For American fans of C.S. Lewis, Noll’s book describes the arc of acceptance on this side of the Atlantic. Lewis’ books were published in America after success in the United Kingdom. Noll limits his analysis to the critics’ essays on Lewis’ Christian works up to the year of Lewis appeared on Time magazine’s cover. The book first delineates the various American religious and non-religious reviews, and then the author invited others to respond to his analysis from a cultural perspective—more of the societal context of Lewis’ writings and approvals/disapprovals. The others’ responses to Noll’s summaries are illuminating as to what Lewis did not write about or address with regard to cultural concerns. While not dealing with Lewis’ academic treatises, mostly on classical literature, this book is academic in nature. You will not find neat summaries of Lewis’ themes, so it’s hard to discern if the critiques are “spot on” or not.
Many of the American reviews nitpick Lewis’ theological stances, especially in the fictional writings. Where Lewis engaged the populace with analogies and allegories in Pilgrim’s Regress, the Space Trilogy, the Screwtape Letters and the Great Divorce—and much later the Narnian Chronicles—the critics did recognize the impreciseness of storytelling as a hermeneutical device. But some still took Lewis to task even while his popularity grew amongst his academic and theological peers and the American public.
Without any summaries of Lewis’ themes or theological perspectives, the reader of this book is dependent on their own memory of Lewis’ work, rereading them or quickly reviewing other summaries.
Noll does conclude with a perspective on how Lewis’ works might fit into our 21st century, social media saturated culture by trying to answer the question: Do we have the attention span to reason through Lewis’ logical reasons for faith and suggested applications of living it out in today’s world?
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Who Are We?
Since 1947, InterVarsity Press (IVP) has been publishing thoughtful Christian books that shape both the lives of readers and the cultures they inhabit. Throughout these seventy-five years, our books and authors have established a legacy of speaking boldly into important cultural moments, providing timeless tools for spiritual growth, and equipping Christians for a vibrant life of faith.
From the Publisher
C. S. Lewis in America: Readings and Reception, 1935-1947
- A volume in the Hansen Lectureship series, which is based on a lecture series hosted at the Marion E. Wade Center at Wheaton College
- Features reflections on the reception of C. S. Lewis among American readers and critics, including Roman Catholics, mainline Protestants, and evangelicals
- Includes three main lectures from Mark Noll as well as responses from other faculty members
Praise for 'C. S. Lewis in America'
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"An invaluable assessment of Lewis's reception in the United States, offering important insights into both Lewis's significance and the distinctives of the American religious mind." -Alister McGrath, Oxford University |
"One hundred years on, it's almost impossible for us to imagine a C. S. Lewis who was merely an Oxford professor. Mark Noll's story gives us a Lewis before he was famous." -Jason M. Baxter, Notre Dame, author of The Medieval Mind of C. S. Lewis |
"From elite, secular newspapers to denominational magazines, C. S. Lewis's writings commending the Christian faith had an enthusiastic reception in America. In this prophetic and timely book, preeminent historian Mark A. Noll has uncovered the secret of Lewis's success: he was deeply learned, theologically focused, and unusually creative. Noll himself brilliantly models how to embody these traits today." -Timothy Larsen, McManis Professor of Christian Thought at Wheaton College and author of George MacDonald in the Age of Miracles |
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| The Wonders of Creation | The Everlasting People | Splendour in the Dark | Choosing Community | The Messiah Comes to Middle-Earth | George MacDonald in the Age of Miracles | |
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| Author | Kristen Page | Matthew J. Milliner | Jerry Root | Christine Colón | Philip Ryken | Timothy Larsen |
| Description | How our appreciation of fictional worlds created by C. S. Lewis (Narnia) and J. R. R. Tolkien (Middle-earth) can inform our understanding of God's creation | Reflections on the relationship between the work of G. K. Chesterton and Native American art and history | An Early C. S. Lewis Poem Brought to Life | The Theme of Community in the Works of Dorothy Sayers | Mine the Riches of Tolkien’s Theological Imagination | MacDonald's Theology of the Supernatural |
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