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CS Lewis and the True Myth: a Reconciliation of Theology

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CS Lewis and the True Myth: a Reconciliation of Theology LIBERTY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF DIVINITY C.S. Lewis and the True Myth: A Reconciliation of Theology, Philosophy, and Mythology A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the School of Divinity in Candidacy for the Degree of Master of Divinity School of Divinity By Courage Lowrance August 21, 2018 Abstract C.S. Lewis was both a student of pagan philosophy and mythology and a Christian. He never was divided between these two pursuits in his life, though he gave the latter its proper priority. What allowed Lewis to keep this balance was his idea of the gospel as the True Myth, an idea that helped lead to his conversion and remained at the core of his thinking throughout his life. By this idea of True Myth, Lewis was able to not only unite the pagan myths to Christian truth, but also the rest of human thought as well. Thus, in order to understand the nature of this key idea in Lewis’s thinking, this paper outlines what Lewis thought of mythology in general as a human phenomenon that bears explaining. The way in which Lewis saw mythology is analyzed in the first chapter according to the categories of the nature, the origin, and the function of mythology. In the second chapter, Lewis’s thoughts concerning the idea of the True Myth itself are considered. That various dichotomies of thought were united in Lewis’s mind by receiving this new idea is demonstrated. After this, the third chapter shows how Lewis’s thought fits in with historic and Evangelical orthodox Christian theology. It is argued there that Lewis’s idea of the True Myth is compatible with an Evangelical theology, and that it opens up many possibilities for exploration. Some of those possibilities are outlined in chapter four, which considers the union of various concerns of contemporary culture with various Evangelical priorities, a union brought about by the idea of True Myth. Contents Introduction ......................................................................................................................................1 Lewis and the Question of Myth ..........................................................................................2 Literature Review.................................................................................................................8 Terms .................................................................................................................................16 Chapter 1: Lewis and the Question of Myth .............................................................................19 The Ancient Context ..........................................................................................................20 The Modern Context ..........................................................................................................23 Lewis’s Answer .................................................................................................................32 Chapter 2: Lewis and the True Myth ........................................................................................61 Biographical Sketch ...........................................................................................................62 The Reconciliations of True Myth .....................................................................................72 Chapter 3: Lewis and Myth in Theology ...................................................................................90 Lewis and Ancient Theology .............................................................................................92 Lewis and Modern Theology .............................................................................................97 Chapter 4: A Theology of Mythology.......................................................................................108 An Outline of a Union......................................................................................................110 The Contemporary Concerns ...........................................................................................122 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................141 Bibliography ................................................................................................................................147 Introduction When C.S. Lewis was young, he had a moment of illumination when he read the words of a poem about a myth, and his whole life was changed. In it the poet wrote, I heard a voice that cried, Balder the beautiful Is dead, is dead. .1 And Lewis was struck with stab of longing created by the verse. He would never forget this, and it would cause him to be fascinated by myths and fairy stories for the rest of his life. Some years later, when Lewis was a man, he would have another life changing experience when he realized that “Balder the beautiful” had truly died, but He was not quite whom he had thought. This paper addresses Lewis’s understanding of the relationship between mythology and the Christian gospel concerning Christ. This relationship concerned Lewis throughout his life. Known as the author of such fictional works as The Chronicles of Narnia, or as the apologist who wrote defenses of the Christian faith like Mere Christianity and Miracles, Lewis worked most of his academic career as a literary scholar and critic, teaching English literature at Oxford throughout the 1930s and 40s and holding the Chair in Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Cambridge from 1954 until nearly before his death in 1963. He was well read in the classics of the Greco-Roman world, the writings of late antiquity—which includes the Fathers of the Christian church—the literary works of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, and also with the 1 C.S. Lewis, Surprised by Joy (New York: Mariner Books, 2012), 17. 1 plethora of Romantic authors from the 18th and 19th centuries.2 His daily labor was as a scholar and a professor, and few within the American Evangelical context truly understand the nature of his thought in relation to his extensive education and voluminous bibliography of written works. It is my hope that this paper will help not only address the present concern but will also help shed light on the depth of Lewis’s thought and increase appreciation for his work. Lewis and the Question of Myth Lewis was a man of two worlds. The first world was that of ancient pagan mythology and literature, which he became well acquainted with in his education. Though, it was in the second world of the Christian faith that he would find his home. After Lewis became a Christian, he studied the classic works of Christian doctrine and became familiar with theologians such as Augustine and Aquinas. Throughout his life, Lewis would continue to have a love for and an acute interest in pagan thought and mythology, while also staunchly holding onto the truth of the Christian faith, which he not only believed in, but also spilt a good deal of ink defending. Yet, these two fascinations never seems to have sounded a discord in Lewis, and he rather seems to have resolved this potential dissonance with a major chord. As a result of this harmonization, Lewis was never torn between these two loves, though there was no doubt as to which was the strongest. Instead, Lewis came to see in both pagan philosophy and pagan mythology an anticipation of Christ.3 In this paper, the primary concern is what Lewis thought about the relationship between mythology and the gospel (though he had his own thoughts on the relationship between philosophy and the gospel as well). My goal then is to show that Lewis saw 2 Adam Barkman, C.S. Lewis & Philosophy as a Way of Life (Allentown, PA: Zossima Press, 2009), 21-65. This second chapter is titled ‘Rational Discourse and Training,’ and is extensive in its account of Lewis’s education and his readings. 3 Lewis’s first major publication after his conversion, The Pilgrim’s Regress: An Allegorical Apology for Christianity, Reason, and Romanticism, 7th ed. (Glasgow: Robert Maclehose and Co. Ltd., 1950), which was published originally in 1933, already gives the essential picture Lewis had created in his mind concerning the relationship between paganism and Christianity. 2 myths as stories that reveal God’s nature partially and without reference in time and space; Lewis then saw the gospel as the “True Myth,” in that it is a mythic story that reveals God’s nature fully and in time and space.4 This thesis requires some brief explanation before continuing onwards. To do this, the most important words and phrases found in the thesis statement will be briefly clarified while their meanings will then be resolved more fully within the body of the paper. With this, a brief summary of what is to come will be provided as well. First, Lewis’s view on the aspects of mythology will be explored in chapter 1. What it means for myths to be stories that reveal God’s nature partially will concern that portion of the paper. As for the exact notion of just what is a myth, it is difficult to pin down. Within the discipline of anthropology, a “myth” is generally considered a story that—as created, told, and received—serves a particular social role for providing a context for the place of individuals within that society and the place of the society within the larger cosmos. In other words, a myth is a narrative that is involved in interpreting the experience of reality on the part of those telling and hearing them. Now, of course, to provide a summary of the way mythology is often defined cannot address the controversies
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