Joseph Pearce sent this message to The C. S. Lewis Foundation regarding the newest issue of the Saint Austin Review, on the theme “Tolkien and Lewis: Masters of Myth, Tellers of Truth.” For all the Lewis and Tolkien fans, this should be a treat.
Just got this in my inbox from J. Stanley Mattson, the founder and president of the C.S. Lewis Foundation:
At long last! It’s difficult to believe, after so extended a journey, but the truth is, we are about to take a major step forward towards the long-awaited goal of establishing C.S. Lewis College.
Charn_Tim had the pleasure of going to the C.S. Lewis Foundation’s summer conference this year, and I asked him to write a little bit about his experience. He writes:
The C.S. Lewis Foundation held its triennial 2 week major international conference, Oxbridge Summer Institute, from July 28th to August 11th at Oxford and Cambridge Universities in England. About three hundred attendees from varied backgrounds gathered at Oxbridge for a time of fellowship and nourishment of mind, body, and spirit with renowned scholars from the arts and sciences, preachers, business professionals, and literary, visual, and performing artists. Throughout the two week institute these scholars, artists, and professionals addressed this year’s conference theme “The Self and the Search for Meaning” from unique perspectives.
In addition to dynamic teaching, attendees experienced grand artistic performances, including an evensong at the ancient and prestigious Ely Cathedral, a dramatic solo version of Lewis’s classic The Great Divorce by professional actor Tony Lawton, and a full scale orchestral performance with the Institute’s choir. Also offered was a guided tour of C.S. Lewis’ Oxford home, called the Kilns, which has been rebuilt and maintained by the C.S. Lewis Foundation and has now been converted to the C.S. Lewis study center.
Even if one did not participate in Oxbridge 2008, it is still possible to experience some of the great teaching and performances, because all sessions were recorded and will be appearing on the Oxbridge 2008 website within the next month. Furthermore, original papers read in the afternoon academic paper sessions will be submitted to the C.S. Lewis Foundation’s online journal, In Pursuit of Truth, with many expected to appear in upcoming journal issues. And watch for the next Oxbridge Summer Institute, expected in 2011!
I know this is a bit late, but here’s last week’s update from the C.S. Lewis Foundation! Enjoy it! (If you have a C.S. Lewis Society, and have a newsletter or would like to promote your group, e-mail us.)
Oxbridge 2008 a Success!
Greetings to all! Oxbridge 2008 is now officially over, and we hope that all of you who attended enjoyed safe travel back to your homes. A hearty thanks to both Oxbridge alumni and to those who have yet to go but generously donated their time, money, and prayers to help make it all possible. It made all the difference!
We have been processing all of the evaluations and the overwhelming consensus declares it a resounding success. We have been greatly encouraged by all of you who shared the many ways in which Oxbridge nourished you both intellectually and spiritually. To God be the glory!
Now that the summer is over, we are beginning to redirect our energies in preparation for other exciting programs and initiatives. Oxbridge serves as a source of enormous inspiration and instruction that informs so much of our work. It has the ultimate intention to inform and direct our outreach in many other areas, all of which contribute towards fulfilling our mission to advance the rich legacy of C.S. Lewis through “the renewal of Christian thought and creative expression throughout the world of learning and the culture at large.”
As a not-for-profit 501(c)3 organization, we depend upon your partnership to help us reach out to those around us. Please keep reading below to discover the exciting ways in which both alumni and friends of the Foundation can join together to make the most of the Oxbridge experience!
In particular, keep a close eye on your inbox for an announcement about the launch of our new online communities where you can contact others, share photos, participate in message board discussions, post related links and articles, and do much more.
CDs of Oxbridge 2008 to Be Produced Soon – Order Now!
Whether you want to buy your friend or spouse that “perfect Christmas gift,” refresh your memory of your favorite talk, make up for the morning you missed, or simply bring a taste of Oxford and Cambridge to your morning commute, the audio recordings from Oxbridge 2008 are currently in production and ready to be ordered for your listening pleasure! Individual talks and services are available, as well as our handsome double boxed sets. Orders should be placed by September 19th to ensure fast shipping, but individual orders can be made at any time. Click on this link to place your order right now: http://www.cslewis.org/resources/audio.html
C.S. Lewis Southwest Regional Retreat – Sign up Now!
Do you want a glimpse of the Inklings experience of fellowship in mind, soul, and body? Are you looking to reconnect with the friends you made this summer in England? Then join with friends old and new at beautiful Camp Allen in Navasota, Texas, October 31 to November 2!
“Redeeming the Time: Overcoming Screwtape in our Everyday Lives”: With wit and insight, C.S. Lewis’ landmark book, The Screwtape Letters, reveals many ways in which evil can take hold, both within and without. In this intimate woodland retreat, join Professor Ralph Wood of Baylor University as he imparts lessons from Lewis on how to better perceive and resist the snares of Screwtape in our everyday lives. Also featuring worship with Rev. Michael Wyckoff, break-out sessions with Lewis scholars Louis Markos and Andrew Lazo, and performances by Ad Deum Dance Company, this retreat will challenge your mind, refresh your body, and renew your spirit! www.cslewis.org/programs/regional/sw/2008/index.html.
Donate Today to Support the Foundation in Its Strategic Mission
Your gift will enable Christian faculty, administrators, and trustees serving in colleges and universities across the U.S., Canada and abroad, to make a real difference where it counts – within the lecture halls and classrooms of our nation’s campuses, right where our future leaders are being formed. In addition, your gift will support the C.S. Lewis Foundation’s efforts to challenge and nurture our churches in supporting this strategic outreach to the university world.
Donate online using our secure gift program. For your convenience, we are able to accept donations made via credit cards and direct debit from your checking account. Begin the process by clicking here. Alternately, you may donate over the phone by calling toll-free 1-888-CSLEWIS Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pacific Time. Or donate through the mail by sending your donation to C.S. Lewis Foundation, P.O. Box 8008, Redlands, CA 92375
Our Needs List – Contribute to the Work of this Ministry!
Our programs, including the C.S. Lewis Study Centre at The Kilns in Oxford, CSLF Internship Program, Faculty Forum, and Oxbridge Summer Institute, have need of the following equipment:
(2) 15 in. or larger flat panel/LCD monitor (est. $189 each)
(1) Special request for our out-of-state volunteer Interns serving at the C.S. Lewis Foundation main office in Redlands, CA: We have need of a car, used or new, to be used by Foundation Interns in commuting to the office (model year 2000 or newer with automatic transmission preferred.)
Please prayerfully consider supporting our ministry in this way and joining us in our mission to promote the legacy of C.S. Lewis!
If you would like to sign up to receive future e-mails from the C.S. Lewis Foundation about their news and events, please click here: C.S. Lewis Foundation Contact Page
Dr. Devin Brown recently served as the Scholar-in-Residence for a weeklong Summer Seminar at The Kilns, C.S. Lewis’s home just outside of Oxford, England. The seminar was put on by the C.S. Lewis Foundation, which purchased The Kilns in 1984 and has restored it to its 1930s appearance.
The seminar was composed of fourteen participants from all walks of life who came to live and study in Lewis’s home. In addition to the daily classes which were taught by Dr. Brown in The Kilns’ library, the group was able to tour Lewis’s college, worship at the church he attended, and eat at The Eagle and Child—the pub which hosted the weekly meetings of the Inklings, the writing group composed of Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien and their friends.
Lewis moved into The Kilns in 1930 and lived there until his death in 1963. It was the first and the only home he owned.
For those of you going to Oxbridge 2008, the C.S. Lewis Foundation’s Weblog invites you to write about your previous experiences at Oxbridge, and other things to do in the area, and to see. To that end, the forum they refer to is the comment area under the story in the blog.
Now that Oxbridge 2008 is just around the corner, we at the Foundation are excited to expand this blog to include a forum for travel recommendations. We hope that in addition to attending this unique and memorable conference, you will be able to make the most of your time in England, a country rich in culture, history, and natural beauty.
To that end, we ask those of you who have been to England to share your favorite restaurants, pubs, museums, places of interest, and other “must see” locations and “must do” experiences.
The Super Early Bird Discount Deadline is just around the corner!
Don’t miss your chance to save up to $300 by paying in full by November 30th!
The C.S. Lewis Foundation Presents
“The Self and the Search For Meaning”
July 28 – August 8, 2008
Over 3,000 People Have Experienced the Delights of Oxbridge.
Isn’t It Time You Joined Us?
• Exceptional Programming: Engaging lectures, outstanding seminars, creative workshops, academic symposia, & tours of C.S. Lewis’ home
• Exceptional Speakers: Including Francis Collins, Philip Yancey, John Polkinghorne, Richard Mouw, Earl Palmer, Gilbert Meilaender, Wilfred McClay, Dana Gioia, Laurie Beth Jones, & many others
• Exceptional Experiences: Visit and worship in historic settings. Enjoy stellar performances of Dance, Theatre, & Orchestral/Choral music
“This integrated way of existing – in which the academic, the artistic, the leisurely, and the holy are so beautifully intertwined – is exactly what you find at C.S. Lewis Foundation conferences. My three experiences at these events have been among the high points in my life – major signposts that have directed me in my ongoing pilgrim journey.”
–Brett McCracken, UCLA
Graduate Student, Film Studies
Click Here to Learn More: WWW.CSLEWIS.ORG
or call toll-free 1-888-CSLEWIS
Scholarships and financial aid are available to those who qualify. Program schedule is subject to change.
The C.S. Lewis Foundation has e-mailed us with their support of the film Bella. I have seen Bella and I can tell you all: it’s a great film, worth seeing by any means possible. It is a film that touches your heart and it does so with a very simple grace and elegance. I cannot recommend it enough. Here’s the letter from the founder and president of the C.S. Lewis Foundation:
Dear friends,
The following announcement is being forwarded to you out of a sincere desire to do all we can to promote the success of this special film Bella, which is just now opening in theatres across the nation.
As we have learned with such outstanding films as Amazing Grace and The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, box office sales in the opening weekend of release are of critical importance in determining the “shelf life” of a given film. To give this worthy film a boost along the way, Jean and I plan to go see Bella this weekend. It would be enormously helpful to the cause of good film making if you could do likewise, if at all possible, and, in any and all events, “pass the word” on to your friends so that others might join with us in the effort.
With warmest regards and best wishes of the Thanksgiving season,
Stan
J. Stanley Mattson, Ph.D.
Founder and President
C.S. Lewis Foundation
www.cslewis.org
From Eduardo Verastegui, lead actor and Producer of film “Bella”:
URGENT!!—- Bella is the #1 Top Rated Movie in the US but If the movie “Bella” does not have high box office scores this weekend:
IT WILL BE TAKEN OUT OF THEATRES
Because of your help the distributor is doubling the number of theaters showing Bella. We can do it again and make it to the #1 busiest box office weekend of the year….Thanksgiving weekend. It is “do or die” for this film to succeed. We need to mobilize everyone we know to watch this film Fri-Sunday (Nov 16-18). Why?
THIS IS OUR CHANCE.
This is what we need from you to do today, in the next 48 hours. How You Can Help Bella:
Email this to everyone you know!
Click on the link below to see all the ways you can help
http://www.bellathemovie.com/emails/Bella_111507.phpTogether we can make a difference!
-Eduardo Verastegui
Please note the following in this issue of the C.S. Lewis Society Update (9/26/07):
1. Religious Books Banned in Federal Prisons
2. Film News
3. Next meeting of C.S. Lewis Society’s Bay Area Book Club: Reflections on the Psalms
4. New Journal and Books
5. Other Events
1. Religious Books Banned in Federal Prisons:
In the name of “fighting terrorism,” federal Bureau of Prisons bureaucrats are banning any religious books in prisons not on the Bureau’s short, restricted list of approved books. Among the books banned are ones by C. S. Lewis, Rick Warren, Paul Tillich, Karl Barth, Moses Maimonides, Charles Schuller, Harold Kushner, and many, many other authors. The wholesale censorship has ordered federal prison chaplains to comply based on the premise that library materials should be “free of discrimination, disparagement, advocacy of violence and religious radicalization.” The purge resulted from a 2004 report by the Office of the Inspector General in the Justice Department that recommended that prisons take steps to avoid becoming recruiting grounds for militant Islamic and other religious groups, the New York Times reported.
A class action suit has been filed by two prisoners in upstate New York, one a Christian and the other an Orthodox Jew.
Needless to say, C.S. Lewis was a very strong opponent of literary censorship, as he discussed in a number of his books, including PRESENT CONCERNS.
Amazon.com
2. Film News:
A. A feature film is being made of the marvelous autobiographical book, A SEVERE MERCY, by the author and scholar Sheldon Vanauken (Professor of History and English, Lynchburg College). The book recounts the story of Vanauken and his wife Davy’s friendship with C.S. Lewis, their conversion to Christianity and their facing her tragic illness and death. The film is being produced by Origin Entertainment:
http://aseveremercythemovie.com/
Sheldon Vanauken (Wikipedia)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheldon_Vanauken
B. The beginning of filming for the third book in the Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia series, VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER, has been pushed back to Summer 2008 in order to accommodate the schedules of the actors. As a result, the film is now scheduled for release in May 2010. (Michael Apted is the director.) Meanwhile, the production of Narnia book THE SILVER CHAIR has been placed on the priority list by the producers at Walden Media as a result of an impending strike next June by the Writers’ Guild, Directors’ Guild, and Screen Actors’ Guild.
C. A handsome movie poster for the next Narnia epic film PRINCE CASPIAN has recently been released, “A New Age Has Begun,” showing a May 16th premiere date for the film:
http://www.cinematical.com/media/2007/09/caspian-teaser.jpg
3. Next meetings of the C.S. Lewis Society’s Bay Area Book Club:
http://www.lewissociety.org/bookclub.php
Book for Discussion:
REFLECTIONS ON THE PSALMS, by C.S. Lewis:
Wednesday, October 3rd, 7:30 p.m.; Meeting moderator/leader: Lucia La Rocca
Wednesday, October 17th, 7:30 p.m.; Meeting moderator/leader: Lucia La Rocca
In one of his most enlightening works, C.S. Lewis shares his ruminations on both the form and the meaning of the Psalms. In the introduction he explains, “I write for the unlearned about things in which I am unlearned myself,” so from neither a scholar’s nor a Christian apologist’s stance Lewis takes on a tone of thoughtful collegiality as he writes on one of the Bible’s most elusive books. Characteristically graceful and lucid, Lewis cautions that the Psalms were originally written as songs that should now be read in the spirit of lyric poetry. Drawing from daily life as well as the literary world, Lewis begins to reveal the mystery that often shrouds the Psalms. REFLECTIONS ON THE PSALMS also includes an appendix featuring the full text of selected Psalms and a listing of all the Psalms mentioned and discussed.
“Illuminating and rewarding reading.” –Christian Herald
“For the last thirty years of his life no other Christian writer in this country had such an influence on the general reading public as C.S. Lewis.” –Times Literary Supplement
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 couple short articles that discuss REFLECTIONS ON THE PSALMS and related issues:
“Reflections on the Psalms: Quotations and Allusions,” by Arend Smilde
http://www.solcon.nl/arendsmilde/cslewis/reflections/e-psalmsquotes.htm
“Reflections on the Psalms,” by Will Vaus:
http://www.willvaus.com/reflections_on_the_psalms
REFLECTIONS ON THE PSALMS in available in paperback
REFLECTIONS ON THE PSALMS 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.)
4. New Journal and Books:
A. NEW JOURNAL: The C.S. Lewis Foundation has recently launched the new online journal, IN PURSUIT OF TRUTH: A Journal of Christian Scholarship. The journal is edited by Scott Key, Professor of Philosophy and Humanities at California Baptist University.
http://www.cslewis.org/journal/?page_id=2
B. NEW BOOKS: The following new books are noteworthy:
1. DISCOVERING GOD: The Origins of the Great Religions and the Evolution of Belief, by Rodney Stark (HarperOne, October 2007):
Amazon.com
“In this wide-ranging investigation, Stark detects sacred reality–not pious deception–at the heart of transcendent beliefs shared by Aborigines and Anglicans. In their myths of the high gods, Stark contends, early tribal peoples glimpsed divine truths obscured in later civilizations when pharaohs and emperors lent government support to temple priesthoods more interested in maintaining a comfortable lifestyle than in serving God. The eventual emergence of a religious marketplace in ancient Rome opened a wide range of metaphysical options. Yet in a culture of religious pluralism, the insistent claims of tightly knit communities of Jews and Christians appeared threatening to Roman leaders, who defended the status quo by persecuting adherents to these unsettlingly intense faiths. Yet it is in these revelatory faiths–and not the meditative religions of Eastern Asia–that Stark discerns the fullest manifestation of God. . . . [S]erious students of religion will recognize this as an essential sourcebook.” — Booklist
2. WHAT’S SO GREAT ABOUT CHRISTIANITY, by Dinesh D’Souza (Regnery, October 2007):
Amazon.com
This new book looks at Christianity with a questioning eye, but treats atheists with equal skepticism. The result is a book that will challenge the assumptions of both believers and doubters and affirm that there really is, indeed, something great about Christianity.
* Why Christianity explains what modern science tells us about the universe and our origins–that matter was created out of nothing, that light preceded the sun–better than atheism does
* How Christianity created the framework for modern science, so that Christianity and science are not irreconcilable, but science and atheism might be
* Why the alleged sins of Christianity–the Crusades, the Inquisition, the Galileo affair (“an atheist’s fable”)–are vastly overblown
* Why atheist regimes are responsible for the greatest mass murders of history
* Why atheists fear the Big Bang theory and the “anthropic principle” of the universe, which are keystones of modern astronomy and physics
* How Christianity explains consciousness and free will, which atheists have to deny
* Why ultimately you can’t have Western civilization–and all we value from it–without the Christianity that gave it birth.
3. THE SPIRITUAL BRAIN: A Neuroscientist’s Case for the Existence of the Soul, by Mario Beauregard and Denyse O’Leary (HarperOne, September 2007):
Barnes and Noble
Do religious experiences come from God, or are they merely the random firing of neurons in the brain? Drawing on his own research with Carmelite nuns, neuroscientist Mario Beauregard shows that genuine, life-changing spiritual events can be documented. He offers compelling evidence that religious experiences have a nonmaterial origin, making a convincing case for what many in scientific fields are loath to consider-that it is God who creates our spiritual experiences, not the brain. The authors also explore recent claims of a “God gene,” “God helmet,” and claims that our brains are “hardwired” for religion. The authors argue that these attempts are misguided and narrow-minded, because they mistakenly reduce spiritual experiences to material phenomena.
Here also is an interview with Professor Beauregard, who is the Director of the Laboratory of Neuropsychology at the University of Montreal in Canada:
Harper Collins
4. ACTS FOR EVERYONE, PART 1, by Tom Wright (September 2007)
The distinguished New Testament scholar, N.T. (“Tom”) Wright has authored an accessible yet in-depth commentary for everyone to understand the Book of Acts. The book combines wit, insights and wisdom, and is part of the series he has been authoring which also includes books on Mark, Matthew, Luke, John, etc.
Amazon.com
4. Other Events:
http://www.lewissociety.org/events.php
“The Crisis of the University: Freedom, Tolerance and the Pursuit of Truth”
Sponsored by the C.S. Lewis Foundation
University of Colorado, Boulder, CO
October 5-6, 2007
http://www.cslewis.org/programs/ff/2007/index.html
“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 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
From Steve Elmore of the C.S. Lewis Foundation:
The C.S. Lewis Foundation is pleased to announce the Southeast Regional C.S. Lewis Conference. Come join us in Nashville on May 5 as we engage the world of C.S. Lewis in the good company of Lewis scholars Joseph Pearce, Stan Mattson and Andrew Lazo. Together we will explore Lewis’ life and works, discovering the essential role of faith in our own quest for joy.
Also featuring professional dance and music performances, a new Disney film documentary on Lewis’ life, and a special Narnia program for children. Don’t miss this day of learning, worship, and fellowship for the whole family! Register now! Visit our website www.cslewis.org or call toll-free 1-888-CSLEWIS.
“Faith Set Free: C.S. Lewis and the Quest for Joy” also includes performances by the Ad Deum Dance Company of Houston with guest vocalist Stacy Jagger and screening of new Disney documentary C.S. Lewis: Dreamer of Narnia. May 5, 2007.
More Conferences/Seminars:
C.S. Lewis Summer Conference, San Diego, California – “Finding the Way: C.S. Lewis as Pilgrim Guide in an Age of Pluralism” – Together with leading Lewis scholars Paul Ford, Malcolm Guite, and Diana Glyer plus Lambs Players, Steve Mays and Christians of every communion, we will study C. S. Lewis’ writings to discern what it means to be faithful to Christ in a world of increasing religious and philosophical diversity. Enjoy a full program of teaching, worship and performance in this beautiful city by the Pacific! June 28-July 1, 2007.
C.S. Lewis Summer Seminars-in-Residence at The Kilns, Oxford, England. Week-long, small-group seminars addressing relevant themes in C.S. Lewis’ former home in Oxford. July 7-13, 15-21, & 28 – August 3, 2007.
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