C.S. Lewis: Defender of the Faith

by Richard B. Cunningham

Publisher:

Wipf and Stock

, 2008

Overview

C.S. Lewis took up his apologetic pen because he felt that most theologians spoke jargon. “Any fool can write learned language,” he said, “the vernacular is the real test. If you can’t turn your faith into it, then either you don’t understand it or you don’t believe it.” In the infernal correspondence of Screwtape, the haunting myths of his Space Trilogy, and the allegories of Narnia, he brings the reader face to face with transcendental values and existential questions. Richard Cunningham evaluates the different kinds of literature Lewis uses as apologetic instruments, studies the devices and techniques of debate he employs to communicate his faith to unbelievers, and deduces some pertinent principles to help others define and understand the Christian faith.

Key Features

• Evaluates the different kinds of literature Lewis uses as apologetic instruments
• Studies the devices and techniques of debate Lewis employs to communicate his faith to unbelievers
• Deduces pertinent principles to help others define and understand the Christian faith

Contents

Top Highlights

“Reason and imagination are the indispensable and mutually necessary human faculties for knowing. For Lewis, ‘reason is the natural organ of truth; but imagination is the organ of meaning.’” (Page 67)

“thinking and feeling men who by the proper use of these two faculties can be led to God.” (Page 68)

“in the majority of his Christian writings Lewis has the unbeliever in mind” (Page 19)

“Modern science was tainted from its birth, Lewis contends, by the impulse to extend man’s power to the performance of all possible things.” (Page 48)

“good apologetic writing should be interesting and have a permanent effect on the reader” (Page 134)

Product Details

• Title: C. S. Lewis: Defender of the Faith
• Author: Richard B. Cunningham
• Series: C. S. Lewis Studies
• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Print Publication Date: 2008
• Logos Release Date: 2015
• Pages: 226
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Lewis, C. S. (Clive Staples), 1898-1963 › Criticism and interpretation; Church of England; Apologetics
• ISBNs: 9781556359224, 1556359225
• Resource ID: LLS:CSLWSDFNDRFTH
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-29T23:02:43Z

About Richard B. Cunningham

Richard B. Cunningham is a retired professor of Christian philosophy at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. Prior to that, he was professor of systematic theology and philosophy of religion at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary in Mill Valley, California, and at the Baptist Theological Seminary in Ruschlikon, Switzerland. After his retirement, he served as director of graduate studies and professor of theology and philosophy at the Hong Kong Baptist Theological Seminary.