As part of “Ecumenism Month”, Reformed Pastor Douglas Wilson was interviewed about his love for C.S. Lewis and his new book, The Light from Behind the Sun: A Reformed & Evangelical Appreciation of C.S. Lewis.
S5E32: “Reformed Lewis” – After Hours with Douglas Wilson (Download)
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Show Notes
Introduction
Quote-of-the-week
“Was C.S. Lewis Reformed? The answer to the question posed…is, of course, not exactly. At the same time, and in a different sense, the answer is yes, of course. And this means that while there is substantive agreement, there is a clear difference between how some of the modern Reformed articulate the truth on certain issues and how Lewis did. And I want to suggest, in saying this that many Reformed pastors, in some key areas, have something to learn about this from Lewis.”
Douglas Wilson, The Light From Behind the Sun (Chapter 7)
Biographical Information
Douglas Wilson is a pastor of Christ Church in Moscow, Idaho and the founder of New Saint Andrew’s College. He has been married to his wife, Nancy, for over forty years. They have a number of children and “teeming hordes of grandchildren who come over to our house pretty regularly in order to terryhoot”.
He writes at the “Blog and Mablog” blog, where he says he wants to advance “Chestertonian Calvinism”, and he also speaks on “The Plodcast” podcast.
He has written a crazy number of books, well over a hundred, including What I learned in Narnia and, at the time of recording, a recently-released book of essays, The Light from Behind the Sun: a Reformed and Evangelical Appreciation of C.S. Lewis.
Biographical Information of Douglas Wilson
Beverage and Toast
- David was drinking Tea.
Discussion
So the origin of this interview is interesting. Back in Season 4 I had decided that I wanted to do a series in Season 5 called “Ecumenical Lewis”, where we interview people from a diverse set of backgrounds who nevertheless find value in Lewis. I had already found guests from Eastern Orthodoxy, Mormonism, and Orthodox Judaism. Then one of our listeners, Rich Dimble, sent me an email saying he’d love to see Pastor Wilson come onto the show. I had already come across him. I had watched some of the Sweater Vest Dialogues with Dr. James White I had also seen his lecture series on the Ransom Trilogy…as well as various his appearances with John Piper So, I reached out and, in the process of doing so, discovered that he had a book coming out almost on this exact subject!
1. “Background”
- The listenership to this podcast really is across the whole denominational spectrum, so for those listeners who haven’t come across you before, would you mind filling in a few more of the details?
2. “Encountering Lewis”
- So where did Lewis fit into your journey? What was the first book which really grabbed you and what would you say is your favourite today?
3. “Book Genesis”
- Anyone who has followed you for any length of time will know that you’re a “Lewis junkie”, but what was it that prompted you to write this book?
4. “GKC or CSL?”
- It’s clear that they both influenced you, but who did you read first – C.S. Lewis or G.K. Chesterton?
5. “Book Topics”
- Your book is a series of thirteen essays, would you mind giving our listeners an overview of the topics which you touch on?
6. “Fighting over Lewis’ corpus”
- What is it about Lewis which makes all denominations want to claim him?
7. “Was Lewis Reformed?”
- You say in the book that some people question whether you are truly a Calvinist. You respond by saying “I wish there were seven points so I could hold to the Calvinistic extras. You may count me a devotee of crawl-over-broken glass Calvinism, jet-fuel Calvinism, black-coffee Calvinism. Or as my friend Peter Hitchens once had it, weapons-grade Calvinisim. No yellow-cake uranium semi-Pelagianism for me. I buy my Calvinism in fifty gallon drums with the skull and crossbones stenciled on the side, with little dribbles of white paint running down from the corners. I get my Calvinisim delivered on those fork-lift plats at Costco. I trust this reassures everyone, and I am glad we had this little chat”. So, with that established, let’s jump to the million dollar question… was Lewis Reformed?
8. “Imprecatory Psalms”
- I don’t want to end on a downer, so let’s first talk about aspects of Lewis’ theology which you struggle with or reject…
9. “Technophobe”
- Anything else?
10. “Susan and Emeth”
- I was rather surprised by some of the things you say in your book about soteriology. Would you mind telling us a little bit about what you say concerning Emeth and Susan?
11. “Unifying Force”
- Jesus prayed that his Church might be one so that the world may believe. How do you think Lewis can best be used to both foster unity among the Body of Christ and share the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ with the world?
12. “Beer with Lewis”
- If he could share a beer with Lewis, what would you talk about and what would you ask him?
12. “Lewis’ Next Book”
- As a follow-up if, while having that beer with Lewis, he had asked your opinion as to what book he should write next, what would you have suggested?
More Information
- The Light from Behind the Sun: A Reformed and Evangelical Appreciation of C.S. Lewis
- Pastor Douglas Wilson / Wikipedia page
- Church Website
- The Plodcast
- Blog and Mablog
