UNIT II: Creation Myths and Origin Stories ~ Morality, Christianity and Righteous War
Week 7: Lewis’s Criticism, Critiquing Lewis-Myth, Creation, and Theology
The purpose of this week is to contextualize Lewis’s work amidst his own experiences during the First War, and his response to the Second; we will consider how his texts can be seen as Modernist or revisionist, and yet are also rooted in the wisdom of tradition. Dr. Byassee will be providing us with some of this background, as we start to make connections between Lewis’s theology and his fantasy literature.
TUES (13-FEB-18) A Brief Introduction to Lewis’s Theology – A Meditation on Myth, Faith, and Story
DISCUSSION LEADERS ~ Justin Carless, Kathryn Ney
Required Reading:
- C.S. Lewis, “Myth Become Fact,” in God in the Dock, and Chapter V: Myth, from An Experiment in Criticism (PDF on Connect)
Secondary Reading:
- Alister McGrath, “C. S. Lewis, Defender of the Faith,” in C. S. Lewis and His Circle: Essays and Memoirs from the Oxford C. S. Lewis Society, edited by Roger White, Judith Wolfe, and Brendan Wolfe (PDF on Connect, UBC Library online)
- Walter F. Hartt, “Godly Influences: the Theology of J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis,” Studies in the Literary Imagination (PDF on Connect, UBC Library online)
THURS (15-FEB-18) GUEST LECTURE BY DR. Jason Byassee, Vancouver School of Theology
Week 8: READING WEEK; The LORD OF THE RINGS FILM TRIOLOGY SCREENING rescheduled for Saturday, March 5 12:30 – late
Week 9: Lewis’s Theological Writings on Ethics, Evils and Demons – Mere Christianity and Screwtape Letters
The purpose of this week is to consider the theological and historical valences of Lewis’s work, as it was produced during WWII. I invite you to consider how his Christianity is expressed in the Narnia texts, and to be open to his views even if you disagree with his position. Consider how Lewis’s description of the disinterested versus egoistic reader can be analogous to the self-reflecting versus self-aggrandizing Christian, as well as the ways in which stories convey, reveal, or indeed prepare us to face the moral, spiritual or natural truths about humanity.
TUES (27-FEB-18)
DISCUSSION LEADERS ~ General discussion, as led by the Student Facilitator
Required Reading:
- C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity; Chapters “XIV. Checkmate” and “XV. The Beginning” in Surprised by Joy
Secondary Reading: (no secondary readings for this day)
THURS (1-MAR-18)
DISCUSSION LEADERS ~ Marcy Nelson and John Wragg
Required Reading:
- C. S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters
Secondary Reading: (no secondary readings for this day)
Week 10: Lewis’s Theological Writings on Modernity, Technology and Righteous War – The Great Divorce and Selections from Chronicles of Narnia
TUES (6-MAR-18) INKLING INVESTIGATION PROJECTS
Presentation Schedule
- Burrage, Kienan ~ Adam Fox, Plato for Pleasure (1945)
- Carless, Justin ~ Charles Williams, The Place of the Lion (1933)
- De Grandpre, Daphne ~ Nevill Henry Kendal Coghill, general contributions (1945-1988)
- Nelson, Marcy ~ Owen Barfield, The Silver Trumpet (1925)
- Ney, Kathryn ~ Dorothy Sayers, Gaudy Night (1935)
- Renard, Louis ~ Owen Barfield and “the Great War” with Lewis (1925 – 1930)
- Wragg, John ~ Charles Williams, War in Heaven (1930)
Secondary Reading: Although there are no secondary readings for this week, you might want to take the time to familiarize yourselves with the other Inklings or works which are being presented on.
THURS (8-MAR-18) Inkling Investigation Wrap-Up and Discussion of Lewis’s The Great Divorce (1945)
Required Reading: C. S. Lewis, The Great Divorce (PDF available online) https://barnardsvilleumc.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/ebook-lewis-c-s-the-great-divorce.pdf/
Remaining Presentations:
- Reimer, Andrew Joel ~ C. S. Lewis, The Great Divorce (1945)
- Tam, Valen ~ Colin Hardie, general contributions (1928 – 1973)
- Thomas, Jameson ~ J. R. R. Tolkien, A Secret Vice (1931)