Week 6: Chapter 5 — The Episcopal Ghost

1.The Episcopal Ghost turns out to have been a bishop — a religious leader — in his earthly life. His guide is Dick, a former colleague who became a genuine believer. Why do you think Lewis chose to include a religious leader among the inhabitants of Hell? What point is he making about the difference between religiosity and faith?

2.The bishop tells Dick he is terribly excited about the 'theological questions' — he's been working on a paper about the mythological elements in the Gospels, and he hopes to present it at a liberal theological conference in the afterlife. Lewis is clearly satirizing a specific kind of liberal theology. What is he suggesting about what happens when theology becomes an academic exercise rather than a response to the living God?

3.Dick gently but clearly tells the bishop that in Heaven there is nothing to investigate because everything is known — the questions the bishop has been using to avoid commitment will no longer serve as an escape. The bishop finds this prospect boring rather than glorious. What does his reaction reveal about what he actually loved?