Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer

Analyze Lewis’s use of analogy and metaphor, such as comparing a familiar church service to an old shoe or identifying joy as the “serious business of Heaven” (125). What purpose does this serve, and did you find it effective?

Trace the narrator’s argument against the deistic “Managerial God” associated with thinkers like Alexander Pope. How does Lewis construct his alternative model of “special providence,” and what are the implications of this model for his understanding of petitionary prayer and the problem of suffering?

Review the guide’s context on A. R. Vidler and J. A. T. Robinson. What rhetorical strategies does Lewis use to critique the “demythologizing” trends in 1960s Anglicanism?

Christ’s prayer in Gethsemane is a recurring touchstone throughout the letters. How does Lewis use this single biblical event as a multifaceted model to address the theological problems of petition, the nature of faith, the sanctification of anxiety, and the proper posture of a “suitor” before God?

How does the practical perspective of Malcolm’s wife, Betty, function as a critical voice that challenges the narrator’s intellectualism, forcing him to articulate his complex ideas about prayer more concretely?

The guide notes the influence of Martin Buber’s “I-Thou” philosophy. How does Lewis adapt Buber’s concept of personal encounter to develop his central theme of prayer as an “unveiling of the self,” and how does this framework resolve the paradox of petitioning an omniscient God?

Lewis offers practical advice on managing one’s inner life, addressing issues like vague guilt, the “irksomeness” of duty, and the psychology of forgiveness. Analyze Lewis’s model of spiritual psychology. How does he balance a call for self-knowledge with a warning against morbid introspection?

How does Lewis construct a persona as the narrator that is simultaneously a rigorous intellectual and a humble “fellow traveler”? Analyze the effectiveness of this persona and the epistolary format.