Welcome to my first attempt at a true blog–a sort of life journal with a specific purpose. It is my goal to blog my way through the life of one of the Greats of Christian literature: C. S. Lewis.
For the many with no clue who I am, I am an erstwhile historian with very broad interests. After completing (and publishing) a number of works on the American Civil War, I’ve decided to turn my attentions back to one of my first loves: The life and philosophy of “Jack” Lewis. I first encountered Lewis, of course, in the Chronicles of Narnia as a child. As I grew older and my questions about life got deeper, Dr. Donald T. Williams of Toccoa Falls College (a serious Lewis scholar in his own right) introduced me to Lewis’s philosophical works. Unlike many, I didn’t cut my teeth there on Mere Christianity or The Screwtape Letters. It was Miracles: A Preliminary Study that drew me in, particularly Lewis’s devastating critique of the intellectual underpinnings of naturalism. (Properly framed, I still haven’t see a sufficient reply to him–and that includes Anscombe.)
To that end, I have begun to delve into the field of Lewis Studies. I’ve been lucky to have been allowed to present several papers to one of the foremost societies dedicated to Inklings Studies: The Mythopoeic Society, and to have been published twice in formal journals on the topic of how Lewis’s experiences in World War I may have influenced Narnia (once in The Lamp-post and only recently in Mythlore itself). I am very grateful to Don Williams, Janet Brennan Croft, and other members of the society for their help and guidance.
Which brings me to this new endeavor. I intend to blog my way through Lewis’s life from start to finish by looking at his primary sources. I will start with the first volume of his published letters and proceed through them (with pauses to indulge various connected rabbit trails–i.e. All My Road Before Me) straight through to the end of his life. I intend to use this blog to track my progress. My purpose is two-fold:
First, to keep a log of what thoughts and insights I develop as I progress.
Second, to invite others to join me in my quest. I hope that as time goes on, I might encounter other Mere Lewisians who can share their insights and, most importantly, keep me focused on my task.
And so thus I place the first, and always unread post up for everyone’s non-scrutiny. Tomorrow I begin in earnest.
Mere Lewis 