Religion and Theology

Many believers can certainly remember their uneasiness upon first coming across the invective language portrayed in the Book of the Psalms. Their uneasiness may have come due to their disbelief at the occasional self-righteousness of the Psalmists, or due to a general sense of confused wonderment at the Old Testament and how it is understood by the present day Christians. In spite of the extensive reasonable clarifications available to them, some believers, however, are usually doubtful at how the clear shortcomings they recognize when reading the Old Testament can be merged with their deeply held conviction that the Bible is in fact the inspired Word of God. The internationally renowned writer, C.S. Lewis (1898-1963), experienced the same problems and he decided to pen down his thoughts in a thought provoking little book referred to as Reflections on the Psalms. The book is written with customary grace and insight and it addresses several questions that modern readers of the Psalms usually ask.

Even though some people may not agree with the position that Mr. Lewis is taking in the book, he respond to the problems that Christians are facing in an honest, brilliant, accessible, and, in several ways, comforting. For example, in the first sentence of the book, Lewis categorically says that, this is not a work of scholarshipI write for the unlearned about the things in which I am unlearned myself.  As much as these statements may be difficult to be accepted from a man of such caliber and from a book that is incisive, he continues with his eight-page chapter by providing vivid illustrations to back up his argument. The author applies this familiar approach throughout the book by moving from one aspect of the Psalms to another. Even though he does not move in any particular order, he integrates all the elements of the book by clarifying his thoughts on every topic discussed. Although his frequent use of Anglican terms may be difficult to comprehend for unbelievers, he expertly achieves what he set to do in this book.

An issue that occupies Lewis until the end of the book concerns not so much about the Psalms themselves, but the intentions to which they have been put in Christian prayer, liturgy, as well as theology. This is not in reference to the practice of reading texts from the Book of Psalms, or even just particular texts of the Psalms, when referring to Jesus. The author refers to this issue as the problem of second meanings. Such vivid explanations may at times strike the modern reader as capricious and sophistical and some may be attempted to totally dismiss the practice. However, the author says that dismissing the practice is rather premature since Jesus himself endorsed it in some instances when he applied certain verses in the Psalms to himself. Whereas most of Lewis readers may not see the necessity of this discussion, the majority of his most trusted fans, composing of the conservative American Evangelicals, would certainly see the reality of this.

In the book, Lewis points out a number of problems he has faced or the joys he has gained when reading the Psalms. He explains that the Psalms are poems, which are meant to be sung, not doctrinal treatises or sermons to be used in worship. He goes ahead with his characteristic grace and guides the readers through both the form and the meaning of these beloved verses found in the inspired Word of God. Therefore, to the seminary student, this book helps him or her to become accustomed to the critical review of the Scriptures by other people.

The book addresses a common difficulty for a modern Christian praying the Psalms concerning the prevalence of curses, angry outbursts, as well as the Psalmists occasional longing for his enemies to meet a sad death. The author points out that this is true in some passages in the Psalms such as in chapter 143 however, it is in reflections on how these passages were written that he finds fault in man. This implies that the injury caused to the psalmist is far worse for creating a new temptation or, worse still, a new sin in the life of another, and he argues that the reaction of the psalmist to injury is equally wrong though it is a natural reaction.

In this book, Lewis also reminds his audience, lay Bible readers, about a number of other issues that relate to the Christian faith. He talks about nature imagery in the Book of Psalms and its difference from the other ancient sources. He goes ahead to discuss how the difference indicates the theological distinctiveness of the Jewish people. The author analyses on what the Psalms teaches about death. Furthermore, the book addresses the concerns some people may have about the Psalms frequent injunctions to give praises to God.

Similar to Reflections on the Psalms, Praying the Psalms by Thomas Merton (1915-1968) gives the reader several ideas on worship and getting more from the Book of the Psalms. As opposed to Lewis who seemed to be addressing only the Anglicans, in this book Merton seems to be addressing only the Roman Catholics. Similar to Lewis, Merton centers the book on Jesus and the church, but he extract teachings about the Psalms from Saint Augustine and Saint Ambrose. Just as Lewis addressed the issue on how the Psalms have been misplaced in Christian prayer, liturgy, and theology, Merton points out that the laity should engage in appropriate ways of praying the psalms in order to avoid using them as doctrinal treatises or sermons.

In contrast to Reflections on the Psalms, this book delves into the life of people and groups in relation to the different categories of the Psalms. The book mainly focuses on preparing the devout to start cultivating the interior life by upholding Mary, the mother of Jesus, as a model worthy of emulation. Comparable to Lewis, Merton also gives a vivid explanation on why praising God is important for the Christian by asserting that, in doing so, the Christian can help sense and cultivate an appreciation for Gods love for him or her. In Praying the Psalms, Merton explains how individuals can draw out the richness of worship from the Psalter and uses it in living godly lives, for example, he says, the best way to praise God is to seek the way of praise in the Scriptures of God. All of these two books assist one to focus and comprehend the Book of Psalms by relating the teachings therein to the modern world issues.

In Lewis Reflections on the Psalms, a number of strengths are noticeable. To begin with, his writing style is gentle and easy. This strength enables a person with little more than a passing interest in the material to comprehend the theme of the book completely. Second, he does an admirable work in explaining every point that he had by giving plenty of relevant examples to support his arguments.

Third, he manifests a broad knowledge of history and this gets the reader closer such that he or she can hear the Psalms as they were meant to be heard. Fourth, the author acknowledges other alternatives about the origin of the Bible but always turns back to God as its author. However, he does this in a way that his reader does not easily realize what he has done. Finally, the strength of the book is evident by the way the author portrayed his uncompromising commitment in addressing the most complex problems facing modern readers of the Psalms. Lewis the professor did not permit himself to opt for easier alternatives or to paint over the problems with a pious language.

Discussing about the weaknesses of Reflections on the Psalms is a little easier since the book was written more than a half a century ago. Lewis starts by saying that the piece of writing is not a work of scholarship. This is not true because has he explains in his discussion about second meanings in chapter ten, maybe he did not want it to be scholarly work. However, the work could be undoubtedly be beneficial when used as a primer to a host of topics, both Christian and secular alike. Even in his time, his choice of language raises many questions for example, instead of using the term prig, thief would have been much easier to understand by his first readers and the readers who would get interested in his book later. Even though such words were common in his time, he could have benefitted the readers by using less technical terms throughout the book. Perhaps after lecturing at Oxford University for so long, he did not want to dumb down his literary skills.

Another weakness in this piece of writing is seen especially when the author is addressing two most difficult problems the cursing psalms (chapter III) and those whereby the psalmist expresses hatred to Gods enemies (chapter III). Certainly, the professor is right to avoid easy answers We must not either try to explain away or to yield for one moment to the idea that, because it comes in the Bible, all this vindictive hatred must somehow be good and pious. It is evident that in addressing these issues, Lewis painted the picture worse and, worse still, ignored some fundamental ameliorating factors.

Even though Lewis was not a strict inerrantist, his thoughts on the inspired Word of God are more common with traditional, conservative beliefs than with any current, liberal opinions that disregard the Bibles holiness, divine inspiration, or authority. If nothing else, he asserts that the divine inspiration written in the Scriptures is infallible. In the book, Lewis supports his personal opinions by advocating for a way of reading the Bible that acknowledges the human aspects of its authorship without diluting its inherently divine nature and purpose. This is evident as he steers his readers back to God throughout the book. The laymen, preachers, faithful Christians, the general public, seminary students, and those casually interested in Christianity would all do well by taking some time in reading this awesome book.