Spiritual Formation in the Life of CS Lewis
In 2000, his book Mere Christianity was voted best book of the twentieth century by Christianity Today magazine. Because of his scholarly background, Lewis was keenly interested in presenting a reasonable case for the truth of Christianity. Mere Christianity, The Problem of Pain, and Miracles were all concerned, to one degree or another, with refuting popular objections to Christianity.
Prior to his conversion, Lewis channeled his considerable intellectual powers into skepticism; particularly toward the Christian faith. Following his conversion he used these same skills to become known as The Apostle to the Skeptics. Consequently, his books on Christianity examine common difficulties in accepting Christianity, such as "How could a good God allow pain to exist in the world?", which he examined in detail in The Problem of Pain.
Anyone who has read his books probably knows how he became a Christian. His pilgrimage from atheism to theism to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is well documented. But the published record reveals little about his spiritual formation—that is his gradual growth from an infant-like faith into robust Christian maturity.
In these four lectures, Lyle Dorsett, a leading expert on C.S. Lewis, presents some new light on the major elements of Lewis’s spiritual formation with emphasis on how and why he changed over the years. Relying on hundreds of unpublished letters, nearly fifty oral history interviews, and untapped evidence from Lewis’s personal library, Dr. Dorsett shows how Lewis’s own spiritual transformation became the impetus behind his important role as a spiritual director to countless souls—through his books, to be sure, but also through voluminous personal correspondence designed to care for the souls of hundreds of people who sought his advice.
These lectures will help you:
- Gain insight into the formative elements which shaped the spiritual development of one of the 20th century’s most respected Christian apologists.
- Recognize the sometimes surprising means of grace God uses to transform our lives.
- Discover how to grow deeper in your own faith in Christ and cooperate with his work to conform you to his image.
The lectures in this series are titled:
- “Lewis in the School of Prayer"
- “Study and Application of Scripture”
- "Anglican Spirituality and the Church”
- "Reluctant Spiritual Guide”
