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Is Your Lord Large Enough?: How C. S. Lewis Expands Our View of God
"Every year you grow, you will find me bigger." --Aslan to Lucy in Prince Caspian C. S. Lewis was, of course, a brilliant apologist, and his books contain much to feed your intellect. But Lewis was also very concerned about Christian formation and strongly desired to help believers deepen their faith and broaden their vision of God. In this book Peter Schakel opens to you the more practical parts of Lewis's wonderful writings. Covering areas of potential struggle such as prayer, suffering, doubt and love, Schakel draws principles from Lewis's nonfiction as well as illustrations from the Chronicles of Narnia to stir your imagination and soul so that you might see God in new ways. In addition, the author quotes from contemporaries of Lewis, showing how their thinking fit with Lewis's. With reflection questions included, this deeper look at Lewis's formational writings is valuable for your personal devotions or for group discussions. Either way, as you read you will find God bigger and bigger.
- GenresChristianityNonfiction
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 29, 2008
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46 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
January 30, 2016
Quite lovely, but too short, and too watered-down.
Well written and organized, but this felt too simplified compared to other studies on Lewis I've read. Before I knew it, it was over. To illustrate his examples, the author mostly used the Narnia Chronicles (perhaps because they are the most popular?). I suppose I can't blame him for that, but I still wish he would have gone further to deepen his examples and diversify his analyses.
However, I can see this being very useful for discussions, book clubs, and Bible studies (questions at the back, and such). So perhaps this would seem more insightful in a group setting.
Still looking forward to reading Reason and Imagination in C. S. Lewis: A Study of Till We Have Faces.
I did enjoy going through the back appendix full of books all about Lewis, adding to my to-reads.
Well written and organized, but this felt too simplified compared to other studies on Lewis I've read. Before I knew it, it was over. To illustrate his examples, the author mostly used the Narnia Chronicles (perhaps because they are the most popular?). I suppose I can't blame him for that, but I still wish he would have gone further to deepen his examples and diversify his analyses.
However, I can see this being very useful for discussions, book clubs, and Bible studies (questions at the back, and such). So perhaps this would seem more insightful in a group setting.
Still looking forward to reading Reason and Imagination in C. S. Lewis: A Study of Till We Have Faces.
I did enjoy going through the back appendix full of books all about Lewis, adding to my to-reads.
July 8, 2015
Is Your Lord Large Enough?, Peter J. Schakel. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2008.
Summary: This book looks at the contribution Lewis made, particularly through the way his books engage the imagination, to the spiritual formation of Christians, exploring a number of the matters crucial to their growth in Christ.
Peter J. Schakel has written a number of fine books on C.S. Lewis including one on Till We Have Faces (Reason and Imagination in C.S. Lewis: A Study of Till We Have Faces) that I found incredibly helpful as a book group I was in was struggling to make sense of this greatest but most challenging fiction works of Lewis. So when I noticed this on one of my stacks of unread books, I thought I would give it a read.
In this book, Schakel turns to the writing of Lewis on topics concerning the formation of Christians and what he does is provide a "digest" of Lewis's writing around each topic from his letters, fiction, and non-fiction books and essays. The topics are:
Is Your Lord Large Enough?
God's Time and Our Time
The Meaning of Prayer
What Can We Pray For?
God's Grace and Our Goodness
Keeping Love Alive
Why We Need The Church
Keeping Things Under Control
Making Sense Out of Suffering
Room for Doubt
Coming to an End
Picturing Heaven
In one sense, like so many books on the writing of C.S. Lewis, you can get all these things simply by reading Lewis, which I wholeheartedly recommend. Yet this work is a helpful one both for the person who has never read Lewis who wants to consider what he has to say on these topics as well as for one like me who has read Lewis but is happy to be reminded of things I'd seen and surprised by the things I've missed.
The chapters on prayer I found to be among the most insightful. The longer I go, the more true I find Lewis's statement on truly praying: "May it be the real I that speaks. May it be the real Thou that I speak to." So many problems I've had in prayer come of speaking from a "false self" and speaking to false perceptions of God. Perhaps the most challenging in his chapter on what we can pray for are his words on praying for enemies. Lewis prayed for Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini as well as more personal enemies as a regular practice.
"Keeping love alive" distills the wealth of insight on the "four loves" that one finds in Lewis both in the work by this title and in Till We Have Faces which explores what happens when we love inordinately. In his chapter on the church, Lewis anticipates contemporary authors like Rachel Held Evans in writing of his struggles to embrace the church only to discover that he needed both the sacrament and his neighbors in the pews. It is also here that Schakel discusses Lewis's warnings about seeking to be part of "inner rings".
Schakel summarizes Lewis's attempts to address some of the hardest challenges we face in terms of suffering and doubt. He calls attention to Lewis's belief that suffering in fact is God's way of getting our attention and breaking our illusions of self-sufficiency. He wisely counsels in terms of doubt that we should never try to make ourselves think or feel in a certain way, but simply to continue to live in the Way, both pursuing the questions honestly that we wrestle with and continuing to act in obedient faith in the things not in question.
His final chapters explore the matters of death and our everlasting hope. We see here perhaps more than anywhere how totally converted Lewis is in his unblinking and even joyous acceptance of the reality of death and the hope of resurrection beyond. And with this is the vivid reality of heaven, a world more real than our own, for Lewis.
Each chapter concludes with reflection questions. The book concludes with a brief biography of Lewis as well as a topical and chronological listing of Lewis's work and an extensive bibliography of other works on Lewis and his writing.
This book is currently out of print, according to the publisher, although available in e-book formats, or used via your bookseller or online. Given the spate of books on Lewis and his work, I can see how this one may be overlooked. I found it helpful for its insights into the work of Lewis, as well as into the life to which Lewis bore witness.
Summary: This book looks at the contribution Lewis made, particularly through the way his books engage the imagination, to the spiritual formation of Christians, exploring a number of the matters crucial to their growth in Christ.
Peter J. Schakel has written a number of fine books on C.S. Lewis including one on Till We Have Faces (Reason and Imagination in C.S. Lewis: A Study of Till We Have Faces) that I found incredibly helpful as a book group I was in was struggling to make sense of this greatest but most challenging fiction works of Lewis. So when I noticed this on one of my stacks of unread books, I thought I would give it a read.
In this book, Schakel turns to the writing of Lewis on topics concerning the formation of Christians and what he does is provide a "digest" of Lewis's writing around each topic from his letters, fiction, and non-fiction books and essays. The topics are:
Is Your Lord Large Enough?
God's Time and Our Time
The Meaning of Prayer
What Can We Pray For?
God's Grace and Our Goodness
Keeping Love Alive
Why We Need The Church
Keeping Things Under Control
Making Sense Out of Suffering
Room for Doubt
Coming to an End
Picturing Heaven
In one sense, like so many books on the writing of C.S. Lewis, you can get all these things simply by reading Lewis, which I wholeheartedly recommend. Yet this work is a helpful one both for the person who has never read Lewis who wants to consider what he has to say on these topics as well as for one like me who has read Lewis but is happy to be reminded of things I'd seen and surprised by the things I've missed.
The chapters on prayer I found to be among the most insightful. The longer I go, the more true I find Lewis's statement on truly praying: "May it be the real I that speaks. May it be the real Thou that I speak to." So many problems I've had in prayer come of speaking from a "false self" and speaking to false perceptions of God. Perhaps the most challenging in his chapter on what we can pray for are his words on praying for enemies. Lewis prayed for Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini as well as more personal enemies as a regular practice.
"Keeping love alive" distills the wealth of insight on the "four loves" that one finds in Lewis both in the work by this title and in Till We Have Faces which explores what happens when we love inordinately. In his chapter on the church, Lewis anticipates contemporary authors like Rachel Held Evans in writing of his struggles to embrace the church only to discover that he needed both the sacrament and his neighbors in the pews. It is also here that Schakel discusses Lewis's warnings about seeking to be part of "inner rings".
Schakel summarizes Lewis's attempts to address some of the hardest challenges we face in terms of suffering and doubt. He calls attention to Lewis's belief that suffering in fact is God's way of getting our attention and breaking our illusions of self-sufficiency. He wisely counsels in terms of doubt that we should never try to make ourselves think or feel in a certain way, but simply to continue to live in the Way, both pursuing the questions honestly that we wrestle with and continuing to act in obedient faith in the things not in question.
His final chapters explore the matters of death and our everlasting hope. We see here perhaps more than anywhere how totally converted Lewis is in his unblinking and even joyous acceptance of the reality of death and the hope of resurrection beyond. And with this is the vivid reality of heaven, a world more real than our own, for Lewis.
Each chapter concludes with reflection questions. The book concludes with a brief biography of Lewis as well as a topical and chronological listing of Lewis's work and an extensive bibliography of other works on Lewis and his writing.
This book is currently out of print, according to the publisher, although available in e-book formats, or used via your bookseller or online. Given the spate of books on Lewis and his work, I can see how this one may be overlooked. I found it helpful for its insights into the work of Lewis, as well as into the life to which Lewis bore witness.
September 28, 2018
Lewis was a remarkable man who wrote extraordinarily well- this is a joy to read
Well referenced
Lewis' story itself is amazing- how his journey led him to such deep written work so meaningful it's lasted ages.
- every year you grow, you'll find me bigger.
read this
Well referenced
Lewis' story itself is amazing- how his journey led him to such deep written work so meaningful it's lasted ages.
- every year you grow, you'll find me bigger.
read this
February 13, 2021
Many good thoughts and things to reflect on
Read
July 3, 2023Grabbed this one on a whim at the library. It serves as a great overview for Lewis’s thoughts on a handful of subjects. It does not go into depth, but works well as a primer.
September 25, 2013
I didn't get too far into the book. I guess I just don't understand the rationale behind writing a book about what some one else said. I wanted to like it but I found myself wishing I could just take the time that I spent reading this book and use it to read the books that were being talked about. In many ways I wished Schakel had something to add to Lewis' commentary but I never came across anything that clarified, provoked, or challenged the way that C. S. Lewis can. In fairness, I don't think Schakel was looking to improve on anything said by Lewis but he didn't make any of it clearer or easier either so it seemed too much like a watered-down summary for my taste.
April 27, 2008
I've really enjoyed all the chapters I've read so far, and they've given me lots to think about and usually provide new perspectives, new ways of looking at things that I hadn't considered before.
I like how each chapter is on a different topic so you can pick up anywhere - such as on a subject that currently interests you. There are so many interesting topics to choose from. It's neat to see how various works and thoughts by Lewis relate to a given topic, and I also like the discussion questions at the end.
I like how each chapter is on a different topic so you can pick up anywhere - such as on a subject that currently interests you. There are so many interesting topics to choose from. It's neat to see how various works and thoughts by Lewis relate to a given topic, and I also like the discussion questions at the end.
September 3, 2011
Love love loved this book! It gave a lot of insite into Lewis's way of thinking about life, and more so after life. It stirred up some questions I had about my own views on Christianity as well as giving me insite into Lewis's. Although I don't agree with everything that Lewis believed, I do think the book is well worth reading.
May 9, 2012
A good look at several themes and ideas of Christian thought running through CS Lewis' books. At times the writing feels like an academic paper, especially with the cold, abrupt start the first two chapters seem to follow, but eventually the pacing evens out. Recommended for more serious fans of CS Lewis, or for those who've read more than The Chronicles of Naria or Mere Christianity.
July 24, 2009
This is a fabulous book. Whether you are new to faith or have been reading the Bible for years, this book has something for you. Mr. Schackel interjects the works of Lewis at the end of each chapter, which I really liked. I read it twice and will probably read it again some day.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews