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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Lewis advise translators not to do in creating modern translations of the bible?

2. In Part IV, Letter 7, "The Church's Liturgy, Invocation, and Invocation of Saints", Lewis discusses the issue of the Church of England integrating some doctrines from what faith?

3. What is Lewis' opinion of church hymns?

4. In general, the efforts of figures from Nordic mythology would best be considered which of the following?

5. Lewis suggests that what viewpoint is necessary to accept the supremacy of reason?

Short Essay Questions

1. What kind of compulsions does Lewis argue against?

2. According to Lewis' writings in Part II, Essay 1, "Dangers of National Repentance", what dangers does national repentance present?

3. What theological reasons does Lewis give to reject the idea of women serving as priests?

4. What is the problem in the village described in Part IV, Letter 5, "A Village Experience"?

5. What reasons does Lewis give for being uninterested in hymns?

6. What practical reasons does Lewis give to reject the idea of women serving as priests?

7. What reasons does Lewis give to support the idea of women serving as priests?

8. What is Bulverism?

9. Explain one example of the problem with trying too hard to look at a problem "behind the scenes".

10. Why does Lewis find it important for everyone to read older texts?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Lewis recognizes the supreme importance of a human being's right to pursue happiness, but he loudly opposes anyone's explicit right to happiness itself.

1) Discuss the concepts of a "right to happiness" and a "right to pursue happiness" according to Lewis, and explain their differences.

2) Explain Lewis opinion regarding the importance of the right to pursue happiness within a free, democratic, and capitalist society.

3) Explain the way that Lewis believes that attempting to guarantee a right to happiness will lead inexorably to severe social problems.

Essay Topic 2

According to Lewis and the scholars he shares correspondence with, suffering appears to be nearly universal in the world. It is not difficult to find human suffering, even in wealthy first-world nations, and animals suffer both in the wild and in human captivity. These scholars agree that the problem of suffering is a significant and important one for Christians, who believe that God is loving and moreover, pure good.

1) Explain the argument that some use to explain how suffering shows that the Christian God does not exist.

2) Describe the counter-arguments made by Lewis and others on this subject, to show that suffering may be an important and necessary component of the world.

3) Assess whether or not suffering is inherently evil, and which position this quality of suffering supports.

Essay Topic 3

Lewis explains that self-love is a complicated subject for Christians. He states that Jesus' commandment to "love thy neighbor as yourself" is an important contribution of the faith, and it implicitly encourages love of the self. However, he suggests that Christians are also commanded to avoid excessive greed, worldliness, and other symptoms of self-love.

1) Explain the reasons that Lewis gives to suggest that Christians are conflicted over the subject of self love, and discuss why this conflict is more prevalent in Christianity than in other faiths.

2) Discuss some of the dangers that Lewis explains that Christians face in practicing either excessive or insufficient self-love.

3) Explain Lewis' opinion on the subject of self-love within Christianity and discuss the way that he believes Christians should resolve this problem.

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