It's been awhile since I actually looked forward to writing a research paper.
I can't remember the last time, in fact. This could be because there is no last time. For years now I have believed that research papers are clearly an acquired taste. And people who acquire this taste are strangely academically inclined - librarians, research assistants, tenured professors all.
But now my stereotypes have been shattered. I'm looking forward to writing a research paper for my Theology 2 class. It's unheard of.
The reason is obvious, though. I convinced my professor to let me do a paper on C.S. Lewis. Since my prof is currently writing a book on Lewis, he was open to the extra research assistance. (But this does not classify me as a "research assistant." Let's keep this clear.) I told him I would happily allow him to incorporate the contents of my paper in his book, so long as I got a mention on the acknowledgments page and a 30% cut of the royalties.
I guess I overshot myself. The acknowledgements page may be my sole reward. I'll really be kicking myself if the book turns out to be a blockbuster. Oh well.
My working title right now is C.S. Lewis & the Atonement: Penal or Magical, Final or Gradual?
And come to think of it, a paper this exciting does very little to dispel my preconceptions about people who love research too much. Anyone would be pumped about a paper like this. I guess I'll harbor my comfortable stereotype a little longer: if you typically get excited about research papers, you're strange. (I find it easier to go through life believing this.)
Any thoughts or source recommendations re: Lewis's Atonement theology would be welcome, though.
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
C.S. Lewis Spurs Research Excitement
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6 comments:
That would definitely be a research paper I would enjoy reading. Good luck.
I am jealous.
Well as far as web resources where people discuss this argument and quote Lewis occasionally, there's this and this and also this
Though the true student of Lewisian atonement philosophy would probably want to read The Atonement: Penal or Magical, Final or Gradual? by C.S. Lewis, pusblished in 1962 with a Foreward by John Ronald Reuel Tolkien and a Postscript by T. S. Eliot. Sadly, this is not meant to be, as there are less than three existent copies. The first, an original edition, annotated post-humously by the author, is kept in a tower in the land of Númenor by Quaug, a fourth-generation half-dragon and the sister's mother's brother's son of Smaug (twice-removed). The second volume, I am both bappy and sad to say, I have on my computer as an e-book that I downloaded off of the Æthernet, but due to both DRM and Deeper Magic, cannot copy.
Best of luck though.
Gymbrall - I got my copy in a Happy Meal. Go figure ;)
Maybe I'll post slices of this one if it becomes interesting. Thanks, Dustin.
OC, put your jealousy to work. Help me write it.
Thanks for the resource tips, Gymbrall. I was gearing up to go search for the 3rd existing copy of the elusive Lewis masterwork, prepared to traverse an invisible mountain in downtown KC to a stone cairn that is ostensibly a portal to the world of Faerie. I know this because of ancient maps passed down to me from my great-grandfather.
Then I read Will's happy meal account. Darn it all.
Sure, Sure. I'll help. I just will have to wade through some Lewis texts. Perhaps I will flip through his letters tonight.
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