The Question of God: C.S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud Debate God, Love, Sex, and the Meaning of LifeThroughout the ages, many of the world's greatest thinkers have wrestled with the concept of -- and belief in -- God. It may seem unlikely that any new arguments or insights could be raised, but the twentieth century managed to produce two brilliant men with two diametrically opposed views about the question of God: Sigmund Freud and C. S. Lewis. They never had an actual meeting, but in The Question of God, their arguments are placed side by side for the very first time. For more than twenty-five years, Armand Nicholi has taught a course at Harvard that compares the philosophical arguments of both men. In The Question of God, Dr. Nicholi presents the writings and letters of Lewis and Freud, allowing them to "speak" for themselves on the subject of belief and disbelief. Both men considered the problem of pain and suffering, the nature of love and sex, and the ultimate meaning of life and death -- and each of them thought carefully about the alternatives to their positions. The inspiration for the PBS series of the same name, The Question of God does not presuppose which man -- Freud the devout atheist or Lewis the atheist-turned-believer -- is correct in his views. Rather, readers are urged to join Nicholi and his students and decide for themselves which path to follow. |
Contents
Prologue | 1 |
Is There an Intelligence Beyond | 36 |
Is There a Universal Moral Law? | 57 |
Which Road to Reality? | 76 |
What Is the Source of Our Greatest | 97 |
Is the Pursuit of Pleasure Our Only | 126 |
Is All Love Sublimated Sex? | 160 |
How Can We Resolve the Problem | 187 |
Is Death Our Only Destiny? | 216 |
Epilogue | 240 |
| 282 | |
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adult anti-Semitism Arthur Greeves asserts atheist autobiography C. S. Lewis child childhood Christ Christianity clinical Complete Psychological conversion creatures death depression desire devil Discontents Dreams early emotional Ernest Jones Eros evil existence experience experienced faith father fear feelings felt Four Loves Freud and Lewis Freud to Eduard Freud wrote friendship Grief Observed guilt happiness human knew later Letters of C. S. Letters of Sigmund Lewis agrees Lewis describes Lewis explains Lewis says Lewis to Arthur Lewis writes Lewis's lives Mere Christianity moral law mother never Oedipus complex one's Oskar Pfister Oxford parents patient perhaps person pessimism pleasure Problem of Pain psychiatrist Psychoanalysis realized relationship religion religious Screwtape Screwtape Letters sense sexual Sigmund Freud spiritual worldview Standard Edition suffering super-ego Surprised by Joy Testament things thought tion understand universe Wilhelm Fliess wish young