Tag Archives: self-death

The Deeper Meaning of “The Great Divorce” (Feature Friday)

Posted on June 9, 2017 by Brenton Dickieson

It’s difficult to know why, but this post has remained among the most popular for the last few months. For the past few years I have been trying to encourage a recovery of The Great Divorce. It is a great work, … Continue reading →

Posted in Feature Friday, Original Research | Tagged C.S. Lewis, controversy, Dante, Galatians 2:20, George MacDonald, heaven, hell, Love Wins, Narnia, Rob Bell, self-death, The Great Divorce, The Last Battle, The Problem of Pain, theology | 25 Comments

Spiritual Dynamics in The OA

Posted on February 16, 2017 by Brenton Dickieson

One of the hottest new shows on Netflix is The OA. A genre-bending serial of 8 rough-hewn episodes, it has the transdimensional framework and Scoobie gang dynamics of Stranger Things, but a much more adult narrative. While Stranger Things uses … Continue reading →

Posted in Fictional Worlds, Reviews | Tagged An Experiment in Criticism, apologetics, Brit Marling, Buddhism, cruciformity, Doctor Strange, Empire Records, fantasy, Fictional Universes, Netflix, Paschal Mystery, pop culture, Reality Bites, self-death, Story Within a Story, Stranger Things, surrender, The OA | Leave a comment

A Love Hymn by Thomas à Kempis

Posted on August 24, 2016 by Brenton Dickieson

The Imitation of Christ, often called Imitatio Christi, is a Latin devotional handbook attributed to Thomas à Kempis. Perhaps the most widely read devotional book other than the Bible, the Imitatio is not merely a classic Christian text, but where … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged Imitatio Christi, love, self-death, St. Paul, The Imitation of Christ, theology, Theology of Culture, Thomas à Kempis | 14 Comments

See My Guest Blog at Theological Miscellany

Posted on July 15, 2016 by Brenton Dickieson

I am pleased to be recently included in the “Theo-musings of Westminster Theological Centre faculty and friends” at the blog, Theological Miscellany. With the publication of my article, “‘Die Before You Die’: St. Paul’s Cruciformity in C.S. Lewis’s Narrative Spirituality” in … Continue reading →

Posted in Guest Blogs, Original Research | Tagged Both Sides of the Wardrobe, C.S. Lewis, cruciformity, Death, Michael J. Gorman, Narnia, self-death, spiritual theology, spirituality, The Great Divorce, Till We Have Faces | 3 Comments

The Deeper Meaning of “The Great Divorce”

Posted on April 6, 2015 by Brenton Dickieson

This is dangerous territory–partly because some have trumbled into the “real” meaning of this or that book and caused an awful mess. When read this way the Bible most especially becomes secret code for everything from American foreign policy to the … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged C.S. Lewis, controversy, Dante, Galatians 2:20, George MacDonald, heaven, hell, Love Wins, Narnia, Rob Bell, self-death, The Great Divorce, The Last Battle, The Problem of Pain, theology | 24 Comments

The Grand Miracle, Or Easter in Everyday Life (70th Anniversary)

Posted on April 5, 2015 by Brenton Dickieson

On this week 70 years ago, C.S. Lewis preached a sermon called “The Grand Miracle” at St. Jude on the Hill Church in London. The talk was published two weeks later in The Guardian–following the last episode of The Great Divorce … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged Christmas, dive, Easter, Galatians 2:20, Χριστὸς ἀνέστη, Miracles, self-death, spiritual theology, St. Jude on the Hill, surrender, The Grand Miracle, The Guardian, theology | 9 Comments

Finding that Elusive Title: The Many Names of The Great Divorce

Posted on March 9, 2015 by Brenton Dickieson

I am about 50/50 when it comes to titling my own work. Sometimes the title is patently obvious; other times it is a struggle to come up with a pithy phrase that captures what I’ve just written. I have one … Continue reading →