C. S. Lewis and Friends

"In a climate where some Christians still regard fiction, especially fantasy, with some suspicion (e.g. J. K. Rowling, Philip Pullman), a book re-examining the work of Christians writing fiction in the 1930s to 1960s is a welcome reminder that literature can be a force, not only for entertainment and enlightenment, but to express spiritual ideas in a uniquely powerful way."

-Amanda Wilson, Ministry Today (UK)



C. S. Lewis and Friends is particularly strong on the subjects of faith, reason, and their relation. What members of Lewis's circle have to say on these topics is of contemporary relevance at every turn…. The authors of this book typically strike just the right balance between a survey of the figure at the heart of the particular chapter and a presentation of some specific examples of their theological interests…. The result is an ideal, more theological, book to put alongside Humphrey Carpenter's group biography The Inklings.

-The Church Times



"These essays helpfully remind us how and why imagination should matter to people of faith. The contributors make a compelling case that C. S. Lewis and his circle were not merely tellers of tales but theologians in their own right, whose stories and images advance faith's search for understanding."

-Kevin J. Vanhoozer

Blanchard Professor of Theology, Wheaton College and Graduate School



"In this tidy collection several of the most astute and theologically competent readers of C. S. Lewis and his friends tackle the role and register of the imagination as a theological property of mind. The result is a thoughtful, mature, and illuminating insight for any serious readers of this group of writers."

-David Lyle Jeffrey, FRSC

Distinguished Professor of Literature and the Humanities, Baylor University





"There are undoubtedly too many books published on C. S. Lewis and his friends, so why yet another? In this case, four very good reasons indeed: the caliber of the contributors, the quality of the chapters, the range of figures considered, and--perhaps most of all--the consistent and insistent thematic focus on how imagination and reason interact within the life of faith. This book is thus of interest for its theme as much as for its topic. Highly recommended!"

-Robert MacSwain

The School of Theology, University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee, and co-editor of The Cambridge Companion to C. S. Lewis





"We have much to learn from the authors discussed here, all of them faithful practitioners of the imaginative arts. This well-grounded, thought-provoking collection of essays helps us to that end and does so in a scholarly yet accessible manner. A book worth owning, reading and re-reading."

-Michael Ward

Chaplain of St Peter's College, Oxford, and author of Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C.S. Lewis



"There is plenty in this collection to excite the reader thinking theologically about these authors for the first time. Scholars who are more familiar with these writers will also find points of interest."



--Frances Clemson, Theology