“A Question of God: Selected Poems” by Andtew Jantz: Main Aspects

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What the Author Mean When He Says That We All Possess a World View and the World View of Lewis and Freud

Lewis and Freud both have contradicting views on the world about religion and their belief in God. The difference is coming out in consideration of their spiritual standing. As much as Lewis is a staunch believer and supporter of the bible, Freud seems to be torn in between and bears the title of an atheist. According to Lewis, God is the sovereign creator of everything in the world and hence possesses the greatest power and authority. Even though certain people claim that the world was just there, they have no clear evidence to prove that there was no sovereign power behind such creations. Lewis believes that there is a truth about God and the bible that the rest of the world is trying to deny (Nicholi, p. 76). He recognizes the need of the people to critically study the bible for them to have a clear understanding of what it means. The denial of the truth is probably because of the complexities that the world is finding in reading the bible which is due to a lack of patience. People are looking out for shortcuts and means through which they can find answers to their questions simply because they do not want to believe in the existence of God.

Freud on the other hand believes that Christianity is a cocoon that people who are not interested in facts are hiding in. According to him, there is no truth without facts and he hence believes that science has a lot to give when it comes to elaborating facts. He looks at the bible as an ancient book whose principles may not be applicable in the ever-changing world. He cautions against some of the religious practices that people engage in and advises them to be realistic with life. As much as religion may offer a consolation of some sought, it can not be used as a means of escaping and missing out on certain life issues. According to the author, every individual has free will, they are hence free to feel and think the way they want and make their decisions as per what is convincing to them.

The Connection between Catholicism and Freud’s World View and His Experience and View of Anti- Semitism

Catholicism is viewed to be a major religion in Christianity considering its historical backgrounds; there are however certain beliefs and doctrines about Catholicism that have been viewed to be against true biblical teachings. There are some general teachings that the Catholic Church embraces which may be viewed to have some secular connotations. It is basically for this reason that Freud’s view of secularism has a connection with Catholicism (Ryelandt, 134). Freud had some catholic background that did not give him real satisfaction, he was however inclined to the religion because of the respect he had towards his nanny. However after he lost her, he decided to pursue some other realistic teachings that would probably grant him a clear explanation of the unfolding events.

As per his experience, while growing up, Freud had a lot of issues with the gentiles. They view them as people that are against Judaism due to some of their religious practices. Freud is a Jew that lived in an environment that was dominated by the gentiles, this hence made them treat them unfairly based on the fact that they superseded them in numbers. He raises concern on how the Jews have been misunderstood and hence discriminated against by the gentiles. This was also contributed by the complexity of life that his father had put himself into. He viewed his son as one that lacked the aggressive nature that was required for the Jews young men. Amidst all this, he was trying to figure out the correct path between the two that the father had adapted which would give him clear and satisfactory answers. It was due to the trust that the father lacked in him and the pressure around that increased his quest for knowledge. He found a lot of relief in science as it granted him the facts for every question that he had.

The “Oedipus Theory”

The Oedipus theory was derived from an ancient story whereby a king by the name of Oedipus who had lost contact with his parents long ago came back to the village. The boy was given away to be killed due to a disturbing prophecy that had been received concerning him. In fulfillment of the prophecy which stated that the boy would kill his father and marry his mother came to pass following some mysterious happenings. The theory is usually used to signify that the boys have a certain level of attraction towards their mothers that may create jealousy among their husbands. Oedipus’s father could not stand the fact that his son would kill him simply because he was attracted to the mother. Such a statement was also unwelcoming to the mother who supported the idea of having the son to be killed during his infancy.

Instead of personally killing Oedipus, the parents handed him over to their servant boy with a command that he should kill him. However, due to the human nature of the servant, he chose to give the boy out to another servant who sold him to another couple. The boy was brought up without a clear knowledge of who the parents were. As he attained a certain age, the servant that sold him to the couple decided to give him the details of his birth and revealed to him that he had been brought up by foster parents. He is a king at the moment decided to go on an epic journey in search of his parents. On his way, he met a man who was unknown to him was his father. He killed him on the spot as he viewed him as an obstacle to his journey. On reaching the village, he encountered the mother who was mourning the death of his husband. He fell in love with her and after having asexual affair, the reality of the prophecy dawned on both of them.

How Loss Affect Lewis and Freud in their Early Childhood

Before Lewis experienced the transformation that defined his later life, he was an atheist. This was due to his childhood experiences where he lost his mother and the fact that he was taken to Christian boarding schools where he was abused. He lost trust in Christianity and religious leaders whom he viewed as a contradiction of what he preached. He was completely against Christianity and more so towards people that prophase to be believers (Paynter, p. 143). Christianity and the existence of God made no sense to him. He had grown up believing that there is nothing else that can be done to a situation other than struggle it out. The belief that people had in suggesting that God was able to do and accomplish certain things for them had no meaning. He knew that he had to work out things himself if he had to succeed. He relied much more on what he had learned and knew and refused to give chance to the biblical principles. However, while at Oxford, he had an experience that completely changed his life; he came to realize his folly and understood that there was surely a supernatural being behind every happening. He got a revelation that has been the basis of his writings since then.

Freud on the other hand was born a Jew and hence embraced a lot of religious beliefs. He was taught to understand that there was a supreme being that cared much about them which drew him more towards Christianity. His greatest inspiration was his nanny who taught him much about Roman Catholicism. This made him have an interest in the catholic and hence adapting their religious beliefs. However, with time, his nanny passed on and was hence left all alone. It was at this point in life that he had a lot of questions about the existence of God. He became bitter about God whom he thought would have saved his nanny from death. This was so considering the strong belief that he had towards Christianity. He decided to adopt science simply because the religion he was holding on dear to was not making any meaning to him. He came to find more reality in the facts that science offered rather than the biblical teachings of the bible.

Lewis Experience with Religion

Even though Lewis had an earlier attraction towards religion, this changed abruptly due to the experiences that he went through after his mother died. It was probably the most painful moment of his life. He was taken to catholic boarding schools where he was mostly under the care of religious priests. One would have expected that he receives the best treatment being in a Christian institution. This was however not meant to be, he was abused by the so-called priests who were supposed to protect and guide him. Nobody seemed to care about his plight as the very people that abused him taught inspiring biblical messages.

The teachings were very hard for him to take in and caused more bitterness within him. There was a question on exactly what God expected the priests to be. Being young, the priests made Christianity appear so false to him that he decided to do without it. This completely changed his attitude towards Christianity and anybody that bared the name of a believer (Nicholi, p. 203). He came to believe that there was no Christian who was walking the faith and looked at them as hypocrites. The last thing that Lewis wanted to do is live a life of hypocrisy and deception. He chose to embrace atheism rather than associate with people that were not living according to what they preached. All this was to however change as Lewis went to higher education levels. He had different experiences that challenged him back to the faith. He purposed to know and understand the truth about Christianity and the bible and live according to what he read and understood rather than rely on what other people said. He was also reminded of his background with her late mother that motivated him more towards Christianity.

Lewis Formal Education

Lewis’s formal education began after the loss of his mother. He was taken to catholic boarding schools whereby the teachings were based on biblical principles. Despite the other subjects that were taught in the institution, there was a strong emphasis on biblical teachings which the priests endeavored to feed their students. The bases of the teachings were meant to make them develop a closer relationship with God. They were meant to understand that there was nothing that mattered in this life rather than the knowledge they had about the word of God. These teachings did however not make any sense to Lewis, rather than causing him more pain. The same priests that were equipped with such inspirational messages were abusing him and showing no regard for human dignity (Jantz, p. 56). His experience in such schools did nothing better to him than draw him even far away from Christian beliefs.

Later on in life, Lewis was taken to a private school where he received private education. This happened until when he joined oxford where a major spiritual transformation took place. Lewis gave himself to the study of books which also included the bible. The abuses that he went through in his earlier schools started to fade away as he got a clear revelation about Christianity and the bible. He learned the truth that was found in the bible that could not be challenged by any other secular teachings. He recognized God as the supreme creator and the knowledge that all other teachings in the world were based on what had already been established. The purpose of science is mainly to make discoveries that had been made before.

A General Thought on the Reading

The reading on the question on God explains a clear view of how different categories of people chose their beliefs. Most people will usually take up the religion of their parents. In their innocence, they will take up everything that their parents and guardians teach them (Johnson, 95). However, as they grow up, they make a lot of discoveries that form a basis of their influence. They are encountered with different categories of people and societies that change their view on what they were taught when they were still young. Despite the changes that may take place in the life of an individual, the foundations that they were given when they were young remain to be a reference point. There is also a lot of truth about the Oedipus theory where the boys tend to trust more what their mothers believed in. Lewis and Freud went through a lot of challenges and years after the death of their mother figures, they still went back and embraced what they imparted on them.

Works cited

Jantz, Andrew. A Question of God: Selected Poems. California: Rivercross Pub., 1998.
Johnson, Paul. The Quest for God: A Personal Pilgrimage. Oxford: HarperPerennial, 1997.
Nicholi, Armand. The Question of God: C.S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud Debate God, Love, Sex, and the Meaning of Life. Oxford: Simon and Schuster, 2002.
Paynter, Gregory. Quest for God: the ancient alien lives. New York: Futuristic Publishers, 1993.
Ryelandt, Idesbald. The quest for God: a study in Benedictine spirituality. New York: Herder, 1959.

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