The Great Divorce

by C. S. Lewis

Publisher:

HarperOne

, 2001

Overview

C.S. Lewis’ The Great Divorce is a classic Christian allegorical tale about a bus ride from hell to heaven. An extraordinary meditation upon good and evil, grace and judgment, Lewis’ revolutionary idea in the The Great Divorce is that the gates of Hell are locked from the inside. Using his extraordinary descriptive powers, Lewis’ The Great Divorce will change the way we think about good and evil.

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Key Features

• Engages readers with a thrilling tale of temptation and triumph
• Portrays an allegorical tale about a busride from hell to heaven
• Focuses on themes such as good, evil, grace, and judgment

Contents

Top Highlights

“‘Everyone who wishes it does. Never fear. There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘Thy will be done.’ All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. To those who knock it is opened.’” (Page 75)

“But what, you ask, of earth? Earth, I think, will not be found by anyone to be in the end a very distinct place. I think earth, if chosen instead of Heaven, will turn out to have been, all along, only a region in Hell: and earth, if put second to Heaven, to have been from the beginning a part of Heaven itself.” (Page ix)

“There have been men before now who got so interested in proving the existence of God that they came to care nothing for God Himself … as if the good Lord had nothing to do but exist! There have been some who were so occupied in spreading Christianity that they never gave a thought to Christ. Man! Ye see it in smaller matters. Did ye never know a lover of books that with all his first editions and signed copies had lost the power to read them? Or an organiser of charities that had lost all love for the poor? It is the subtlest of all the snares.’” (Pages 73–74)

“You cannot love a fellow-creature fully till you love God.” (Page 100)

“‘The demand of the loveless and the self-imprisoned that they should be allowed to blackmail the universe: that till they consent to be happy (on their own terms) no one else shall taste joy: that theirs should be the final power; that Hell should be able to veto Heaven.’” (Page 135)

Praise for the Print Edition

Much deserves to be quoted...attractive imagery, amusing satire, exciting speculations...Lewis rouses curiosity about life after death only to sharpen awareness of this world.

—Guardian

Product Details

• Title: The Great Divorce
• Author: C.S. Lewis
• Series: Signature Classics
• Publisher: HarperOne
• Publication Date: 2009
• Pages: 160
• Christian Group: Evangelicals and Anglican
• Resource Type: Literature
• Topic: Philosophy and Apologetics

About C. S. Lewis

Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was one of the intellectual giants of the twentieth century and arguably one of the most influential writers of his day. He was a Fellow and Tutor in English Literature at Oxford University until 1954, when he was unanimously elected to the Chair of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Cambridge University, a position he held until his retirement. He wrote more than thirty books, allowing him to reach a vast audience, and his works continue to attract thousands of new readers every year. His most distinguished and popular accomplishments include Out of the Silent Planet, The Great Divorce, The Screwtape Letters, and the universally acknowledged classic Mere Christianity. Read more about his life and legacy.