After listening to a free talk from Regent Audio by Dr. Jason Lepojärvi I knew we had to have him on the show. In this “After Hours” episode we talk about the theology of love and the disagreement between C.S. Lewis and St. Augustine.
S3E30: “After Hours” with Jason Lepojärvi (Download)
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Time Stamps
00:30 – Biography
02:05 – Drink-of-the-week
02:31 – Quote-of-the-week
03:11 – Dr. Lepojärvi and reality TV
05:28 – Introduction to C.S. Lewis
07:55 – Interest in love
12:28 – Dr. Lepojärvi’s proposal
14:50 – Love and worship
17:35 – Who was St. Augustine?
20:36 – The disagreement
26:31 – Is Lewis’ complaint legitimate?
36:21 – Love and Till We Have Faces
44:01 – Worship and Till We Have Faces
48:59 – Marriage Advice
53:11 – Dr. Lepojärvi‘s contact info
YouTube Version
After Show Skype Session
No Skype Session this week!
Show Notes
• I read Dr. Lepojärvi’s biography:
Born to a Canadian mother and a Finnish father, Dr. Lepojarvi studied theology and philosophy at the University of Helsinki. His master’s thesis focused on the theology of the body and sexuality by Pope John Paul II, and was published as the first introduction to the subject in Finnish. As a Visiting DPhil Candidate at Oriel College, Oxford, he served as the President of the Oxford University C. S. Lewis Society in 2012–13. After marrying his wife, Iisa, in 2013, the following year he was appointed the Junior Research Fellow in Theology at St Benet’s Hall. He’s worked as a Scholar in Residence at Regent College in Vancouver and Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Thorneloe University at Laurentian in Ontario, Canada. His doctoral dissertation “God Is Love but Love Is Not God: C. S. Lewis’s Theology of Love” analyzed C. S. Lewis’s position in and contribution to the debate on love that preoccupied much of twentieth century Protestant and Roman Catholic thought.
Biography of Dr. Jason Lepojärvi
• I referenced the free talk from Regent Audio where I first heard Dr. Lepojärvi speak on Lewis.
• For the drink-of-the-week, we were both drinking coffee.
• For the drink-of-the-week, I read a section from The Four Loves where Lewis expresses his disagreement with C.S. Lewis.
“There is no escape along the lines St. Augustine suggests. Nor along any other lines. There is no safe investment. To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken… The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell.”
C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves
• We spoke about why Jason’s involvement in Survivor, as well as why he’s called “Dr. Love”, including his work with “Married at first sight”.
• There was some discussion of his doctoral work, as well as the relationship between St. Pope John-Paul II and C.S. Lewis. I spoke about my own desire to connect Theology of the Body with St. John Crysostom.
• Jason told us the story of his proposal:
• We also spoke about his post-doctorial work on the theology of worship.
• I referenced a paper written which described the dispute between Augustine and Lewis. I asked him to introduce St. Augustine to those who are unfamiliar with his life.
• Dr. Lepojärvi explained Lewis’ complaint against Augustine.
• Connecting love and worship, I quoted Till We Have Faces:
…Psyche herself was, in a manner, no one. I loved her as I would once have thought it impossible to love, would have died any death for her. And yet, it was not, not now, she that really counted. Or if she counted (and oh, gloriously she did) it was for another’s sake. The earth and stars and sun, all that was or will be, existed for his sake. And he was coming. The most dreadful, the most beautiful, the only dread and beauty there is, was coming.
C.S. Lewis, Till We Have Faces (Part II, Chapter 4)
• Since I’m getting married in about three months, I asked Dr. Love for any advice he had to offer!
• You can find out more about Dr. Lepojärvi at his Academia.edu page, his website , Facebook and Twitter. I’d also recommend watching this video where he’s interviewed.
