Category: Jack in Retrospect

RETROSPECT: June 12th – 21st

William OFlaherty Jack in Retrospect, Special Feature

Highlights for the second third of June (12nd – 21st) include: the birthday of his closest friend, beginning his longest employment and an explanation of “an old textbook method” that the devils use.

Warnie LewisLewis was the youngest in his family. His only sibling was his brother, Warren who was nearly three-and-half years older. Born on the 16th in 1895, the elder brother became close friends with his junior over the years. This doesn’t mean they had the same interests, in fact, a major difference in their tastes from their younger years turns out to be a pretty good summary of their most outstanding talents. Lewis from his early days was intrigued by fairy tales and fantasy stories. Warnie had more of an interest in history.

RETROSPECT: June 1st – 11th

William OFlaherty Jack in Retrospect, Special Feature

The following is part of a series reflecting on the life of C.S. Lewis. This is accomplished by summarizing various events or happenings during his lifetime for the noted period and may include significant events related to him after his death.

Highlights for the first third of June (1st – 11th) include: two standout letters to children about Narnia, the acceptance of a new position late in his professional career and his most famous sermon.

Before the magic of Narnia started in 1950 C.S. Lewis had a magical year in 1941. In April he gave his first RAF talk, in May his first letter by Screwtape was published, in August he gave his first radio talk on the BBC and was asked to do a second series in September, then in December he gave a special series of lectures that became A Preface to Paradise Lost. But it is during the first part of June, 1941 that some would say was the best thing

RETROSPECT: May 22th – 31st

William OFlaherty Jack in Retrospect, Special Feature

Highlights for the final third of May (22nd – 31st) include: A prize-winning essay, his first Christian book that was his only true allegory and a Pentecost sermon.

Lewis’s first book after becoming a Christian was very different in several ways than his two previous works. Those initial titles were poetry, while The Pilgrim’s Regress: An Allegorical Apology for Christianity, Reason and Romanticism, publishedon the 25th in 1933 was his debut prose effort. Additionally, the story was pure allegory. Interestingly, it was such a difficult read that Lewis himself even admitted it and ten years after its release he wrote a preface to explain his approach to the story.

RETROSPECT: May 11th – 21st

William OFlaherty Jack in Retrospect, Special Feature

Highlights for the second of May (11th – 21st) include: Initial publication of Miracles, the landmark first meeting with a famous friend and securing his longest employment.

“Miracles” is among the many misused words in our vocabulary today. This was true even back in 1947 when Miracles: A Preliminary Study was released on the 12th by C.S. Lewis. Of course, Lewis was addressing more of an unbelief in the miraculous. In fact, as the inside dusk jacket of the first edition notes, the subtitle isn’t about Lewis giving his tentative thoughts on the subject, but rather the book is designed to be “a study preliminary to any historical inquiry into the actual occurrence of miracles.” That is, before any examination of specific miracles one has to believe that the miraculous can genuinely occur. Nearly thirteen years later (as mentioned in the previous column) a new edition was released containing a revised third chapter.

RETROSPECT: May 1st – 10th

William OFlaherty Jack in Retrospect, Special Feature

Highlights for the first third of May (1st – 10th) include: Publication of a book about how Narnia started, the debut of Wormwood’s uncle and the release of a revised Miracles.

Over a decade apart on the exact same day two major events occurred in Lewis’s life during the first third of May. The origins of Narnia finally became known and the first of thirty-one soon to be famous letters were released. If you are even vaguely familiar with Lewis, then you are aware that I’m speaking of The Magician’s Nephew and the start of The Screwtape Letters.
The Magician’s Nephew came out on the 2nd in 1955, just eight months after the previous Narnia story (The Horse and His Boy). This was the shortest

RETROSPECT: April 20th – 30th

William OFlaherty Jack in Retrospect, Special Feature

Highlights for the final third of April (20th – 30th) include: Publication of Perelandra, a talk “On Three Ways of Writing for Children” and Lewis’s first marriage to Joy Davidman.

Before Lewis gain fame from a series of books about a place called Narnia, he had written a trilogy that had a science fiction theme. The second of those books, Perelandra, came out on the 20th in 1943. In it we take a trip to Venus with the main character, Ransom and follow his quest to save that world from impending corruption. In the U.S. it wasn’t released until a year later on the 11th. In 1953 a paperback version came out under the title Voyage to Venus. On some occasions in his life Lewis considered this novel to be his best (this was also said of Till We Have Faces). Perelandra was dedicated “To Some Ladies at Wantage,” as in Wantage,

RETROSPECT: April 11th – 19th

William OFlaherty Jack in Retrospect, Special Feature

The following is part of a series reflecting on the life of C.S. Lewis. This is accomplished by summarizing various events or happenings during his lifetime for the noted period and may include significant events related to him after his death.

Highlights for the second third of April (11th – 19th) include: Publication of third BBC series; Publication of second book from BBC Talks; four posthumous books and the final installment about a bus ride to heaven.

Christian Behaviour: A Further series of Broadcast Talks tops the list of happenings over the years in the life of Lewis. It was first published on the 19th in 1943 in the U.K. (and nine months later in the U.S.). As you may be aware, it was just the second book printed of three that eventually became part of Mere Christianity. What gets confusing to some is that when you examine the book from 1952 Christian Behavior is stated as being “Book III.”

RETROSPECT: April 1st – 10th

William OFlaherty Jack in Retrospect, Special Feature

Highlights for the first third of April (1st – 10th) include: Final broadcast from his last BBC series; preaching the same sermon for second time and the death of his grandfather.

The concluding BBC broadcast in the fourth and final series for Lewis stands out as the most noteworthy for this period. On the 4th in 1944 “The New Men” talk was heard from a recording made the previous month. It is the only surviving recording from the Beyond Personality series. When the book version came out it contained four additional chapters not heard on the radio (which are also found in Mere Christianity). When expanding the material for print Lewis actually modified the content of this talk and so what was actually heard that night is somewhat different than what is in the book. For the sake of simplicity I will

RETROSPECT: March 22nd – 31st

William OFlaherty Jack in Retrospect, Special Feature

Highlights for the final third of March (22nd – 31st) include: Publication of The Four Loves, his first essay collection and republication of a landmark professional work.

During the last decade of Lewis’s life his Christian-themed titles had less to do with defending the faith and more with sharing his understanding of a variety of aspects of it. The Four Loves, released on the 28th in 1960 is one of those works where he shares his wisdom on a topic related to the faith he had gained a greater understanding of over his life. Many individuals are not aware of the fact that two years prior to the book release Lewis had given ten radio talks on this theme.

RETROSPECT: March 12th – 21st

William OFlaherty Jack in Retrospect, Special Feature

Highlights for the second third of March (12th – 21st) include: First ever published book, final Narnia book and a second marriage to Joy Davidman!

Spirits in BondageTwo books by Lewis were released for the first time during this period. His debut as an author came on the 20th in 1919 with Spirits in Bondage. This was a very small volume of poems published while he was only 20 years old, but many were written when he was just sixteen or seventeen. When initially released it was under the pseudonym of Clive Hamilton. They were composed in a period of Lewis’s life when his primary goal was to be known as a poet. It is also a time when he wasn’t a Christian.