Please note the following in this issue of the C.S. Lewis Society Update (1/15/08):
1. Christianity vs. Atheism Debate Video: Dinesh D’Souza vs. Michael Shermer
2. The Chronicles of Narnia
3. New C.S. Lewis Blog
4. The next meeting of the C.S. Lewis Society Bay Area Book Club
5. Other Events
1. Christianity vs. Atheism Debate Video: Dinesh D’Souza vs. Michael Shermer
In the latest of the debates between best-selling author Dinesh D’Souza and leading anti-theists, here is the video of the debate pitting Mr. D’Souza against Michael Shermer, editor of Skeptic Magazine:
“Is Religion a Force for Good or Evil? And Can you be Good without God?”
California Institute of Technology, December 9, 2008
Mr. D’Souza is the author of the new book, WHAT’S SO GREAT ABOUT CHRISTIANITY
As with his previous debates, Mr. D’Souza wins this one decisively.
2. The Chronicles of Narnia
PRINCE CASPIAN is the next blockbuster film in the “Chronicles of Narnia” book series to be released May 16th.
Here is the official PRINCE CASPIAN film web site
One of the most important intellectual developments regarding the Narnia series (and Lewis’s work overall) is the following new book which reveals a stunning and brilliant level of sophistication and literary excellence by Lewis in what some people previously and mistakenly thought were simply children’s books:
PLANET NARNIA: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C.S. Lewis, by Michael Ward (Oxford University Press)
Here is the web site on PLANET NARNIA, complete with author tour schedule, blog, and other information
Here also is a new article by Dr. Ward, “Narnia and the Seven Heavens”
And the book is now available.
3. New C.S. Lewis Blog
HarperCollins which publishes many of C.S. Lewis’s books has just launched the new C.S. Lewis Blog based on Lewis’s work:
I am privileged to be one of the sixteen columnists for the blog, and here are recent sample articles that have appeared:
http://booksbycslewis.blogspot.com/
“Mere Friendship: C.S. Lewis on a Great Joy,” by David J. Theroux
“C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and the Inklings,” by Diana Glyer
“Strange Help from Father Christmas,” by Devin Brown
4. The next meetings of the C.S. Lewis Society Bay Area Book Club will be as follows:
http://www.lewissociety.org/bookclub.php
Book for Discussion:
MERE CHRISTIANITY, by C.S. Lewis:
Wednesday, January 23, 7:30 p.m.; Meeting moderator/leader: Andrew Dosa
Wednesday, February 6, 7:30 p.m.; Meeting moderator/leader: Andrew Dosa
MERE CHRISTIANITY is the best-selling, celebrated and plain-spoken defense of the essential principles of Christianity. 1943 England, when all hope was threatened by the inhumanity of war, C.S. Lewis was invited to give a series of radio lectures addressing the central issues of Christianity. More than half a century after the original lectures, they continue to retain their poignancy. First heard as informal radio broadcasts, the lectures were then published as three books and subsequently combined as MERE CHRISTIANITY. C.S. Lewis proves that “at the center of each there is something, or a Someone, who against all divergences of belief, all differences of temperament, all memories of mutual persecution, speaks with the same voice,” rejecting the boundaries that divide Christianity’s many denominations. This twentieth-century classic provides an unequaled opportunity for believers and nonbelievers alike to hear a powerful, rational case for the Christian faith.
“I read Lewis for comfort and pleasure many years ago, and a glance into the books revives my old admiration.”
–John Updike, novelist and poet
“C. S. Lewis is the ideal persuader for the half-convinced, for the good man who would like to be a Christian but finds his intellect getting in the way.”
–Anthony Burgess, author, playwright, and composer
The meetings will be held at:
11990 Skyline Boulevard, Oakland, CA 94619 (atop the Oakland hills)
510-482-2906 phone
wine, soft drinks and other refreshments served
Here also are numerous articles re MERE CHRISTIANITY:
“MERE CHRISTIANITY” by Wikipedia:
“The Whos and Whats of MERE CHRISTIANITY”, by William Griffin:
“MERE CHRISTIANITY”, by Edward H. Purley:
“Notes on MERE CHRISTIANITY”, by Tim Chambers
MERE CHRISTIANITY is available in paperback
MERE CHRISTIANITY is available free online
MERE CHRISTIANITY is available free on YouTube
Here also is the schedule of future Lewis Society book club meetings:
http://www.lewissociety.org/bookclub.php
Here also is information on C.S. Lewis:
http://www.lewissociety.org/aboutlewis.php
We hope that you and/or others you know will be joining with us! (Please feel free to forward this update to others.)
5. Other Events:
http://www.lewissociety.org/events.php
“Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Death of Dorothy Sayers”
Sponsored by the Dorothy Sayers Society
St. Margaret’s Church, Westminster Abbey
London, England
January 15, 2008
conference@sayers.org.uk
“Planet Narnia”
Presentation by Michael Ward
Sponsored by the Fellowship of Christian Graduate Students
Bowling Green State University
BGSU Student Union, Room 308 (6:45 pm)
Bowling Green, OH
January 22, 2008
“C.S. Lewis Conference”
Sponsored by Hope Lutheran Church
Atascadero, CA
January 25-27, 2008
“The Language of God: Intellectual Reflections of a Christian Geneticist”
Presentation by Francis S. Collins
Sponsored by Veritas Forum
University of California, Berkeley
Wheeler Auditorium, 7:30 p.m.
February 4, 2008
“God and the Genome”
Presentation by Francis S. Collins
Sponsored by InterVarsity Graduate Christian Fellowship
Stanford Memorial Auditorium, 7:30 p.m.
Stanford University
February 5, 2008
“Sixth Frances Ewbank Colloquium on C.S. Lewis & Friends”
Sponsored by Taylor University, Upland, IN
May 29-June 1, 2008
“Charles Williams and His Contemporaries”
Sponsored by The Charles Williams Society
Sr. Hilda’s College, Oxford, England
July 4-6, 2008
“Oxbridge 2008: The Self and the Search for Meaning”
Sponsored by the C.S. Lewis Foundation
Oxford University, July 28 – August 2, 2008
Cambridge University, August 3-8, 2008
Please contact me with any questions.
Best regards,
David
David J. Theroux
Founder and President
C. S. Lewis Society of California
