Lesser-Known Lewis: Christian Reflections on C. S. Lewis's Essays and Short Works

Exploring Lewis' 1945 article "Modern Man and His Categories of Thought" where Lewis explores 6 reasons he believes to be why Modern people no longer believe in the supernatural, sin, or divine judgement. We find ourselves agreeing (with at least 5) and think those reasons have continued producing increasingly negative effects in our own day. The essay helps us understand why people...

Exploring Lewis' 1958 article "Revival or Decay?" where he imagines a conversation with a headmaster who is celebrating how Religion seems to be having a bit of a revival. Lewis is not so sure whether to interpret things the same way. The signs of religious revival in culture that the headmaster sees might not be an entirely positive thing. We find these same supposed signs of reviva...

In C. S Lewis' "On the Transmission of Christianity" from 1946, he explains why he thinks Christianity appears on the decline in future generations. Spoiler alert: It's not because humans are outgrowing religion or becoming too enlightened to believe in such silly things. It's because the next generation is no longer being taught a compelling view of the faith in their educat...

In the 1946 essay, "The Decline of Religion," C. S. Lewis counters those who claim that Christianity is in decline, but also cautions those who claim that Christianity is in a revival. We find that both of these claims are present in our culture today and what Lewis has to say to his own day carries over directly as a warning to ours. Find an index of Lewis' essays at ⁠⁠⁠pintswithjac...

We kick off Season 4 "Apologetics in a Disenchanted Age" with C. S. Lewis' famous essay "God in the Dock" from 1948. In it, he summarizes the difficulties in trying to communicate Christianity to modern people. Nearly 80 years later his observations have become even more true. People do not believe in anything beyond the natural world, they're skeptical about anything h...

In Case You Missed It — Jordan joined Joseph Weigel, on his podcast Men with Chests , to have a conversation about C. S. Lewis' essay "The Poison of Subjectivism." Check out Joseph's excellent podcast for episodes covering Lewis' book The Abolition of Man , and other books and essays related to it! Find more Lesser-Known Lewis —  Online: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠pintswithjack.com/lesser...

In Case You Missed It — Jordan joined Brian Shepherd, who is the creator of the That Hideous Lewis Substack , to have a conversation about mud pies, desire, and the promise of glory. Find more Lesser-Known Lewis —  Online: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠pintswithjack.com/lesser-known-lewis⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Patreon: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/lesserknownlewis⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@lesserknownlewis⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

In Case You Missed It - Jordan was on ⁠The Mere C. S. Lewis podcast to discuss the essay "Religion and Rocketry" (once again!) with host Thornton Ray. Find the Mere C. S. Lewis Podcast on Instagram Find more Lesser-Known Lewis —  Online: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠pintswithjack.com/lesser-known-lewis⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Patreon: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/lesserknownlewis⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@lesse...

In our final episode is Season 3, we bring what we’ve learned from Lewis “On Metaphor and Myth” and think about how this helps us become better readers of Scripture. Our guest, ⁠Dr. Louis Markos⁠ , has literally written the book on this, many books, in fact, showing how Christians can look along Greek myths to discover the True Myth, Jesus Christ, and how learning to read myths gives us the right...

In our final episode is Season 3, we bring what we’ve learned from Lewis “On Metaphor and Myth” and think about how this helps us become better readers of Scripture. Our guest, Dr. Louis Markos , has literally written the book on this, many books, in fact, showing how Christians can look along Greek myths to discover the True Myth, Jesus Christ, and how learning to read myths gives us the right le...

Exploring the iconic C. S. Lewis essay "Meditation in a Toolshed" from 1945, where Lewis considers two ways of knowing things: "looking at" and "looking along". We might say, contemplating and enjoying. He argues that both are valid and necessary and which one is best depends on the circumstances. However, he points out that "looking along" is far undervalue...

Exploring the iconic C. S. Lewis essay "Meditation in a Toolshed" from 1945, where Lewis considers two ways of knowing things: "looking at" and "looking along". We might say, contemplating and enjoying. He argues that both are valid and necessary and which one is best depends on the circumstances. However, he points out that "looking along" is far undervalue...

Author Sarah Arthur continues a conversation about the place of myth and imagination in spiritual formation. Jordan's brother Jared joins as co-host because of his expertise as English teacher (and totally not because their mom made him). Find more about Sarah Arthur and her books at ⁠saraharthur.com⁠ Find more Lesser-Known Lewis —  Online: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠pintswithjack.com/lesser-k...

Author Sarah Arthur joins us to chat about her new fantasy novel "Once a Queen," which is heavily influenced by C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, Dorothy Sayers, and others. Sarah shares with us the power of myth in her storytelling and is a perfect example of all that we have been learning this season "On Metaphor and Myth." Jordan's brother Jared joins as co-host because of...

Exploring the second part of a 1956 sermon by C. S. Lewis, "A Slip of the Tongue," where Lewis realizes he accidentally prayed to hold onto temporal things. He reflects in the sermon that, even though it was a slip of the tongue, and meant to pray the opposite, the reality is he (and all of us with him) really do wish to hang onto the temporal things. He challenges us to consider - are t...

Exploring a 1956 sermon by C. S. Lewis, "A Slip of the Tongue," where Lewis realizes he accidentally prayed to hold onto temporal things. He reflects in the sermon that, even though it was a slip of the tongue, and meant to pray the opposite, the reality is he (and all of us with him) really do wish to hang onto the temporal things. He challenges us to consider - are there areas of our l...

To reflect on the Lenten themes of C. S. Lewis' 1943 essay "Three Kinds of Men," Sean and Jordan recruit the help of their students at Eston College. We keep coming back to the ways Lewis is simply expounding on St. Paul's letter to the Philippians. Eston College The music for this episode is "Collect for Lent," performed by David Stroeve, composed by Jordan Duncan and...

Exploring C. S. Lewis' 1942 essay "Psychoanalysis and Literary Criticism" where he dismantles Freud's view of how all literature is written and read from a place of psycho-sexual desire. In doing so, Lewis defends the depth and beauty and complexity of literature and myth, and leans towards a more Jungian concept of literature and myth. Chris Pipkin's Links — The Inklings Var...

Exploring C. S. Lewis' 1942 essay "Psychoanalysis and Literary Criticism" where he dismantles Freud's view of how all literature is written and read from a place of psycho-sexual desire. In doing so, Lewis defends the depth and beauty and complexity of literature and myth, and leans towards a more Jungian concept of literature and myth. Chris Pipkin's Links — ⁠The Inklings Va...

This letter, written Oct 1, 1931 by a young C. S. Lewis to his closest friend Arthur Greeves, is uniquley timed. It was written 9 days after the influential conversation Lewis had on Addison's Walk with friends Tolkien and Dyson, and four days after his conversion to Christ (what has become known as "Sidecar Day"). Here Lewis tells Arthur more about the conversation and we get a peek...

Exploring the second part of the 1944 C. S. Lewis essay "Myth Became Fact" where Lewis defends Christianity against the de-mythologizing. He argues that the mythic nature of Christianity is essential and that what elevates it above all other myths is that this Myth actually became Fact. That is, it really happened. This was the idea that J. R. R. Tolkien argued with the non-Christian Lew...

Exploring the 1944 C. S. Lewis essay "Myth Became Fact" where Lewis defends Christianity against the de-mythologizing. He argues that the mythic nature of Christianity is essential and that what elevates it above all other myths is that this Myth actually became Fact. That is, it really happened. This was the idea that J. R. R. Tolkien argued with the non-Christian Lewis, which led to Le...

This letter, written Sept 22, 1931 by a young C. S. Lewis to his closest friend Arthur Greeves, is uniquley timed. It was written during the week in-between the influential conversation Lewis had on Addison's Walk with friends Tolkien and Dyson, and the day of Lewis' conversion to Christ (what has become known as "Sidecar Day"). Not surprisingly, during this week and in this lett...

**SPOILER ALERT** Listen to this short story first here: ⁠⁠"The Man Born Blind"⁠ ⁠ Or find where you can read it at ⁠⁠pintswithjack.com/essays⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ We are back with Dr. Charlie W. Starr to talk about the theme of Sensucht in the short story "Light" and in the rest of Lewis' writings. It was Sensucht that alerted Lewis that there was more to this world than this world,...

To celebrate the first ever C. S. Lewis Reading Day today on Lewis' 125th Birthday, we have an unreleased clip from our earlier episode with Dr. Jerry Root (See "Is Theology Poetry?"). Here Jerry tells us about his life and the huge influence Lewis played in teaching him the faith, expanding his imagination, and pointing his desires towards Christ. Click here for more of Dr. Jerry Ro...