The Christian Mind Of C S Lewis

C. S. Lewis embodied the Christian mind because he saw the world as a coherent unity. His writing consistently pursued the good, the true, and the beautiful. He used nonfiction to point out the reasonableness of Christianity and used his fiction to create compelling illustrations that make faith in Christ an obvious and attractive conclusion. This book explores the Christian mind of C. S. Lewis across the spectrum of the genres he worked in. With contributors from diverse disciplines and interests, the volume illuminates the many facets of Lewis’s work. The Christian Mind of C. S. Lewis assists readers to read Lewis better and also to read other works better. The overarching goal is, just as Lewis would have desired, to help people see Christ more clearly in the world and to be more like Christ.

C. S. Lewis embodied the Christian mind because he saw the world as a coherent unity. His writing consistently pursued the good, the true, and the beautiful. He used nonfiction to point out the reasonableness of Christianity and used his fiction to create compelling illustrations that make faith in Christ an obvious and attractive conclusion. This book explores the Christian mind of C. S. Lewis across the spectrum of the genres he worked in. With contributors from diverse disciplines and interests, the volume illuminates the many facets of Lewis's work. The Christian Mind of C. S. Lewis assists readers to read Lewis better and also to read other works better. The overarching goal is, just as Lewis would have desired, to help people see Christ more clearly in the world and to be more like Christ.

C. S. Lewis had one of the great minds of the twentieth century. Many readers know Lewis as an author of fiction and fantasy literature, including the Chronicles of Narnia and the Space Trilogy. Others know him for his books in apologetics, including Mere Christianity and The Problem of Pain. But few know him for his scholarly work as a professor of medieval and Renaissance literature. What shaped the mind of this great thinker? Jason Baxter argues that Lewis was deeply formed not only by the words of Scripture and his love of ancient mythology, but also by medieval literature. For this undeniably modern Christian, authors like Dante and Boethius provided a worldview that was relevant to the challenges of the contemporary world. Here, readers will encounter an unknown figure to guide them in their own journey: C. S. Lewis the medievalist.

Presents a collection of excerpts from the late author's previously published and unpublished works about Christian topics such as the Bible, pride, salvation, heaven, love, sex, and materialism.

C. S. Lewis is one of the most influential and beloved Christian writers of the past century, and interest in him continues to grow as books about his fantasy, fiction, and biography continue to appear. Although Lewis's personal journey was a deeply philosophical search for the most adequate worldview, the few extant books about his Christian philosophy focus on specific topics rather than his overall worldview. In this book, Michael Peterson develops a comprehensive framework for understanding Lewis's Christian worldview--from his arguments from reason, morality, and desire to his ideas about Incarnation, Trinity, and Atonement. All worldviews address fundamental questions about reality, knowledge, human nature, meaning, and so forth. Peterson therefore examines Lewis's Christian approach to these same questions in interaction with other worldviews. Accenting that the intellectual strength and existential relevance of Lewis's works rest on his philosophical acumen as well as his Christian orthodoxy--which he famously called mere Christianity--Peterson skillfully shows how Lewis's Christian thought engages a variety of important problems raised by believers and nonbelievers alike: the problem of evil and suffering, the problem of religious diversity, the problem of meaning, and others. Just as Lewis was gifted in communicating philosophical ideas and arguments in an accessible style, Peterson has crafted a major contribution to Lewis scholarship presented in a way that will interest scholars and benefit the general reader.

This collection of papers was written as part of Biola University's 2013 Summer Faculty Integration Seminar. The University regularly invites a guest scholar to campus for a week-long seminar to help equip our faculty to think theologically about their disciplines. In 2013, our guest theologian was Dr. Jerry Root of Wheaton College. These papers were submitted by the faculty who participated in the seminar and compiled by the Office of Faith and Learning.

As one of the most brilliant and creative minds of the twentieth century, C. S. Lewis crosses over all literary, philosophical, and religious boundaries. A world-renowned scholar of medieval literature at Oxford University, he was able to write and lecture in such clear, direct language that ordinary men and women were fully able to comprehend the truths he extolled. He was a successful writer, the prolific author of such classic masterpieces as The Screwtape Letters, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Problem of Pain, and Mere Christianity. Moreover, his life was as compelling as his work. This perspective informs the play and feature film Shadowlands, which only reinforces his uniqueness all the more. In this exposition of Lewis's legacy, Terry Glaspey offers a clear view of the character of this extraordinarily gifted man who believed that his sharp mind and rich imagination were to be accompanied by a sense of responsibility to the wider world. Thus this book demonstrates why, two generations after his death, Lewis continues to be numbered among our best-selling authors and our most influential thinkers.