Wade Center

"My own debt to [Unspoken Sermons] is almost as great as one man can owe to another." With these words, C.S. Lewis acknowledged the role the George MacDonald's spiritual writings (as well as his novels) played in his own faith journey and theology. In this week's episode Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing, along with Producer Aaron Hill, explore a volume of MacDonald quotes collected and edited by C.S. Lewis called George MacDonald: An Anthology. Explore literary and theological parallels between Lewis and MacDonald, the theological themes that marked MacDonalds life and spiritual writings, and the ongoing relevance of MacDonald's writings for Christians living in the 21st century.

"It is worse than useless for Christians to talk about the importance of Christian morality, unless they are prepared to take their stand on the fundamentals of Christian theology." Few Christian authors can cut straight to the heart of our problems like Sayers. In this week's episode, Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing continue to discuss a series of incredibly relevant essays written by Sayers on "The Over Six Deadly Sins," "Strong Meat," and the eponymous "Creed or Chaos."

Words like dogma and theology have for a long time been viewed as "dull" and irrelevant, but in a series of essays written in the late 1930s Dorothy L. Sayers argues quite the opposite: "The Christian faith is the most exciting drama ... and the dogma is the drama." In this week's episode Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing discuss three of Sayers's famous essays—"The Greatest Drama Ever Staged," "The Triumph of Easter," and "The Dogma is the Drama"—compiled in a book titled Creed or Chaos, with an eye toward how they apply to the Church and Christian faith today.

"As long as you are governed by that desire you will never get what you want. ... Until you conquer the fear of being an outsider, an outsider you will remain." In C.S. Lewis's essays—"The Inner Ring" and "Membership"—he unpacks two dangerous social forces that threaten both the church and the morality of Christians: individualism and cliques. This week Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing continue their examination of Lewis's powerful essays and sermons published as The Weight of Glory and Other Addresses in 1948. How does our desire to belong, to be considered meaningful to others, warp and distort not only our heart but our actions. How do they so easily turn good people into "scoundrels?" And what can we do to overcome these temptations?

"We always have to answer the question: How can you be so frivolous and selfish to think of anything by the salvation of human souls?" During World War II, C.S. Lewis preached three sermons which were eventually packaged and published along with six others in 1949 as The Weight of Glory and Other Addresses. In this week's episode, Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing discuss the spiritual significance and application of "The Weight of Glory," "Learning in War-Time," and "Transpositions," as well as how they apply to our war-plagued world today.

Upon completion of The Lord of the Rings, new readers often turn to The Silmarillion. But J.R.R. Tolkien's epic collection of mythopoeic stories—covering everything from the creation of Eä (the Ainulindalë), the Valar and Mayar, the creation of the Elves as well as the events of the First and Second Ages of Middle-earth—can be overwhelming. Thankfully, Laura Schmidt, Wade Center Archivist, joins Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing to walk us through to the larger themes and storylines of this amazing volume of stories.

Who or what deserves our allegiance? Our heart? An external morality handed down by our parents or Christendom? Our intellect or science? In one of his most challenging books, The Abolition of Man, C.S. Lewis addresses many of the assumptions about morality, theology, and philosophy that are baked into the fabric of our modern world. Join Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing in this week's episode as they explore the context and message of Lewis's book as well as its proper application to our modern world—viz., how can we avoid becoming "Men Without Chests."

"Guesses, of course, only guesses. If they are not true, something better will be." At the end of his life, Lewis wrote Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer. Lewis's thoughts on heaven and the resurrection were, perhaps ironically, published posthumously. In this fifth installment of "Love, Pain, Grief, and Joy," Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing, along with Producer Aaron Hill, explore the second half of this often overlooked book including the problem of spiritual and theological bigotry, the importance of the incarnation and resurrection, Lewis's views on communion and the inspiration of Scripture, and why Lewis believed that "Creation [is] delegation through and through."

"Creation seems to be delegation through and through. He will do nothing simply of Himself which can be done by creatures." Those words were written by C.S. Lewis in Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer at the end of his life and published posthumously. In this fifth installment of "Love, Pain, Grief, and Joy," Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing, along with Producer Aaron Hill, explore this often overlooked book by Lewis. How did Joy's death inspire Lewis to write this book? How and why should it be read in conjunction with A Grief Observed? And how does this book that is "chiefly on prayer" still manage to touch on broader theological topics such as joy, embodiment, resurrection, determinism, free will, organized religion, and the impassibility of God.

"What reason have we, except our own desperate wishes, to believe that God is ... 'good’?" Phrases such as these in A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis have caused many fans and critics to assume that Lewis lost his faith after the death of his wife, Joy Davidman Lewis. In this fourth installment of "Love, Pain, and Grief," Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing, along with Producer Aaron Hill, explore the context and questions surrounding one of Lewis's most practical and yet misunderstood books. What is the role of faith in the grieving process of Christians? In what way is reality, God, and the memory of lost loved ones iconoclastic? And is that a good thing?