The Apologist’s Evening Prayer
by C. S. Lewis
From all my lame defeats and oh! much more
From all the victories that I seemed to score;
From cleverness shot forth on Thy behalf
At which, while angels weep, the audience laugh;
From all my proofs of Thy divinity,
Thou, who wouldst give no sign, deliver me.
Thoughts are but coins. Let me not trust, instead
of Thee, their thin-worn image of Thy head.
From all my thoughts, even from my thoughts of Thee,
O thou fair Silence, fall, and set me free.
Lord of the narrow gate and the needle’s eye,
Take from me all my trumpery lest I die.
C. S. Lewis
1898 - 1963
- At age 32 he returned to Anglican Communion due to the influence of Tolkien and other friends
- He has been called "The Apostle to the Skeptics"
- Lewis would have preferred to have been known for his poetry but is best known for his prose and fiction
Debate with Elizabeth Anscombe
After Lewis lost this debate, his approach to apologetics shifted.
Lewis's New Approach
Story as Persuasion
As an apologist, Lewis realized that debate, with abstract propositions designed to demonstrate and persuade, is less adequate than story, with its characters and plots and atmospheres.
Poem Structure
Rhyme
From all my lame defeats and oh! much more A
From all the victories that I seemed to score; A
From cleverness shot forth on Thy behalf B
At which, while angels weep, the audience laugh; B
From all my proofs of Thy divinity, C
Thou, who wouldst give no sign, deliver me. C
There is none!
Rhythm
Poem Analysis
The Apologist's Danger
From all my proofs of Thy divinity,
Thou, who wouldst give no sign, deliver me.
Reason as Wealth
Thoughts are but coins. Let me not trust, instead
Of Thee, their thin-worn image of Thy head.
Lord of the narrow gate and the needle’s eye,
Take from me all my trumpery lest I die.