
Heaven-scent
September 22nd, 2008 | Skip to comments
Welcome, those of you interested in kind of following along next week for my weekend seminar in Ft. Collins, CO, here is a (tantalizingly cryptic) outline for the four sessions I will be doing with the kind help of David Guyor, Colorado Christian University and Brent Cunningham, Timebrline Church. Hope you can do it in person! Meanwhile, my live sessions are sandwiched around (can things be sandwiched “around” something without destroying the meaning of “sandwiched”?) break-out sessions for small group discussion and practical training in how to smell heaven all around you!
October 3, 2008, FRIDAY NIGHT, 6:30-9:30PM: “I CAN HARDLY IMAGINE”—
C. S. LEWIS’S HEAVENLY GPS“If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world”
(C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity).FIRST SESSION
Who Is C. S. Lewis That We Are Mindful of Him? (EPH. 3:14-21)1. Jack Lewis’s “True Country”—and how he got there.
2. “Enlightening the eyes of your heart. . .”: Jack as our Voice-over Narrator
3. Lewis on Heaven: where to look, what to seeSECOND SESSION:
Imagine There’s No Heaven? Impossible! (1 COR. 2:6-16)1. The Source of Our Longing: Lewis’s “argument from desire”
2. Images of Eternity/Intimations of Immortality: how music, movies, momentous moments tell our true tale
3. Cultivating Heaven: Jack’s (orthodox) imagination: mining metaphors, appropriating analogies, treas-uring trichotomiesHOMEWORK: READ (& MARVEL) OVER THE CONTENT, CONTEXT, AND AUDIENCE RESPONSE IN MATTHEW 5-7.
October 4, 2008, SATURDAY MORNING, 8:30AM-NOON:
“NOT A STATE OF MIND”: WITH JESUS AND JACK IN THE WORKSHOP OF LANGUAGE“But Heaven is not a state of mind. Heaven is reality itself. All that is fully real is Heavenly. For all that can be shaken will be shaken, and only the unshakable remains” (C. S. Lewis, The Great Divorce)
FIRST SESSION:
Speaking of Eternity: Jesus and Jack on the Vocabulary of the World to Come (JOHN 5:19-23)1. Why Jesus Astounded the Crowds: Jack’s Take
2. The Vocabulary of Heaven: parable, paradox, puzzle, prophecy (MATTHEW 5-7)
3. Guarding Our Hearts: Why we need the Mystery of truth and the Truth of mysterySECOND SESSION:
“Narnia on the Mount”: Re-enchantingtheOur Universe1. “Logic! What Do They Teach Children These Days?” Professor Kirke & the Logic of Never-never Land
2. Reepicheep at Sea: Seeking the Utter East
3. The Last Battle: How to Pack for Our “Railway Accidents”
An expanded bibliography:
C. S. Lewis on “Heaven” Reading List
Works by C. S. Lewis
(Note: Lewis’s affection for, interest in, and insights about heaven are not confined to these works and passages, but they tend to capture the heart of his lifelong longing for his “true country.”)The Great Divorce. Macmillan, 1946.
A Grief Observed. Macmillan, 1961.
“Hell,” “Heaven,” (Chapters 8, 10) in The Problem of Pain. Harper, 1960.
“Hope” (Chapter 10), in Mere Christianity. Macmillan, 1952.
The Last Battle (Book 7, The Chronicles of Narnia). Harper, 1956.
Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer. Harcourt, 1964.
“Meditation in a Toolshed,” in God in the Dock. Eerdmans, 1970.
Reflections on the Psalms (Chapters 10-11). Harcourt, 1957.
Surprised by Joy. Harcourt, 1955.
“Transposition” and “The Weight of Glory,” in The Weight of Glory. Macmillan, 1949.
The Voyage of the “Dawn Treader” (Book 3, The Chronicles of Narnia). Harper, 1952.Secondary Sources
Alcorn, Randy. 50 Days of Heaven. Tyndale, 2006.
Edwards, Bruce L. Not a Tame Lion: The Spiritual World of Narnia. Tyndale, 2005.
Kreeft, Peter. Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Heaven But Never Dreamed of Asking! Ignatius, 1990.
—. Heaven: The Heart’s Deepest Longing. Harper, 1980.
—. Love is Stronger than Death. Harper, 1979.
Martindale, Wayne. Beyond the Shadowlands: C. S. Lewis on Heaven and Hell. Crossway, 2005
McGrath, Alister. A Brief History of Heaven. Blackwell, 2003.

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