Date: Fri, 17 Jan 2003 08:40:24 -0800
From: Matthew Weber 
Subject: Re: (urth) DOORS: The Hero, The Otherworld, The Ending

At 04:25 PM 1/17/03 +0000, Andy wrote:
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Dan'l Danehy-Oakes" 
>
> >> 1. Lewis wasn't a Catholic and would have been very annoyed
> >> at you for suggesting he was.

You could say he was a "small-c" catholic.  The Apostles' and the Nicene 
Creed (both of which are features of the Anglican Church's Morning Prayer & 
Communion services) each include a line professing belief in "the holy 
catholic church".  Obviously, he had doctrinal differences with the Church 
of Rome, but it didn't prevent him from accepting them as fellow Christians.


>No, he was a Mere Christian.  But he wrote CATHOLIC FABULATION.   Which is
>essentially science fiction that presumes the Catholic God really,
>objectively, exists, and sort of goes on from there.

Lewis was an Anglican, and not just because of the accident of his having 
been born in England.  There's no indication in any of his devotional or 
didactic writings that he disagreed with any of the teachings of the C. of E.

MERE CHRISTIANITY should be understood, not as an explication of the 
totality of Lewis' beliefs and sympathies, but--as the title states--the 
"bottom line" of Christian belief and practice; i.e., what all Christian 
sects, denominations, and divisions hold in common despite their doctrinal 
and practical differences.  I don't have a copy handy, but I'm fairly sure 
it was intended as a primer for non-Christians, or non-practicing Christians.


Matthew Weber
Curatorial Assistant
Music Library
University of California, Berkeley

Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.
         The Holy Bible (The Old Testament):  _The Book of Job_, chapter 
13, verse 15


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