ENG 446: Fiction of Lewis & Tolkien

Essays in Light beyond All Shadows examine the full sweep of Tolkien's legendarium, not only The Lord of the Rings but also The Hobbit, The Silmarillion and The History of Middle-Earth series plus Peter Jackson's film trilogy. Contributions to Light beyond All Shadows probe both the mind of the maker and the world he made to uncover some of his fictional strategies, such as communicating through imagery. They suggest that Tolkien's Catholic imagination was shaped by the visual appeal of his church's worship and iconography.

This book opens with Lewis on creation, the fall into original sin, and the human condition before God and how such an understanding permeated all his work, post-conversion. For Lewis, Christ, the second person of the Trinity, is the agent of creation and its redeemer. This leads into Lewis's representation through sub-creation: explaining salvation history and the purpose of the creation and the creature through story (The Chronicles of Narnia, The Space Trilogy, Screwtape, etc.), but also the question of multiple incarnations.

This book takes Chesterton's 'natural theology' through fairytales seriously as a theological project appropriate to an intellectual attempt to return to faith in a secular age. It argues that Tolkien's fiction makes sense also as the work of a Catholic writer steeped in Chestertonian ideas and sharing his literary-theological poetics.

Are C. S. Lewis's major arguments in defense of Christian belief sound? In C. S. Lewis's Christian Apologetics: Pro and Con, defenders and critics of Lewis's apologetics square off and debate the merits of Lewis's arguments from desire, from reason, from morality, the "trilemma" argument for the divinity of Christ, as well as Lewis's response to the problem of evil. By means of these lively, in-depth debates, readers will emerge with a deeper understanding and appreciation of today's most influential Christian apologist.

The spiritual intensity of The Lord of the Rings is obvious to anyone who has read the trilogy or watched the films by Peter Jackson. Yet the majority of fans are still not aware that the authors was a devout Roman Catholic. In this book Stratford Caldecott reveals the deeper meanings of the text and films, drawing not only on the classic published works but also on Tolkien's writings unpublished during his lifetime.

Gary Selby contends that spiritual formation comes about not by retreating from the physical world but through deeper engagement with it. By considering themes such as our human embodiment, our sense of awareness in our everyday experiences, and the role of our human agency--all while engaging with the writings of Lewis, who himself enjoyed food, drink, laughter, and good conversation--Selby demonstrates that an earthy spirituality can be a robust spirituality.

 In this book, Lisa Coutras explores the structure and complexity of J.R.R. Tolkien's narrative theology, synthesizing his Christian worldview with his creative imagination. She illustrates how, within the framework of a theological aesthetics, transcendental beauty is the unifying principle that integrates all aspects of Tolkien's writing, from pagan despair to Christian joy.

C.S. Lewis on the Fullness of Life borrows C.S. Lewis's concept of "Deep Heaven" to examine six important aspects of Jesus' redeeming actions, including his incarnation, passion and death, descent into hell, resurrection, ascension, and second coming, and includes reflection questions and meditative prayers.

Eliot depicted the world as a treacherous Waste Land where spiritual quests are fraught with disappointment and danger. Sayers recognized that the message of redemption through Christ is a thing of terror. Lewis's Narnia books depicted the nature of Christ through the lion Aslan, who is good but not safe. Brown contends that the works of these three authors also offer hope in the midst of adversity, because they recognize that although redemption is a fearsome thing--like the image of a lion--it is also glorious.

Is Tolkien's work Christian or pagan? This question has intrigued readers and scholars ever since The Lord of the Rings has been published. Even today this important problem has not been given the full critical attention it deserves, and the present volume is an attempt to provide an answer. The volume contains a comprehensive bibliography on the subject, detailed indices, a foreword by Verlyn Flieger, and an afterword by Tom Shippey.

Clives Staples Lewis (1898-1963) called his theological writings as that "of a layman and an amateur" who merely attempted to restate "ancient and orthodox doctrines." However, S. Steve Park argues that Lewis's theological reflections are well-informed, thoughtful and weighty.