Great souls often need to be honed in pain before they can be cast. Similarly, only those who have experienced pain are qualified to interpret the mystery of pain.
C.S. Louis (1898— 1963) is a versatile English writer in the 20th century. At the age of 26, he became a chair of Oxford University and was praised as "the greatest Oxford man" by contemporary people. 1954 was hired by Cambridge University as a professor of English language in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, and this title remained until his retirement.
In his life, he accomplished three very different careers:
? First of all, he is an outstanding literary historian and critic at Oxford and Cambridge universities. His representative works are The History of Oxford English Literature16th Century Volume.
? Second, popular science fiction writers and children's literature writers, whose representative works include Space Trilogy and Narnia Legend Seven.
? The third is a popular Christian theologian and orator, whose representative works include Pilgrim's Return, Letter from Hell, Return to Nature, Four Kinds of Love and so on. He wrote more than 30 books in his life, including academic works, novels, poetry collections and fairy tales. He has huge supporters all over the world. Today, his works continue to attract thousands of new readers every year.
? 1898165438+1October 29th, Louis was born in the eastern suburb of Belfast. He is the youngest son in the family, with a brother on it. My father is a successful lawyer. He is surly and stern, and his career is more important than his wife and children. My mother is an excellent mathematician, of French descent, gentle, lively and unique in doing things.
? 1905 In April, the Louis family moved to Litoli and lived in a spacious red brick house. Through the window of the small room upstairs, you can see St. Kyle's church. Catholic servants and Protestant Presbyterian governesses often appear in this house, and my father also donated silverware for the Eucharist to the church.
? His parents are Protestants and take him to church every Sunday. He finds preaching boring. When he grew up, he was very alienated from Christianity.
1908 In August, three months before Louis 10' s birthday, his mother died of cancer. It was the first heavy snow in his life, and all his happiness, tranquility and comfort disappeared. He hates empty funerals and complains that God doesn't listen to his prayers for his mother's recovery. During this time, he listened carefully and prayed every night. However, he was in trouble, and an idea from Satan interfered with his prayer, which he called "false conscience"; No matter how many times he prayed, his thoughts were not enough, and he was asked whether he kept thinking about the contents of the prayer during the prayer and then denied it. So, he prayed repeatedly, even lost sleep, and fell into the torment of thinking and the battle of thinking.
? Father was extremely sad and decadent. Regardless of the temperature, he often forbids to open the window at home, making his two sons eat a lot of hot food at noon on a hot summer day and teaching them long and difficult Latin words. This made the two brothers feel pessimistic and depressed. Soon, their father sent them to a boarding school in England.
? The headmaster of boarding school is cold and violent, and often uses this as an excuse to whip students. Louis called this school a concentration camp in his autobiography. The school was later forced to close. He studied in the school for nearly two years and attended the service of St. John's Catholic Church. This church only pays attention to the solemnity of external ceremonies. Louis didn't like candles, incense and vestments there, but he came into contact with the basic teachings of Christianity from his sermons. Later, Louis left Wayne Yard, and his teaching didn't last long.
? 19 10, Louis returned to the boarding school of Campbell University in Belfast. A year later, she went to Malvern College in England to study. Teacher Wei, the invigilator in the girls' dormitory, often takes care of and comforts the injured boys and gives Louis a lot of care and warmth. However, she herself is obsessed with mysticism, Roscoe thought and spiritualism. Her way of pursuing religion and spiritualism is very unique and exciting. In contrast, the traditional Christian teachings accepted by Louis are rigid and boring. He not only lost his faith, but also lost his original virtue and childlike innocence. One of the main factors that prevented Louis from returning to faith was "contempt for time". He indiscriminately followed the ideological environment of intellectuals at that time and rejected outdated dogmas. After returning to Christ, he pointed out that we must find out whether people can refute these doctrines when the world thinks they are out of date. He made great progress in his studies in malvin, but he wrote to ask his father to take him away. He is super intelligent, unsociable and holds pagan views, which is incompatible with the conservative atmosphere of public schools that emphasizes collectivization and standardization. Father agreed.
19 14, Louis went to Buckham and began to study literature and philosophy in Latin, Greek, French, German and Italian under the guidance of personal tutor William kirkpatrick. Kirkpatrick is an atheist and a rationalist. In Louis's eyes, he is a "pure logical entity", with a quiet sense of humor, calmness, good temper and energy, and a great person. He cultivated Louis' rigorous logical thinking ability, and his rationalism also deeply influenced Louis. Louis spent all day reading, discussing with the teacher and walking in the country. This time is very comfortable, quiet and full of fun.
? Under the careful guidance of the teacher, Louis won a scholarship and entered Oxford University in 19 16. At that time, he took the initiative to join the army during World War I, and the war had a great influence on him. In the trenches in northern France, he met his Irish comrade Moore. No matter who dies, survivors are responsible for taking care of each other's families.
? Trenches are wet, smelly, bloody and full of bacteria carried by parasites. Due to infection and poor medical conditions, minor trauma may lead to death. The no-man's land between the trenches of the warring parties is littered with unidentified bodies and dying survivors, just like disabled insects. Sometimes the two sides reached an agreement to temporarily cease fire and transport the wounded. He endured inner pain and constantly experienced the death of his comrades-in-arms, which made him question the existence of God even more. At this time, he began to write his first book, Bound Soul. In the diary of 192 1 June 18, Louis recorded how he woke up from inexplicable pain with tears in his eyes.
? 1965438+In March 2008, his best comrade-in-arms Moore was killed.
? 1965438+On May 25th, 2008, Louis returned to England with a depressed heart and three wounds injured by shell fragments, and was admitted to a hospital in London for treatment. He fell into post-war traumatic depression. Louis wrote to ask his father to come to see him, but his father didn't come. This indifferent reaction gave young Louis a great blow.
? In fact, my father's condition has been very bad since my mother died. By 19 18, he began to drink at least one bottle of whisky every night. At this time, Moore's mother came to the hospital and the two accepted each other. Louis moved to live with Mrs Moore and her daughter Maureen, and lived there for more than 30 years until Mrs Moore died.
? 19 19, after the war, Louis returned to Oxford to continue his studies and published his first work, Bound Soul. This book embodies his atheistic views at that time. 192 1 year, his teacher kirkpatrick passed away, which made him feel sad.
? From 1920 to 1923, Louis received three first-class degrees in Greek Latin literature, philosophy and ancient history, and English linguistics from Oxford University.
? 1925, he got the position of English Language and Literature Lecturer at Oxford University, and since then, he has been teaching for 29 years. From 65438 to 0926, he published a long narrative poem "Daimore", with the theme of dreams and self-deception, which revealed the pain caused by war more directly and comprehensively. In this long poem, Louis launched a fierce attack on Christianity, thinking that Christian belief is equivalent to surrealism and idealism. According to rationalism, he always thought that the real world was dark and empty, but he read dignity, truth, goodness, beauty and immortality in novels and poems. The conflict between them delayed his recovery, but he hoped that the human desires expressed in literary works could be satisfied.
? 1926 In May, when the English Department held a meeting at Merton College, Tolkien, a scholar, caught Louis' attention. Louis once said that he never believed in Catholics and philosophers, and Tolkien happened to have both identities. Both of them were keen to talk about and read Nordic myths and legends, and soon became close friends. Louis didn't believe in miracles, but Tolkien did. Louis knew, an atheist, once commented that the historical authenticity of the Gospels of the Bible is quite high, and it seems that it did happen once. Louis thought, now that the stubborn atheist's point of view has loosened, what should he do?
? By 1929, Louis and Tolkien began to meet regularly and talk about poems, myths and books written by each other. For countless nights, Louis wandered alone in the room of Magdalene College. From time to time, his thoughts leave the work at hand and approach the God he doesn't want to meet.
? One day, Louis took a bus from Magdalene to Heidington and suddenly felt a door open for him. At that moment, he accepted God. However, this is only a change from atheism to theism, and he has not fully accepted Christ.
? 1965438+On September 24th, 2009, my father Albert passed away. Louis is very sad. He thinks that his bad relationship with his father is mainly his responsibility. He felt that his father seemed to be alive and concerned about him, and he began to believe that the soul was immortal, which prompted him to take the initiative to consult Bible verses and begin to participate in church activities.
? 1930, Louis joined the literary society, which has many famous Christian scholars and its activities lasted for 16 years.
? On Saturday, September 193 19, 19, several scholars went to Louis' room for several hours. They talked about history, myths and legends, Christian beliefs and Jesus recorded in the four gospels.
? The pagan myth is an obstacle to Louis' return to God. He loved Nordic mythology since he was a child and felt that pagan mythology had many similarities with Christianity. The pagan gods also came to earth and died. He believes that the Bible says that God came to earth and died on the cross for mankind. This is just a myth, and the myth is a legend, not a fact, and there is no sufficient reason to prove that Christianity is a true belief. Several scholars told him that the death of the gods in pagan mythology was a glimpse of the truth through imagination and expressed this mysterious desire in myths and legends, all of which happened two thousand years ago. It is an indisputable fact that Jesus is a real person, born in Bethlehem and Judea, and is the son of God. Many non-Christian documents recorded his life. Through this long talk, Louis solved many problems of faith that had troubled him since he was a child, and learned that the incarnation of Christianity provided a true historical answer to the proposition of the death of God in many cultures.
A few days later, Louis rode his brother's motorcycle to wisner Zoo. He didn't believe in Christ when he set out, but he did when he arrived. A great soul, often through ideological struggle and suffering, can be cast, just like St. Augustine.
? That year, Louis was 33.
? From 19 12 to 193 1 year, after 18 years, Louis turned from atheism to Christianity and became a faithful servant of God, a theologian and writer full of courage and wisdom. When World War II broke out, my brother Werny was drafted into the army. But he only stayed in the army for 1 1 month, and then he went home because of illness. Louis was 40 years old when the war started. According to British law, men under 4 1 must perform military service. However, the government specifically allowed him to stay in Oxford. In order to serve his country, he joined the part-time National Guard, ready to fight in a large-scale Nazi attack. He gave a speech at the BBC and took an active part in the activities of the Oxford community.
? 1940 The publication of The Mystery of Pain has brought shock to countless people. 194 1 Became the president of Socrates Club of Oxford University, which is an open forum to pay attention to intellectuals' religious beliefs, especially Christianity.
? By 1942, Louis had become a famous Christian speaker. Louis left Oxford on 1954 to become a professor at Cambridge university. Soon he returned to Oxford.
1On April 23rd, 956, he went through the legal formalities, married the divorced American Jewish poetess Joey Davidman, and helped her to stay in Britain. He thinks this is not a marriage in the eyes of God, so there is no marriage if two people live separately. After the examination, Joey developed bone cancer. At that time, Louis was deeply in love with this clever woman.
? 1957 March 2 1 day, they were in front of the hospital bed and asked the priest to preside over the Christian wedding ceremony. Louis still had to face hardships in his later years. Joey died on July 1960. Louis used words to remember his dead wife, and completed a long mourning note "Qing Qing Ru Wu". Louis wrote this in those "heartbreaking midnight" when he lost his beloved wife. "Dancing with Love" is Louis's deep thinking on life themes such as life and death, loss and reconstruction of trust, including his deep, sincere and frank reflection on that sad time; At the same time, it is also a delicate record of the real person's mental journey, showing his struggle to doubt the meaning of life in the face of suffering, and also reappearing the traces of his life how to return to faith, bear the burden of humiliation and run in heaven. Since its publication, this book has attracted thousands of readers all over the world with its delicate language and sincere and strong feelings, and has become a "good medicine" for treating people's mental pain. Some people say that this is by far the best work to discuss sadness.
After burying his wife, Louis wrote an autobiography, Surprise and Joy. In the third year after his wife died, that is,1963165438+1October 22nd, he finally walked a rich and difficult life path.
? In The Mystery of Pain, Louis touched on the essence of pain. "Pain is an evil that can be immediately detected and cannot be ignored. We can rely on our own sins and stupidity with satisfaction; For example, a glutton wolfed down a table of delicious dishes, but he didn't know what he was eating. Anyone who sees this picture must admit that we even ignored the fun. However, pain can never be ignored. When we indulge in pleasure, God will whisper to us; When our conscience finds out, God will speak to us. When we are in pain, God will shout to us: Pain is God's megaphone, which is used to wake up this groggy world. He pointed out that pain is a mystery that we humans cannot fully understand. It is meaningless to make a fuss about pain itself, which must be discussed in Christian thought. Pain includes several levels: human sin leads to pain, and when people intentionally or unintentionally violate God, they will suffer for sin; God awakens people's hearts through pain and makes people seek and approach God. God uses suffering to create suffering and shape their character. The Tao became flesh, and Jesus Christ came into the world, crucified and suffering from human suffering. After the introduction, Louis discussed the omnipotence and goodness of God. When God created human beings, he gave them free will. With free will, people can choose good or evil.
? Then, he discussed how sin entered the world from Adam, how human sin caused the suffering of the world, why guilty and innocent people and helpless animals suffered, and what was the final punishment-hell. However, for Christians, pain is God's tool to achieve complex goodness. After discussing the mystery of pain, the seventh chapter of this book discusses the mystery of happiness-happiness in heaven, which is an essential chapter.
In a word, pain has a profound mystery, and it may also be a special form of God's great love, which makes our soul return and self-return, and also makes us realize the existence of some evil. In fact, God's love for a person is not only beneficial, but also gives people difficulties or pains, and even drives people into a desperate situation. Only those who are desperate will really break themselves, get out of themselves, and then look up at infinity. The faith thus established is firm, and the connection with God is from the heart.
? The same pain also provides opportunities for heroism, because the place of pain is often the place where wings are born. As Nietzsche said, "People who can't kill you will make you stronger." And this power itself is grace, because once you die, you will not be afraid of life, you will love life, cherish every day you live, count the remaining scenes, know the meaning of life and understand the direction of your soul.
? The following are some quotations from the original text of the book to share with readers-
All living things are interdependent, which is an established arrangement. For lower organisms, this predation process for survival means death, while higher organisms have a new thing, that is, sensory awareness, and pain exists with sensory awareness. The pain of life is innate, and living things have to suffer if they want to survive, and most of them die in pain. Most advanced creatures, such as humans, also have a quality, which is judgment. Therefore, people can foresee their own pain. After that, the pain of sharp thinking comes first, and people can foresee their own death, so they long for eternal life. Therefore, people have invented various ingenious tricks to inflict pain on similar and irrational creatures, which far exceeds the pain inflicted by other means. They took this ability to the extreme. Human history has recorded all kinds of crimes, wars, diseases and horrors. Of course there is enough happiness. When happiness exists, people are afraid of losing it. Once happiness is lost, people will suffer from the memory of happiness. People often strive to improve their situation, so what we call "civilization" was born. However, all civilizations will disappear, and some civilizations, even if they survive, will bring unique suffering, far exceeding their digestion of universal human suffering. Since our own civilization is so, no one can deny it; Then, every civilization will inevitably die out like the previous one. What if there is a civilization that should not be extinct? Species are doomed to extinction. Different species formed in various parts of the universe will definitely become extinct; Because we know that the universe will gradually dry up and appear as a unified and infinite low-temperature single substance. All stories will go up in smoke: in the end, all life is just a short and meaningless distortion on the stupid shell of infinite matter. If you want me to believe that all this is done by a merciful and omnipotent God, I will say that all this evidence is counterproductive.
? Love may bring pain to the loved one, but it will only happen when the loved one needs to change himself and become completely lovely.
? Time can't cover up evil deeds at all, nor can it erase guilt. Only repentance and the blood of Christ can wash away guilt: if we are willing to admit these crimes committed in our early years, we will engrave the price of tolerating our sins in our hearts and remain humble. Is there anything that can cover up the crime itself? In the eyes of God, any time period is eternal. Can't this ubiquitous and ever-present God see everything about you along a certain timeline? He will always know that when you were a child, you plucked the thin wings of flies, how flattering, lying and greedy you were at school, and sometimes you were timid and arrogant, just like an army lieutenant. Perhaps, God's salvation is not to erase these eternal fragments, but to make you feel guilty, so as to obtain the perfection of human nature, rejoice because of God's mercy, and be satisfied because of repentance.
? Not all animals are as cruel to their own kind as people, not all animals are as greedy and lustful as we are, and no animal is as ambitious as we are.
Since man separates himself from the source of existence, he also separates himself from the source of ability.
Giving yourself completely to God is bound to experience pain: to achieve this behavior perfectly, you must completely obey, give up your will, or endure your will.
Pain itself is not a good thing. The advantage of experiencing pain is that those who suffer will obey God's will, bystanders will have compassion, and compassion will develop into well-meaning help.