What Christians Believe by C.S. Lewis is a persuasive essay meant to convince or persuade the reader as to why Christianity as a religion makes sense. Lewis centers his argument around one simple fact, and that is “Christianity makes sense, although it may not be simple it ultimately makes logical sense.” Through the article we see many of Lewis’s own world views and assumptions such as that Atheists are egotistical, that every religion in itself can contain a small part of truth, simplicity is for the simple, and that without good there is no bad. Lewis uses the tool of logos or appeal to logic/reason. Throughout the article we see many examples of Lewis using syllogism and giving us a, and connecting a with be, and b with c, thus a equals c. The arguments built off of one another taking the reader on a road where the reader is convinced of one assumption, then is immediately taken onto another assumption based off of that assumption. Lewis also shows us a couple of other sides of his argument, thus building the readers trust, and then refuted their arguments them creating a stronger argument and credibility to his own point of view.
Personally I quite enjoyed this essay, it really made me think and decide whether or not I agreed with the author, and once my decision was made I would then be taken along on another journey where the same action was required. Not only was it interesting but it was also intellectually stimulating, thus very enjoyable!
The piece “Veil of Fears” was rather confusing to me, and to be quite honest I did not enjoy reading it haha just kidding, but seriously it did not make much sense to me. Anyways, the one thing that I found easy to find was the central message and what the purpose of the piece was. Towards the end of the reading the author clearly stated what he was trying to convey, in the purpose of both sides of the argument. I agree with you that this was a persuasive essay. In addition, I agree with what you came up with as the purpose and central message of this this piece, “Veil of Fears”. I agree with you that it was rather difficult to find out what the tools and evidence were, but I got a good laugh out of what you put in the parentheses haha.
ReplyDeleteAt first when reading this story I found the first few pages super confusing. The author went back and forth a lot and was constantly switching topics and arguments. I did agree on most of her points that she brought up in the paper. I thought that a lot of her points she argued were well though out and thought provoking. I found myself constantly agreeing with her facts and evidence. I think that this was a very well put together paper and was helpful in learning how to write and structure a persuasive narrative. I agree with you that through out the passage the author used logos to convey logic and reason. I also thought that the author was well educated and talked a lot about other religions, which made the reader trust more that they were a reliable source.
ReplyDeleteGood response Ronnie. It looks like from here that you have a very clear understanding of this reading. I liked that the paper was written to appeal logically. I agree with you that it was set up in a syllogistic format. (I thought I might have just made up a word, but spell check says its right! haha) C.S. Lewis was such an intelligent man and sometimes I feel like this writings are a little above my head, but I am slowly being able to grasp onto his concepts. I am glad you enjoyed this reading assignment.
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