Lesser-Known Lewis

In this 1955 speech, "On Obstinacy in Belief" C. S. Lewis picks up his train of thought from "Is Theism Important?" to talk about why and how Christians can persist in their faith despite occasional trials and reasons that cause doubt.

Find an index of Lewis' essays at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠pintswithjack.com/essays⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Graphic Design by Angus Crawford.

Intro Music - Written by Jess Syratt, arranged & produced by Jordan Caruso and Jordan Duncan.

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In C. S. Lewis' 1951 speech, "Is Theism Important?" he helps Christians see the task of "winning souls to Christ" in two steps of faith. The first step of faith is belief that there is a God. The second step is the trust in that God, Jesus Christ. A trust that Lewis says is like "confidence in a friend." This is the utmost step, the one to which all our evangelism, apologetics, indeed, all our witnessing must lead towards. However, that is not to undermine the importance of the first step, convincing people there is a God, there is something Supernatural, something Transcendent. This is becoming increasingly difficult in our Disenchanted Age. Difficult, but not impossible, and Lewis helps us figure out how to do just that.

Find an index of Lewis' essays at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠pintswithjack.com/essays⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Graphic Design by Angus Crawford.

Intro Music - Written by Jess Syratt, arranged & produced by Jordan Caruso and Jordan Duncan.

Ad Music - Written & produced by Jordan Caruso and Jordan Duncan.

Jordan sits down with Dr. Steven Beebe, retired professor, author, speaker, and all-around expert on communication, to hear what Dr. Beebe learned about communication from C. S. Lewis. As it turns out, he learned quite a lot. So much, in fact, that he has even written a book on C. S. Lewis and the Craft of Communication.

Find an index of Lewis' essays at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠pintswithjack.com/essays⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Graphic Design by Angus Crawford.

Intro Music - Written by Jess Syratt, arranged & produced by Jordan Caruso and Jordan Duncan.

Ad Music - Written & produced by Jordan Caruso and Jordan Duncan.

Exploring C. S. Lewis' 1961 article "Before We Can Communicate" where Lewis, the brilliant communicator, shares his thoughts on how he communicates so well. We find this advice applicable to anyone and everyone who wants to be able to communicate what they love with the people they love - or with strangers. But it is especially helpful for those who Lewis had in mind: people who want to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the world around them.

We end the episode by covering the brief excerpt published as "Pittenger-Lewis and Version Vernacular" which reiterates that famous advice that Lewis gives about the importance of communicating in "Vulgar English."

Find an index of Lewis' essays at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠pintswithjack.com/essays⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Graphic Design by Angus Crawford.

Intro Music - Written by Jess Syratt, arranged & produced by Jordan Caruso and Jordan Duncan.

Ad Music - Written & produced by Jordan Caruso and Jordan Duncan.

What categories would Lewis have included in "Modern Man and His Categories of Thought" if he was writing in 2024? We are joined by Dr. Paul Gould, philosopher, author, professor, and podcaster, who was just been writing on this very topic.

We highly recommend checking out Paul's podcast The Eudo Podcast, and his book Cultural Apologetics as companion pieces to this season of Lewis' essays. Find out more about Paul here, and find his excellent books here.

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Graphic Design by Angus Crawford.

Intro Music - Written by Jess Syratt, arranged & produced by Jordan Caruso and Jordan Duncan.

Ad Music - Written & produced by Jordan Caruso and Jordan Duncan.

Intro & Ad music produced by Jordan Caruso.

Exploring Lewis' 1945 article "Modern Man and His Categories of Thought" where Lewis explores 6 reasons he believes to be why Modern people no longer believe in the supernatural, sin, or divine judgement. We find ourselves agreeing (with at least 5) and think those reasons have continued producing increasingly negative effects in our own day. The essay helps us understand why people in our own day are hard to reach with the Gospel.

Carl Truman's book Strange New World: How Thinkers and Activists Redefined Identity and Sparked the Sexual Revolution

Find an index of Lewis' essays at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠pintswithjack.com/essays⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Graphic Design by Angus Crawford.

Intro Music - Written by Jess Syratt, arranged & produced by Jordan Caruso and Jordan Duncan.

Ad Music - Written & produced by Jordan Caruso and Jordan Duncan.

Exploring Lewis' 1958 article "Revival or Decay?" where he imagines a conversation with a headmaster who is celebrating how Religion seems to be having a bit of a revival. Lewis is not so sure whether to interpret things the same way. The signs of religious revival in culture that the headmaster sees might not be an entirely positive thing. We find these same supposed signs of revival in religion present in the early 2020's and think Lewis' invitation to remember what is more important is very relevant.

Find an index of Lewis' essays at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠pintswithjack.com/essays⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Graphic Design by Angus Crawford.

Intro Music - Written by Jess Syratt, arranged & produced by Jordan Caruso and Jordan Duncan.

Ad Music - Written & produced by Jordan Caruso and Jordan Duncan.

In C. S Lewis' "On the Transmission of Christianity" from 1946, he explains why he thinks Christianity appears on the decline in future generations. Spoiler alert: It's not because humans are outgrowing religion or becoming too enlightened to believe in such silly things. It's because the next generation is no longer being taught a compelling view of the faith in their education. We are joined by Daniel from The Lamp-Post Listener, himself a teacher in a classical Christian school, to discuss Lewis robust and challenging solution to the problem.

Find an index of Lewis' essays at ⁠⁠⁠⁠pintswithjack.com/essays⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Graphic Design by Angus Crawford.

Intro Music - Written by Jess Syratt, arranged & produced by Jordan Caruso and Jordan Duncan.

Ad Music - Written & produced by Jordan Caruso and Jordan Duncan.

In the 1946 essay, "The Decline of Religion," C. S. Lewis counters those who claim that Christianity is in decline, but also cautions those who claim that Christianity is in a revival. We find that both of these claims are present in our culture today and what Lewis has to say to his own day carries over directly as a warning to ours.

Find an index of Lewis' essays at ⁠⁠⁠pintswithjack.com/essays⁠⁠⁠

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Graphic Design by Angus Crawford.

Intro Music - Written by Jess Syratt, arranged & produced by Jordan Caruso and Jordan Duncan.

Ad Music - Written & produced by Jordan Caruso and Jordan Duncan.

We kick off Season 4 "Apologetics in a Disenchanted Age" with C. S. Lewis' famous essay "God in the Dock" from 1948. In it, he summarizes the difficulties in trying to communicate Christianity to modern people. Nearly 80 years later his observations have become even more true. People do not believe in anything beyond the natural world, they're skeptical about anything historical, they do not have any awareness of even the idea of sin, and there is a huge language barrier between educated language of the apologist and the everyday "vulgar" vernacular of his audience.

Find an index of Lewis' essays at ⁠⁠pintswithjack.com/essays⁠⁠

Find more Lesser-Known Lewis — 

Graphic Design by Angus Crawford.

Intro Music - Written by Jess Syratt, arranged & produced by Jordan Caruso and Jordan Duncan.

Ad Music - Written & produced by Jordan Caruso and Jordan Duncan.