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

Exploring the second part of the 1948 article by C. S. Lewis, "The Trouble with 'X'" where Lewis explores the all too relatable problem of what to do when we encounter people whose "fatal flaw" shipwreck all our best plans. Here he turns the whole complaint on its head and with a few parables Lewis helps us see that God sees one more person with fatal flaws that we don't see, the only person...

Exploring the 1948 article by C. S. Lewis, "The Trouble with 'X'" where he tells explores the all too relatable problem of what to do when we encounter people whose "fatal flaw" shipwreck all our best plans. The first thing to do, is realize that we now know a little of how God feels, for God sees all his plans spoiled too, by all these same people with their fatal flaws. Only, he sees even more f...

Exploring the second part of C. S. Lewis' 1946 sermon, "Miserable Offenders," where he defends the language of the Anglican prayer book, referring to ourselves as "miserable offenders," because those fatal flaws we see so clearly other people are present also in us. Lewis gives us some great pastoral wisdom for dealing with getting these logs out of our own eyes. Lent is precisely the time for suc...

Exploring C. S. Lewis' 1946 sermon, "Miserable Offenders," where he defends the language of the Anglican prayer book, referring to ourselves as "miserable offenders," asking for God to give us "contrite hearts," and confessing that the burden of our sins is "intolerable." Lewis is adamant that this has nothing to do with how we feel, but is a statement of fact and one we, as Christians, must come...

Exploring C. S. Lewis' 1948 article "Some Thoughts" where he explores the Christian paradox — that Christianity is both a world-affirming and world-denying religion. In this episode, we focus on the world-denying aspects of the faith. We see that because Christianity has both sides of the paradox, things like fasting or celibacy should be practiced differently in Christianity than in every other r...

Exploring C. S. Lewis' essay "The Psalms" which was a precursor to his 1958 book Reflections on the Psalms . In the second part of the essay, Lewis explains how Christians need a paradigm shift to see the Psalms of judgment differently. They are more like scripts that help us approach God as the woman in the parable of the Unjust Judge (Luke 18) who knows she is in the right, if only...

Exploring C. S. Lewis' essay "The Psalms" which was a precursor to his 1958 book Reflections on the Psalms . In the first part of the essay, Lewis defends why modern Christians ought to pray the Psalms even though they are old and alien to us. While they are at times cruel and vindictive, and at others, appear self-righteous, they are what they claim to be — God's revelation. He...

This week during Ordinary Time, we are privileged to hear a conversation with one of C. S. Lewis' Neighbours from the 1940's and 50's — Terry Legg, who grew up in Oxford, just around the corner from Lewis as a young man. In this episode, Terry retells some of Lewis' biography, focusing on his affections, friends, and his love, Joy.   Alister McGrath's "C. S. Lewis Podcast&...

This week during Ordinary Time, we are privileged to hear a conversation with one of C. S. Lewis' Neighbours from the 1940's and 50's — Terry Legg, who grew up in Oxford, just around the corner from Lewis as a young man. In this episode, Terry reflects on what the neighbourhood was like that he shared with C. S., and the trouble he would get in as a young boy on the Lewis property. Ter...

This week's episode is a sermon Jordan preached at his home church on Jan 6, 2023 for their Epiphany Service. The sermon is on Isaiah 60:1–9, which begins "Arise, Shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you." Finding much overlap between this passage and C. S. Lewis' sermon "The Weight of Glory" (which we just covered in Advent! ), we th...

Exploring C. S. Lewis' 1948 article "Some Thoughts" where he explores the Christian paradox — that we sometimes affirm this present world and sometimes deny it as we look forward to a better, resurrected world. In this episode, we focus on the half of the paradox that is grounded in the Good News of Jesus' incarnation (that God became man). Here we let Lewis be our guide to see w...

Exploring a few short scraps written by C. S. Lewis in 1945, in a piece now appropriately titled “Scraps," while reflecting on their connection to Christmas and the good news of the Incarnation. In "Scraps," Lewis shares four different, interesting, short, and to-the-point thoughts that illustrate some of the reasons we celebrate that God has become Man in the birth of Jesus; that G...

Reflecting on the final part of C. S. Lewis' most famous sermon "The Weight of Glory," from 1941. Sean and Jordan, together with their first guest and long-time friend Rev. Dr. Dean Pinter, reflect on the ways Lewis' legendary sermon helps us learn to "wait for the weight of glory" during the season of Advent. In this episode, we consider why it is good news that we are...

Reflecting on the third part of C. S. Lewis' most famous sermon "The Weight of Glory," from 1941. Sean and Jordan, together with their first guest and long-time friend Dr. Dean Pinter, reflect on the ways Lewis' legendary sermon helps us learn to "wait for the weight of glory" during the season of Advent. In this episode, we look at the section where Lewis explores the...

Reflecting on the second part of C. S. Lewis' most famous sermon "The Weight of Glory," from 1941. Here Lewis reminds us that our desires for this world are not enough, as they were meant as pointers beyond this world to another world.  Sean and Jordan, together with their first guest and long-time friend Dr. Dean Pinter, reflect on the ways Lewis' legendary sermon helps us learn...

Reflecting on the first part of C. S. Lewis' most famous sermon "The Weight of Glory," from 1941. Here Lewis makes the famous quote that, "Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum becaus...

Exploring the second part of C. S. Lewis' 1953 speech “Petitionary Prayer: A Problem Without an Answer" where Lewis wrestles through the two seemingly incompatible ways Jesus teaches us to pray. First, submitting our requests to God's possible refusal (e.g. “thy will be done”).  Second, with the certain faith we shall get the specific thing we ask. Sean and Jordan push back and forth...

Exploring the first part of C. S. Lewis' 1953 speech “Petitionary Prayer: A Problem Without an Answer" where Lewis wrestles through the two seemingly incompatible ways Jesus teaches us to pray. First, submitting our requests to God's possible refusal (e.g. “thy will be done”).  Second, with the certain faith we shall get the specific thing we ask. Sean and Jordan push back and forth o...

Exploring the second part of C.S. Lewis' 1959 article "The Efficacy of Prayer" where Lewis questions if there is a way we can find out if prayer really works. Like the last essay, this leads Lewis to exploring what prayer is and is not. It is first a request to a person. But prayer is more than a form of communication, it is a form of connection, a mode of relating to a person. Not s...

Exploring the first part of C.S. Lewis' 1959 article "The Efficacy of Prayer" where Lewis questions if there is a way we can find out if prayer really works. Like the last essay, this leads Lewis to exploring what prayer is and is not. It is first a request to a person. But prayer is more than a form of communication, it is a form of connection, a mode of relating to a person. Not su...

Exploring the second part of C.S. Lewis' 1945 article "Work and Prayer" where he asks the question "If God is all-wise… doesn’t he know what is best? And if he is all-good, won’t He do it whether you pray or not?" This question leads Lewis to consider whether petitionary prayer - asking God for things - is a lower form of prayer, and form some conclusions about what prayer...

Exploring the first part of C.S. Lewis' 1945 article "Work and Prayer" where he asks the question "If God is all-wise… doesn’t he know what is best? And if he is all-good, won’t He do it whether you pray or not?" This question leads Lewis to consider whether petitionary prayer - asking God for things - is a lower form of prayer, and form some conclusions about what prayer i...

All of Season 1 we have been drawing connections from what C.S. Lewis wrote about the crises in his world to the crises in ours. In this episode, we take a moment to recap and reflect, but then to make a more important connection between what Lewis wrote in these essays to what is written in scripture. Of course, we find Lewis to be a biblically faithful writer, but now we ask, specifically, which...

Exploring a published letter that Lewis wrote in 1939, titled "Conditions for a Just War," where he challenges the usefulness of the well-known "conditions" that theologians often use to evaluate whether a war is just or not. Lewis points out that the conditions were originally meant to be employed by princes who were the only people who had the right or responsibility of choos...

Exploring C.S. Lewis’s 1963 article “The Seeing Eye” where Lewis challenges those who would use scientific discoveries (specifically, with space travel in mind) to try and disprove aspects of the Christian faith. Lewis explains that you will always find God in creation if you are open to it — "much depends on the seeing eye." It is one of the most personally challenging essays so far, in...