BENT ANGELS: THE DEMONOLOGY OF C.S. LEWIS by DAVID J. HAWKESWORTH B.A. Crandall University, 2008 M.Div. Liberty University, 2011 Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Theology, Acadia Divinity College, in partial fulfilment for the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (Theology) Acadia Divinity College, Acadia University Spring Convocation, 2019 © DAVID J. HAWKESWORTH, 2018 This thesis by David Hawkesworth was defended successfully in an oral examination on 2 April, 2019. The examining committee for the thesis was: Dr. Stuart Blythe, Chair Rev. Dr. Rob Fennell, External Examiner Dr. Christopher Killacky, Internal Examiner Dr. Anna Robbins, Supervisor Dr. R. Glenn Wooden, Director of MA (Th) This thesis is accepted in its present form by Acadia Divinity College, the Faculty of Theology of Acadia University, as satisfying the thesis requirements for the degree of Doctor of Ministry. ii I, David Hawkesworth, hereby grant permission to the University Librarian at Acadia University to provide copies of my thesis, upon request, on a non-profit basis. David Hawkesworth Author Dr. Anna Robbins Supervisor 2 April, 2019 Date iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Committee Signatures……………………………………… ii Permission to Copy…………………………………………. iii Abstract……………………………………………………… vi Acknowledgements……………………………………..…… vii Dedication……………………………………………………. viii Approval to Reproduce Copyrighted Materials...………… ix Chapter 1: An Introduction and Biography ……………… 1 Introduction and Thesis Statement 3 Why Demonology? 3 Why C.S. Lewis? 5 Lewis as a Theologian 7 Primary Sources 13 Methodology 16 Thesis Outline 19 A Biography of Lewis 22 Lewis’s Formative Years (1898-1913) 22 Lewis’s Conflict with His Father 24 Lewis, Kirkpatrick and Oxford (1914-1918) 25 The Great War (1918) 27 Lewis’s Wartime Experiences 27 Lewis and His Father (1919-1929) 29 Lewis’s Spiritual Conflict 30 Lewis’s Life at Oxford and His Christianity (1930-1939) 30 Lewis’s Erotic Conflict 31 Lewis and the Second World War (1939- 1945) 34 Lewis’s Professional Conflicts 36 Lewis and the Supernatural 37 The Post-War Years (1946-1953) 40 Lewis and Joy Gresham (1953-1960) 41 Lewis’s Last Years (1960-1963) 44 Conclusion 46 iv Chapter 2: Finding Lewis’s Angels …………………………… 49 Introduction 51 The Role of the Supernatural 52 Lewis and the Unheimlich 55 Lewis and Dualism 59 Lewis’ Angelology 62 Angelic Natures 63 Lewis’s Angelic Nomenclature 64 Angelic Hierarchy 66 Gendered Archetypes 74 Conclusion 77 Chapter 3: Finding Lewis’s Demons …………………….…… 79 Introduction 81 Lewis’s View of Satan 81 Lewis and Spiritual Warfare 85 The Pyschomachia 88 The Satanic Image 93 Possessiveness 103 Diminishment 104 The Demonic and Humanity’s Potential 107 The Hierarchy of Hell 109 The Divine Response to the Demonic 111 The Parousia 113 The Theosis of Humanity 113 Conclusion 118 Chapter 4: C.S. Lewis and Modern Spiritual Warfare ……… 119 Introduction 121 Contemporary Theorists 122 Lewis and the Theorists 126 Angels, Demons and Archetypes 126 Demonic Possession and Hierarchy 129 The Psychomachia and the Church 134 Lewis’s Contribution 139 Summarizing Lewis’s Demonology 144 Areas for Further Study 146 Conclusion 147 Bibliography ………………………….……………………….. 149 v ABSTRACT This thesis examines the demonology of C.S. Lewis as presented in his fiction (The Ransom Trilogy, The Screwtape Letters and The Great Divorce) and non-fiction (The Problem of Pain, Mere Christianity, Miracles, and Preface to Paradise Lost) and explores the relevance of demons in Lewis’s theology. The contention being that Lewis’s demonology is so deeply integrated into the rest of his theology that if profoundly informs his eschatological view of the state unredeemed humanity. This state being the destruction of the imago dei in humanity and its replacement with the imago satanae, being the full realization of the perdition of the soul. In order to provide this analysis Lewis is first placed in his personal, historical and theological context. His view on supernaturalism is established including his use of the concept of the unheimlich as his angelology is examined which indicates the profound fall the Demonic has experienced in its rebellion from God. Then an examination of Lewis’s demonology is considered including Lewis’s presentation of spiritual warfare and the Demonic agenda of total demonization towards humanity. This brings us to consider the response of God regarding the existence of the Demonic, namely the Incarnation and the future destiny of humanity in God’s economy (theosis). Lewis’s demonology is then considered in comparison to four of the leading theologians of the twentieth century regarding spiritual warfare (Powlison, Boyd, Wagner and Wink). Recommendations for further study are offered based on this research and it is asserted that Lewis’s demonology is one of the more robust and well-integrated of all the twentieth century theologians considered with an innovative presentation of eschatological humanity. vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to offer my sincere thanks to Dr. Robbin’s help in providing a professional theologian’s eye to this work, and to a great degree its success. I should also like to extend my thanks to Mrs. Jean Kelly at the Vaughan Library who made sure I got all the books and articles I requested. So many academic works would literally would not exist without such help. Special thanks to Professor & Mrs. Sheldon and Anne Phaneuf of Moncton, N.B. for their love of Lewis, encouragement and feedback. I would like to acknowledge the contribution of my wife, Amanda, who has been my help and stay during this whole process. While I wrote about Lewis she is the one who had to ‘put up with him.’ There can be few other tests of devotion than that. vii DEDICATION For Isaiah and Benjamin. domus mea et fortitudinem. For freedom’s battle, once begun, Bequeath’d by bleeding sire to son, Though baffled oft, is ever won. (Byron, “The Giaour,” 123) viii ix Chapter 1 An Introduction and Biography 1 2 Chapter 1 An Introduction and Biography Introduction and Thesis Statement Clive Staples Lewis not only believed in God, but also in angels and demons. He believed that such beings mattered to humanity, and influenced our everyday lives and ultimately our destiny. Lewis’s belief in angels and demons is dynamic, and integrated into the rest of his theology; a theology that makes a significant contribution to the study of spiritual warfare. Why Demonology? There are two natural questions that beg to be asked: why is demonology important; and why do we need to consider Lewis? Before we consider Lewis’s place in demonology the subject as a whole ought to be considered. The question over the legitimacy of demonology as a topic worthy of academic concern is significant. Some might consider the topic a relic of a bygone age, a vestigial notion in a postmodern and more rational world. The subject of demonology among Protestants has been relegated to the margins of theology over the centuries. During the Protestant Reformation John Calvin was one of the most influential theologians to effect Western theology for generations. Calvin saw demonology and angelology as being overly Platonic in influence and therefore unbiblical. In Calvin’s view, Platonism and its related elements, like the demonic, helped to engender more error and superstition than blessing.1 Another 1 Joad Raymond, Milton’s Angels: The Early-Modern Imagination. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010, 32, 36. 3 Reformational voice, Martin Luther, according to Joad Raymond, saw angelology and demonology as being non-essential to the faith (adiaphora)2 and as a result, the subject of spiritual warfare theology eventually became minimalized as a general sense of indifference toward the subject developed, making it a mere footnote in theology.3 In today’s context, demonology and its related subjects are finding renewed interest within both academia as well as within Western Culture. 4 Historically, demonology formed a significant part of any theological system at both doctrinal and practical levels. In contemporary circles, demonology is still taught but it has been more recently rebranded in the twentieth-century under the common heading of “spiritual warfare.” Still, it is western Protestant theology itself that, despite renewed interest, considers the subject of angels and demons and its relevance to humans to be a doctrine best suited to the extreme margins. Demonology is perhaps more often regarded as part 2 Ibid., 36: According to Soergel Luther’s angelology initially was robust, typical of medieval angelology. However, by 1530 Soergel notes a gradual shift in Luther’s views to one that marginalized angels, though he notes how Calvin went even further than Luther. cf. M. Luther, Sermon von der Engeln as cited by Philip M. Soergel, “Luther on the Angels” in Angels in the Early Modern World, ed. Peter Marshall and Alexandra Walsham, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006, 70-75, 80. 3 Raymond, Milton’s Angels, 36. 4 Clinton Arnold, Three Crucial Questions about Spiritual Warfare, Grand Rapid: Baker Books, 1997, 26, 31; Millard Erickson, Christian Theology, Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2013, 407; Clinton Arnold, Powers of Darkness, Downers Grove: IVP, 1992, 154-158; Andrei Orlov, Dark Mirrors: Azazel and Satanael in Early Jewish Demonology, Albany: State University of New York Press, 2011, 1; Gabor Klaniczay and Eva Pocs, “Introduction” in Christian Demonology and Popular Mythology, edited by Gabor Klaniczay and Eva Pocs, Budapest: Central European University Press, 2006, 1; Nienka Vos, “Demons and the Devil in Ancient and Medieval Christianity: Introduction, Summary, Reflection” in Demons and the Devil in Ancient and Medieval Christianity, edited by Nienke Vos and Willemein Otto, Leiden: Brill, 2011, 8. cf. Scott Moreau, sv. “Spiritual Warfare” in Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, ed. Walter A. Elwell, Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2001, 1143-145; E. Janet Warren, Cleansing the Cosmos, Eugene: Pickwick, 2012, 24; Paul Hiebert, Anthropological Reflections, Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1994, 203-215; Gregory Boyd, God at War, Downers Grove: IVP, 1997.