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C. S. Lewis is one of the most famous writers in English of the 20th century, and has had a huge influence on successive generations of Christians. Despite this, and perhaps because his most famous books are either for children or for a popular audience, he would not be normally categorised as a theologian. But although Lewis himself tried his best to frame his apologetic works in as neutral a way as possible – as ‘mere’ Christianity - there are a number of distinctive theological themes that return repeatedly in his work, and which he was concerned to explore in various ways.
In this study day we will explore a number of these themes, and examine the connection between his fiction and his more theoretical, or apologetical texts. We will look in particular at how he understood joy, heaven, sin and sacrifice, in two of his lesser-known books, Perelandra and Till We Have Faces. We will also critically examine some of the arguments that he used to show that Christian beliefs were rational. In the process, we will explore how Lewis’s ideas intersect with various debates in theology and in moral philosophy, as well as some of the key influences that shaped his writing (especially George MacDonald).
We will be exploring a wide range of Lewis’s books, many of which are very well-known; titles in parentheses below will a primary focal point for each session. We will pay particular attention to two of Lewis’s books that have had less attention, but which stand as perhaps the most artistically successful: Perelandra (the second of the ‘Cosmic triology’) and Till We Have Faces (his re-telling of the myth of Cupid and Psyche). Participants are strongly advised to try to read both of these fiction books before the study day.
References to the Narnia series will be made throughout, in addition to the texts below.
(Surprised by Joy/Mere Christianity)
(The Great Divorce/Perelandra)
(Mere Christianity/Miracles [ch. 3])
(Till we have Faces/A Grief Observed)
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Stuart is the Theology Lead at LJC. He graduated with a degree in Literature and Theology from the University of Hull in 2000. From 2003-9 he studied Philosophical Theology part-time at the University of Nottingham, whilst continuing to work in the third sector with vulnerably-housed or homeless people, and young asylum seekers (as well as pulling pints in a pub). He was Lecturer at York St John University for almost a decade, before moving to London Jesuit Centre in 2021. He now lives in South East London, and spends as much time as he can in the woods.
