Narnia Fans » Christianity vs. Atheism

Please note the following in this issue of the C.S. Lewis Society Update (1/15/08):

1. Christianity vs. Atheism Debate Video: Dinesh D’Souza vs. Michael Shermer
2. The Chronicles of Narnia
3. New C.S. Lewis Blog
4. The next meeting of the C.S. Lewis Society Bay Area Book Club
5. Other Events

1. Christianity vs. Atheism Debate Video: Dinesh D’Souza vs. Michael Shermer

In the latest of the debates between best-selling author Dinesh D’Souza and leading anti-theists, here is the video of the debate pitting Mr. D’Souza against Michael Shermer, editor of Skeptic Magazine:

“Is Religion a Force for Good or Evil? And Can you be Good without God?”
California Institute of Technology, December 9, 2008

Mr. D’Souza is the author of the new book, WHAT’S SO GREAT ABOUT CHRISTIANITY

As with his previous debates, Mr. D’Souza wins this one decisively.

2. The Chronicles of Narnia

PRINCE CASPIAN is the next blockbuster film in the “Chronicles of Narnia” book series to be released May 16th.

Here is the official PRINCE CASPIAN film web site

One of the most important intellectual developments regarding the Narnia series (and Lewis’s work overall) is the following new book which reveals a stunning and brilliant level of sophistication and literary excellence by Lewis in what some people previously and mistakenly thought were simply children’s books:

PLANET NARNIA: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C.S. Lewis, by Michael Ward (Oxford University Press)

Here is the web site on PLANET NARNIA, complete with author tour schedule, blog, and other information

Here also is a new article by Dr. Ward, “Narnia and the Seven Heavens”

And the book is now available.

3. New C.S. Lewis Blog

HarperCollins which publishes many of C.S. Lewis’s books has just launched the new C.S. Lewis Blog based on Lewis’s work:

I am privileged to be one of the sixteen columnists for the blog, and here are recent sample articles that have appeared:
http://booksbycslewis.blogspot.com/

“Mere Friendship: C.S. Lewis on a Great Joy,” by David J. Theroux

“C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and the Inklings,” by Diana Glyer

“Strange Help from Father Christmas,” by Devin Brown

4. The next meetings of the C.S. Lewis Society Bay Area Book Club will be as follows:
http://www.lewissociety.org/bookclub.php

Book for Discussion:

MERE CHRISTIANITY, by C.S. Lewis:

Wednesday, January 23, 7:30 p.m.; Meeting moderator/leader: Andrew Dosa
Wednesday, February 6, 7:30 p.m.; Meeting moderator/leader: Andrew Dosa

MERE CHRISTIANITY is the best-selling, celebrated and plain-spoken defense of the essential principles of Christianity. 1943 England, when all hope was threatened by the inhumanity of war, C.S. Lewis was invited to give a series of radio lectures addressing the central issues of Christianity. More than half a century after the original lectures, they continue to retain their poignancy. First heard as informal radio broadcasts, the lectures were then published as three books and subsequently combined as MERE CHRISTIANITY. C.S. Lewis proves that “at the center of each there is something, or a Someone, who against all divergences of belief, all differences of temperament, all memories of mutual persecution, speaks with the same voice,” rejecting the boundaries that divide Christianity’s many denominations. This twentieth-century classic provides an unequaled opportunity for believers and nonbelievers alike to hear a powerful, rational case for the Christian faith.

“I read Lewis for comfort and pleasure many years ago, and a glance into the books revives my old admiration.”
–John Updike, novelist and poet

“C. S. Lewis is the ideal persuader for the half-convinced, for the good man who would like to be a Christian but finds his intellect getting in the way.”
–Anthony Burgess, author, playwright, and composer

The meetings will be held at:

11990 Skyline Boulevard, Oakland, CA 94619 (atop the Oakland hills)
510-482-2906 phone
wine, soft drinks and other refreshments served

Here also are numerous articles re MERE CHRISTIANITY:

“MERE CHRISTIANITY” by Wikipedia:

“The Whos and Whats of MERE CHRISTIANITY”, by William Griffin:

“MERE CHRISTIANITY”, by Edward H. Purley:

“Notes on MERE CHRISTIANITY”, by Tim Chambers

MERE CHRISTIANITY is available in paperback

MERE CHRISTIANITY is available free online

MERE CHRISTIANITY on CD

MERE CHRISTIANITY is available free on YouTube

Here also is the schedule of future Lewis Society book club meetings:
http://www.lewissociety.org/bookclub.php

Here also is information on C.S. Lewis:
http://www.lewissociety.org/aboutlewis.php

We hope that you and/or others you know will be joining with us! (Please feel free to forward this update to others.)

5. Other Events:
http://www.lewissociety.org/events.php

“Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Death of Dorothy Sayers”
Sponsored by the Dorothy Sayers Society
St. Margaret’s Church, Westminster Abbey
London, England
January 15, 2008
conference@sayers.org.uk

“Planet Narnia”
Presentation by Michael Ward
Sponsored by the Fellowship of Christian Graduate Students
Bowling Green State University
BGSU Student Union, Room 308 (6:45 pm)
Bowling Green, OH
January 22, 2008

“C.S. Lewis Conference”
Sponsored by Hope Lutheran Church
Atascadero, CA
January 25-27, 2008

“The Language of God: Intellectual Reflections of a Christian Geneticist”
Presentation by Francis S. Collins
Sponsored by Veritas Forum
University of California, Berkeley
Wheeler Auditorium, 7:30 p.m.
February 4, 2008

“God and the Genome”
Presentation by Francis S. Collins
Sponsored by InterVarsity Graduate Christian Fellowship
Stanford Memorial Auditorium, 7:30 p.m.
Stanford University
February 5, 2008

“Sixth Frances Ewbank Colloquium on C.S. Lewis & Friends”
Sponsored by Taylor University, Upland, IN
May 29-June 1, 2008

“Charles Williams and His Contemporaries”
Sponsored by The Charles Williams Society
Sr. Hilda’s College, Oxford, England
July 4-6, 2008

“Oxbridge 2008: The Self and the Search for Meaning”
Sponsored by the C.S. Lewis Foundation
Oxford University, July 28 – August 2, 2008
Cambridge University, August 3-8, 2008

Please contact me with any questions.

Best regards,

David

David J. Theroux
Founder and President
C. S. Lewis Society of California

Please note the following in this issue of the C.S. Lewis Society Update (12/05/07):
http://www.lewissociety.org

1. “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian”: New Movie Trailer
2. Other Films: “Beowulf” and “The Golden Compass”
3. Christianity vs. Atheism Debate Video: Dinesh D’Souza vs. Daniel Dennett
4. The next meeting of the C.S. Lewis Society Bay Area Book Club
5. New Book: “Planet Narnia,” by Michael Ward
6. Other Events

1. “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” Movie Trailer:

Of all of C.S. Lewis’s many works, the 7-volume “Chronicles of Narnia” book series is by far and away the most popular with sales of more than 100 million copies worldwide. The first film in the new series being produced by Walden Media and Walt Disney Productions, “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” grossed $740 million in box office sales and additional record DVD sales.

Now the second film in the Narnia series, “Prince Caspian,” is set for release on May 16, 2008, and the first trailer has just been released for showing in theaters.

Here is the official “Prince Caspian” movie poster.

And here is the banner for the film.

2. Other Films: “Beowulf” and “The Golden Compass”:

“‘Beowulf’ vs. ‘The Lord of the Rings’”, by Gary Kamiya (Salon.com).

“The Chronicles of Atheism: When ‘The Golden Compass’ hits theaters this month, many will be introduced to the works of Philip Pullman, a writer who detests C.S. Lewis’s fantasy world,” by Peter T. Chattaway (Christianity Today)

3. Christianity vs. Atheism Debate Video: Dinesh D’Souza vs. Daniel Dennett

The video is now available from the recent debate in which leading atheist philosopher Daniel Dennett was challenged by Christian Dinesh D’Souza, author of the new bestselling book, “What’s So Great About Christianity.”

Held November 30th at Tufts University in Medford, Mass., this sold-out event was organized by the atheist Tufts’s Freethought Society, and resulted in a spill-over audience watching the program on closed circuit TV. Clearly expecting Christianity to be routed, the audience instead witnessed Dennett decidedly lose.
http://media.richarddawkins.net/video/2007/DennettDinesh_all.mov

4. The next meeting of the C.S. Lewis Society Bay Area Book Club will be as follows:

Book for Discussion:

THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS, by C.S. Lewis:

Wednesday, December 12th, 7:30 p.m.; Meeting moderator/leader: Frank Green

A best-selling masterpiece of satire and dedicated to his friend J.R.R.Tolkien, this classic book by C.S. Lewis has entertained and enlightened readers the world over with its sly and ironic portrayal of human life and foibles from the vantage point of the evil Screwtape, a highly placed assistant to “Our Father Below” who holds an administrative post in the governing bureaucracy (“Lowerarchy”) of Hell. At once comic, deadly serious, and highly original, Lewis gives us the correspondence of the worldly-wis old devil to his nephew Wormwood, a novice demon in charge of securing the damnation of an ordinary young man known only as “the Patient.” THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS is the most engaging account of temptation — and triumph over it — ever written.

The immense success of the book when it was first published resulted in C.S. Lewis appearing on the cover of Time Magazine. More recently, cartoonist Bill Watterson named the fictional first-grade teacher in his “Calvin and Hobbes” after the devil Wormwood. In the animated video to U2’s “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me”, a copy of THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS is seen falling from Bono’s hand. In the 2006 book The Top Ten, a compilation of “top ten novels” lists by different writers, David Foster Wallace names THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS as the greatest novel in history. A sold-out stage production directed by Jeffrey Fiske was produced in New York City in 2006, and a widely acclaimed revival production by Fiske opened on October 16th.
http://www.fpatheatre.com/

And a film version of the book is now underway, co-produced by Ralph Winter (X-Men, Star Trek, Fantastic Four) and Douglas Gresham (Lewis’s stepson), for release at Christmas 2008.

“Mr. Lewis has contrived to say much that a distracted world greatly requires to hear.”
–Times Literary Supplement

“If wit and wisdom, style and scholarship are requisites to passage through the pearly gates, Mr. Lewis will be among the angels.”
–The New Yorker

The meetings will be held at:

11990 Skyline Boulevard, Oakland, CA 94619 (atop the Oakland hills)
510-482-2906 phone
wine, soft drinks and other refreshments served

Here also are numerous articles and excerpts re THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS:

“THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS” by Wikipedia

“Excerpts from THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS”

“THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS”, by Will Vaus

“Screwtape: What’s Going On?”, by Bruce Edwards

“Wicked Good: THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS on Page and Stage” by John J. Miller

“THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS foreword,” narrated by John Cleese of Monty Python (YouTube)

“THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS Letter 1,” narrated by John Cleese of Monty Python (YouTube)

THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS is available in paperback.

THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS is available free online.

THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS on CD.

Here also is the schedule of future Lewis Society book club meetings.

Here also is information on C.S. Lewis.

We hope that you and/or others you know will be joining with us! (Please feel free to forward this update to others.)

5. New Book: “Planet Narnia”

The December 2007 issue of “Touchstone” magazine features the cover article, “Narnia’s Secret: C.S. Lewis & and the Seven Heavens,” by Dr. Michael Ward (Chaplain of Peterhouse, University of Cambridge). In the article, he discusses the revolutionary findings in his new book, “Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C. S. Lewis” (Oxford University Press).

For more than half a century, scholars have labored to show that C. S. Lewis’s famed “Chronicles of Narnia” series has an underlying symbolic coherence, pointing to such possible unifying themes as the seven sacraments, seven deadly sins, and seven books of Edmund Spenser’s “Faerie Queene.”  However, none of these explanations has won general acceptance and the structure of Narnia’s symbolism has remained a mystery.

Now, Michael Ward has finally solved the enigma. In “Planet Narnia” he demonstrates that the medieval (Ptolemic) cosmology or world view, a subject which fascinated Lewis throughout his life, provides the imaginative key to the seven novels. Drawing on the whole range of Lewis’s writings (including “The Discarded Image,” “The Space Trilogy,” and previously unpublished drafts of the “Chronicles”), Ward reveals how the Narnia stories were designed to express the mythological characteristics of the seven medieval planets — Jupiter, Mars, Sol, Luna, Mercury, Venus, and Saturn — planets which Lewis described as “spiritual symbols of permanent value” and “especially worthwhile in our own generation.” Using these seven symbols, Lewis secretly constructed the “Chronicles” so that the story-line in each book, countless points of ornamental detail, and, most important, the portrayal of the Christ-figure of Aslan, all serve to communicate a coherent, unifying, and governing perspective. For instance, in “The Voyage of the ‘Dawn Treader’,” the sun is the prevailing planetary spirit: magical water turns things to gold, the solar metal; Aslan is seen flying in a sunbeam; and the sun’s rising place is actually identified as the destination of the plot: “the very eastern end of the world.”

“Planet Narnia” is a seminal and ground-breaking book that will provoke a major revaluation not only of the “Chronicles,” but of Lewis’s whole literary and theological outlook. Ward uncovers Lewis as an even more subtle, imaginative and important writer and thinker than previously understood.

Planet Narnia XI Summary

6. Other Events:

“Is Religion a Force for Good or Evil? And Can You Be Good Without God?
Dinesh D’Souza vs. Michael Shermer: A Debate”
Sponsored by Athens and Jerusalem
Beckman Auditorium
California Institute of Technology
Pasadena, Calif.
December 9, 2007
626-395-4652
http://www.dineshdsouza.com/events/D’SOUSA_DEBATE_FLYER.pdf

“Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Death of Dorothy Sayers”
Sponsored by the Dorothy Sayers Society
St. Anne’s, Soho, England
December 17, 2007
conference@sayers.org.uk

“Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Death of Dorothy Sayers”
Sponsored by the Dorothy Sayers Society
St. Margaret’s Church, Westminster Abbey
London, England
January 15, 2008
conference@sayers.org.uk

“Planet Narnia”
Presentation by Michael Ward
Sponsored by the Fellowship of Christian Graduate Students
Bowling Green State University
BGSU Student Union, Room 308 (6:45 pm)
Bowling Green, OH
January 22, 2008

“C.S. Lewis Conference”
Sponsored by Hope Lutheran Church
Atascadero, CA
January 25-27, 2008
http://www.pseudobook.com/cslewis/?page_id=49

“Sixth Frances Ewbank Colloquium on C.S. Lewis & Friends”
Sponsored by Taylor University, Upland, IN
May 29-June 1, 2008
http://www.taylor.edu/academics/supportservices/cslewis/colloquium/

“Charles Williams and His Contemporaries”
Sponsored by The Charles Williams Society
Sr. Hilda’s College, Oxford, England
July 4-6, 2008
http://www.geocities.com/charles_wms_soc/events.html

“Oxbridge 2008: The Self and the Search for Meaning”
Sponsored by the C.S. Lewis Foundation
Oxford University, July 28 – August 2, 2008
Cambridge University, August 3-8, 2008
http://www.cslewis.org/programs/oxbridge/2008/index.html

Please advise me with any questions.

Best regards,

David

David J. Theroux
Founder and President
C. S. Lewis Society of California
100 Swan Way, Suite 200
Oakland, CA 94621-1428
(510) 635-6892 Phone
(510) 568-6040 Fax
http://www.lewissociety.org

Please note the following in this issue of the C.S. Lewis Society Update (11/21/07):

1. More Christianity vs. Atheism Debates
2. Next meetings of C.S. Lewis Society’s Bay Area Book Club: The Screwtape Letters
3. New Books for Christmas
4. Other Events

1. More Christianity vs. Atheism Debates:

The new Christianity vs. atheism debates will continue on November 30th when Christian author Dinesh D’Souza and atheist philosopher Daniel Dennett meet on the subject “God is a Manmade Invention,” at 7 p.m. in the Cabot Auditorium at Tufts University in Medford, Mass.

On December 5th, D’Souza will then debate Skeptic magazine editor Michael Shermer on “Is Christianity Good for the World?” at 7 p.m. in the Marvin Center at George Washington University, and then again on December 9th at 2 p.m. in the Beckman Auditorium at California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif.

To date, anti-theist Richard Dawkins has not accepted D’Souza’s offer to debate.

Here are a number of recent article by D’Souza:

“Does the Ghost in the Machine Have a Soul? An Argument for the Spirit Hinges on the Freedom of Choice”

“Atheism, Not Religion, Is the Real Force Behind the Mass Murders”

“The Atheist Who Came In From the Cold”

Dinesh D’Souza is the author of the best-selling new book, What’s So Great About Christianity

2. The next meetings of the C.S. Lewis Society Bay Area Book Club will be as follows:

Book for Discussion:

THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS, by C.S. Lewis:

Wednesday, November 28th, 7:30 p.m.; Meeting moderator/leader: Frank Green
Wednesday, December 12th, 7:30 p.m.; Meeting moderator/leader: Frank Green

A best-selling masterpiece of satire and dedicated to his friend J.R.R. Tolkien, this classic book by C.S. Lewis has entertained and enlightened readers the world over with its sly and ironic portrayal of human life and foibles from the vantage point of the evil Screwtape, a highly placed assistant to “Our Father Below” who holds an administrative post in the governing bureaucracy (“Lowerarchy”) of Hell. At once comic, deadly serious, and highly original, Lewis gives us the correspondence of the worldly-wise old devil to his nephew Wormwood, a novice demon in charge of securing the damnation of an ordinary young man known only as “the Patient.” THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS is the most engaging account of temptation — and triumph over it — ever written.

The immense success of the book when it was first published resulted in C.S. Lewis appearing on the cover of Time Magazine. More recently, cartoonist Bill Watterson named the fictional first-grade teacher in his “Calvin and Hobbes” after the devil Wormwood. In the animated video to U2’s “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me”, a copy of THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS is seen falling from Bono’s hand. In the 2006 book The Top Ten, a compilation of “top ten novels” lists by different writers, David Foster Wallace names THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS as the greatest novel in history. A sold-out stage production directed by Jeffrey Fiske was produced in New York City in 2006, and a widely acclaimed revival production by Fiske opened on October 16th.
http://www.fpatheatre.com/

And a film version of the book is now underway, co-produced by Ralph Winter (X-Men, Star Trek, Fantastic Four) and Douglas Gresham (Lewis’s stepson), for release at Christmas 2008.

“Mr. Lewis has contrived to say much that a distracted world greatly requires to hear.”
–Times Literary Supplement

“If wit and wisdom, style and scholarship are requisites to passage through the pearly gates, Mr. Lewis will be among the angels.”
–The New Yorker

The meetings will be held at:

11990 Skyline Boulevard, Oakland, CA 94619 (atop the Oakland hills)
510-482-2906 phone
wine, soft drinks and other refreshments served

Here also are numerous articles and excerpts re THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS:

“THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS” by Wikipedia

“Excerpts from THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS”

“THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS”, by Will Vaus

“Screwtape: What’s Going On?”, by Bruce Edwards

“Wicked Good: THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS on Page and Stage” by John J. Miller

“THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS foreword,” narrated by John Cleese of Monty Python (YouTube)

“THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS Letter 1,” narrated by John Cleese of Monty Python (YouTube)

THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS is available in paperback.

THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS is available free online.

THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS on CD.

Here also is the schedule of future Lewis Society book club meetings.

Here also is information on C.S. Lewis.

We hope that you and/or others you know will be joining with us! (Please feel free to forward this update to others.)

3. New Books for Christmas:

C. S. Lewis, My Godfather: Letters, Photos and Recollections
By Laurence Harwood

There Is a God: How the World’s Most Notorious Atheist Changed His Mind
By Antony Flew and Roy Abraham Varghese

Discovering God: The Origins of the Great Religions and the Evolution of Belief
By Rodney Stark

What’s So Great About Christianity
By Dinesh D’Souza

The Spiritual Brain: A Neuroscientist’s Case for the Existence of the Soul
By Mario Beauregard and Denyse O’Leary

The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Bible
By Robert J. Hutchinson

Acts for Everyone, Part 1
By N.T. (Tom) Wright

The Dawkins Delusion: Atheist Fundamentalism and the Denial of the Divine
By Alister McGrath

The Gods of War: Is Religion the Primary Cause of Violent Conflict?
By Meic Pearse

Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony
By Richard Bauckham

The Historical Reliability of the Gospels, 2nd Edition
By Craig L. Blomberg

Kingdom Triangle: Recover the Christian Mind, Renovate the Soul, Restore the Spirit’s Power
By J. P. Moreland

Passionate Conviction: Modern Discourses on Christian Apologetics
Edited by Paul Copan and William Lane Craig

4. Other Events:

“Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Death of Dorothy Sayers”
Sponsored by the Dorothy Sayers Society
St. Anne’s, Soho, England
December 17, 2007
conference@sayers.org.uk

“Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Death of Dorothy Sayers”
Sponsored by the Dorothy Sayers Society
St. Margaret’s Church, Westminster Abbey
London, England
January 15, 2008
conference@sayers.org.uk

“C.S. Lewis Conference”
Sponsored by Hope Lutheran Church
Atascadero, CA
January 25-27, 2008
http://www.pseudobook.com/cslewis/?page_id=49

“Sixth Frances Ewbank Colloquium on C.S. Lewis & Friends”
Sponsored by Taylor University, Upland, IN
May 29-June 1, 2008
http://www.taylor.edu/academics/supportservices/cslewis/colloquium/

“Charles Williams and His Contemporaries”
Sponsored by The Charles Williams Society
Sr. Hilda’s College, Oxford, England
July 4-6, 2008
http://www.geocities.com/charles_wms_soc/events.html

“Oxbridge 2008: The Self and the Search for Meaning”
Sponsored by the C.S. Lewis Foundation
Oxford University, July 28 – August 2, 2008
Cambridge University, August 3-8, 2008
http://www.cslewis.org/programs/oxbridge/2008/index.html

Please advise me with any questions.

Best regards,

David

David J. Theroux
Founder and President
C. S. Lewis Society of California

http://www.lewissociety.org

Please note the following in this issue of the C.S. Lewis Society Update (10/24/07):

1. New Christianity vs. Atheism Debates
2. Next meetings of C.S. Lewis Society’s Bay Area Book Club: Miracles
3. Recent Articles Pertaining to C. S. Lewis
4. Other Events

1. New Christianity vs. Atheism Debates:

With the recent publication of Dinesh D’Souza’s acclaimed, new book, WHAT’S SO GREAT ABOUT CHRISTIANITY, public debates by D’Souza with prominent atheists have begun, and the atheists are not faring very well at all. The anti-theist campaigns of best-selling authors Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, and others have largely gone unchallenged in any serious and highly visible way, with most elite media coverage giving the atheist jihadists an easy ride. To their great credit, Francis Collins, John Lennox and others have admirably and effectively debated Dawkins and company, but these few confrontations have been the exception and largely invisible in mainstream culture. D’Souza and his book are hence a welcome addition to the long overdue need to set the record straight in an informed and well-mannered way.

The first debate pitted D’Souza against atheist pundit/skeptic Michael Shermer and was held Oct. 15th by the Socratic Club at Oregon State University before an audience of 1,000. Here is the video from the debate which is posted on the atheist blog, “Critical Thinking”

The second debate involved D’Souza against militantly anti-theist Christopher Hitchens, and held on Oct. 20th at King’s College in New York City. Inebriated and even drinking on stage during the debate, Hitchens’s brand of arrogant bomb-throwing faltered badly as he was the clear loser. Here is an account of the debate in the New York Observer

Here also is information on the book, WHAT’S SO GREAT ABOUT CHRISTIANITY, by Dinesh D’Souza

2. The next meetings of the C.S. Lewis Society Bay Area Book Club will be as follows:
http://www.lewissociety.org/bookclub.php

Book for Discussion:

MIRACLES, by C.S. Lewis:

Wednesday, October 31st, 7:30 p.m.; Meeting moderator/leader: Paul Ashby

Wednesday, November 14th, 7:30 p.m.; Meeting moderator/leader: Paul Ashby

In this truly great and profound book, written for both believer and skeptic, C.S. Lewis tackles a difficult subject: miracles. The question is easy enough–do miracles really occur? True to his style, Lewis analyzes it with the scrutinizing eye of a skeptic who has seen the light and wants to help others see it too. The scope goes far beyond miracles. In analyzing the probability of such events, Lewis examines Pantheism vs. Christianity, and the idea of a Nature that is completely independent of any outside interference (even God’s). His argument that the laws and ‘nature’ of Nature are not violated by miracles is convincing, as is his argument that miracles are, in fact, necessary. For Lewis, a miracle wrought by the Creator of mankind is really nothing extraordinary. Some miracles, such as the water being turned into wine, simply skip a step or two. Instead of water nourishing a vine that eventually produces grapes for wine, Christ merely eliminates the intermediary steps. Other miracles, such as Christ’s Resurrection, are simply a glance at what’s to come.

The meetings will be held at:

11990 Skyline Boulevard, Oakland, CA 94619 (atop the Oakland hills)
510-482-2906 phone
wine, soft drinks and other refreshments served

Here also are a number of articles that discuss MIRACLES and related issues:

“Do Miracles Occur?” by John-Erik Stig Hansen

“C. S. Lewis’ Teleological Argument,” by Houston A. Craighead:

“C. S. Lewis on Miracles” by Art Lindsley (pdf file)

“The Argument from Reason,” by Victor Reppert

“The Problem of Miracles: A Historical and Philosophical Perspective,” by William Lane Craig

“A Jurisprudential Analysis of Hume’s ‘In Principle’ Argument Against Miracles,” by Paul K. Hoffman

MIRACLES in available in paperback

MIRACLES on CD

Here also is the schedule of future Lewis Society book club meetings:
http://www.lewissociety.org/bookclub.php

Here also is information on C.S. Lewis:
http://www.lewissociety.org/aboutlewis.php

We hope that you and/or others you know will be joining with us! (Please feel free to forward this update to others.)

3. A Sampling of Recent Articles Pertaining to C. S. Lewis:

“My Stepdad, C.S. Lewis,” by Douglas Gresham (Guardian Unlimited)

“3 Plays Showcase Britain’s Brand of Sentimentality,” by Matt Wolf (International Herald Tribune)

“C.S. Lewis vs. Sigmund Freud,” by Eric Schansberg (Acton Institute)

“Prisons Agree to Return Religious Materials to Chapel Libraries,” by Katherine T. Phan (Christian Post)

“Shadowlands: A Magnificent Portrait or Late-flowering Love and Loss,” by Charles Spencer (London Telegraph)

“The Wood Between the Worlds,” by Michael Parson (London Times)

“Harry Potter Author Reveals Books’ Christian Allegory, Her Struggling Faith,” by Elena Garcia (Christian Post)

“Britney Spears Can Read” [at least Lewis's The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe] (Hollywood Gossip)

4. Other Events:
http://www.lewissociety.org/events.php

“C.S. Lewis: Man and His Work: A 21st Century Legacy”
Sponsored by L. Russ Bush Center for Faith and Culture
Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Wake Forest, NC
October 26-27, 2007
http://www.sebts.edu/CSLewis/

“C.S. Lewis Festival: To Narnia and the North”
Petoskey, MI
October 26-28, 2007
November 3, 2007
http://www.cslewisfestival.org/

“C.S. Lewis Conference”
Sponsored by Hope Lutheran Church
Atascadero, CA
January 25-27, 2008
(More details to follow)

“Sixth Frances Ewbank Colloquium on C.S. Lewis & Friends”
Sponsored by Taylor University, Upland, IN
May 29-June 1, 2008
http://www.taylor.edu/academics/supportservices/cslewis/colloquium/

“Charles Williams and His Contemporaries”
Sponsored by The Charles Williams Society
Sr. Hilda’s College, Oxford, England
July 4-6, 2008
http://www.geocities.com/charles_wms_soc/events.html

David J. Theroux is the Founder and President of the C.S. Lewis Society of California and The Independent Institute in Oakland, Calif.