Obstinate Toy Soldiers by C.S. Lewis Doodle (BBC Talk 22, Mere Christianity, Bk 4, Chapter 5)

“Think how delighted any child would be if he knew some magic word that would turn all the wooden animals out of his Noah’s Ark into real little animals, and all his toy soldiers into little real men; all walking about on the nursery table. I want you to get that picture well fixed in your minds before I go on” (‘The Listener’, 1 March 1944). You can find the book here: (4:17) Jesus’ poverty did not just include not owning a home, but also other types of poverty. He was unmarried, and died childless - “who can count Christ’s spiritual descendants?“ (Isaiah 53.8) They are million upon millions... (6:36) This section below was spoken in the original broadcast but was removed from the book version of the broadcasts and then expanded and made into a new chapter (‘Two Notes’). I have not re-added the below paragraph to the soundtrack, but have added the new and improved chapters in the comments section. “...is ‘keeping him going’. *When I say that humanity is a single organism you must not imagine that I mean the individuals are unimportant. In politics, we have to neglect individuals and deal with people in bulk. And then the make up for that, in our private life we tend to think of ourselves and our friends as things quite separate from humanity in general. Both those points of view are really false. Individual people are immensely important, but are not separate. God intended them to work in together as the different organs in one body work in together; but also to be different as the different organs are, as your lungs are different from your liver. Being different has nothing to do with being separate. Twenty pennies are all the same and quite separate. A root, a branch & a leaf are quite different but may all belong to one tree. A mother, father, and child are much more closely bound together than three men sitting in the same ‘bus; but they may be much less alike. When God entered the human race He entered a thing of that sort – a thing like a tree or a family or an orchestra, an organism of different parts which all ought to make one thing. And what He formed inside it was again a thing of the same sort – the Christian brotherhood – the first patch of the new life beginning to spread.* Consequently, when Christ becomes man...” (’The Listener’, 1944). (7:05) See Christ’s effect on those before his birth, as well as on those who saw the Messiah prophetically: “I see him but not near, I behold him, but not now“ (Numbers ). Also 1 Peter 3 “He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits— to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built“. (8:34) “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me“ (Revelation ). (9:49) The music here was taken from “Toymaker and Son”, a drama, dance & mime which was the story of the creation of Toyland and its toys, its descent into Sorrowland, and its saving through the Toymaker’s Son. The production has a similar theme to this talk from C.S. Lewis. Below is the link to the interpretive dance recalling the creation of Adam, where the Toymaker and Son create the first toy in Toyland - and who could not do with more 70’s interpretive dance in their lives? Video: Text Summary: The original broadcast had the following words italicised which add to understanding (shown in CAPS): “...fight tooth and nail to avoid THAT”, “He WON’T be made into a man if he can help it”, and “For the first time we saw a REAL man. One tin soldier – REAL tin, just like the rest of us – had come fully and splendidly alive”. Sub-Titles in ’The Listener’ article: “For the First Time – A Real Man” and “Appropriating Salvation”