C.S. Lewis: Christology and Cosmology

by Michael Ward

An Audio Course

Genres: Christian, Literary Criticism, Audiobook, Nonfiction, Theology, History, Medieval

Audiobook

Published January 1, 2017

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

Reviews

[Cindy Rollins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally got around to listening to these lectures and found them quite fun and incredibly interesting.
Compelling? Not sure.

[Angie · Rating 3 out of 5]

What I understood was very interesting. Haha. I feel like I need to read more of the works of C.S. Lewis and then revisit this.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this deep dive into C.S. Lewis and what shaped his writing not only of the beloved Narnia series, but of much of his other works. Completely fascinating!

[Mariangel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series of lectures covers in a concise way the same topics presented in full depth in Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C.S. Lewis.
Good choice if you want to learn more about Lewis’s understanding of the world and how he wove it into his Narnia books, but don’t have enough time for Planet Narnia.

On the other hand, being shorter, the lectures lack the additional and illuminating connections to his other books (the Ransom trilogy, his poems and his academic works).

[Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this!

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

The advantage of *this book* (C.S. Lewis: Christology and Cosmology) over the excellent Planet Narnia, also by Dr Michael Ward, is that here Dr Ward delivers the series of twelve lectures (each about 20-22 minutes in length) in his own inimitable and delightful voice _and_ he provides a condensed version of his extensive and well-footnoted thesis detailed in Planet Narnia. Many people who would be interested in the subject matter of Planet Narnia but have perhaps been daunted by its scholarship will find his core argument presented in C.S. Lewis: Christology and Cosmology very accessible and in a concise manner.

Listened to it again, late 2022. And again, late 2025.

[Chandler Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I initially did not know what to expect when approaching these lectures. However, the title was a major selling point as it combines 3 of my favorite subjects of study. What I got was fantastically clear and well-paced lectures exploring Lewis’s epistemology and the underlying theme of the seven heavens from medieval cosmology that influenced the stories of each of the Narnia books. Ward discusses significant interest in Colossians 1:16 and the notion that we live in a Christ-drenched cosmos that we cannot escape. We also learn about Lewis’s fascination with a pre-Copernican cosmology. Here are the key themes Ward discusses in the Narnia books:

- Jovial/Jupiter symbolism in the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

- Martian/Martial symbolism in Prince Caspian

- Solar/sun symbolism in Voyage of the Dawn Treader

- Lunar symbolism in the Silver Chair

- Mercurial themes/splitting apart and coming back together of things in The Horse and His Boy

- Venus/comedy/laughter elements of Magician’s Nephew

- The Saturnine/contemplative/melancholy themes of The Last Battle (my favorite lecture and my favorite book)

Ward convincingly shows us how Lewis secretively structured his book around these themes. Ward points out how Lewis was a bit of an enigmatic person. Lewis also taught that the Chronicles were all about Christ, and how this series of books was about a character who sustained the very cosmos. Some lectures are easier to follow than others, but this feels like a notable contribution to Lewis scholarship.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read other books by this author and took a course which was available on-line which he taught. He is probably the most knowlegeable expert on C.S. Lewis alive. He even lives in a home that C.S. Lewis once lived in at Oxford where he is a professor. He also teaches at the University of Houston and tapes on-line courses for Hillsdale College.
These studies include much of the material he covers in his book "The Narnia Code" and also has quite a bit of material on Lewis' "Ransom Trilogy" as well as some brief mentions of many of his other books.
Mr Ward has dug out a lot of hitherto hidden information which Lewis never hinted at unless you know his other works, including his more scholarly work on Medieval English Literature.
Mr Ward is the himself, the narrator and I couldn't have been happier. He has a fantastic voice for narrating class room type information and is very erudite not just about Lewis but on Christianity, Mythology, and the Medieval Era. He also enunciates clearly and concisely.

[Bourdonne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great! Still baffled by the brilliance of C.S. Lewis’ composing the world of Narnia after his beloved medieval model of the Heavens, as explained by Michael Ward in Planet Narnia, I decided to listen to this series of lectures. It roughly covers the same subject in a concise way and it is perfectly understandable if English isn’t your mother tongue.

[Adam Bloch · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a series of lectures that teaches the same material as Planet Narnia; it is also quicker. I think I enjoyed this round of information more (it’s incredibly interesting!) but that could be because I reread The Chronicles since reading Planet Narnia and the details are more fresh in my mind than before.

[Bev Atwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

These lectures are fascinating. You need to have read a lot of CS Lewis to have it make sense. You won’t read The Narnia Chronicles or “space trilogy” the same as last time, and will want to reread once again, in the order they were written.

[Aaron Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author argues that the Narnia stories correspond to the medieval cosmology (the seven heavens)—each story to a different sphere.

[Dayna Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ward's wonderful and informative lectures on C.S. Lewis and his medieval cosmology.

[Scott Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like CS Lewis so I like to read anything about him. This book is good and worth reading. If you like Lewis then read it, if not then repent.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ward 'opens the door' to understand Lewis. He explains how Jack wrote his Chronicles and other works. This book has helped re-enchant Lewis for me. Check it out!

[Matthew C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I deeply enjoyed this. Ward unlocks Lewis like few others. I intend to pursue a fuller discussion of these themes in his Planet Narnia

[sch · Rating 4 out of 5]

May 2025. Refresher of PLANET NARNIA after reading the chronicles, themselves.