Redemption Through Suffering

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In our last episode, Chase Whitney talked about the role of tears in relation to joy, and how that is laid out in Scripture. But the night before Chase gave that talk, he was in the audience at an Anselm Society pub night listening to Michael Ward give the following one—and he joked with me afterward that Michael must have been reading his notes. A day later, after I'd heard the sermon, I understood why.

Michael's talk, in this episode, deals with much the same topic—but this time, using various writings of C.S. Lewis as literary illumination to help us understand joy and tears even more deeply.

In case you're unfamiliar with Michael, I'll tell you he is a literary scholar and theologian, renowned for his work on C.S. Lewis. Ward is best known for his book Planet Narnia, where he argues that C.S. Lewis structured The Chronicles of Narnia to reflect the imagery of the seven heavens. I highly commend that book to your attention if you think Narnia is only for children.