Apologetics Bibliography: C. S. Lewis

Apologetics Bibliography: C. S. Lewis Robert M. Bowman Jr. This bibliography lists works by and about C. S. Lewis of relevance to Christian apologetics. Inclusion here does not imply my endorsement of the author’s opinions. Corrections and suggestions are welcome. A. By C. S. Lewis Lewis, C. S. The Abolition of Man. New York: Macmillan, 1947. A classic (and now seemingly prophetic) short book warning that relativistic ethics undermines human dignity. __________. God in the Dock: Essays on Theology and Ethics. Edited by Walter Hooper. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1970. Collection of essays, many of which are crucial for understanding Lewis’s thinking about apologetics (including one entitled “Christian Apologetics”). __________. Mere Christianity. Rev. and enlarged ed. New York: Macmillan, 1960. Originally published 1942-1944. Perhaps the most popular defense of Christian faith written in modern times. __________. Miracles: A Preliminary Study. 2nd ed. New York: Macmillan, 1960. Lewis’s most sophisticated work of apologetics, arguing that the concept of miracles is coherent and that Christian miracles in particular are crucial for making sense of the world. __________. “On Obstinacy in Belief.” In The World’s Last Night and Other Essays, 13-30. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1960. Important essay in which Lewis distinguishes between coming to faith (which for him requires some evidence) and persevering in faith (sometimes despite what seems like contrary evidence). __________. The Problem of Pain. London: Centenary Press, 1940; New York: Macmillan, 1943; paperback ed., 1962. Early venture into Christian apologetics by Lewis. Insightful and provocative. __________. The Weight of Glory and Other Addresses. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1949; New York: Collier, 1980. Another important collection of essays. B. Books on C. S. Lewis Bowman: Apologetics Bibliography: C. S. Lewis 2 Baggett, David, Gary R. Habermas, and Jerry L. Walls, eds. C. S. Lewis as Philosopher: Truth, Goodness and Beauty. Foreword by Tom Morris. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2008. Essays by Kreeft, Reppert, Habermas, Baggett, Bassham, and other scholars. Bassham, Gregory, ed. C. S. Lewis’s Christian Apologetics: Pro and Con. Value Inquiry Books Series 286. Leiden: Brill, 2015. Scholars debate Lewis’s argument from desire, argument from reason, moral argument, “trilemma” (so-called) argument, and response to the problem of evil. Beversluis, John. C. S. Lewis and the Search for Rational Religion. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1985. Rev. and updated ed. Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books, 2007. Highly (and, most agree, unfairly) critical of Lewis’s apologetic. Brazier, P. H. C. S. Lewis: Revelation, Conversion, and Apologetics. C. S. Lewis: Revelation and the Christ. Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications, 2012. Part of a five-volume series of books on Lewis. This book, by Paul Brazier, puts Lewis’s apologetics in biographical, historical, and cultural context, and provides an overview of his apologetically oriented work in chronological order. All five volumes would be of interest. Burson, Scott R., and Jerry L. Walls. C. S. Lewis and Francis Schaeffer: Lessons for a New Century from the Most Influential Apologists of Our Time. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1998. Interesting but at times annoying historical and thematic analysis that pits Lewis against Schaeffer on such issues as biblical inerrancy and divine sovereignty. Cunningham, Richard B. C. S. Lewis: Defender of the Faith. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1967. Reprint: C. S. Lewis Secondary Studies Series. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2008. The earliest survey of Lewis’s apologetics to be published after Lewis’s death. Downing, David C. The Most Reluctant Convert: C. S. Lewis’s Journey to Faith. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2002. Well done biographical account of Lewis’s conversion that helps place his apologetic thought in context. Edwards, Bruce L., ed. C. S. Lewis: Life, Works, and Legacy. Volume 3: Apologist, Philosopher, and Theologian. Praeger Perspectives. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2007. Includes essays of relevance by Victor Reppert, Donald T. Williams, and others. Gehring, Michael J. The Oxbridge Evangelist: Motivations, Practices, and Legacy of C. S. Lewis. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2017. Study focusing on the personal aspects of Lewis’s efforts to spread the gospel. Kort, Wesley A. Reading C. S. Lewis: A Commentary. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016. An interpretive survey of a dozen of Lewis’s works, mostly his fiction but also The Problem of Pain, The Abolition of Man, and Mere Christianity. Bowman: Apologetics Bibliography: C. S. Lewis 3 Kreeft, Peter. C. S. Lewis for the Third Millennium: Six Essays on “The Abolition of Man”. San Francisco: Ignatius, 1994. Catholic apologist’s reflections on one of Lewis’s lesser-known yet important works. Lindsley, Art. C. S. Lewis’s Case for Christ: Insights from Reason, Imagination and Faith. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2005. Exposition of Lewis’s apologetic. Markos, Louis. Apologetics for the Twenty-first Century. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2010. Part 1 looks at the “legacy of C. S. Lewis and G. K. Chesterton” (with chapters also on Dorothy Sayers, Francis Schaeffer, and Josh McDowell). Part 2 offers a contemporary case for the Christian faith. Chesterton, a Catholic literary figure and apologist, had significant influence on Lewis’s thought. Markos had earlier written other books specifically on Lewis. Marsden, George M. C. S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity: A Biography. Lives of Great Religious Books. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2016. Informative and insightful study placing Lewis’s most influential nonfiction book in its historical and cultural context. McGrath, Alister E. The Intellectual World of C.S. Lewis. Chichester, England: Wiley-Blackwell, 2014. One of several recent books about Lewis by this respected English Christian scholar. Nicholi, Armand M. The Question of God: C. S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud Debate God, Love, Sex, and the Meaning of Life. New York: Free Press, 2002. Fascinating approach to Lewis from an unexpected angle. Puckett, Joe. The Apologetics of Joy. A Case for the Existence of God from C.S. Lewis’s Argument from Desire. Foreword by Mark Linville. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2013. Purtill, Richard L. C. S. Lewis’s Case for the Christian Faith. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1985; reprint, San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2004. Philosopher’s older but still valuable analysis of Lewis’s apologetic. Reppert, Victor. C. S. Lewis’s Dangerous Idea: In Defense of the Argument from Reason. Downers Grove, IL: lnterVarsity, 2003. Valuable study of one of Lewis’s most important and controversial theistic arguments. Sims, John A. Missionaries to the Skeptics: Christian Apologists for the Twentieth Century: C. S. Lewis, E. J. Carnell, and Reinhold Niebuhr. Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 1995. Walsh, Chad. C. S. Lewis: Apostle to the Skeptics. New York: Macmillan, 1949. Reprint, Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2008. Perhaps the earliest significant study of Lewis’s apologetics. Werther, David, and Susan Werther. C. S. Lewis’s List: The Ten Books that Influenced Him Most. New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2015. Evangelical scholars examine how such books as Chesterton’s The Everlasting Man and Boethius’s The Consolation of Philosophy played a role in the development of Lewis’s thought. Bowman: Apologetics Bibliography: C. S. Lewis 4 Williams, Peter S. C. S. Lewis vs. the New Atheists. Colorado Springs: Paternoster, 2013. Brings Lewis’s insights on scientism and other subjects to bear in refutation of Dawkins and Hitchens. C. Video Resources on C. S. Lewis Arnn, Larry P.. Michael Ward, and David M. Whalen. An Introduction to C. S. Lewis: Writings and Significance. Hillsdale, MI: Hillsdale College, 2017. A 9-part course on Lewis produced by a college known for its cultural and political conservatism. McGrath, Alister E., et. al. Mere Apologetics: The Work and Legacy of C. S. Lewis. 3 DVD set. Oxford: Ravi Zacharias International Ministries, 2013. Presentations about Lewis’s life and thought by McGrath, John Lennox, Ravi Zacharias, and others. Metaxas, Eric, host. Discussing Mere Christianity: Exploring the History, Meaning, and Relevance of C. S. Lewis’s Greatest Book. DVD. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2015. 170-minute DVD works through Mere Christianity through interviews with McGrath and several other noted Christian scholars. There is also a 120-page study guide by Devin Brown. D. Articles on C. S. Lewis Only a couple of notable articles are listed here. Hosek, Pavel. “C. S. Lewis and the Language of Apologetics.” European Leadership Forum, 2005. Reprinted at www.bethinking.org. Olsen, Ted. “Apologetics: C. S. Lewis.” Christian History 65 (2000). Special issue: Ten Influential Christians of the 20th Century. E. Websites C. S. Lewis Society: www.apologetics.org. C. S. Lewis Institute: http://www.cslewisinstitute.org/.