Diary of an Addict

Perelandra by C.S. Lewis

I just finished reading Perelandra by C.S. Lewis and I have to say it is a wonderful read!  Perelandra is the second installment in a science fiction trilogy that C.S. Lewis wrote in the 1940’s – long before he got around to creating the Narnia series.

As is the case with the Narnia books, C.S. Lewis’s trilogy of science fiction books is an allegory for Christian beliefs.  In this universe created by C.S. Lewis, the Earth is not the only inhabited planet in our solar system.  Mars and Venus are also inhabited by intelligent life and the same God that is working His creation and redemption in us is also responsible for the life on these other two planets.  Mars (which is covered in the first book – Out of the Silent Planet), is a world that is older than ours and represents a society that did not experience “the Fall” as has been our history on Earth.

Venus (a/k/a Perelandra) is a much younger planet than ours.  In fact, the society on Venus is at the very early stages of salvation history and is currently embodied by a single man and a single woman (another Adam & Eve).  The hero in the story of Perelandra is an academic man from Earth (Dr. Ransom) who, after an accidental trip to Mars, has now been sent to Venus by one of God’s angels.  Ransom arrives on Venus at the same time that Satan has arrived (in the body of another man from earth).  And so Ransom will be present for Satan’s attempt to entice the Eve of that planet to go beyond the limits God has set out for her.

It is interesting to note that C.S. Lewis’s profession at this time is a literary scholar at Oxford.  He is not a theologian, rather he specializes in medievil literature.  And, more interesting, one of the works that he spent a great deal of time on (and wrote a study of) was Milton’s Paradise Lost.  All of this was accomplished before C.S. Lewis converted to Christianity.

In Perelandra, we are the happy recipients of the knowledge of one of England’s brightest literary scholars applied to understanding Christianity and the problem of sin within the world of a well-crafted story.  The dialogue C.S. Lewis creates between Satan and the new Eve is both disturbing and enlightening.  Disturbing because of how effective the arguments are and how you find yourself nodding in agreement.

Ultimately, the history on Venus goes a different direction than the one experienced here on Earth.  The Queen of that world avoids the temptations proferred by Satan and the whole planet is thus able to take the next step in the progression that all of creation is making towards unity with the Creator.  The Adam and Eve of Venus also attain knowledge, but they attain their through receptivity and obedience rather than through grasping and self-reliance.

An amazing story!!  I can’t wait to read the final installment – That Hideous Strength.