In the previous post, I addressed the product, or output, of C.S. Lewis’ erudition as measured by the books that he wrote. My assumption is that a truly erudite person would accomplish great things with all that knowledge. He should write profusely and with great impact. Lewis’ literary output is remarkable, both in its diversity of literary genres and the acclamation he received in the form of honors. I believe Lewis’ was an exceptionally fine writer.
But a person of great erudition should also manifest profound wisdom. In this post I share my thoughts on the quality and breadth of ideas that Lewis proclaimed to the world. I believe C.S. Lewis was a very wise man.
Books Versus Ideas
This measure is somewhat like the first, but it is sufficiently different to warrant a separate analysis. How so?
Which is more important in evaluating the erudition of C.S. Lewis? I think it depends upon the individual Lewis reader. For those who are primarily interested in The Chronicles of Narnia, then I would say it is books that are most important. But for others, including me, it is ideas. Allow me to explain the difference.
If I were reading the works of Jane Austen or J.R.R. Tolkien it would be the story that is paramount, not the individual ideas contained within. If I were to read Pride and Prejudice, I would be keenly interested not so much in cultural commentary, or the morality, but in the entire story. The same is true with The Lord of the Rings. For me, it is Tolkien’s story-telling, not his hidden Christian references, that are of the greater interest.
But when I read the works of C.S. Lewis it is different. In reading Lewis, it is not so much the book that is of interest to me, but the individual ideas contained within. For example, let’s consider The Problem of Pain. In reading this book I am most interested in Lewis’ fascinating insights into “numinous awe” in the Introductory and his speculation on “The Fall of Man” in Chapter 5. I also find the Aristotelian syllogism presented in the early chapters both intriguing and logically compelling.
Moreover, when Lewis says: “I willingly believe that the damned are, in one sense, successful, rebels to the end; that the doors of Hell are locked on the inside”, it is a terrifying image. But it is his eloquent explanation of Heaven in Chapter 10 that inspires me most of all.
Looked at this way, Lewis’ book The Problem of Pain is an aggregation of a great many individual ideas into a book. But it is the individual ideas, not the book, that I remember later.
The same is true with Mere Christianity. It is not so much the whole of the book that captures my attention, but the individual ideas Lewis conveys within. This includes the “Argument from Morality,” the treatise on “forgiveness”, his explication of “the Great Sin,” and his presentation of the “Argument from Desire”. Again, it is the individual ideas, not the book, that will stay with me forever.
And when I think about it, even The Screwtape Letters is more a compendium of individual insights on the psychology of temptation than it is a story.
I cherish the writings of C.S. Lewis not because he wrote 32 books, but because he knew so many things! For the most part, these “things” are expressed as individual ideas.
The Source and Use of Lewis’ Erudition
In the accompanying graphic, I sought to depict both the source of Lewis’ ideas and the output that he generated. Lewis’ source is the “great thinkers”, especially those who might be thought of as Lewis’ private “Pantheon” of beloved authors. His output is the tidal wave of intelligent ideas that flowed from his mind, adorned in words of incomparable clarity, cogency, and eloquence. To be sure, this is the mark of a very wise man.
Once Lewis was disabused of his youthful “Chronological Snobbery” by his friend, Owen Barfield, he came to understand the timeless relevance and value of the “great thoughts of the great thinkers.” Lewis advised us to read old books, which is precisely what he did. More than that, he captured the key ideas of his predecessors and then infused them into his own writings. We are blessed to have access to his mind, and through him to have access to the mind of so many others.
“The Great Conversation”
This imagery of Lewis calls to mind two insightful quotes. The first is attributed to Isaac Newton:
“If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”
This quote is not original with Newton. Its taproot can be traced to Bernard of Chartres in the 12th century. Newton’s version is simply the best-known version. It is absolutely germane to C.S. Lewis.
The second quote amplifies this notion. It is an explication of “The Great Conversation”, a term coined by Mortimer J. Adler and used as a tagline in the promotion of the Great Books of the Western World, published by Encyclopedia Britannica in 1952. According to Adler:
“The tradition of the West is embodied in the Great Conversation that began in the dawn of history and that continues to the present day. What binds the authors together in an intellectual community is the great conversation in which they are engaged. In the works that come later in the sequence of years, we find authors listening to what their predecessors have had to say about this idea or that, this topic or that. They not only harken to the thought of their predecessors, they also respond to it by commenting on it in a variety of ways.”
The accompanying graphic has miniature images of 80 people (72 men and 8 women) representing my own speculation on what might be thought of as Lewis’ private Pantheon of esteemed authors. They are segmented into four categories:
- Literary authors.
- Philosophers.
- Theologians.
- Christian mystics.
Lewis’ Pantheon is relatively balanced across the three eras. Of the 80 members, 26% are from Antiquity, 36% from the Middle Era, and 38% from Modernity.
Why these specific individuals? Because it is these great thinkers who show up most prominently across Lewis’ writings. Lewis read nearly all the great works by the great thinkers of the West, these 80 people in particular. Their fingerprints show up all over Lewis’ writings.
This was by no means all that Lewis read. I have speculated that Lewis read as many as 20,000 books during his lifetime. It is reasonable to assume the majority of the books Lewis read were written by authors who are NOT represented in this graphic.
The “CliffsNotes of Wisdom”
Here is a unique thought . . . To read the works of C.S. Lewis is to avail yourself of the “great thoughts of the great thinkers” down through the ages. This may sound a tad hagiographic, but for years I have been inclined to think that Lewis’ calling in life was to “distill the wisdom of the ages”. Not all wisdom–certainly no science or math–but much of the wisdom of the West that relates to literature, philosophy, religion, and linguistics.
It seems to me that Lewis immersed himself fully in the minds of these great thinkers—a feat accomplished through his unparalleled ability to comprehend their original meaning. Once there, he extracted their key ideas then infused them throughout his books.
To read Lewis’ works of erudition is one way–a good one at that–to access the minds (vicariously) of the most brilliant thinkers in history. Ever humble, Lewis recognized the incalculable debt he owed our predecessors. I suspect he might have chuckled along with Ralph Waldo Emerson when Emerson complained:
“All my best thoughts were stolen by the ancients.”
Lewis had the good sense not to tinker too much with the “great thoughts of the great thinkers”. Consider what he said in the Preface to The Problem of Pain.
“Except in the last two chapters, parts of which are admittedly speculative, I have believed myself to be restating ancient and orthodox doctrines. If any parts of the book are ‘original’, in the sense of being novel or unorthodox, they are so against my will and as a result of my ignorance.”
If you read Lewis closely, you will discern a great many references to old ideas. Sometimes it is obvious—for Lewis was not stingy in attributing his ideas to the “great thinkers” who preceded him. At other times, Lewis’ sources are not so evident, as he sometimes dismissed the need for scholarly footnotes.
Great literature edifies as no other media because it provides unfettered access to the minds of geniuses. Nobody knows exactly what comprised Lewis’ canon, though a tour through the 2,500 Lewis-owned books housed by the Marion E. Wade Center would provide a good, if incomplete, approximation.
Whatever his private canon, it was comprised of great literature. In the same way, his “Pantheon” of favorite authors included many “great thinkers” from antiquity through the Middle Era through the Age of Enlightenment and through to the first half of the 20th century.
To read Lewis broadly is to open your mind to profound (and valid) ideas. The “great thoughts” of the “great thinkers” transcend time. Lewis knew this implicitly, as evidenced by his repudiation of “Chronological Snobbery.” Perhaps G.K. Chesterton expressed this idea best:
“Good literature prevents a man from being merely modern. The road of the ancient centuries is strewn with dead moderns.”
Returning to the accompanying graphic, to the left of the “Pantheon” is a depiction of the myriad of topics that sprang from Lewis’ mind with a compelling force and in a form considered near perfect. Ideas flowed profusely from Lewis’ mind on such topics as:
Christian beliefs:
- Creation
- Nature and supernature
- Time and eternity
- The nature of God
- The nature of Jesus
- The nature of Man
- Divine goodness
- Divine omnipotence
- Predestination
- Faith
- Charity
- Love
- The Cardinal Virtues
- The Law of Human Nature
- The Seven Deadly Sins
- Human depravity
- Morality and ethics
- Free will
- Miracles
- Petitionary prayer
- Temptation
- Human wickedness
- Universal reconciliation
- Forgiveness
Theology:
- The Fall of Man
- The Incarnation
- The Resurrection
- The Trinity
- Damnation
- Atonement
- Salvation
- Transformation
- Heaven
- Hell
- The Eschaton
Worldviews:
- Atheism
- Pantheism
- Dualism
- Naturalism
- Scientific materialism
- Occultism
Philosophical Fallacies:
- Agnosticism
- Subjectivism
- Moral relativism
- Scientism
- Historicism
- Rationalism
- Chronological Snobbery
- Moral philistinism
- Cynicism
- Existentialism
- The “Idea of Progress”
Arguments for Belief:
- The Argument from Morality
- The Argument from Desire
- The Argument from Reason
- “The Trilemma”
- “Transposition”
Barriers to Belief:
- Opposition to Hell
- Problems with prayer
- Incredulity of old ideas
- Problem of pain and evil
- Impossibility of miracles
- Problem of parallel myths
- Predominance of Darwinism
- Excuse of wish fulfillment
Literature:
- Literary criticism (the concept)
- Literary criticism (many specific reviews_
- Literary history
- Story telling
- How to read a book
- Philology
- Parallel mythologies
- Faerie stories
- Medieval cosmology
- Evolution of language
- Imagination versus reason
All this, and yet Lewis had much to say about countless other topics.
So Much Diversity, Yet So Much Consistency
By any measure, this is an amazingly broad array of intellectual insights. But they were holistically organized and consistently articulated, not fragmented and disjointed. What struck Lewis’ great friend Owen Barfield most was not the diversity of Lewis’ thought, but the “organic unity” across all his writings. Said Barfield:
“Somehow what Lewis thought about everything was secretly present in what he said about anything.”
Owen Barfield was commenting on C.S. Lewis’ “presence of mind,” but he seemed to say Lewis’ ideas are consistent across all his writings and at the same time mutually reinforcing. I have read most of Lewis’ books and have come to recognize the truth of Barfield’s observation.
Lewis Was a Wise Man
When Indiana author (and Lewis’ friend) Sheldon Vanauken contrasted wisdom and expertise he was referring to C.S. Lewis.
“Speakers of wisdom are in short supply in our civilization. We have mostly experts. The experts, despite their assured tones, rarely agree with each other. And we as consumers of their brilliance increasingly don’t trust any of them. A wise man is a good guide to have amidst claims of the experts . . . CS Lewis was a wise man.”
A very wise man, indeed. I cringe to think where I might be intellectually and spiritually without C.S. Lewis’ wise counsel. I am forever in his debt. Many of us are.
As a measure of the productivity and impact of C.S. Lewis’ erudition, the remarkable breadth of ideas found in his writings and his public speaking reflects most favorably upon his credentials. Make sense?
My next post will address Lewis’ contribution to Christian apologetics, especially as relates to his work with The Socratic Club.
Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26
Erudition Series Index
