#62 - Evangelicals' Gender Ideas Came from C.S. Lewis' Space Trilogy - with Robin Harris and Kathryn Wagner

I mean, I don’t know you. Maybe you didn’t grow up in an evangelical Christian subculture. But if you did, there’s a high likelihood that the ideas you absorbed about how men and women behave—and what it even means to be masculine or feminine—were influenced heavily by C.S Lewis’ famous Space Trilogy: Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, and That Hideous Strength.

On this fascinating episode, Kathryn Wagner (returning guest and medieval lit scholar) and Robin Harris (writer and incoming seminarian) stopped by to evaluate Lewis’ takes on gender against both more modern feminist sensibilities and much older writers and theologians in the Christian tradition.

You should absolutely join us.

★ About Our Guests:

Robin Harris is a North Carolina based freelance writer and editor who specializes in Bible curriculum. She is on the board of the Davenant Institute. Her writing has appeared in Mere Orthodoxy, Ad Fontes, and the Theopolis Institute. As of Fall 2025, she will be a student at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary (MATS, 2027). She writes at robinjeanharris.substack.com/ and can be reached at robinjeanharris [at] gmail.com.

Kathryn Wagner is the Director of Academic Programming at the Center for Christianity and Scholarship at Duke University. She studies the literature and religious culture of the late Middle Ages and teaches courses that aim to form students in virtue through the practices of the liberal arts. She can be reached at kathryn [at] mogkwagner.net.—

★ Timestamps

(00:00) #62 - Evangelicals' Gender Ideas Came from C.S. Lewis' Space Trilogy - with Robin Harris and Kathryn Wagner

(04:20) Evangelicals who leaned on C.S. Lewis and the Space Trilogy

(13:12) The Space Trilogy tackles gender

(24:46) But can archetypes live in the real world?

(38:44) God does not have a body: Metaphors in Christian scripture

(53:28) Confusion and contraception are tied together

(01:00:58) God as our mother?

(01:06:39) Lewis's thinking evolution: widening the gender box

(01:24:44) Replacing theoretical masculinity and femininity with real friendships

(01:33:24) What would Lewis think of today's transgender conversation?

(01:40:31) In the Christian tradition on gender, Lewis is the test run—

★ Links and References

These well-read people dropped a lot of names and references. For your ease of Google searching, here are the ones we caught:

John and Stasi Eldridge (books: Wild at Heart, Captivating), Jordan Peterson Jungian thinking, Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, Elisabeth Elliot (book: Let Me Be a Woman), complementarianism and egalitarianism, Michael Ward (book: Planet Narnia), apophatic theology, platonic forms and Aristotle’s hylomorphism, Thomistic/ Thomas=Thomas Aquinas, Pope John Paul II (book/writings: Theology of the Body), Anselm of Canterbury talked about God as our mother, Julian of Norwich said a similar thing; Joy Davidman, Dorothy Sayers, philosopher Elizabeth Anscombe, Sister Penelope Lawson, Ruth Pitter, C. S. Lewis (books: The Four Loves, A Grief Observed), Kevin Vanhoozer (theologian).—

★ Send us feedback, questions, comments, and support!

Email: communionandshalom@gmail.com | Instagram: @newkinship | Substack: @newkinship | Patreon: @newkinship —

★ Credits

Creators and Hosts: David Frank, TJ Espinoza | Audio Engineer: Carl Swenson, carlswensonmusic.com | Podcast Manager: Elena F. | Graphic Designer: Gavin Popken, gavinpopkenart.com ★

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