Charles Williams revisited

I have officially become a fan of Charles Williams. His science fiction is really hard to understand, but it is really enjoyable to read. He is one of the few authors that can have a story in which the supernatural is present and visible, but does not sound silly or corny. I've been impressed by two of his main thoughts so far. The first is the way one of the characters descends into Hell (hence the title "Descent Into Hell"). This character keeps having this recurring dream where he is crawling down this endless rope into Hell (presumably). The character, so far, is self absorbed and refuses to find love and joy in other people the way God (or the Omnipotence as He is called in the book) has willed it. This idea of us creating our own Hell is very similar to Williams' friend, C.S. Lewis and his book "The Great Divorce." I personally find this idea of Hell very convincing. Like Lewis says in his book, "In each of us there is something growing which will BE Hell unless it is nipped in the bud." Lewis and Williams both seem to argue that part of the horror of Hell is that we are consumed by our selfish sin. Lewis argues that Hell even begins with a grumbling mood. Imagine that, to lose every part of the common grace we have and be completely immersed in our anger, bitterness, lust, hate, addictions, complaints. That is Hell. By indulging these facets and focusing our attention on ourselves, we begin our descent into Hell, according to Williams. It is something I have felt to some extent myself, now that I consider this. When I am angry, arrogant, self-centered, cynical, or whatever, I feel that separation from God. The result is temptation to continue descending into it, even though it makes me miserable in comparison to doing something within God's will. I cannot imagine losing all faculties of love or joy and being abandoned into that Hell that I create. So I think Williams might have a point. Disclaimer: I am in no way trying to suggest Christians can lose their salvation and go to Hell, or that Hell is merely a figment of our imagination. I believe Hell is a real and physical place. Immersion into our sin and losing the image of God is the worst part of the punishment.

The second idea I liked of Williams is his idea of Substituted Love. In his novel, he argues that Christians should literally bear one another's burdens. When one is feeling oppressed we should not just offer them encouragement, but actually say, "I will carry your sadness for a while." How this happens, I don't know. What Williams says in this novel is that when the oppression comes, the person bearing the burden will take all the pain on himself and the victim will receive some rest. Perhaps we should try this. Perhaps that is what Christ really was getting at. I don't know, but it sounds nice. Disclaimer #2: I'm probably reading too much into this novel. These ideas that I am discussing in this blog post are purely hypothetical. By no means should anyone think that I am committed to them %100. They are just thoughts to ponder. If it turns out to be unorthodox, then I ask for your pardon. Please don't burn me at the stake.