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C.S. Lewis: His Theology and Philosophy

C. S. Lewis gives you insights into theology and human behavior using both stories and scholarly essays. Lewis's understanding of the great classics of literature and his reflections on his life experiences inform and inspire his writings. Join Dr. Peterson as he leads you in exploring C. S. Lewis's insights in theology and the human experience.
Number of lessons: 32
Total length: 22 hours and 37 minutes
Format: Video and Audio
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About This Class

C. S. Lewis is an extremely good theologian who does his work for the thoughtful lay person.  But his writings reflect his erudite understanding of the great classics of literature, historical theology, philosophy, and other disciplines.  Lewis says in Mere Christianity that theology is like a map.  We may get where we’re going without it, but it is much easier to use the map.  The map of Christian theology is drawn over the early centuries of the church as the believing community interprets the Bible and its experience of God.  

Of course, the ultimate goal of theology, according to Lewis, is practical:  to draw us into the life of God, or St. Gregory of Nazianzus (329-374 AD), called it, “the Great Dance.”  I know no theme deeper or more pervasive in Lewis than our need to get the steps right, to join the dance once again.  

In “Meditations in a Tool Shed,” Lewis says that there is a distinction between looking at a beam of light and looking along the beam of light.  He is speaking of looking at reason or using reason—a passage that forms part of his great case that presence of rationality argues for the truth of theism.  We will be doing a lot of looking in this course, largely, “looking at” Lewis himself.  But let us also try to “look along” the same line of sight as Lewis, to see things—God, humanity, spiritual life, and a host of other things—as Lewis saw them.  This means attempting to step inside Lewis’s worldview and learning to interpret fundamental realities the way he did and to deploy his distinctive strategies for engaging other worldviews.  In effect, we will learn to think Christianly by learning to think along Christianly with Lewis.

In 2020, Dr. Peterson published the book, C. S. Lewis and the Christian Worldview. It is essentially his course lectures in written book form--covering Lewis on all key worldview issues--reality, knowledge, creation, trinity, christology, as well as issues of evil, religious pluralism, and the impact of science on faith. You will also see it listed in the Recommended Reading section. 

 

Other Recommended Reading:

Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis 

Miracles, C.S. Lewis

The Problem of Pain, C.S. Lewis 

A Grief Observed, C.S. Lewis

The Great Divorce, C.S. Lewis

The Great Dance: The Christian Vision Revisited, C. Baxter Kruger 

Real Presence: The Glory of Christ with Us and Within Us, Leanne Payne 

C.S. Lewis's Dangerous Idea: In Defense of the Argument from Reason, Victor Reppert 

The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind, Mark Noll 

Glittering Vices, Rebecca DeYoung 

Vanishing Grace, Phillip Yancey 

Abolition of Man, C.S. Lewis 

God and Other Minds, Alvin Plantinga 

The Nature of Necessity, Alvin Plantinga 

The God Who Risks, John Sanders 

Horrendous Evils and the Goodness of God, Marilyn Adams

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About the Professor

Michael L. Peterson

Dr. Michael L. Peterson is a Professor of Philosophy of Religion and an accomplished author. His notable works include Reason and Religious Belief (Oxford) and God and Evil (HarperCollins). He is also Managing Editor of Faith and Philosophy at Asbury Seminary.

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Michael L. Peterson

Lessons

  • 1. C.S. Lewis Course Overview
    The purpose of the class is to directly engage Lewis’s philosophy and theology. He brings a Christian worldview to engage intellectual movements of his day. The trinity created us to bring us into the fellowship that has been going on with God forever.
  • 2. Marks of the Christian Mind of C.S. Lewis (Part 1)
    Discover how C.S. Lewis's journey from atheism to Christian apologist highlights the importance of integrating reason and imagination in faith, providing a comprehensive framework for understanding life and spiritual truths through accessible narratives.
  • 3. Marks of the Christian Mind of C.S. Lewis (Part 2)
    This lesson teaches you to value creation, understand the Incarnation, see all life as sacramental, appreciate human personhood, recognize the relationship between evolution and divine creation, and grasp the interconnectedness of truth, the recognition of evil, sensitivity to suffering, commitment to community, and the concept of vocation.
  • 4. Mere Christianity (Part 1)
    Explore how Lewis's defense of realism supports the moral argument for a higher power. Learn how he addresses objections from reductionism and evolutionary biology, using a comparative approach to argue that theism offers a more compelling explanation for morality.
  • 5. Mere Christianity (Part 2)
    Explore Lewis's moral argument for a theistic god, learning how he handles objections, realism in moral law, epistemic defeaters, and the comparison of worldviews, ultimately positioning theism as a rational choice and setting the stage for discussing Christianity.
  • 6. Mere Christianity (Part 3)
    Explore the comparative probability of morality under different worldviews, ultimately arguing that theism provides a more coherent and objective basis for moral awareness than alternatives like Hinduism, dualism, or naturalism, and prepare to integrate Christian concepts into this framework.
  • 7. Mere Christianity (Part 4)
    Explore theistic beliefs through moral experience, examine rival conceptions of God, compare dualism and pantheism, and discuss the Christian perspective on good, evil, and salvation, emphasizing the importance of credible and respectful presentations of faith to nonbelievers.
  • 8. Mere Christianity (Part 5)
    Gain understanding of C.S. Lewis's argument for the intellectual credibility of theism and Christianity, his critique of atheism and other worldviews, the trilemma of Jesus, and the relational nature of sin and redemption.
  • 9. Mere Christianity (Part 6)
    Gain insight into epistemic realism, the reliability of rational powers, common sense realism, critiques of philosophical skepticism, the development of moral virtues, and a critical examination of Christian sexual morality and marriage dynamics.
  • 10. Mere Christianity (Part 7)
    Learn about Mark Noll's critique of evangelical anti-intellectualism, emphasizing the need for intellectual engagement in faith, using C.S. Lewis's balanced approach to faith and reason as a model.
  • 11. Mere Christianity (Part 8)
    Learn that Lewis's argument from desire posits that our inherent desire for ultimate fulfillment suggests the existence of a transcendent reality beyond this world, identified as God.
  • 12. Mere Christianity (Part 9)
    Understand the theological view that God, as an eternal and personal being, models personhood, with practical theology guiding beliefs, the distinction between finite creation and eternal begetting, the relational and dynamic nature of the Trinity, and the transformative journey towards divine life.
  • 13. Miracles (Part 1)
    Explore the transition from C.S. Lewis's "Christianity" to "Miracles," emphasizing the clash between naturalism and supernaturalism, the BioLogos conference's role in reconciling faith and science, and Lewis's arguments from the inside to address Hume's epistemological challenge regarding miracles.
  • 14. Miracles (Part 2)
    Learn about C.S. Lewis's comparison of naturalism and supernaturalism, his criteria for evaluating worldviews, and the challenges naturalism faces regarding rationality and mind theories, highlighting theism's explanatory superiority.
  • 15. Miracles (Part 3)
    What’s important to Lewis is freedom of rational thinking, free from physical causes. Naturalism undercuts the power of reason because everything is determined by physical causes. If evolutionary naturalism is true, then the probability of our cognitive faculties being reliable for truth is low.
  • 16. Miracles (Part 4)
    Explore the interplay between reason, naturalism, and evolution through the perspectives of C.S. Lewis and Alvin Plantinga, focusing on the need for free will in rational thought, the reliability of cognitive faculties, and the limitations of naturalism and evolution in ensuring truth-aimed beliefs.
  • 17. Miracles (Part 5)
    This lesson examines the mind-brain relationship through emergent dualism, explaining how complex brain functions lead to higher mental processes and exploring the interplay between rational thought, moral consciousness, and the perspectives of science and religion on miracles.
  • 18. Miracles (Part 6)
    This lesson explains that divine actions are not violations of natural laws but purposeful interventions where God alters usual conditions, challenging Hume's regularity theory and emphasizing the need for an interpretive framework for understanding miracles.
  • 19. Miracles (Part 7)
    Learn to create a coherent narrative, address emotional objections to theism, contrast non-theist and theist views of nature, understand the Christian creation doctrine, emphasize monotheism, critique pantheism, and explore Greek and Hebrew theological elements.
  • 20. Miracles (Part 8)
    C.S. Lewis argues that miracles are possible if God is a determinant being outside the natural system. He distinguishes between good and bad miracles and stresses understanding the grand narrative to judiciously judge their credibility.
  • 21. Problem of Pain (Part 1)
    In philosophy, it’s referred to as the problem of evil. Given a certain understanding of God and a certain understanding of evil, there is a tension explaining why evil exists in the world.
  • 22. Problem of Pain (Part 2)
    Explore Lewis's view on divine omnipotence, the independent operation of physical laws, the role of pain in achieving higher divine purposes, and the distinction between true goodness and mere kindness, with implications for pastoral care and counseling.
  • 23. Problem of Pain (Part 3)
    Explore Camus' existential journey and private spiritual search through his conversations with Reverend Moomaw, revealing his dissatisfaction with atheistic existentialism and his secret visits to church, ultimately acknowledging a need for God.
  • 24. Problem of Pain (Part 4)
    God is his creation set forth the problem of expressing his goodness through the total drama of a world containing free agents in spite of, and even by means of, their rebellion against him. The risk is for the possibility of relationship.
  • 25. Problem of Pain (Part 5)
    Aristotle would say that as a rational, moral being you build your character based on the hierarchy of good traits. From a Christian perspective, our natural destiny should be on the same trajectory as our eternal destiny. The spiritual and theological virtues are faith, hope and love.
  • 26. Problem of Pain (Part 6)
    Explore pain's inherent role in the biological system, the theological and scientific perspectives on its origins, human freedom's impact, the concept of gratuitous evil, and how pain highlights human vulnerability and dependence on God.
  • 27. Problem of Pain (Part 7)
    Lewis thinks that God needs to pierce the shield of our ego and we are embodied creatures so pain is what does it by getting our attention by highlighting how frail and in need we are.
  • 28. Problem of Pain (Part 8)
    Explore Lewis's view on animal pain as distinct from human pain, linked to Cartesian dualism, evolutionary necessity, theological implications, and the potential redemption of the animal kingdom.
  • 29. Problem of Pain (Part 9)
    The lesson focuses on the themes of dichotomy, the intertwining of love and pain, and the acknowledgment of suffering as a component of true happiness, both in the present and future contexts.
  • 30. A Grief Observed
    Explore how pain and happiness coexist through C.S. Lewis's reflections in "A Grief Observed," his journey through grief, and philosophical considerations of materialism versus faith, emphasizing the relational nature of the universe and the hope of resurrection.
  • 31. The Great Divorce (Part 1)
    Learn that "The Great Divorce" shows heaven and hell as mutually exclusive, explore God's reality as the ultimate truth, and understand the journey from self-absorption to eternal joy through a symbolic dream narrative and character analyses.
  • 32. The Great Divorce (Part 2)
    Final comments about themes in The Great Divorce.
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