69 pages • 2 hours read
C. S. LewisA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Lewis now turns to the first “theological” virtue: charity. Charity is often taken to mean giving to the poor, but it is more than this; in fact, it encompasses something Lewis has already discussed—namely, forgiveness and, more broadly, love for one’s neighbor. As he previously noted, this does not require feelings of affection, though Lewis does warn against charity undertaken in an attempt to put another individual in our debt.
Although Christian charity is not sentimental by nature, and there are cases where feelings of affection can actually impede our ability to treat someone charitably (e.g. spoiling a child to their moral detriment). Generally speaking, however, treating someone charitably will often result in increased affection for them. In this sense, Lewis likens both love and hatred to “compound interest” (132), suggesting that whichever we practice tends to multiply upon itself. Lewis notes that these same precepts also apply to the Christian injunction to love God: “Do not sit trying to manufacture feelings. Ask yourself, ‘If I were sure that I loved god, what would I do?’ When you have found the answer, go and do it” (132).
Lewis suggests that God’s love for us is more stable than our love for Him.
By C. S. Lewis
A Grief Observed
A Grief Observed
C. S. Lewis
Out of the Silent Planet
Out of the Silent Planet
C. S. Lewis
Perelandra
Perelandra
C. S. Lewis
Prince Caspian
Prince Caspian
C. S. Lewis
Surprised by Joy
Surprised by Joy
C. S. Lewis
That Hideous Strength
That Hideous Strength
C. S. Lewis
The Abolition of Man
The Abolition of Man
C. S. Lewis
The Discarded Image
The Discarded Image
C. S. Lewis
The Four Loves
The Four Loves
C. S. Lewis
The Great Divorce
The Great Divorce
C. S. Lewis
The Horse And His Boy
The Horse And His Boy
C. S. Lewis
The Last Battle
The Last Battle
C. S. Lewis
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
C. S. Lewis
The Magician's Nephew
The Magician's Nephew
C. S. Lewis
The Pilgrim's Regress
The Pilgrim's Regress
C. S. Lewis
The Problem of Pain
The Problem of Pain
C. S. Lewis
The Screwtape Letters
The Screwtape Letters
C. S. Lewis
The Silver Chair
The Silver Chair
C. S. Lewis
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
C. S. Lewis
Till We Have Faces
Till We Have Faces
C. S. Lewis