In the essay, Learning in Wartime, C. S. Lewis discusses the validity of the academic life while there is a war on. I found this to be a very helpful piece, since we are at war, and I have thought about whether I should be pursuing a career in the military rather than going to college. Lewis answers the question by putting it off. He says that war does not really change the realities of life. “But there is no question of death or life for any of us; only a question of this death or of that – of a machine gun bullet now or a cancer forty years later. What does war do to death? It certainly does not make it more frequent; 100 per cent of us die, and the percentage cannot be increased.” Since we will all die, the real question ought to be how can we pursue learning and culture when we are “creatures who are every moment advancing either to heaven or to hell”.
The gist of his argument is expressed when he says, “You are not, in fact, going to read nothing, either in the Church or in the line: if you don't read good books you will read bad ones. If you don't go on thinking rationally, you will think irrationally. If you reject aesthetic satisfactions you will fall into sensual satisfactions.” He uses his own experience in the trenches of world war one to support this, “that the nearer you got to the front line the less everyone spoke and thought of the allied cause and the progress of the campaign”. It has been said that man is a rational animal, but I think that it might be more correct to say that he is a cultural animal. No matter the circumstances, we always are creating culture, Lewis, as usual, says it well; “They propound mathematical theorems in beleaguered cities, conduct metaphysical arguments in condemned cells, make jokes on a scaffold, discuss the last new poem while advancing to the walls of Quebec, and comb their hair at Thermopylae.” Culture and learning are intrinsic parts of man, so they do not disappear when the reality of death is made evident.
I found it helpful to be reminded that we can not put off culture making until the world is safe, or stable, or good, partly because we never attain that state. We cannot perfect the world, neither can we eliminate out need for the unpractical things that make up culture.
I like how you said " Culture and learning are intrinsic parts of man, so they do not disappear when the reality of death is made evident" it reminds me of something else that was in the article. It was when Lewis talked about how some of us are given a hearty appetite for learning. We are to follow that and go to school to be properly educated so we can use our desire for learning to help others learn as well.
ReplyDeleteVery good thoughts here. I would agree that I wonder if I should have just gone into the world to do "something worthwhile." Yet God has me here, which means that he wants me to learn so that hopefully when I (we) get out into the world, we will be better equipped to bring the kingdom of heaven to the earth.
ReplyDeleteGreat post I think we do need to quench our thirst for knowledge, and if you are questioning if you need to pursue a military career, Calvin offers ROTC program. So you both be a student and a soldier. :) Just a thought.
ReplyDeleteExcellent points. It seems tough to validate studying when there is so much pain in the world, but I agree that we cannot put off culture making until the pain is eradicated; for until God Himself perfects the world, it will not happen.
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