- Paperback: 220 pages
- Publisher: Ignatius Press (Sep 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0898709792
- ISBN-13: 978-0898709797
- Product Dimensions: 20.1 x 13.4 x 1.7 cm
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 869,275 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
C.S. Lewis and the Catholic Church
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First Sentence
The opening sentence of The Pilgrim's Regress, C. S. Lewis's first attempt at autobiography, serves as an appropriate place at which to commence our quest to understand Lewis's complicated and often problematic relationship with the Catholic Church. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
The opening sentence of The Pilgrim's Regress, C. S. Lewis's first attempt at autobiography, serves as an appropriate place at which to commence our quest to understand Lewis's complicated and often problematic relationship with the Catholic Church. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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81 of 85 people found the following review helpful
Jack's Journey on the Road to Rome
26 Nov 2003
Format:Paperback
In picking up a book like this, the most obvious question is "why read it?" The most obvious answer is given in the title: to explore Lewis's views of, and relation to the Catholic Church. I picked up the book with that idea in mind, but instantly discovered a much wider appeal. More interesting than Pearce's attempt to answer that question are the many byways he treads to get there. What impressed me was his skill as a researcher: in turning over stones to find things others have overlooked, in drawing odd, if plausible parallels between things that seem disconnected, in tracing some of the rich streams that fed Lewis's imagination and flowed into his works. In particular, Pearce looks at The Pilgrim's Regress and The Great Divorce, two widely-read works of fiction, and Mere Christianity, Lewis's most popular nonfiction work. Pearce probes into the "troubles" of Lewis's native Belfast and the later atmosphere of inquiry and debate at Oxford, following him from an atheist to a convert and well-known Chrstian apologist. Would that road have eventually led to Rome? he asks. Why or why not? One can only speculate, and Pearce imaginatively considers the question. Interestingly, he notes, the Anglicans of Lewis's own denomination less and less read him, while he is becoming more and more popular among two other groups: Catholics and Evangelical Protestants. A Catholic convert himself, Pearce naturally leans towards the former readers, but it would be unfortunate if the latter group missed this book by an author in so many ways in sympathy with them, and which sheds so much light on what both groups find in common in an author they both love.
For more on Lewis' relationship to the Catholic Church see my interview with Richard Purtill, author of C.S. Lewis' Case for the Christian Faith (available through Amazon) at Ignatius.com in the Ignatius Insight online magazine.
For more on Lewis' relationship to the Catholic Church see my interview with Richard Purtill, author of C.S. Lewis' Case for the Christian Faith (available through Amazon) at Ignatius.com in the Ignatius Insight online magazine.
43 of 45 people found the following review helpful
Different from Other Books on C. S. Lewis
13 May 2004
Format:Paperback
Many people have had an experience of C. S. Lewis similar to mine. I have read all of his popular works - the space trilogy, Narnia, theological works, essays and letters - several times. However, I have found practically no value in books that attempt to explain Lewis. No one could make him any clearer than he already is.
Joseph Pearce's book is the first exception I have encountered. Pearce focuses on an aspect of Lewis' writing which is genuinely ambiguous - his relationship to the Catholic Church. Reared in the Ulster Protestant milieu, he had a revulsion to Roman Catholicism, which never completely left him. Yet, "papists" (e.g., Chesterton and Tolkien) played a major role in his conversion. And he embraced distinctively Catholic doctrines such as purgatory, the Blessed Sacrament and the impossibility of female priests.
Pearce asks why Lewis never became a Catholic - and whether, like many of his disciples, he would have, if he had lived longer. Although the questions cannot finally be answered, Pearce's lively attempt sheds light on a major aspect of Lewis' thought.
31 of 33 people found the following review helpful
Understanding Lewis
12 Dec 2004
Format:Paperback
It is important to note that Lewis' conversion to Christianity in September of 1931 might not have even come about at all without the presence of an orthodox Catholic by the name of J.R.R. Tolkien. It was Tolkien and Hugo Dyson who were instrumental in persuading Lewis to see Christianity as the "True Myth". One criticism of Pearce's work by a Mr. Hutchins (in Books & Culture) erroneously asserts that Lewis recognized the supposed impossibility of creating the perfect church here on earth, and that it can only be a weak reflection of what is to come. He claims that it is foolish for any church to claim the title of the one true church. The Catholic Church, then, is condemned by Mr. Hutchins as a fraud. It is interesting to note that this view was not shared by C.S. Lewis himself. In fact, Lewis believed in Purgatory, the sacrament of confession, had concerns regarding the morality of birth control (as inferred in a letter to Mrs. Ashton on March 13, 1956), acknowledged the validity of honoring the saints (as discussed in a letter to Mrs. Arnold on June 20, 1952), and placed great significance on the sacrament of communion--referred to by Lewis himself as the "Mass" in a letter--and opposed the ordination of women as priests within the Anglican Church.
What gave Lewis trepidation concerning a move closer to the Catholic Church? While he does mention concern with certain Marian doctrines and elements of church authority,I think Joseph Pearce's insights into the man give us a distinct possibility for his inability to ford the Tiber. Based on the letters of C.S. Lewis and other writings of his, I also would suggest that verses such as Romans 14:21 played an important role. He understood that he was an important religious figure to all Christians, and he did not want to do anything to make his brother stumble, or to jeopardize the wide acceptance of his works. Our motivations for any serious undertaking are seldom black and white, but frequently of a more interwoven nature. While we can't know with any certainty what was within Lewis' heart, it is clear that his concept of faith and the church mirrored most significant aspect of the Catholic Church.
I recommend this book for anyone who wants to have a fuller understanding of Lewis' spirtual life. He takes a long look at who Lewis was and what he held true.
What gave Lewis trepidation concerning a move closer to the Catholic Church? While he does mention concern with certain Marian doctrines and elements of church authority,I think Joseph Pearce's insights into the man give us a distinct possibility for his inability to ford the Tiber. Based on the letters of C.S. Lewis and other writings of his, I also would suggest that verses such as Romans 14:21 played an important role. He understood that he was an important religious figure to all Christians, and he did not want to do anything to make his brother stumble, or to jeopardize the wide acceptance of his works. Our motivations for any serious undertaking are seldom black and white, but frequently of a more interwoven nature. While we can't know with any certainty what was within Lewis' heart, it is clear that his concept of faith and the church mirrored most significant aspect of the Catholic Church.
I recommend this book for anyone who wants to have a fuller understanding of Lewis' spirtual life. He takes a long look at who Lewis was and what he held true.
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