Read More C.S. Lewis
Six books to guide and ground you
I feel like Professor Kirke from the Narnia books "What do they teach them at these schools?" Well I know what they don't teach, they don't teach C.S. Lewis.
A handful of times over the last few years, when I hear people begin to question what’s going on with the world after whatever new cultural insanity has just taken place, I make the following recommendation: Read more C.S. Lewis.
Lewis predicted the insanity we are seeing in our day: Tyrano-techno-materialistic-scientism fully embraced and proclaimed by the products of educational systems and propaganda outlets (like news outfits), society hijacked by reality rejecters and sexual deviants, the lure of a hierarchical (or lowerarchical) inner ringism, the bureaucratic boringness of evil in 'respectable' places, and how at root it's all being orchestrated by the Dark Powers despite most of its adherents denying the existence of anything beyond Nature.
Most people approach Lewis from either the fantasy or Christian angle. Which means it's either Narnia or Mere Christianity. And while you can't go wrong with those, when I advise people to ‘Read more C.S. Lewis’ I want them to discover or re-discover Lewis' assessment of a post-Christian society and it's supernatural underpinnings. So I've come up with a specific set of books that I believe would be helpful for anyone actually willing to take up that advice.
My prescription would be to read these in this order:
1) The Screwtape Letters
2) Out of the Silent Planet
3) Perelandra
4) The Abolition of Man
5) That Hideous Strength
6) Present Concerns
While there are various themes that could be explored in Screwtape and the Ransom Trilogy, we find a great amount of wisdom regarding the tactics of the enemy, modern man's attempted conquest of Nature, the interrelationship between our world and the supernatural, the logical conclusions of a post-Christian mindset, and—most importantly—how to combat it.
Placing The Abolition of Man in between the trilogy helps to set the stage for the final novel, That Hideous Strength, which is the fictional outworking of Abolition. Many people are either put off by this novel or just outright confused. Reading Abolition first would help to calibrate the reader. That Hideous Strength also has a couple things that are lacking in Abolition;
1) a picture for how to live in, defy, and ultimately defeat the present evil age. We see a distinct contrast between N.I.C.E. and the fellowship at St. Anne's.
2) A re-emergence of the healthy understanding of the supernatural/spirit world and the strange things that come with it, which is something I think Christians need to ready themselves for in the coming collapse of material secularism.
Lastly, Present Concerns is a book of essays that continues to expose the post-Christian mindset as lacking and offers a solid traditional Christian alternative. The examples used might be a little dated, but the truths are evergreen. Topics include chivalry, equality, democracy, education, logical fallacies, living under the threat of imminent death due to scientific advancements, Re-enchantment, unbridled humanism, and more.
I could have thrown in a book or two more and there are some essays (like The Inner Ring) in The Weight of Glory that would go hand in hand with all of this, but I really didn't want to single out individual essays and wanted to stick to something accessible for everyone.
If you want to be fortified and battle-ready in this age then read more C.S. Lewis. These six books will go a long way in providing you a sword and shield during these interesting days.