On The Incarnation 1

Study Guide Questions for C. S. Lewis' Preface to On The Incarnation

If you are looking for the beginning of the study for Athanasius’ On The Incarnation then you can go HERE for a brief introduction. At the bottom of the introduction you will find the links to each section of the study guide. If you would like to see the growing list of book studies available for free on this site you can go HERE. Enjoy!

Virtues/Vices/Great Ideas: (Find them in the Text)

Appearance vs. Reality, Prudence, Perseverance, Fortitude

Grammar Questions: (The Information of the Text)

1. What “strange idea,” according to Lewis, do many people have about reading “ancient books?” 

2. Why is this strange idea “amiable” according to Lewis? 

3. What genre of literature does Lewis believe is most impacted by the “strange idea?” 

4. What analogy does Lewis offer to explain the confusion people will experience if all they do is read modern books?

5. What rule of thumb does Lewis suggest as to how many old or new books to read? 

6. What, according to Lewis, do we have to gain by reading old books? 

7. What initially caused Lewis to start reading Christian classics? 

8. What might a person be “tempted to think” if they only read contemporary Christian thinkers? 

9. What did Lewis think makes for a better devotional book?

10. What does Lewis refer to as the “glory” of St. Athanasius? 

11. What, according to Lewis, made Athanasius a “master mind?”

Logic Questions: (Interpreting, Comparing/Contrasting, Reasoning)

1. Why might many people assume that older books are more difficult to understand than modern books?

2. Lewis stated, “the great man, just because of his greatness, is much more intelligible than his modern commentator.” From this, what should we infer is an essential quality of great teachers?

3. Explain Lewis' use of the analogy about joining at “eleven o’clock a conversation which began at eight.” What was his point?

4. Why are we not able to clearly see the mistakes of our own time and culture as easily as the ones of the past?

5. Why would Lewis have tried to ignore George Macdonald’s Christianity?

6. What did Lewis mean by the phrase, “the heart sings unbidden?”

7. What is Lewis’ point about the word “keep” in the Athanasian Creed?

8. What did Lewis mean when he said that Athanasius did “not move with the times” and why did he say it was his “glory?”

9. Lewis spoke “of him who was so full of life that when he wished to die, he had to ‘borrow death from others.’” Who is he talking about and what does he mean by this?

10. Why would the martyrdoms of Christian believers in Athanasius’ day be able to produce in him what Lewis called “almost mocking courage?” What’s the connection?

Rhetoric Questions: (The Analysis of Ideas in the Text)

1. Lewis argues we should read at least one old book for every new book. Further, he says if he were forced to pick between reading only new or old books he would pick the old. Do you agree with his perspective on this? Why or why not?

2. Lewis discusses the concept of “sub-Christian modes of thought.” What do you understand this to mean? Can you give an example of a sub-Christian thought (without being crass)? Do you think there is any kind of thought which is supra-Christian (above Christian thinking)? How does one develop the ability to think Christianly about all things?

Theological Analysis: (Sola Scriptura)

1. Read 2 Kings 22:1-23:30. How can we connect this passage of Scripture with what Lewis has to say about the importance of reading old books and their power to correct errors in our own day?