Tag Archives: The Screwtape Letters

Free Like Form: Thinking about Human Freedom and Poetic Form

I have already admitted that I am not much of a poet, and I have even less right to be thinking about poetry criticism. But allow me to transgress my obvious limits for in a moment and attempt a thought … Continue reading

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Teaching Screwtape for a New Generation: My Conference Talk

Anyone who follows A Pilgrim in Narnia knows of my interest in The Screwtape Letters. I have written reviews, asked questions about influences, looked at Screwtape copycats–including the first by mystery writer, Dorothy Sayers–thought about Screwtape`s anti-spirituality in popular culture, … Continue reading

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Reconsidering Apologetics

Besides being a children’s author, essayist, fantasy writer, and literary critic, C.S. Lewis was also a Christian apologist. “Apologetics,” as the discipline is called, is the artistic science of logically defending belief. Lewis was doing apologetics on the BBC during … Continue reading

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A Year of Reading

It might be a first, but I managed to keep one of my New Year’s Resolutions for 2012. In January, I resolved to read 50 books or articles related to my research and writing on C.S. Lewis, and I hit … Continue reading

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Wormwood Reborn? A Screwtapian Look at The Gates by John Connolly (Hell Series Part 1)

One of the great perks as a university teacher is that I am constantly in conversation with students about good books. While this occasionally gets me into conversations about Twilight (which I read with great effort) and Hunger Games (which … Continue reading

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The Difference Between Pressure & Discipline: Reflection upon my 100th Post

Reaching the somewhat artificial but still satisfying pinnacle of 100 Posts on A Pilgrim in Narnia has set me into a reflective mood. I began this project just over a year ago as a way to draw together my thoughts … Continue reading

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The Most Important Part: A Plea to American Christians on Election Day

Americans will go to the polls today and will elect “the leader of the free world”—the promotion the President of the United States gets in Hollywood films. As a denizen of this same free world, I am surprisingly unable to … Continue reading

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“Once Upon a Dreary Era”: A Review of Peter Kreeft’s Critical Essay On C.S. Lewis

Anyone who has heard a lecture from the characteristic voice of Peter Kreeft—and there are a number available free on iTunesU—will hear his humour behind the words of his dozens of books. His books are typically serious. Kreeft is a … Continue reading

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A Tribute to a Mentor

No one was more formative to the thinking of the young C.S. Lewis than William Thompson Kirkpatrick. Lovingly dubbed “The Great Knock” by the Lewis family, Kirkpatrick absolutely transformed Lewis’ way of thinking and set him on his academic trajectory. … Continue reading

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Hitlerian Haunting in Screwtapian Logic

One of the fun things about working in The Screwtape Letters manuscript history–as I have been doing for the last few months–is that the story of Screwtape has so many interesting twists and turns. The Screwtape Letters was the book … Continue reading

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