C.S. Lewis - RodneyOlsen.net

When you read a book or head to the movies do you sometimes feel that you’ve heard the story somewhere before? For many hundreds of years writers have been drawing inspiration from the greatest story ever told.

Parallels have been seen in everything from Shakespeare to Harry Potter. There is rich symbolism in the works of C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien and many others.

A Christ figure, also known as a Christ-Image is a literary technique that the author uses to draw allusions between their characters and the biblical Jesus Christ. More loosely, the Christ Figure is a spiritual or prophetic character who parallels Jesus, or other spiritual or prophetic figures.

In general, a character should display more than one correspondence with the story of Jesus Christ as depicted in the Bible. For instance, the character might display one or more of the following traits: performance of miracles, manifestation of divine qualities, healing others, display loving kindness and forgiveness, fight for justice, being guided by the spirit of the character’s father, death and resurrection. Christ figures are often martyrs, sacrificing themselves for causes larger than themselves. – Wiki

My regular Wednesday morning guest on 98five Sonshine FM is Rev Dr Ross Clifford who is the Principal of Morling College in New South Wales. Each week we chat about a range of issues relating to spirituality and belief.

Today we talked about Christ figures in our books and movies. You can hear what Ross had to say by clicking the play button on the audio player below.

Do you think some of your friends would enjoy reading Hollywood Jesus? Please use the buttons below to share the post. Thanks.

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We all have influence of some kind and whatever your sphere of influence there are times that you need to pass on some wisdom about life, the universe and everything. (The answer is not as easy as 42.)

If you had to pass on just one piece of ‘life advice’ to someone else, what would you say?

In his recent book, C. S. Lewis – A Life: Eccentric Genius, Reluctant Prophet, Alister McGrath highlights the influence that Anglican minister, Father Walter Adams, had on Lewis. He says that although we know virtually nothing of their conversations, C.S. Lewis had stated that Adams was his only real confessor.

Adams had apparently emphasised one piece of advice to Lewis:

“Have patience with God, with your neighbour and oneself.”

Fifty years after his death, C. S. Lewis continues to inspire and fascinate millions. His legacy remains varied and vast. He was a towering intellectual figure, a popular fiction author who inspired a global movie franchise around the world of Narnia, and an atheist-turned-Christian thinker.

In C.S. Lewis—A Life, Alister McGrath, prolific author and respected professor at King’s College of London, paints a definitive portrait of the life of C. S. Lewis. After thoroughly examining recently published Lewis correspondence, Alister challenges some of the previously held beliefs about the exact timing of Lewis’s shift from atheism to theism and then to Christianity. He paints a portrait of an eccentric thinker who became an inspiring, though reluctant, prophet for our times.

This week we discussed the idea of patience with God, our neighbours and ourselves. How different would our lives look if we practiced that piece of advice?

You can listen to our conversation by clicking the play button on the audio player below.

Do you think some of your friends would enjoy reading Life’s Most Important Advice? Please use the buttons below to share the post. Thanks.

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