{"id":8139,"date":"2011-11-08T08:11:49","date_gmt":"2011-11-08T13:11:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/?p=8139"},"modified":"2014-06-06T13:08:54","modified_gmt":"2014-06-06T21:08:54","slug":"c-s-lewis-did-not-like-church","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/c-s-lewis-did-not-like-church\/","title":{"rendered":"C. S. Lewis Did Not Like Church"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"CSI have been trying to read through everything that C. S. Lewis wrote, and in his autobiography, Surprised by Joy<\/em><\/a>, I was surprised to discover what he thought about going to church.<\/p>\n

It made me laugh out loud, because it so closely matched my own sentiments.<\/p>\n

Here is what he wrote:<\/p>\n

The idea of churchmanship was to be wholly unattractive. I was not in the least anticlerical, but I was deeply antiecclesiastical.<\/p>\n

…But though I liked clergymen as I liked bears, I had as little wish to be in the Church as in the zoo.<\/p>\n

It was, to begin with, a kind of collective; a wearisome “get-together” affair. I couldn’t yet see how a concern of that sort should have anything to do with one’s spiritual life. To me, religion ought to have been a matter of good men praying alone and meeting by twos and threes to talk of spiritual matters.<\/p>\n

And then the fussy, time-wasting botheration of it all! The bells, the crowds, the umbrellas, the notices, the bustle, the perpetual arranging and organizing. Hymns were (and are) extremely disagreeable to me. Of all musical instruments I liked (and like) the organ least. I have, too, a sort of spiritual gaucherie<\/em> which makes me unapt to participate in any rite.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CS Lewis was an atheist who became a follower of Jesus, but he never did like going to church, and didn’t see what it had to do with spirituality. He went because it was what Christians did, not because it had much to do with his life with Jesus. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8147,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[1488,13,1965,1235,19],"class_list":{"0":"post-8139","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"tag-attending-church","8":"tag-books-im-reading","9":"tag-c-s-lewis","10":"tag-church","11":"tag-discipleship","12":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nC. 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Lewis was an atheist who became a follower of Jesus, but he never did like going to church, and didn't see what it had to do with spirituality.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/c-s-lewis-did-not-like-church\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Redeeming God\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-11-08T13:11:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-06-06T21:08:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/CS-Lewis.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"381\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"450\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jeremy Myers\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@redeeminggod\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@redeeminggod\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jeremy Myers\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/c-s-lewis-did-not-like-church\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/c-s-lewis-did-not-like-church\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jeremy Myers\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c\"},\"headline\":\"C. 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