Below is one of the most moving moments from the third of the Ransom/Space Trilogy by C.S. Lewis. From Chapter 15, “The Descent of the Gods,” of That Hideous Strenth, one of the best and most underrated novels of the 20th century:
They danced. What they dance no one could remember. It was some round dance, no modern shuffling: it involved beating the floor, clapping of hands, leaping high. And no one while it lasted thought himself or his fellows ridiculous. It may, in fact, have been some village measure, not ill–suited to the tiled kitchen: the spirit in which they danced it was not so. It seemed to each that the room was filled with kings and queens, that the wildness of their dance expressed heroic energy and its quieter movements had seized the very spirit behind all noble ceremonies.
In re-reading the novel, I’m struck by how profoundly Platonic it is. And, of course, it is deeply Christian—but not in any soft, effete, mushy, evangelical way. No, C.S. Lewis presents a pure and moral Christianity, manly and confronting, threatening and severe. It’s the Christianity of Jesus on the Mount, not the “name it and claim it” Jesus of TBN.
Astounding to my eyes and ears.
If the “dance” of Heaven is anything like the dance in Ransom’s kitchen (above), I’m eagerly awaiting eternity.
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Most evangelicals would never claim TBN as one of their own. Over the last 20 or so years evangelical has unfortunately come to refer to Protestants of every stripe, and as you Catholics know and lament, there are many stripes. Back when I started my journey of faith in the late 70s/early 80s, fundamentalists and Pentecostals of the TBN sort were not seen as evangelicals or even as a subset of them.
Thanks much, Mike. A poor choice of words on my part. I meant "evangelical" as opposed to Reformed. I should've used a different word.