C. S. Lewis and The Personal Opinion Fallacy

Excerpt: Authors sometimes become targets of critics who mistake the views expressed by their characters, plot, or atmosphere for the views held by the authors themselves. Consequently, as authors begin justifiably to fear that the opinions expressed in their art will be equated with their own real-life opinions, many begin censoring themselves, thus reducing diversity of perspective and diluting vigor of expression. The present essay reflects on this particular form of literary misreading and its contribution to other literary maladies....For reasons that relate to both the nature of imaginative literature and to Lewis as a writer, readers and critics of Lewis are particularly susceptible to what in this essay is called The Personal Opinion Fallacy

Misreading C. S. Lewis on Friendship: The Charges of Sexism, Secrecy, and Snobbery

C. S. Lewis’s published writings comprise some forty-odd books in multiple genres, hundreds of essays, and thousands of letters. The theme that arguably rises above other themes is love, and within the family of different kinds of love, the love of friendship holds prominence. Although Lewis is often credited for accessible writing, there exists a number of popular misunderstandings about his ideas of friendship in particular. Several writers—theologians, philosophers, and literary scholars—have leveled serious charges against Lewis’s understanding of friendship. This article will evaluate three of these charges in more detail, those of sexism, secrecy, and snobbery. The article shows that these are based on incomplete readings or complete misreadings of Lewis’s life and writings. This is not to say that Lewis had no blind spots (he certainly did), but that they are not always where his critics see them

Review of The Unknown Garden of Another’s Heart: The Surprising Friendship between C. S. Lewis and Arthur Greeves

Review of Joseph A. Kohm Jr., The Unknown Garden of Another’s Heart: The Surprising Friendship between C. S. Lewis and Arthur Greeves (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2022). 114 pages. $21.00. ISBN 9781666710403

Love and the Winter: C.S. Lewis on Enemy Love

Abstract: In this paper I tackle two difficult questions about enemy love, with C. S. Lewis as my guide. First, how do we forgive a person who has deeply injured us? Second, can the Christian command to “love thy enemy” be reconciled with the military task of killing one’s opponent in war? After defining “love”, “enemy”, and “enemy love”, I discuss these two questions in light of the things that most endanger enemy love: resentment and violence. According to Lewis, the virtue of forgiveness and the religious habit of prayer play a crucial role in overcoming resentment. As for violence, particularly lethal violence, I disagree with perceptive Christian political ethicists – such as Nigel Biggar, Marc LiVecche, and even C. S. Lewis – insofar as they argue that the killing of one’s enemy can be “an expression of love” towards them. Such language obscures its moral ambiguity and is strictly speaking false. We may perhaps love our enemies despite killing them, not by killing them. Lewis’s distinction between “absolute” and “relative” love helps to untangle the knotty nature and limits of enemy love