Hillsdale College is currently offering a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) about the writings and significance of C. S. Lewis (pictured). Sign up for it and enjoy it with me by registering here: http://online.hillsdale.edu. The course is free and open to the public.I recently re-read the Narnia books, all seven of them, but was unaware until now that C. S. Lewis did much more with his writing career than to compose those classics and to encourage his good friend J. R. R. Tolkien to write his tales of Middle Earth. Those in the know may think me a chump or even an undereducated buffoon that I was, until now, unaware that C. S. Lewis also wrote space science fiction books and is in addition considered to be the foremost Christian apologist of the twentieth century. I will echo the words of Professor Arnn in his introductory lecture to the course and say to those who may deride me that they should be jealous not derisive, as I am about to discover these gems of C. S. Lewis for the first time.
I'll also freely admit that I had to look up the word "apologist". An apologist is someone who argues in defense of something controversial. That caused me to wonder, leaving aside the mythological aspects of Christianity, what could possibly be controversial about the teachings of Jesus? And that caused me to be most curious to learn the apologetics of C. S. Lewis. A biography of C. S. Lewis may be found here: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/c-s-lewis. Lewis was also a poet, although he was not particularly known as one. An article about his poetry may be found here: http://www.lewissociety.org/lookingback.php.
The course reading list includes:
- The Abolition of Man, Lewis' ninety-page argument about the nature of truth and beauty
- Lewis' Space Trilogy: Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, & That Hideous Strength--the fictional companion to The Abolition of Man
- The Chronicles of Narnia--there are seven in all. I have the advantage of having recently re-read them. Each could be read in a day or two, but I would suggest re-entering (or if you have never read the Narnia books, then entering--and how I envy you!) that magical land by (re)reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.
- The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C. S. Lewis by Michael Ward, one of the course lecturers. I was not able to find the book at Barnes & Nobel and am not sure I am going to read it. I will reserve my decision until after I hear Ward's lecture.
Feel free to Tweet, comment here, email me, &/or post comments on Facebook about the course if you decide to join me.
