Descending lower, we find a somewhat similar difficulty with St. Paul. I cannot be the only reader who has wondered why God, having given him so many gifts, withheld from him (what would to us seem so necessary for the first Christian theologian) that of lucidity and orderly exposition.C.S. Lewis, “Scripture,” Reflections on the Psalms (1958, this excerpt taken from The Essential C.S. Lewis Touchstone, 1998) 404.
It seems, perhaps, that Lewis is being rather rough on the Apostle! I'm not exactly convinced that Paul lacked the gifts of lucidity and orderly exposition. If anything, we've come to understand better how orderly Paul's writings are. One field of study which has opened up since Lewis wrote is that of classical rhetoric. Paul's epistles often seem to follow the structure of well-ordered speeches. What Lewis is complaining about may be more a failure to see and understand Paul's framework.
ReplyDeleteAnyhow, Lewis's point is not lost. The humanness of Paul's writings is very clear.
And not just the humanness but also the divine inspiration of St. Paul's writings!
ReplyDeleteI'm just catching up now on this series of readings from Lewis, Ken. Very interesting take he has on it. Quite refreshing actually. He definitely respects the human, literary quality of what has been written without for a moment making it merely human. So well done!
Ken: great pics through this series too!