A few weeks ago I noticed that some of the C.S. Lewis books were getting new cover art on Amazon.com.  I ignored it at first, but I have seen it reported on in a number of places and thought it would be good to alert readers of this website about them as well.

Now, some sites are reporting that there are 9 books receiving new covers, whereas the official C.S. Lewis book website says “Collect all 10 beautiful new editions of C.S. Lewis’s greatest works.”  I’m doing some digging to find out if it is, in fact, 10 books receiving the new cover art.

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Welcome to Tumnus’s Book Shelf where we review any and all books related to The Chronicles of Narnia and CS Lewis! For today’s book we will be reviewing Tales Before Narnia, edited by Douglas Anderson.

Title: Tales Before Narnia

Author: Various

Edited by: Douglas A. Anderson

Publisher: Del Ray

ISBN -10: 0345498909

ISBN -13: 978-0345498908

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Welcome to Tumnus’s Book Shelf where we review any and all books related to Narnia and CS Lewis! For this weeks review, we will be looking at Mere Christianity by CS Lewis

Title: Mere Christianity.
Author: CS Lewis
Publisher: Touchstone Books; 1st Touchstone Ed edition (June 1996

ISBN-10: 0684823780
ISBN-13: 978-0684823782

Summary of the book:

What is a Christian? Who is Jesus? What do Christians believe? What is faith? What is the trinity? These are questions that have baffled theologians and philosophers alike for centuries, and in Mere Christianity, CS Lewis explores these very topics.

Originally radio addresses done for the BBC, this collection of simple, clear and straightforward essays looks at such things as the deity of Jesus, the existence of evil, forgiveness, pride, faith, charity, hope, the Trinity and becoming a new person in Christ. These essays will challenge a readers way of looking at Christianity and the world around them and make them ask their own questions.

Review.

Few people through out the centuries have been able to explain what Christianity is with out making it to complicated and using language that no one can really relate too. CS Lewis is one exception. In everything he writes, whether it’s children’s books or essays, is that he keeps things simple and easy to understand for people who don’t believe much like he once did.

The point of Mere Christianity is not to get into all the differences between the denominations, but to establish what all Christians believe. Namely that Jesus is the son of God and who Jesus is. It is also in this book that Lewis first uses the “Lord, Liar or Lunatic” reasoning to prove Jesus’ deity, an argument which as used by George McDonald in Everlasting Man, and more currently by Josh McDowell.

Lewis presents these essays not as an expert theologian, but as an Atheist who came to Christ. Lewis is a layperson in terms of theology, and he makes no apologies for it. He doesn’t lay on heavy terms or jargon used by Christians, but uses simple and easy to understand words. We do not see the four spiritual laws, or the bridge illustration that we see in tracts. We see raw, “mere” Christianity.

The writing style is very simple and conversational. The essays in mere Christianity were originally radio addresses for the BBC and the conversational style helps them flow along easier. To often theological addresses come off as heavy and dry reading. Mere Christianity feels more like a trusted friend sitting down to talk to you in an English pub about something and less of a preacher at a pulpit trying to hammer you with a sermon on Sunday Morning.

A flaw that some people may find in it is that mere Christianity much like all of Lewis’s works, is largely non-denominational. He is not nor was not writing strictly or an Anglican audience. He was not even writing for a Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist or a Presbyterian audience. Despite his place in Evangelical circles he wasn’t even writing for them. He was trying to write for all people at all times and places, specifically those like him at one point who were not Christians.

In this attempt to make it not only understandable, and non denominational, he also pursues it logically. Christians are often seen as following the faith blindly, but Lewis shows how important it is to honestly think about what you believe, not just to make it relevant but to make it your own. This shows the importance of not only loving God with all your heart , strength and soul, but with your mind. It is this last part that we often forget in the 21st century and need to remember.

Mere Christianity also breaks down all the barriers that exist between Christians and boils it all down to what Christianity is all about. If ever we needed a book like this, now would be the time. Thankfully, Lewis had already been used to supply it for us.

For once, you will not be bored reading about some of the Christian doctrines in Mere Christianity. Chances are you will actually want to read the next chapter. This book is sure to change not only your life but your outlook, and hopefully the way you relate Christianity to others.

Five out of Five Shields

Buy the book on Amazon.com

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David J. Theroux, the Founder and President of the C. S. Lewis Society of California has e-mailed us with the latest updates on many upcoming events that you’re all invited to attend! I hope that some of you have the chance to visit these events and join Lewis Societies, or even have the opportunity to start one in your own area if one does not exist. Here’s the update:

In this Issue of C.S. Lewis Society Update:
1. Upcoming Films
2. Important New Books
3. Next meetings of the C.S. Lewis Society’s Bay Area Book Club
4. Other Upcoming Events

1. Upcoming Films:

With the enormous film success of “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” based on the first volume of C.S. Lewis’s beloved 7-volume series, “The Chronicles of Narnia,” plans are underway at Walden Media to produce the following films based on other Lewis novels, for public release as follows:

“Prince Caspian” — mid-2008
“The Screwtape Letters” — Christmas 2008
“Voyage of the ‘Dawn Treader’” — mid-2009
“The Silver Chair” — mid-2010

In addition, the Duncan Group is in post-production for the forthcoming program for PBS:

“Myth, Imagination & Faith: A Spiritual Journey through Literature”

Featuring the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien, George MacDonald and C.S. Lewis, this new documentary will explore the central theme of “the true myth” with experts and scholars weighing in from various perspectives. The show plans to follow in the traditions of both the acclaimed programs, “The Magic Never Ends” and the PBS special “The Question of God.”

2. Important new books:

* The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, Volume 3: Narnia, Cambridge, and Joy, 1950-1963
Edited by Walter Hooper
HarperSanFrancisco, 2007

The final installment of the three-volume collected letters of C. S. Lewis, this volume contains the letters Lewis wrote during the last part of his life, spanning his time at Cambridge, his brilliant creation of the land of Narnia and the children’s series that followed, and his struggle with his wife Joy’s serious illness and death. Editor and friend Walter Hooper calls him “one of the last great letter-writers” — the last of a generation who did not lift a telephone receiver when he had something to say or tap out e-mails on a computer keyboard. Some of the recipients richly merited his ink: the detective novelist, theologian and Dante translator Dorothy Sayers; St. Giovanni Calabria of Verona (correspondence in Latin); T.S. Eliot; the sci-fi maestro Arthur C. Clarke; and the American writer Robert Penn Warren. In these letters, Lewis swaps quips in Latin and Greek and quotes Spenser, Statius, Beowulf, Horace, Wordsworth, Terence and Augustus. Other letters were from cranks, whiners and down-and-out charity cases; he answered them all.

* The Company They Keep: C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien as Writers in Community
By Diana Glyer (Professor of English, Azusa Pacific University)
Kent State University Press, 2007

The creators of Narnia and Middle Earth, C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien were close friends and professional colleagues. They met frequently with a community of fellow Christian writers at Oxford in the 1930s, 40s, and 50s, all sharing their works-in-progress. The group became known as the Inklings. Diana Glyer invites readers into the heart of the group, examining diary entries, personal letters and manuscripts.

* C.S. Lewis: Life, Works, and Legacy (4 volumes)
Edited by Bruce L. Edwards (Professor and Associate Dean, Bowling Green State University)
Praeger Publishers, 2007

This splendid, four-volume reference set on the life and works of C. S. Lewis includes such contributors as Devin Brown, Wayne Martindale, Victor Reppert, Lyle Dorsett, Perry Bramlett, Diana Glyer, Marjorie Lamp Mead, Colin Duriez, and many other Lewis scholars.

3. Next meetings of the C.S. Lewis Society’s Bay Area Book Club:

Book for Discussion:

PERELANDRA, by C.S. Lewis (from his acclaimed Space Trilogy)

“Mr. Lewis has a genius for making his fantasies livable.”
–NEW YORK TIMES

“Lewis, perhaps more than any other twentieth-century writer, forced those who listened to him and read his works to come to terms with their own philosophical presuppositions.”
–LOS ANGELES TIMES

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

“Writing of the highest order. PERELANDRA is, from all standpoints, far superior to other tales of interplanetary adventures.”
–COMMONWEAL

Meeting moderator/leader: Tom Price
Wednesday, May 30th, 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, June 13th, 7:30 p.m.

The second in C.S. Lewis’s acclaimed Space Trilogy, which includes Out of the Silent Planet and That Hideous Strength, PERELANDRA continues the adventures of the extraordinary Dr. Elwin Ransom as he journeys to a new world, Perelandra, and meets a human native, a glamorously beautiful woman who is the equivalent of Eve. The book is a a truly magical tale, completely unique in the science fiction genre. Pitted against the greatest of human weaknesses, temptation, Ransom must battle for good on Perelandra when it is invaded by pure evil. Will Perelandra succumb or will it throw off the yoke of corruption and achieve a spiritual perfection as yet unknown to man? The outcome of Dr. Ransom’s mighty struggle will alone determine its fate.

The meetings will be held at:

11990 Skyline Boulevard, Oakland, CA 94619
510-482-2906 phone
wine, soft drinks and other refreshments served

Here also are articles that discuss PERELANDRA:

“PERELANDRA,” Wikipedia

“PERELANDRA, by C.S. Lewis,” reviewed by Peter Schakel, The Literary Encyclopedia

“C. S. Lewis: Science and Scientism,” by Henry F. Schaefer III

PERELANDRA is available in paperback and 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. Other Upcoming Events:
http://www.lewissociety.org/events.php

Dorothy L. Sayers Society Annual Convention
Sponsored by the Marion E. Wade Center
Wheaton College, Wheaton, IL
June 13-17, 2007
http://www.wheaton.edu/wadecenter/news/news.html

The 26th Annual Chesterton Conference: “The Man Who Was Today”
Sponsored by the American Chesterton Society
University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, MN
June 14-16, 2007
http://www.chesterton.org/rediscover/conference.html

“Opposition Is True Friendship: Love, Friendship and Philosophy in C.S. Lewis’s World”
Sponsored by the Southern California C.S. Lewis Society
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Monrovia, CA
June 16, 2007

C.S. Lewis Summer Conference: “Finding the Way: C.S. Lewis as Pilgrim Guide in an Age of Pluralism”
Sponsored by the C.S. Lewis Foundation
San Diego, CA
June 28-July 1, 2007
http://www.cslewis.org/programs/sumconference/2007/index.html

The 38th Annual Mythopoeic Conference (Mythcon XXXVIII), “Becoming Adept: The Journey to Mastery”
Sponsored by the Mythopoeic Society
University of California, Berkeley, CA
August 3-6, 2007
http://www.mythsoc.org/mythcon38.html

“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 College at Wake Forest, Wake Forest, NC
October 26-27, 2007
http://www.sebts.edu/CSLewis/

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From TheOneLion: I thought you’d be interested in a six week seminar taking place on Wheaton College campus in Wheaton, Illinois. It includes a visit to the Wade Center where CS Lewis’ desk and wardrobe are on display and JRR Tolkein’s desk is on display. Visitors can indeed touch the museum pieces, however they no longer allow visitors to climb into the wardrobe since it is a unique furniture piece and its age requires them to take certain steps to ensure its preservation. The Wade Center is an amazing little library/museum full of fantastic British authors works and some very interesting Tolkien original writings and other items related to The Lord of the Rings. The seminar is as follows and meets in the Rolland Center cafe – lower level. An as-of-now unscheduled trip to see the anticipated movie that we are all anticipating.

From Weaton.edu: The Marion E. Wade Center of Wheaton College, Illinois, houses a major research collection of the books and papers of seven British authors: Owen Barfield, G.K. Chesterton, C.S. Lewis, George MacDonald, Dorothy L. Sayers, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Charles Williams. These writers are well known for their impact on contemporary literature and Christian thought. Together they produced over four hundred books including novels, drama, poetry, fantasy, children’s books, and Christian treatises. Overall, the Wade Center has more than 11,000 volumes including first editions and critical works. Other holdings on the seven authors include letters, manuscripts, audio and video tapes, artwork, dissertations, periodicals, photographs, and related materials. Any of these resources may be studied in the quiet surroundings of the Kilby Reading Room.

In addition, the Wade Center has a museum where such pieces as C.S. Lewis’s family wardrobe and writing desk, Charles Williams’s bookcases, J.R.R. Tolkien’s desk, Pauline Baynes’s original map of Narnia, and a tapestry from Dorothy L. Sayers’s home can be viewed. Photographs, rare books and manuscripts, and other small items of memorabilia round off the displays. A current exhibit, entitled “The Craft of Detective Fiction”, details the contributions made by G.K. Chesterton and Dorothy L. Sayers to the genre of detective fiction.

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