Let’s Bust a Recap : Miracles

Y'all. For the life of me, I tried to make this picture live so you could see the steam curling up out of that mug, but I can not do it. Your girl is stuck in the 20th century, and 97% of the time, I'm happy to stay there, but why couldn't this picture just do the little loopy thing it does on my phone and look all cute and cozy and steamy? 

It's fine. We're over it and we're moving on. 

Miracles by C.S. Lewis was originally published in 1947 and revised in 1960, and the book covers the probability of whether Christian miracles recorded in the Bible really happened. While Lewis does talk about a lot of the principal New Testament miracles in this book, the bulk of his argument stems from the question of whether miracles are even logically possible from a philosophical point of view. Once establishing that, he then covers actual recorded miracles in the last three chapters. 

And it's all brilliant. Even though a good two-thirds of this book is spent in defining terms and clarifying the difference between a "naturalist" and a "supernaturalist", every word is worth its weight in gold. I'm sure I'm getting to sound like a broken record when it comes to Lewis, but I'm just always so dumbfounded by how smart he was. I'm certainly not the only one. English theatre critic and writer and one of Lewis' contemporaries Kenneth Tynan expressed his admiration for Lewis' genius saying, "If I were ever to stray into the Christian camp, it would be because of Lewis' arguments as expressed in books like Miracles." I can't think of much higher praise than that. Whether or not you agree with Lewis' beliefs, you have to respect the logic of his arguments. He is one of the most thorough thinkers and writers I've ever had the privilege of reading. He always follows a thought all the way through and argues it from every possible viewpoint. I always feel smarter and dumber after I've read something he's written. It's a gift. 

There are also two appendices at the end of this book, and the second one—"On 'Special Providences'"—is worth the price of the whole book. In it, Lewis details the value of prayer and this dovetailed so nicely with A Praying Life by Paul Miller which I also read last year. If you happen to be browsing a bookstore and you come across a copy of Miracles, flip to the back and just read Appendix B. You won't be sorry.

I hope C.S. Lewis pops out of the TBR Jar at some point this year. I think I threw his Space Trilogy in there, but it's hard to remember what all I put in that thing. Are there any authors you read that somehow manage to make you feel smarter and dumber all at once?