The Intellectual World of C. S. Lewis

by Alister E. McGrath

Marking the 50th anniversary of Lewis’ death, The Intellectual World of C. S. Lewis sees leading Christian thinker Alister McGrath offering a fresh approach to understanding the key themes at the centre of Lewis’ theological work and intellectual development.

Brings together a collection of original essays exploring important themes within Lewis’ work, offering new connections and insights into his theology Throws new light on subjects including Lewis’ intellectual development, the uses of images in literature and theology, the place of myth in modern thought, the role of the imagination in making sense of the world, the celebrated 'argument from desire', and Lewis’ place as an Anglican thinker and a Christian theologian Written by Alister McGrath, one of the world’s leading Christian thinkers and authors; this exceptional pairing of McGrath and Lewis brings together the work of two outstanding theologians in one volume

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Theology, Essays, Christianity, History, Literary Criticism

210 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 19, 2013

About the author

Alister Edgar McGrath is a Northern Irish theologian, priest, intellectual historian, scientist, and Christian apologist. He currently holds the Andreas Idreos Professorship in Science and Religion in the Faculty of Theology and Religion at the University of Oxford, and is Professor of Divinity at Gresham College. He was previously Professor of Theology, Ministry, and Education at King's College London and Head of the Centre for Theology, Religion and Culture, Professor of Historical Theology at the University of Oxford, and was principal of Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, until 2005. He is an Anglican priest and is ordained within the Church of England.

Aside from being a faculty member at Oxford, McGrath has also taught at Cambridge University and is a Teaching Fellow at Regent College. McGrath holds three doctorates from the University of Oxford, a DPhil in Molecular Biophysics, a Doctor of Divinity in Theology and a Doctor of Letters in Intellectual History.

McGrath is noted for his work in historical theology, systematic theology, and the relationship between science and religion, as well as his writings on apologetics. He is also known for his opposition to New Atheism and antireligionism and his advocacy of theological critical realism. Among his best-known books are The Twilight of Atheism, The Dawkins Delusion?: Atheist Fundamentalism and the Denial of the Divine, Dawkins' God: Genes, Memes, and the Meaning of Life, and A Scientific Theology. He is also the author of a number of popular textbooks on theology.

Reviews

[Kris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fantastic piece of McGrath writing on Lewis. A resounding five stars.

I already loved McGrath's biography of Lewis, C. S. Lewis: A Life: Eccentric Genius, Reluctant Prophet, so I knew I was going to love this essay collection that he put together at the time of researching and writing his biography. The text gets a little repetitive at times, but that's to be expected, as I think each of these essays is meant to function independently from the others (though one of course easily sees themes across the collection). Particularly McGrath's essay on myth in Lewis is brilliant, and basically what I want to write my dissertation on (someday!). I can only dream of achieving even half of the brilliance that is McGrath's ideas and writing style.

It's always fun to see blurbs overlapping within the scholarly world: Michael Ward writes an endorsement for the back cover of this book, and of course any hardcore Lewis fan knows Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C.S. Lewis. A wealth of citations are at the back, including much of Ward.

A book full of individual essays which had not been published before. Titles are as follows:
"The Enigma of Autobiography: Critical Reflections on Surprised by Joy"
"The 'New Look': Lewis's Philosophical Conext at Oxford in the 1920s"
"A Gleam of Divine Truth: The Concept of Myth in Lewis's Thought"
"The Privileging of Vision: Lewis's Metaphors of Light, Sun, and Sight"
"Arrows of Joy: Lewis's Argument from Desire"
"Reason, Experience, and Imagination: Lewis's Apologetic Method"
"A 'Mere Christian': Anglicanism and Lewis's Religious Identity"
"Outside the 'Inner Ring': Lewis as a Theologian"

[Brenton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a smart set of essays on C.S. Lewis' thought within the context of Oxford philosophical and literary movements in the 20th century. This book pairs well with Doris T. Myers' C.S. Lewis in Context, Michael Ward's recent commentary on The Abolition of Man, and the work of continental scholars Arend Smilde and Norbert Feinendegen. While many people the critical biography (which I found helpful), "Intellectual World" is my favourite of the three-pack of C.S. Lewis books that Prof. McGrath produced a decade ago. There are moments where he overspeaks his claim, and some of his choices puzzle me. Critiques in the academic reviews are worth considering. And I usually disagreed with a major leg of each paper or even the conclusion. However, as we are both theologians, I found McGrath's choice of topics to be brilliant, and the essays themselves are short and thoughtful. Indeed, this was my first time reading this book, and I am a little envious of a couple of his ways into the question, for I had sketched out something similar. That is the nature of scholarship! A good book for people who are interested in C.S. Lewis or 20th-century intellectual history and are able to appreciate philosophical essays written for a wide audience that have the occasional $50 word thrown in.

[Mythlee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the discussion was interesting, but this was not really for me, in the end; I am not particularly interested in whether Lewis is properly seen as an Anglican or a theologian. It also got a little repetitive for my tastes.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed. Some of the essays are worth more than one read.
The middle essays were my favourites:
* "A Gleam of Divine Truth : The Concept of Myth in Lewis's Thought",
* "The Privileging of Vision : Lewis's Metaphors of Light, Sun, and Sight", and
* "Arrows of Joy: Lewis's Argument from Desire"

A couple quotes from the first mentioned:
"For Lewis, a myth is a story which evokes awe, enchantment, and inspiration, and which conveys or embodies an imaginative expression of the deepest meanings of life- meanings that prove totally elusive in the face of any attempt to express them abstractly or conceptually."
... and later
"For Lewis, a myth weaves together truth and meaning, engaging with both our reason and imagination."

There are a few good quotes throughout the book.
At times a little dry, or repetitive/self-referential, but some good material to
a) make me want to (re-)read some of Lewis's stuff.
b) make me want to read some of the referenced material
c) help us see Lewis in his context and in ours, without sugar coating.

At the very least, thoughtful people should approach Lewis humbly. Sometimes there really are giants.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Makes a very strong case for seeing Lewis as less of a flat-fooded rationalists and more as an imaginative intepreter of Christian faith who breathes life into the world-vision Christianity offers. A solid read and food for futher thought.

[Joel Zartman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had low expectations and was pleasantly surprised. McGrath can sometimes wander into the weeds both of considerations that hardly deserve consideration and the weeds of self-promotion, but he stays out of them mostly. I would say that the weakest essay is the last and the strongest are the first and the third.

[Clint Lum · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyable for any interested in the thought of CS Lewis. There are many commendable biographies of Lewis (McGrath’s being one of them), but to my knowledge there aren’t many works like this beyond those of from obscure publishers.

[Frans · Rating 4 out of 5]

Het christelijk geloof is maar niet een stelsel van dogmatische waarheden die alleen met het verstand geaccepteerd moeten worden. Natuurlijk, niet dat het verstand er voor een christen niet toe zou doen, integendeel, maar het verstand zal wel in evenwicht moeten zijn met andere, even wezenlijke door God aan de mens gegeven vermogens: de verbeelding en de emoties. Geen van de drie dient beschouwd te worden als de meest wezenlijke, alle zijn nodig wil wat het christelijk geloof ons aanreikt ook werkelijk door ons begrepen worden. De geschriften van C.S. Lewis kunnen hierbij zeker behulpzaam zijn. Ze zijn namelijk exemplarisch voor de verbinding van deze drie trekken. De bekende Engelse hoogleraar theologie Alister E. McGrath schreef naast zijn biografie over Lewis (eerder in Metamorfose besproken) ook een academische pendant: The Intellectual World of C. S. Lewis. Het betreft een bundel van acht, elkaar inhoudelijk soms wat overlappende, essays waar de auteur de lezer met de hem bekende grondigheid en helderheid invoert in de leef- en denkwereld van Lewis: zo schrijft hij onder andere over mythe, het gebruik van zichtmetaforen en Lewis’ bekende ‘argument from desire’. Aanbevolen.

[Lydia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sooooooooooooo good. McGrath does an excellent job of summarizing some of Lewis' most complex thoughts/statements/theology, while stationing these thoughts during the time of life he had them. The reader can clearly see how Lewis' faith and ideas changed from life stage to life stage (childhood, serving in the war, student at Oxford, professor and friend of Tolkien, apologist, and reluctant apologist toward the end of life).

There were so many profound ideas that perfectly explained what I had always felt, but was not articulate enough to say, summarized by both Lewis and MecGrath.

Whether you have read Lewis' works extensively or hardly at all, this title will boost your intellect and faith. Broken into several essays covering different topics and time periods, it is easy to navigate.

I especially loved the "chapter" on Lewis' ideas of "Christianity and mythology".

[Jamie Howison · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice collection of essays exploring both Lewis's intellectual context and his contribution as a thinker, apologist, theologian (and McGrath does want to claim that mantle for him... rightly, in my books), and creator of imaginary worlds. The only think that keeps me from ranking it as a 4 star book is that it does feel as if the same material is returned to again and again over the course of the collection. Maybe this is inevitable in an essay collection, though in this case the essays were not previously published, leading me to feel that a tighter editing would have produced a better book. Still, a good read for anyone wanting to explore Lewis in McGrath's company.

[Arthur O'dell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a set of essays prepared by McGrath while working on his biography of CS Lewis published in 2013. Worth the read if you are interested in Lewis' thought, but definitely not for the casual reader. I enjoyed this slightly more than the biography, but while I would recommend the biography to everyone interested in Lewis, this book is definitely more for the scholarly crowd.

[Beatrice · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is stunningly well-written. What else to expect from McGrath; he is "dancing with Lewis", staying critical and using his brilliant standard of hermeneutic mastering.
I will certainly take this book in my hands again and again to discover the life and journey of Lewis' faith and thinking. Read this if you want to know real and authentic biography writing skills! ;-)

[Moira]

Yeah, I broke down and got it, even tho I was disappointed some by the biography. I'm really curious to see what this guy writes on Lewis in the format of more scholarly biographical/literary essays.

Verdict: better than the biography, but still pretty dry.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

I did enjoy this set of essays, which seem to have been written in the process of producing his forthcoming biography.