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“…For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand. …”~W.B. Yeats First, my title is in no way intended to be a slight to C.S. Lewis, but rather a tribute and expression of gratitude for his many works that have profoundly influenced my intellectual and spiritual life these past years. Mimicry, it is said, is the sincerest form of flattery, and while I get the impression that Mr. Lewis was not particularly prone to vanity, I like to think he might be smiling down with the knowledge that my humble efforts here have grown out of thoughts and...

Almost 75 years after the death of G. K. Chesterton and 45 years after the death of C. S. Lewis, millions continue to read them as guides and gurus. New readers will pick up a book, or even just an essay or two, and become lifelong fans and devotees. These portly, homely, undramatic men are still the bookish Christian's rock stars.   Their new readers, having become fans, excitedly look up the lists of their books -- and stop dead. There's just too much to read, and too little time, and some of those books look like slow going....

No doubt many of you have seen the new movie based on the Chronicles of Narnia. The movie, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, is getting rave reviews from critics and viewers alike. Many churches are promoting the movie to its members. Although it is no secret, many young earth creationists who have enjoyed the movie probably do not realize that the author, C. S. Lewis, is an old earth creationist, who believed in evolution.1 Many people, including many young earth creationists, regard Lewis as one of the great theologians of the last century. For instance, a search of...

C.S. Lewis’ short but masterful The Great Divorce is about Ghosts in Hell who journey by omnibus up through a crack in the earth to meet Solid People and hopefully be guided into the mountains. As the Ghosts become substantive their feet are pricked by the sharp grass. Only a few overcome their problems and journey into the mountains while most board the bus and shrink into oblivion as it descends back down the crack from whence it came.

Nearly every Christian with a liking toward fantasy has their favorite Narnia book, Narnia scene, or Narnia character. But so do many non-Christians. C.S. Lewis' classic children's books are a milestone of literary consciousness for young readers of every background and persuasion: for some, a passport through the wardrobe into the real, living Kingdom of Christ. For others, a painful journey from delight to dismay. That was the experience of Laura Miller, columnist for Salon.com and regular contributor to The New York Times. In her early teens, Miller was stunned to realize that the stories that enchanted her childhood were...

Twentieth Century Fox has agreed to co-finance the third movie in the “Chronicles of Narnia” series, pending approval of the final script and shooting budget. If all goes as planned, Fox and Walden Media, which controls the movie rights to C.S. Lewis’ classic children's books, hope to be begin production on "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" by late summer so it will be ready for holiday 2010 release.

Some time ago, writer Andrew Klavan wrote a compelling review of the movie "Batman," comparing the caped hero to George W. Bush. Both figures gave of themselves on behalf of good in a knock-down, drag-out battle against pure, unmitigated evil, and neither was appreciated -- quite the contrary, they were often viewed as the bad guys by an ungrateful public. Klavan's analogy was right on. My mind, however, for several years now, has raced back to another movie when I think about George W. Bush -- actually, a scene in the movie, based on a scene in a book by...

Los Angeles - Disney confirmed Wednesday that it would not be involved in the third film of "The Chronicles of Narnia" fantasy series, dealing a blow to the franchise based on CS Lewis's classic books. A spokesperson for Disney confirmed in an e-mail that the company had chosen not to exercise an option to co-produce and co-finance the next Narnia film with producers Walden Media. The Hollywood Reporter cited "budgetary and logistical reasons" for Disney's decision, which leaves the third film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader facing an uncertain future. The film was due to...

The West is a mess, just as Lewis warned. With its decline we face the eclipse of true freedom. Lewis’ words in this book are timely: “And all the time – such is the tragicomedy of our situation – we continue to clamor for those very qualities we are rendering impossible. You can hardly open a periodical without coming across the statement that what our civilization needs is more ‘drive,’ or dynamism, or self-sacrifice, or ‘creativity.’ In a sort of ghastly simplicity we remove the organ and demand the function. We make men without chests and expect of them virtue...

Ed. Note: this is the first instalment of a detailed critique of a major New Scientist anti-creationist diatribe. This one deals with a substantial section in the article, which tries to downplay the Nazi reliance on Darwinian theories, and instead tries to smear Christianity as a cause of the Holocaust...

From the moment we walked into the Theatre I could feel the excitement in the air. The make up of the crowd spoke to both the extraordinary appeal of the writings of C.S. Lewis and, I would soon discover, the brilliance of this wonderful film. The Box Office results from the first weekend confirmed what I was about to experience. Prince Caspian Rules. The audience was an inter-generational sampling of every ethnic variety of family. There were grandfathers and grandmothers, mothers and fathers, children of every age, teenagers, and grandchildren. As the lights dimmed, many people were hurriedly trying to...

Walt Disney sequel "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" had no problem reigning over Friday's box office, grossing $19.3 million as it opened in 3,929 theaters. "Caspian's" opening day haul came in slightly lower than industry expectations and behind first Narnia installment, "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," which pulled in $23 million on its first day and $65.6 million for its final three-day in December 2005. Both pics are co-productions with Walden Media.

I still remember the day the “Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” was released; I was the first in line, with my adult son. It was a marvelous masterpiece of a movie. I know that Prince Caspian will be even better. I told Doug during our interview, that I am so excited about seeing this film that I feel like a child again. He laughed and told me I will be thrilled. He continued “...the enemy has tried to steal the film industry, but he has not succeeded. Many in our day seem to think that it is political leaders...

No doubt, Barry Obama's supporters are earnest and passionate about their guy. There are those that worry, though, that this passion is rooted primarily in a visceral, emotional attachment to the abstract, amorphous idea of Barry Obama. The idea of who this man is and why he was (as the fervent would claim) sent to us from the right hand of God the Father is different for everyone, unique to each individual supporter, and really only constitutes his or her personal passions, which they project onto their blank-slate/empty-suit faux-savior.

"An age of science is necessarily an age of material­ism," wrote Hugh Elliot early in the last century. "Ours is a scientific age, and it may be said with truth that we are all materialists now."[1]One does not have to look far to discover the con­tinued accuracy of Elliot's assessment. Scientific materialism--the claim that everything in the uni­verse can be fully explained by science as the prod­ucts of unintelligent matter and energy--has become the operating assumption for much of American politics and culture. We are repeatedly told today that our behaviors, our emotions, even our moral and religious longings...

Everyone says forgiveness is a lovely idea until they have something to forgive, as we had during the war. And then to mention the subject at all is to be greeted with howls of anger. It is not that people think this too high and difficult a virtue: it is that they think it hateful and contemptible. "That sort of talk makes them sick," they say. And half of you already want to ask me, "I wonder how'd you feel about forgiving the Gestapo if you were a Pole or a Jew?" So do I. I wonder very much. Just...

Fifty years ago C.S. Lewis published an ironic little essay called, "Xmas and Christmas: A Lost Chapter from Herodotus." In it, he reverses the letters of his home country, "Britain." Then he writes about the strange winter customs of a barbarian nation called Niatirb. It's worth reading, as we get deeper into Advent. I'll share with you just one passage. "In the middle of winter when fogs and rains most abound, (the Niatirbians) have a great festival called Exmas, and for 50 days they prepare for it (in the manner which is called,) in their barbarian speech, the Exmas Rush....

"Always winter, and never Christmas” are, perhaps, the most famous words C. S. Lewis wrote. The phrase comes four times in the opening Chronicle of Narnia, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. First, Tumnus informs Lucy of a White Witch who has made it “always winter and never Christmas.” Lucy passes on the grim news to Edmund and later Peter. Finally, Mr. Beaver announces, in great excitement, “Didn’t I tell you that she’d made it always winter and never Christmas? Didn’t I tell you? Well, just come and see!” The reason for his excitement is that he can see...

Like Japan's sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, "The Golden Compass" (an atheist's stealth attack on faith) was unleashed on December 7. Unlike Yamamoto's attempt to sink the U.S. Pacific Fleet, there isn't much bang to "The Golden Compass." The $150-million blockbuster is as flat as cola left in a glass overnight. The first in a planned cinematic trilogy intended to rival "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe" and "The Lord of The Rings," "Compass" may turn out to be the "Heaven's Gate" of juvenile fantasy films. The movie is based on a series of children's books ("His Dark Materials"),...

Anti-Christian Children's Novel Coming out as Time Warner Film in December starring Nicole Kidman By Elizabeth O'Brien LOS ANGELES, August 20, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The best selling novels of atheist author Philip Pullman, which were written specifically to indoctrinate children with anti-Christian values, have sparked the creation of a controversial new fantasy film to be released this December 7 by New Line Cinema - a Time Warner Company. Starring Nicole Kidman, "The Golden Compass," is based on Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy, which includes "Northern Lights" (re-titled "The Golden Compass" in the United States), "The Subtle Knife" and "The Amber...

On Dec. 7, 2007, the movie "The Golden Compass," based on the first book in the fantasy trilogy entitled "His Dark Materials" by atheist Philip Pullman will be released in theaters throughout the world. Pullman wrote his fantasy trilogy because he was so upset by the Christian evangelism of C.S. Lewis in his wonderful series of Christian tales entitled "The Chronicles Of Narnia." Pullman is an avowed atheist who has dedicated his life to undermining Christianity and the Church among young readers. The film's release is only another example of a culture spiraling away from faith, a culture into which...

CathNews alerts us to the potential problem: Nicole Kidman has denied that a new film she's making is anti-Catholic. The movie features an organisation known as "The Magisterium", which kidnaps children to remove their souls.The Brisbane Times reports that Kidman told a US magazine that her Catholic faith affected her consideration of the script for the film, which is titled The Golden Compass.The fantasy film is based on a novel by Philip Pullman called Northern Lights. It is already attracting attention in the US for avoiding much of the book's perceived anti-Catholic rhetoric.Kidman said some of the religious elements...

LONDON – A debate over a movie’s anti-religious antagonism – or lack thereof – is heating up ahead of its upcoming release, with some accusing Hollywood of “castrating” the anti-Catholic themes present in the novel from which it is based. The expected blockbuster, “The Golden Compass,” is named after the American title of best-selling author Philip Pullman’s novel “Northern Lights” and will star actress Nicole Kidman and James Bond star Daniel Craig. The original children’s novel, part of Pullman’s “His Dark Materials” series, rejects organized religion – in particular, the Catholic Church – and critics of the movie version say...

What with James Dobson threatening to support a third party candidate and others questioning Mitt Romney's faith, I thought it might be relevant to post some thoughts about who or what a Christian is and who gets to determine this definition by a man who was one of the greatest apologists for Christianity ever: C.S. Lewis. What follows is an excerpt from just the Preface of the book "Mere Christianity".

Click for VideoDiscussion takes place in CS Lewis Homeland England celebrating his 100 birthday in 1998

My dear Wormwood, Events are unfolding perfectly in our favor, but don't get cocky. Things are far from a done deal. Our Enemy has a trick or two up his sleeve that could derail everything. We have been close, many times in history to outright victory, only to have it snatched from us at the last moment. Be very careful how you go. The upcoming meeting of the American House of Bishops in New Orleans will be a defining moment that you must use wisely and carefully. New Orleans itself is a victim of Hurricane Katrina. There it will be...

Folks: I am going to change the pace a little bit and bring you a review of J. Michael Straczynski's Babylon 5: The Lost Tales recently released directly to DVD. But first, a word about Babylon 5 (B-5). Yes, I am a fan. I started watching at the prompting of a co-worker who has since moved on to bigger and better things in the service of our country. I watched, and I was intrigued. My first impression was not entirely positive. I thought that it was sci-fi on the cheap, and knee-jerk reaction to Star Trek: Deep Space 9, a...

Turkey had a key election a week ago. The global War on Terror rages with some of my own students battling for the country. People are starving all over the world, racism exists, and misogyny cripples lives. Yet this past week an entire subset of the adult nation spent five hours or so reading a teen-fiction book about a boy wizard. Serious media pundits must groan inwardly at all the attention. If only as many people (8.5 million copies sold in one day!) cared about almost anything important to spend the same amount of money and passion on it! Perhaps...

Kirk Honeycutt, writing for the Hollywood Reporter, echoes the complaints of a number of critics that the Harry Potter films are becoming darker as the series progresses. This would be a valid point only if there were a consensus that fans (particularly adolescents) should be protected from the darker things in life (or in fiction that has real-world parallels). And though I think the criticism overwrought – the throngs of people who showed up for midnight screenings of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix on Wednesday night certainly enjoyed the film – embedded in critiques of this kind...

C.S. Lewis, the former atheist and famous Oxford scholar, once said "Atheism turns out to be too simple. If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning...." There are a myriad of eminent scholars (like Lewis) who understand the folly of atheism. I will list a few others in this second part of my treatise to expose atheists' agenda to ban Christianity from the courts of culture. In my last article I discussed "step 1" of their plan. In this discourse I will address steps 2 & 3. Step two: target...

I once found myself working closely, in a cathedral fundraising campaign, with a local millionaire. He was a self-made man. When I met him he was in his 60s, at the top of his game as a businessman, and was chairing our Board of Trustees. To me, coming from the academic world, he was a nightmare to work with. He never thought in (what seemed to me) straight lines; he would leap from one conversation to another; he would suddenly break into a discussion and ask what seemed a totally unrelated question. But after a while I learned to say...

"The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian," the second live-action/CGI motion picture adaptation of C.S. Lewis’ beloved series of literary classics, began principal photography on location in Auckland, New Zealand, on February 12, 2007. The production, once again a joint venture between the Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media, continues the franchise which commenced with the spectacular, Oscar-winning 2005 release, "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," which went on to earn over $745 million dollars in its worldwide theatrical release, making it one of the most successful movies ever made and one of the biggest successes...

C.S. Lewis may be best known for his Chronicles of Narnia series of books, but with the success of the first Narnia film, it seems Hollywood is ready to start adapting the author's other works as well. First up: a big screen version of Lewis' The Screwtape Letters. Ralph Winter Prods. is producing the film along with Walden Media, reports Variety. Walden is no stranger to Lewis' work, having already worked with Disney on the first Narnia, as well as its upcoming sequel Prince Caspian. Planned for a 2008 release, Screwtape Letters is described as follows: "[It] takes the form...

Lyle Dorsett has a lot of insights into the Anglicanism of C. S. Lewis, of which he writes in his book Seeking the Secret Place - The Spiritual Formation of C. S. Lewis. He reminds us firstly of Lewis' statement in the Preface of Mere Christianity that he was neither high nor low Anglican, just an ordinary layman in the Church. He did have a high regard for the Anglican tradition. This is evident in his book Letters to Malcolm and personal letters. Dorsett says that the safest thing to call Lewis is a Protestant, since the Anglican Church was...

(Lewis, a confessed layman, is addressing an assembly of Anglican priests and youth leaders.)“It is not, of course, for me to define to you what Anglican Christianity is - I am your pupil, not your teacher. But I insist that wherever you draw the lines, bounding lines must exist, beyond which your doctrine will cease either to be Anglican or to be Christian: and I suggest also that the lines come a great deal sooner than many modern priests think. I think it is your duty to fix the lines clearly in your own minds: and if you wish to...

As readers of this space know, we frequently subject academics to what we view as constructive criticism. As travelers through the blogosphere may have noticed, they sometimes answer those critiques. “Someone named Candace de Russy (on the usually unbearably dreadful National Review blog on the university situation 'Phi Beta Cons') cites someone else named Laura Ventura at Accuracy in Academia to the effect that the fact that the journal Critical Inquiry has more citations of Derrida and Marx than of C. S. Lewis and Thomas Jefferson is an indication of the journal’s ‘anti-American, anti-war, and anti-Christian’ stance,” Bucknell sociologist Alexander...

Folk, this is a great AP Article:He opened the session by improvising on hymns at the piano and concluded it by accompanying a sing-along on the guitar. In between, he delivered a compelling account of his unlikely conversion from atheism to evangelical Christianity. The lanky, amiable platform personality wasn't some traveling revivalist but one of the world's leading biologists. Francis S. Collins led the international Human Genome Project that mapped the 3.1 billion chemical base pairs in humanity's DNA. He now directs the U.S. government program on applying that information to medical treatments. He's also emerged as a surprise advocate...

C. S. Lewis on Creation and Evolution: The Acworth Letters, 1944-1960 Gary B. Ferngren Department of History Oregon State University Corvallis, OR 97331 Ronald L. Numbers Department of the History of Medicine University of Wisconsin 1300 University Avenue Madison, WI 53706-1532 From: PSCF 48 (March 1996): 28-33. In his voluminous publications, C.S. Lewis infrequently addressed the subject of creation and evolution, and on such occasions he usually endorsed some version of theistic evolution. In a series of previously unpublished letters to his friend Captain Bernard Acworth, written between 1944 and 1960, Lewis explained at some length his views on the...

The release date of the sequel to The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe has been postponed by several months. Prince Caspian is now scheduled for summer 2008, said a spokesman for Disney, which is behind the project. Director Andrew Adamson required more time to work on the special effects-laden project, he added. The first film in the series, based on CS Lewis's book, became a major hit at the international box office, where it was number one for several weeks. Jostled Prince Caspian was expected to follow the first film with a US release pencilled in for Christmas 2007....

Not too long ago, there was a lot of giggling on the right side of the blogosphere when it learned about a book called Why Mommy is a Democrat, which its publisher proudly boasts is “A Different Kind of Children’s Book.”  The book’s point is that, just as a child views Mommy in a saintly light, he should project that view onto Democrats because they share Mommy’s values.  For example, just as Mommies do, Democrats make sure people share.  And so that no one misses this message, the well-dressed, silver-haired, obviously Republican white folk in the background walk by a homeless...

SAN FRANCISCO, May 8, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - On the heels of the actor who played the Wizard Gandalf in Lord of the Rings advocating for homosexual marriage (see coverage: http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/may/06050409.html), the actress who played the White Witch in the Chronicles of Narnia has suggested that C.S. Lewis' famous book The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is "anti-religious."Speaking at the 49th San Francisco International Film Festival which concluded last week, Tilda Swinton, the Scottish actress who played the white witch described herself as a "red witch" alluding to her membership in the British Communist Party.Joking about the state of...

Did you know that God actually commands us to be joyful? Joy is not an option for a Christian, but must be a part of your daily life if you are to walk with God and grow spiritually. We are not only to rejoice when things are going well, but we are to rejoice at all times, even when things are going badly for us. 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18  )4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. (Philippians...

(See for example this thread first. So it's not political, big deal?) Some news on the Narnia cast which admittedly leaves me aghast Mr. T--Repicheep!!?? It will take quite a leap of faith to watch once the shock's past!

It was a bizarre and emotional courtroom scene, but one occurring with disturbing frequency these days. A popular middle school teacher, 43-year-old Pamela Diehl-Moore, had tearfully pleaded guilty to having sex with a child – a 13-year-old male student who had just completed 7th grade – and now stood before a Hackensack, N.J., judge awaiting sentencing. And what would that sentence be? Considering all the intense media coverage of male sexual predators victimizing female children, one might expect a stiff prison term, accompanied by a withering rebuke. But when New Jersey Superior Court Judge Bruce A. Gaeta opened his...

On Sunday, February 19 at 12:15 pm and Monday, February 20 at 12:45 am The Narnian: The Life and Imagination of C.S. Lewis Alan Jacobs Description: Professor Alan Jacobs profiles Oxford scholar and religious writer C.S. Lewis in his book "The Narnian." C.S. Lewis created the childrens series "The Chronicles of Narnia," as well as many books for adults on religious topics. Mr. Jacobs details the writer's life and discusses his influence on scholars around the world. This event was hosted by the Cambridge Forum in Massachusetts.

'Narnia' sequel gearing up, Adamson in Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media are moving ahead with a sequel to the wildly successful "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe." Andrew Adamson is set to return to the director's chair, having just inked a deal to helm "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian." By Borys Kit and Sheigh Crabtree Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media are moving ahead with a sequel to the wildly successful "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe." Andrew Adamson is set to return to the director's chair, having...

LOS ANGELES : "Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" director Andrew Adamson has signed on to make a sequel of the hit movie that won three Oscar nods this week, Walt Disney announced Thursday. The studio revealed plans for the second instalment of "The Chronicles of Narnia" as the first adaptation of C.S. Lewis's classic novels basks in the glory of its nomination on Tuesday. Walt Disney revealed it had signed New Zealand-born "Narnia" and "Shrek" filmmaker Adamson, 39, to come back to direct "Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian," due for release around Christmas 2007. Industry bible Daily Variety quoted...

Clive Staples Lewis has lately become a rock star within the Christian community. A new movie based on his books, The Chronicles of Narnia, is a blockbuster hit. His books are among the best selling in Christian literature. This is quite a feat for a reserved British intellectual who has been dead for more than forty years. As a young man, Lewis was a skeptic who dismissed Christianity as a myth. At age 33, with the help of J.R.R. Tolkien and others, he experienced a spiritual awakening. Afterwards, his creativity helped make him a celebrated champion of Christian belief. The...

New Narnia movie on the way To the surprise of many, ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’ has ended up as one of the most successful movies of 2005. Since Lucas is done making more sequels to ‘Star Wars’ (we hope), that means the 2005 blockbuster sequel mantel falls to Aslan. Variety confirms that not only is a ‘Narnia’ sequel happening, but it’s already moving ahead. Disney and Walden Media are already starting on a script for the follow up, to be based on the second book in C.S. Lewis’ classic fantasy series entitled ‘Prince Caspian’. The aren’t any director attachments to...

I was all wrong about "Narnia." Which is to say, about six months ago in this space I was hell-bent on the white-hot idea that Hollywood and the Christian-right group/billionaire that helped produce the tepid and saccharine flick would absolutely ruin "The Chronicles of Narnia" books, ruin the deep magic and the astounding sense of wonder these books held for millions of children (including this writer) by regurgitating them as a slick, dumbed-down, poorly acted smarm-fest full of ham-fisted Jesus allusions and excessive special effects, all from the director who brought you, ahem, "Shrek 2." Things did not, shall we...