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C. S. LewisA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Lewis begins by examining the argument from experience—namely, the premise that miracles happen because someone claims to have experienced one. He compares this claim to the corollary claim that someone has seen a ghost and suggests that neither argument from experience is compelling on its own merits. Rather than beginning a defense of miracles with an argument from experience (either personal experience or the historical experiences of biblical accounts), he suggests that the appropriate place to start is by examining the philosophical foundations of the question. Otherwise, our philosophical presuppositions will entirely determine our assessment of experiential or historical evidence, making it pointless to look at the evidence to begin with: “The result of our historical inquiries thus depends on the philosophical views which we have been holding before we even begin to look at the evidence. The philosophical question must therefore come first” (2). Anyone who discounts experiential evidence due to their philosophical presuppositions is not dealing honestly with the evidence, Lewis writes: They are merely begging the question—that is, beginning their inquiries from an unstated and unexamined premise.
By C. S. Lewis
A Grief Observed
A Grief Observed
C. S. Lewis
Mere Christianity
Mere Christianity
C. S. Lewis
Out of the Silent Planet
Out of the Silent Planet
C. S. Lewis
Perelandra
Perelandra
C. S. Lewis
Prince Caspian
Prince Caspian
C. S. Lewis
Surprised by Joy
Surprised by Joy
C. S. Lewis
That Hideous Strength
That Hideous Strength
C. S. Lewis
The Abolition of Man
The Abolition of Man
C. S. Lewis
The Discarded Image
The Discarded Image
C. S. Lewis
The Four Loves
The Four Loves
C. S. Lewis
The Great Divorce
The Great Divorce
C. S. Lewis
The Horse And His Boy
The Horse And His Boy
C. S. Lewis
The Last Battle
The Last Battle
C. S. Lewis
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
C. S. Lewis
The Magician's Nephew
The Magician's Nephew
C. S. Lewis
The Pilgrim's Regress
The Pilgrim's Regress
C. S. Lewis
The Problem of Pain
The Problem of Pain
C. S. Lewis
The Screwtape Letters
The Screwtape Letters
C. S. Lewis
The Silver Chair
The Silver Chair
C. S. Lewis
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
C. S. Lewis