in an inflammatory way, but what is the point of establishing why praying is worthwhile?

  • It's just one of the many things about God that people have a hard time coming to understand, and even reject Him for. It's a good question which answer is a testimony of God's power: "How can God hear my prayer among the multitude of other prayers." Omniscience and omnipresence.