C S Lewis And The Catholic Church

C. S. Lewis, the great British novelist and Christian apologist, has been credited by many-including the author-for aiding their journey to the Catholic Church. For this reason, it is often perplexing that Lewis himself never became Catholic. In C. S. Lewis and the Catholic Church, Joseph Pearce delves into Lewis's life, writings, and spiritual influences to shed light on the matter. Although C. S. Lewis's conversion to Christianity was greatly influenced by J. R. R. Tolkien, a Catholic, and although Lewis embraced many distinctively Catholic teachings, such as purgatory and the sacrament of Confession, he never formally entered the Church. Meticulously researched and beautifully written, this book digs deep to present the facts of Lewis's life, to illuminate key points in his writings, and to ask the question: Was C. S. Lewis on the path to Rome? This revised and updated edition-with a new introduction by Father Dwight Longenecker-is a fascinating historical, biographical, theological, and literary account of a man whose writings have led scores to the Catholic Church, despite never having become a Catholic himself.

If you could sit down with St. Thomas Aquinas over a pint of beer and ask him any one question, what would it be? Pints With Aquinas contains over 50 deep thoughts from the Angelic doctor on subjects such as God, virtue, the sacraments, happiness, alcohol, and more. If you've always wanted to read St. Thomas but have been too intimidated to try, this book is for you.So, get your geek on, pull up a bar stool and grab a cold one, here we go!""He alone enlightened the Church more than all other doctors; a man can derive more profit in a year from his books than from pondering all his life the teaching of others." - Pope John XXII

The popular apologist and best- selling author of Catholicism and Fundamentalism addresses fifty-two of the most common misconceptions about the Catholic Faith that are held by many Catholics and Protestants. Drawing upon Scripture and the Catholic tradition, he not only shows the logical errors in these positions but clearly spells out Catholic teaching and explains the rationale behind frequently misunderstood doctrines and practices. An excellent guide to what Catholics really believe and why.

The Four Loves is a 1960 book by C. S. Lewis which explores the nature of love from a Christian and philosophical perspective through thought experiments. The book was based on a set of radio talks from 1958 which had been criticized in the U.S. at the time for their frankness about sex. C.S. Lewis examines storge or empathy love; philia, friendship love; eros, romantic love; and agape, or God love. Excerpt: "GOD is love," says St. John. When I first tried to write this book I thought that his maxim would provide me with a very plain highroad through the whole subject. I thought I should be able to say that human loves deserved to be called loves at all just in so far as they resembled that Love which is God."

No one would dare to suggest that C. S. Lewis's Mere Christianity is anything less than a brilliant explanation and defense of the Faith. But as robust, wise and ardent as it is, still it is incomplete. It begins our banquet at the table of the Lord, but doesn't take us all the way to the final course. That is what Dwight Longenecker's new book, More Christianity, does. It fills our plates with the fullness of the Christian Faith found only in the Catholic Church. Lest someone think Longenecker is presuming to piggyback or cash in on Lewis' work, or to set himself up as Lewis' successor, that is not the case. What he does--and does brilliantly--is present the doctrine of the Church with succinct explanations of topics that arise in Catholic/Protestant discussion: the Marian dogmas, the papacy, the Mass, purgatory, the communion of saints, the rosary and more. In Longenecker's skilled hands, More Christianity rounds out the meal so deliciously served up by Lewis in Mere Christianity.

C.S. Lewis, himself a layperson in the Church of England, has exercised an unprecedentedly wide influence on the faithful of Anglican, Roman Catholic, Evangelical and other churches, all of whom tend naturally to claim him as 'one of their own'. One of the reasons for this diverse appropriation is the elusiveness of the church-in the sense both of his own denomination and of the wider subject of ecclesiology-in Lewis' writings. The essays contained in this volume critically examine the place, character and role of the Church in Lewis' life. The result is a detailed and scintillating picture of the interactions of one of the most distinctive voices in twentieth-century theology with the contemporaneous development of the Church of England, with key concepts in ecclesiology, and with interdenominational matters.

C. S. Lewis and Ronald Knox were two of the most popular authors of Christian apologetics in the twentieth century ... and for many years they were neighbors in Oxford. In Second Friends, Milton Walsh delves into their writings and compares their views on a variety of compelling topics, such as the existence of God, the divinity of Christ, the problem of suffering, miracles, the way of Love, the role of religion in society, prayer, and more. They both bring to the conversation a passionate love of truth, clarity of thought, and a wonderful wit. Lewis and Knox both experienced powerful conversions to the Christian faith, an important aspect that Walsh covers in detail. Both wrote about their conversion experiences because they wanted to explain to others why they took that life-changing step. They each valued logical thinking, and they professed that the Christian faith should be embraced, not only because it is good, but because it is true. Reason provides the intellectual foundation of belief for both authors. For both these apologists, Christianity is much more than a doctrinal system: it is above all a personal relationship with Christ that entails romance, struggle, and loyalty. A common adjective applied to Lewis and Knox as writers was "imaginative". They saw lack of imagination as a great hurdle to faith, and they believed that imagination is a privileged path leading to a deeper apprehension of the truth. Lewis and Knox, while convinced that the Christian faith rested on sound reason and that it fulfilled the deepest human longings, also knew that God is a mystery-and so is the human heart. In the face of these twin mysteries, Milton Walsh shows that both men approached their evangelizing efforts in a spirit of humility, as he explores how they appealed to the mind, the heart, and the imagination in presenting the Christian faith. "It is a great delight to see that Fr. Milton Walsh has brought together the incomparable Knox and the indomitable Lewis in a way that enables us to understand both of them better." -Joseph Pearce Author, C.S. Lewis and the Catholic Church "This-to quote C.S.Lewis-ಘis the most noble and joyous book I've read these ten years.'... This book has led me deeper into Lewis's own writings than any I've read." -Walter Hooper, C.S. Lewis' former secretary and biographer

C.S. Lewis wrote many great words, but not everything you see with his name on it is from the famed author of the Narnia books. Seventy-five quotations are presented that have an association in one way or another with a host of names, including: Ryan Seacrest, Anthony Hopkins, Max Lucado, Rick Warren, and Tim Allen! Learn the three most common ways Lewis is misrepresented: 1.Falsely Attributed Quotes: Expressions that are NOT by him. 2.Paraphrased: Words that are ALMOST what he said. 3.Out of Context: Material he wrote, but are NOT QUITE what he believed. This book doesn’t stop there. Also discover what Lewis actually said that is related to the presented misquotes. Those new to Lewis and the more serious reader of his works will grow in their appreciation of a writer that is not only quotable, but obviously misquotable!

Sohrab Ahmari was a teenager living under the Iranian ayatollahs when he decided that there is no God. Nearly two decades later, he would be received into the Roman Catholic Church. In From Fire, by Water, he recounts this unlikely passage, from the strident Marxism and atheism of a youth misspent on both sides of the Atlantic to a moral and spiritual awakening prompted by the Mass. At once a young intellectual’s finely crafted self-portrait and a life story at the intersection of the great ideas and events of our time, the book marks the debut of a compelling new Catholic voice.