Hey, everybody! Welcome back to Tumnus’s Book Shelf, where we review any and all books buy and about CS Lewis and the land of Narnia. For today’s review we will be looking at “God in the Dock” by CS Lewis.
We’re starting up our regular C.S. Lewis Society updates again! People really tend to like these, and they help to raise awareness of Lewis Societies all over the United States. This is the December 2008 newsletter of the C.S. Lewis Society of California: Logos.
- In This Issue:
1. New BBC Documentary, The Narnia Code
2. Other Narnia News
3. Upcoming C.S. Lewis Society Events
1. BBC Documentary, The Narnia Code:
The BBC is producing the new documentary by Norman Stone, The Narnia Code, based on the seminal book by Michael Ward, Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C. S. Lewis (Oxford University Press) for airing at Easter 2009. Dr. Ward and the book were featured at the C.S. Lewis Society of California’s special screening of the recent film, Prince Caspian, on May 17, 2008, at San Francisco’s Metreon. Stone won a BAFTA and an Emmy for his 1984 BBC production of C. S. Lewis Through the Shadowlands.
“Secret theme behind Narnia Chronicles is based upon the stars, says new research: The hidden theme behind C. S. Lewis’ Narnia books has finally been uncovered, according to a BBC documentary,” by Alastair Jamieson (London Telegraph, November 30, 2008)
“Documentary to lay bare ‘Narnia Code’,” by Alison Flood (Guardian, December 2, 2008)
2. Other Narnia News:
A. Prince Caspian Released on 3 Disc Special Edition (DVD and Blue-ray Disc):
“Newly Released ‘Prince Caspian’ DVD Takes Movie Fans Behind the Magic,” by Josh Kimball (Christian Post, December 2, 2008)
“‘Prince Caspian’ DVD hits stores tomorrow,” by Bob Beltz (San Francisco Examiner, December 1, 2008)
“The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian 3-Disc Special Edition DVD Review,” by Michael Weyer (411mania.com, December 5, 2008)
B. New Book Presents Skeptic’s Appreciation of The Chronicles of Narnia:
Numerous articles are currently appearing on the new book by Salon.com’s book critic Laura Miller, The Magician’s Book: A Skeptic’s Adventures in Narnia. In the book, Ms. Miller recounts her childhood love for The Chronicles of Narnia, only to turn away from from them as a non-Christian young adult, and later to return to them with skeptical admiration. Along the way, she has come to appreciate Lewis’s immense accomplishment in the Narniad, but largely believes that this relates solely to Lewis’s use of pre-Christian legends and symbols and that the Christian imagery was inappropriate and a “betrayal” (a view she incidentally does not hold for Philip Pullman’s bluntly anti-Christian Dark Materials trilogy). Her error lies in failing to appreciate Lewis’s (and J.R.R. Tolkien’s, Charles Williams’s and G.K. Chesterton’s) deeper point that all truly good literature, including ancient legend, reflects shadowings of Christian truths. For Lewis, the difference between standard myth and Christianity is not that the former is more authentic myth, but that Christianity is most authentically what Tolkien called “true myth,” in which the truths embedded in those legends, which althougth untrue have inspired and thrilled generations for millenia, became all too real in the true story of Jesus Christ.
Indeed, it was this insight by Lewis that was a major factor in his conversion in becoming a Christian. Although having much to be admired, Ms. Miller’s book really is a reflection of her own biases and limitations as a agnostic/modernist journalist, and she would do well to dig deeper into Lewis’s own scholarly writings on this matter, as well as Michael Ward’s superb book, Planet Narnia. In so doing, she (as with both Philip Pullman and Tokien himself) misinterprets numerous aspects of the Narniad stories, predictably based on her ignorance both of the classic literature Lewis was drawing upon and the “Medieval model” Ward reveals is at the heart of the books. Lewis’s Narniad has been so extremely popular because of its profoundly effective and sophisticated integration of enduring truths of the yearning of all mankind for what Lewis rightly called “Joy,” which leads us on a path directly to Christianity.
“A Return to Narnia: Adored in childhood, reconsidered in adulthood and finally embraced,” by Meghan Cox Gurdon (Wall Street Journal, December 6, 2006)
“The Magician’s Book: Actual Smart Things About C.S. Lewis (and J.R.R. Tolkien),” by Lev Grossman (Time, December 1, 2008)
“A spy in the house of Narnia,” by Rebecca Traister (Salon.com, December 7, 2008)
3. Upcoming C.S. Lewis Society Events:
C.S. Lewis Society Bay Area Book and Film Club (See year-long schedule here)
Meets bi-weekly Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m.
The upcoming meeting will be held at:
-
- God in the Dock is a wonderful book of forty-eight essays and twelve letters written by Lewis between 1940 and 1963. Ranging from popular newspaper pieces to learned defenses of Christian faith, these essays cover topics as varied as the logic of theism, good and evil, miracles, religion and science, ethics and politics, and much more. ”These two characteristics in Lewis—the searching mind and the poetic spirit—are readily evident. . . . Here the reader finds the tough-minded polemicist relishing the debate; here too the kindly teacher explaining a complex abstraction by means of clarifying analogies; here the public speaker addressing his varied audience with all the humility and grace of a man who knows how much more remains to be known.”
—New York Times Book ReviewGod in the Dock is available in paperback, on CDs, on audio cassettes, or online.
11990 Skyline Boulevard, Oakland, CA 94619 (atop the Oakland hills)
RSVP: 510-482-2906 phone
Wine, beer, soft drinks and other refreshments servedDecember 10 and 17: Discussion:
God in the Dock: Essays on Theology and Ethics, by C.S. Lewis
Leader/moderator: Frank and Lucia La Rocca
*******************************
For yourself and others, you can order books by or about C.S. Lewis, as well as videos and DVDs plus audio tapes and CDs.
Logos is made possible by the generous contributions of Members of the C.S. Lewis Society. If you enjoy Logos, please consider becoming a Member and making a donation to the C.S. Lewis Society. Click here for details on the C.S. Lewis Society Membership program, or contact us by phone at 510-635-6892,or by snail mail to C. S. Lewis Society of California, 100 Swan Way, Suite 200, Oakland, CA 94621-1428. All contributions are tax-deductible. Thank you!
-David J. Theroux
David J. Theroux, the Founder and President of the C. S. Lewis Society of California has e-mailed us with 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:
1. Personal Responsibility and the Virginia Tech Shootings:
With the recent tragic shootings at Virginia Tech University and the psycho-therapeutic response we are beginning to see, C.S. Lewis had a great deal to say about personal responsibility, good and evil, and criminal justice. In this regard, you may find the following article by Lewis of special interest:
“The Humanitarian Theory of Punishment,” by C.S. Lewis (from his book, GOD IN THE DOCK, edited by Walter Hooper):
http://kzoo.edu/~petersen/teaching/lewis.html
2. Next meetings of the C.S. Lewis Society’s Bay Area Book Club:
Book for Discussion:
THE DISCARDED IMAGE: An Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance Literature
By C.S. Lewis
“Wise, illuminating, companionable, it may well come to be seen as Lewis’s best book.”
–THE OBSERVER
“Erudite and graceful, filled with anecdote and analogy, illuminating the images of the past.”
–LOS ANGELES TIMES
“His wonderful gusto, the clarity of his style, the wit of his comments and analogies, the range of his learning and the liveliness of his mind are displayed to the full, warmed by a prevailing good humor.”
–THE LISTENER
Meeting moderator/leader: Eric Rauscher
Wednesday, May 2nd, 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, May 16th, 7:30 p.m.
These May meetings will focus on C. S. Lewis’s deeply enriching book, THE DISCARDED IMAGE, which paints a lucid picture of the medieval, Christian world view, as historical and cultural background to the literature of the Middle Ages and Renaissance. The book describes the “image” as “the medieval synthesis itself, the whole organization of their theology, science and history into a single, complex, harmonious mental model of the universe,” which contrasts directly with “modernist” and “post-modernist” views. This, Lewis’s last book, has been hailed as “the final memorial to the work of a great scholar and teacher and a wise and noble mind.” The book debunks many myths including the view that the medievals thought that the earth was flat, that they thought that the universe was small, and that in their placing the earth at the center, man existed not at a position of privilege but at the margins of the universe. As Lewis notes:
“Because, as Dante was to say more clearly than anyone else, the spatial order is the opposite of the spiritual, and the material cosmos mirrors, hence reverses, the reality, so that what is truly the rim seems to us the hub… We watch ‘the spectacle of the celestial dance’ from its outskirts. Our highest privilege is to imitate it in such measure as we can. The medieval Model is, if we may use the word, anthropo-peripheral. We are creatures of the Margin.”
Here is a preview of the book, including the Contents and sample chapters:
Google Books Preview of The Discarded Image
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 THE DISCARDED IMAGE:
“THE DISCARDED IMAGE,” by Jim Slagle:
Oregon Live – Discarded Image“THE DISCARDED IMAGE”
Discarded Image“THE DISCARDED IMAGE: A Book Study” by Stanley Anderson
DrZeus.net
THE DISCARDED IMAGE is available in paperback (Cambridge University Press):
Amazon.com
Here also is the schedule of future book club meetings:
Lewis Society Book Club Meetings
Here also is information on C.S. Lewis:
Lewis Society:About C.S. Lewis
We hope that you and others you know will be joining with us!
3. Other Upcoming Events:
Lewis Society: Other Upcoming Events
Southeast Regional C.S. Lewis Conference: “Faith Set Free: C.S. Lewis and the Quest for Joy”
Sponsored by the C.S. Lewis Foundation
Brentwood Academy, Brentwood, TN
May 5, 2007
cslewis.org
“Evangelicals and Roman Catholics: Christian Unity via C.S. Lewis?”
Sponsored by the C. S. Lewis Society of Frederick (MD)
C. Burr Artz Public Library, Frederick, MD
May 21, 2007
Frederick C.S. Lewis Society
Dorothy L. Sayers Society Annual Convention
Sponsored by the Marion E. Wade Center
Wheaton College, Wheaton, IL
June 13-17, 2007
Weaton.edu
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
Chesterton.org
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
CSLewis.org
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
MythSoc.org
“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
CSLewis.org
“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
sebts.edu/CSLewis
Loading ...
