Perhaps no other literary figure has transformed the American religious landscape in recent history as much as C. S. Lewis. Even before the international publication and incredible success of his fictional works such as The Chronicles of Narnia or apologetic works like Mere Christianity, Lewis was already being read ‘across the pond’ in America. But who exactly was reading his work? And how was he received?
With fresh research and shrewd analysis, this volume by noted historian Mark A. Noll considers the surprising reception of Lewis among Roman Catholic, mainline Protestant, and evangelical readers to see how early readings of the Oxford don shaped his later influence.
Based on the annual lecture series hosted at Wheaton College's Marion E. Wade Center, volumes in the Hansen Lectureship Series reflect on the imaginative work and lasting influence of seven British authors: Owen Barfield, G. K. Chesterton, C. S. Lewis, George Mac Donald, Dorothy L. Sayers, J. R. R. Tolkien, and Charles Williams.
Table of Content
Preface: G. Walter Hansen
Introduction: Mark A. Noll
1. Surprise: Roman Catholics as Lewis’s First and Most Appreciative Readers
Response: Karen J. Johnson
2. ‘Like a Fresh Wind’: Reception in Secular and Mainstream Media
Response: Kirk D. Farney
3. Protestants Also Approve (But Evangelicals, Only Slowly)
Response: Amy E. Black
Appendix: Charles Brady’s Two Articles from America on C. S. Lewis in 1944
Contributors
Image Credits
Name Index
Subject Index
About the author
Kirk D. Farney (Ph D, University of Notre Dame) is vice president for advancement, vocation, and alumni engagement and a member of the history faculty at Wheaton College (Illinois).
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