Pursuing an Earthy Spirituality: C. S. Lewis and Incarnational Faith
Overview
“Red beef and strong beer” was how C. S. Lewis described his education under one of his early tutors. It was, in other words, a substantial education that engaged deeply with the intellectual tradition and challenged him to grow.
Gary Selby sees Lewis’s expression as an indication of the kind of transformation that is both possible and necessary for the Christian faith, and he contends that spiritual formation comes about not by retreating from the physical world but through deeper engagement with it.
By considering themes such as our human embodiment, our sense of awareness in our everyday experiences, and the role of our human agency—all while engaging with the writings of Lewis, who himself enjoyed food, drink, laughter, and good conversation—Selby demonstrates that an earthy spirituality can be a robust spirituality.
- Examines themes of human embodiment, our sense of awareness, and the role of our human agency
- Demonstrates that an earthy spirituality can be a robust spirituality
- Explores the sanctification of physical pleasures through practices of attention, gratitude and adoration, and self-control
- Introduction: “Red Beef and Strong Beer”
- An Inconsolable Secret: Our Longing for Joy
- Not Safe—But Good: God as the Glad Creator
- This Bleak Fantasy: Negative Spirituality and the Christian Life
- A New Kind of Consciousness: The Alternative to Negative Spirituality
- Very Far Inside: Spirituality and the Life of Virtue
- Retinas and Palates: Spirituality and the Earthy Life
- Those We Have Hitherto Avoided: Spirituality and the Other
- The Beginning of All Things: Spirituality and the Life of Hope
- Conclusion: The Joy of the Lord Is My Strength
Top Highlights
“Lewis believed that this view was unbiblical and unhealthy, robbing us of joy in the present and snuffing out our hope for the life to come.” (Page 55)
“The hardness of God is kinder than the softness of men, and His compulsion is our liberation” (Page 50)
“As Lewis made clear, imagination, aesthetic beauty, and myth all play a crucial role in awakening us to the reality of God.” (Page 44)
“Him and his voice causes the wild deer to bring forth their young. He is the God of wheat and wine.” (Page 49)
“longing for heaven is ‘the secret signature of each soul, … the thing we desired before” (Page 32)
What more can be said about C. S. Lewis that has not already been said? Selby has defied the odds by reconfiguring some of the well-traversed themes in Lewis’s writings into a coherent spiritual theology which is at once familiar, yet refreshingly new. Aficionados of Lewis will not be disappointed.
—Simon Chan, former Earnest Lau Professor of Systematic Theology, Trinity Theological College, Singapore
Have you ever wondered why so many Christians confess the goodness of God’s creation yet hesitate to enter into its pleasures with unabashed joy? If so, these pages are for you. By drawing on the whole corpus of Lewis’s work, Gary Selby deftly presents a much-needed corrective to the often joyless and disembodied spirituality of our age. Rich with practical wisdom and illuminating examples, Selby’s joyful vision might just revolutionize how you dwell in the world.
—Philip D. Kenneson, author of Life on the Vine: Cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit in Christian Community
Gary Selby’s Pursuing an Earthy Spirituality is a gift to those who love C. S. Lewis and believe that he offers a way of living the Christian faith that is joyful, embodied, and attached to the beauty and pleasure of creation. Drawing from decades of teaching and interacting with students, Selby beautifully reminds us that Lewis lived a spirituality that was at least as deeply rooted in emotion, imagery, beauty, and the body as it was in his keen intellect.
—Gary W. Moon, founding executive director, Martin Institute for Christianity and Culture and Dallas Willard Center, Westmont College, and the founding director of Renovaré Institute, author of Becoming Dallas Willard
- Title: Pursuing an Earthy Spirituality: C. S. Lewis and Incarnational Faith
- Author: Gary S. Selby
- Publisher: IVP
- Publication Date: 2019
- Pages: 232
- Resource Type: Topical
- Topic: Spirituality