The C.S. Lewis Bible (and my thoughts on C.S. Lewis's work in general)

[@passionatetechnology8306]

A grief observed is a fantastic book that really helped me in finding comfort for the loss of my mother, friends, and bosses the past 2-5 years.

[@maggieprice357]

The Great Divorce is still probably the greatest book I’ve ever read and continues to be a book that I think about often, years after reading it. All of the books that I’ve read by him, including the Narnia series, have had a profound impact on my walk with the Lord. I disagree with him on some things but no other Christian writer has ever stuck with me like he has.

[@hw888]

Your Bible reviews are extensive and every time I watch one I feel like going to a class of yours. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

[@_quiara_]

He wrote so many good books. I wrote several papers on him. I have this Bible specifically for devotional use. It makes me think when I run across his thoughts. He and I disagree on several things, but he was hugely influential on me.

[@philtheo]

I love CS Lewis too! 😊 I've read almost every popular work by him as well as several of his academic works. 1. As an immigrant from an immigrant or refugee family, English wasn't my first language, but the first book I recall reading in its entirety in English was The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. It'll always hold a place in my heart at least for this reason if no other. 2. Plus, I wasn't a Christian back then, but the Narnia books likely helped plant seeds about Christianity in me. As Lewis might've put it, Narnia helped "steal past those watchful dragons" that hard-guarded my heart. To this day I think Lewis is one of the finest literary Christian apologists in the last century at least - that is, a Christian apologist who uses literature as a defense of Christianity. 3. I love Lewis's takes on various literary classics. Like Perelandra, which is also one of my favorite Lewis books, is Lewis's take on Milton's Paradise Lost. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is Lewis's take on Homer's Odyssey. The Great Divorce is Lewis's take on Dante's Divine Comedy. And so on. 4. Perhaps what I most loved about Mere Christianity was that it introduced me to the argument for God from morality or the moral argument for God. There are far more sophisticated versions today (e.g. David Baggett, Paul Copan), but Lewis was my first taste which in turn whet my appetite for more. Also Mere Christianity was my first exposure to the argument from desire, which I'll say more about below. 5. In fairness, today I wouldn't necessarily give Mere Christianity to a non-Christian as their first book to introduce them to Christianity, though it depends on their personality and inclinations. I'd probably prefer to give them something like Confessions of a French Atheist by Guillaume Bignon if they're an average secular Western person. Or Why Should I Believe Christianity by James Anderson if they're more straightforwardly logic-driven. Or Why Believe by Neil Shenvi or perhaps Cosmic Chemistry by John Lennox if they're more scientific minded. 6. More than Mere Christianity, I loved Lewis's Miracles. Mainly for two reasons. First, it introduced me to what I still think is a powerful argument against naturalism, i.e., the argument from reason, which Victor Reppert injected with steroids in his book CS Lewis's Dangerous Idea. Indeed, even Charles Darwin himself saw something in the argument from reason in his "horrid doubt" letter to a friend. Darwin said: "But then with me the horrid doubt always arises whether the convictions of man's mind, which has been developed from the mind of the lower animals, are of any value or at all trustworthy. Would any one trust in the convictions of a monkey's mind, if there are any convictions in such a mind?" That's very roughly the argument from reason. Lewis made a good popular presentation of it in Miracles (and Lewis also honed the argument after his infamous debate with the philosopher Elizabeth Anscombe). Of course, others like Alvin Plantinga have developed similar arguments to the argument from reason. See Plantinga's evolutionary argument against naturalism. Second, Lewis's Miracles helped to show that fundamental reality must be either personal or impersonal. Does the personal emerge from the impersonal or does the impersonal emerge from the personal? Yet I couldn't see how impersonal fundamentals like matter and energy and forces could give rise to the mind or consciousness. How did the mind arise from the physical brain if materialism is true? How did consciousness or sentience arise in living organisms like humans? Moreover, how did self-consciousness, reason, a moral conscience, and many other related higher-order mental phenomena arise? Naturalism (popularly "atheism") has attempted answers, but I never found them satisfactory (e.g. panpsychism where even inanimate objects like atoms and rocks and planets and galaxies have consciousness; bite the bullet and say consciousness is just an illusion and we're purely material beings). Rather it makes far more sense to believe that the impersonal could arise from the personal, not vice versa. If God exists, then all else including the human mind makes sense, but not the other way around. Lewis's Miracles helps us to see this in part. 7. Regarding the CS Lewis Study Bible. I'm thankful they involved scholars like Jerry Root and Michael Ward. The study Bible seems to emphasize the biographical, literary, and apologetical sides of Lewis, and of course the literary was Lewis's primary vocation. But (unless I missed it in this video) I didn't see the study Bible involve philosophers, yet Lewis was quite philosophically astute and many if not most of his works involve philosophy to one significant degree or another. Certainly his apologetics does. So this seems to be a major lacunae in the CS Lewis Study Bible if there wasn't a philosopher involved. I'm thinking of someone like Stewart Goetz or perhaps Jerry Walls who have written on Lewis and his relationship with philosophy. For instance, Lewis intersperses and weaves his Sehnsucht or "Joy" across many of his writings. Simply consider the oft-quoted: "If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world." Arguably Lewis's Sehnsucht is best elucidated by a philosopher (e.g. "CS Lewis’s Argument from Nostalgia: A New Argument from Desire" by Todd Buras and Michael Cantrell in Two Dozen (or So) Arguments for God: The Plantinga Project). So it would've been helpful to see a Lewisian philosopher involved in the study Bible if one wasn't. 8. Finally, like Lewis, I don't find devotionals as helpful to my devotional life as I do theology. Hence, ironically, I would've wished for a less devotional and a more theological emphasis in this study Bible. As Lewis wrote in his introduction or preface to Athanasius's On the Incarnation: "I believe that many who find that 'nothing happens' when they sit down, or kneel down, to a book of devotion, would find that the heart sings unbidden while they are working their way through a tough bit of theology with a pipe in their teeth and a pencil in their hand."

[@AarmOZ84]

This is my daily Bible. I use the one done by Zondervan which is higher quality than the Harper Collins version although it is the same quotes and same NRSV translation. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

[@fnjesusfreak]

Well, Zondervan _is_ Harper-Collins.

[@cardbunny4317]

Thank you for this great review. CS Lewis Great Divorce is my favorite of his books.

[@edwardbell9795]

I recommend Alister McGrath's work on C S Lewis. McGrath, an Evangelical theologian, is also an Ulsterman like Lewis.

[@BibleTreasuresAndReviews]

Thanks for talking about C S Lewis and the contents of this Bible. The movie titled, "Shadowlands" (1993 film) with actors Anthony Hopkins and Debra Winger was incredible. It's based on a specific time in Lewis' life when he met his future wife and her son. It's on youtube if you have a hard time finding it to rent. (BTW, I sent an email to your office email about prayer.)

[@DiscipleDojo]

I didn't get an email from you. Send it to discipledojo at gmail and it should get here.

[@BibleTreasuresAndReviews]

@@DiscipleDojo JM will do, thanks! I forwarded that to Gmail.

[@cbrooks97]

I'm a fanboy. It's hard to pick a favorite, but the Great Divorce is the one that makes me want to be a better person. And I'd give a kidney to be able to write like him. I have the CS Lewis Bible, and just recently, while preparing a lesson on Colossians I thought of him and opened that, and it brought up a passage from Mere Christianity that was perfect, but I never would have thought of in that context. I've also given it as a gift to other Lewis fans who then say how much they've enjoyed it.

[@1334cass]

Thank you for telling about the wartime books. I didn’t know about that and it is super interesting. I purchased on of the t-shirts today. Now I know the story behind it. Thank you 😊

[@AIToughts]

Can you do a review of the CH Spurgeon Study Bible, if you’re talking requests ?

[@gsh319]

Another fantastic review madman. C.S Lewis is great for anyone looking to fall deep into thought. A 10. Thanks for getting into this review!

[@ragnapodewski4694]

C.S. Lewis was the best head fighting with wit and great knowledge for Jesus and His church in 20th century. I grabbed every piece of paper he has written.

[@midnightdoxology]

First comment for the first time! I feel accomplished!

[@nestorcaceres8928]

Congrats!

[@YTuser2019]

Third commenter here! LET’S GOOOOO! Anyways, God bless y’all!

[@ArleneAdkinsZell]

Thank you for the great explanatory review. Screwtape Letters is a great book, I get so mad at the demons' machinations, but love the faith and hope.

[@MusicBlik]

Every time I read "Screwtape" I see my own actions somewhere in Screwtape's advice. It's really helped me course-correct a few times!

[@richardvoogd3012]

The Screwtape Letters was one of the first, possibly the first, CS Lewis books I bought. At one point I had an audio book version on cassette tape at one point.

[@tmorganriley]

A copy was given to me on the day of my baptism (I'm a Baptist, so when I was a teenager). It didn't make sense quite then, but somewhen in college or grad school, I finally read it in one sitting. It has helped me through quite a few times to beat back my tempters.

[@richardvoogd3012]

I have a 2021 printing with Zondervan branding. Other than the pagination, one difference between it and the edition used in this review is the absence of a concordance. I also have copies of Mere Christianity and the Screwtape Letters.

[@bigboibenny1609]

Great video! I think you should do a video on he gets us. It's an interesting topic and I wanna hear more of your thoughts

[@jsharp3165]

I've got this Bible because I too am a BIG Lewis collector. Having said that, I agree - I don't think there's a great deal of value-added by it for those who already have an extensive Lewis library. It is a pretty good reference for adding quotes to lessons or sermons. I am interested, JM, in your opinion of "C.S. Lewis on Scripture" by Michael Christensen. I haven't contrasted it yet with the essays in this bible.

[@DiscipleDojo]

I haven't read that, I'm afraid.

[@SaltLight7]

What a coincidence. I decided to start reading the Narnia series to my kids. I immediately wrestled with which order to go with. I decided to start with Magician and after getting through only the first chapter I said to myself "Nope. This isn't going to work." I decided the next night I'd start over with Wardrobe.

[@DiscipleDojo]

You made the right call!

[@daynehaworth9258]

Thanks for your reviews. Excellent as always. Have you thought about loading your videos on Facebook?

[@DiscipleDojo]

I share them on there, but double-uploading is too time-consuming.

[@suzanne7569]

Well, I immediately ordered this Bible, that I didn't know existed, as soon as I finished watching this video. I used to follow someone else on utube, whose Christianity I found a bit "stern." But when he put out a video about how heretical and "occult" C.S. Lewis was, I decided it was finally time to back off. Glad I found you instead! And thanks for the introduction to this Bible.

[@leaf1829]

Great review as always. I'm curious to hear your thoughts on the usefulness of The book of common prayer for non-Anglicans, since I assume this was CS Lewis daily reader?

[@DiscipleDojo]

I don't know. I've never really used it.

[@edwardbell9795]

English breakfast tea, although Lewis was an Ulsterman. I've heard Father Michael Ward speak. Excellent.

[@DiscipleDojo]

Listen...to us Southerners in America it's all the same thing! 😂

[@edwardbell9795]

​@@DiscipleDojo😊

[@1334cass]

Outstanding video. Thank you!! 😊

[@mafbanks]

I drink this tea and now need this mug! 🫖

[@TruLuan]

Not having the Deuterocanonical books in the C.S Lewis bible is such a slap in the face to him. He was Anglo-Catholic afterall. If this was in the RSV-CE translation, it would've been perfect and an instant buy for me.

[@ThePaulKM]

Are you Anglican yourself?

[@TruLuan]

@@ThePaulKM yes I am. Traditional Anglo-Catholic, we use the 1928 BCP.

[@SnakesOliver]

I was given the ESV version just last year

[@SnakesOliver]

Correction, I own the Zondervan version, I don't know how I got it into my head that the translation was different

[@TheLookingGlassAU]

I get the feeling Lewis would have refused permission for such a study bible to be in his name.

[@flameofudun8447]

C.S.Lewis wrote books that expressed the human condition in a way that resonates with biblical revelation on the matter. His imagination and clever prose make the reader think about subjects like pain, sin, redemption, deception, etc. in a sense that is evocative and challenging. His works are a narrative exploration of difficult and profound theological concepts. Heretic? certainly not. Like Jacob, I think we all wrestle with God to understand him better, and even more importantly, our role in relationship with him. Lewis did his wrestling in public and shared his insights. Worse than the heretic is the critic who never truly wrestles with the deep issues of faith and meaning; they often hide behind the doctrines of men and fail to seek God.

[@GospelUnlocked]

😂 This is my daily reading Bible 😂

[@muskyoxes]

Any chance they'll redo this with the NRSVue? It seems like a simple ask for a publisher, and i think the updates from the NRSV are very important

[@lllthink]

Thank you for the information 😊

[@cherearenea]

That hat and shirt are great together!

[@Samy-sx6kn]

It’s only the NRSV, not the update Edition ? The problem is more the translation of 1 Timothy 1:10 and 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 in the NRVue (update edition)

[@MM-jf1me]

Only the NRSV. The NRSVue is much more recent and generally themed Bibles like this one don't get completely overhauled when a new edition of the translation they are using comes out.

[@libertytree3209]

You say you don't like a bible with a person's name attached to it. Have you ever seen the Reese Chronological bible? It is somewhat subjective, but I have used it and it really clarifies things for me for its notebook-like quality as a timeline bible. Let me rephrase that. The author went through the KJV and put it verse by verse in order chronologically. Genesis is not first. Well, it starts with John 1:1-2 then hits Psalm 90:2 then Genesis 1:1. You get the idea. The gospels are printed in a verse by verse harmony fashion, as the OT history books along with Psalms when they were thought to be written. You might enjoy it. It really is a good adjunct to study.

[@DiscipleDojo]

I'm not familiar with it, but I am generally not a fan of chronological Bibles. I explain why that is in my review of the Chronological Study Bible if you are curious. :)

[@libertytree3209]

@@DiscipleDojo Thanks for your prompt reply! I am a traditional Christian of over 40 years, and have been involved in bible study for many years. My favorite translation is the NASB, but as a young person, I was on my church's Bible Quiz team and memorized huge swatches of KJV, which I still have a love for. I sort of live doctrinally between reformed and Lutheran AALC. The Reese's I consider an adjunct and like all such things I would only recommend to more discerning students, who could say, "Oh, I think I will have to check that out, not just accept it" - but it definitely helps my study. I have always used timelines in all my studies, even secular ones. I homeschooled my children and timelines were basic in the organization of how we learned. But I just discovered your channel yesterday, and I WILL go watch the video you mentioned, and even bought the CS Lewis Planet book you just mentioned - it sounds so good! Thank you! May I trouble you for One thing more? I Have NEVER been that good at languages - my memory used to be excellent, and I did pick up some ancient biblical vocabulary words as most did, and I know Latin from my medical days, but I never had the time to study Greek or Hebrew when it WAS good. :) Now I have the time, not the memory - can you recommend a good place or program where a beginner can start? Or maybe you have a video on it?

[@libertytree3209]

@@DiscipleDojo Oh, BTW, my favorite CS Lewis is The Great Divorce. I listen to the audiobook all the time. And the John Cleese Screwtape.

[@richardvoogd3012]

I have a number of Bibles with names attached, including the CS Lewis Bible. Viewers would probably recognise most of the names if I mentioned them. I'm blessed to have met someone who studied under one of the people whose name appears on one of them.

[@JosephQuinton]

Amazing…thank you!!!

[@youngrevival9715]

This actually looks very cool

[@__reneemaof2]

One small sematic disagreement. complementarism didn't exist yet. He is actually a patriarchest. I don't want the comps having the argument of we have c. S lewis

[@DiscipleDojo]

Fair enough. Though he would probably land there today, I imagine.

[@__reneemaof2]

@DiscipleDojo Imagine what it would be like if he had landed an our camp though

[@sorenpx]

When I saw that it was an NRSV my first reaction was revulsion. If this Bible is going to exist, then there really should be a KJV edition. And if the publisher insists also issuing it in a modern translation, then then NKJV would be best, with the NASB '95 coming in second. In fact, almost anything other than the NRSV.

[@ragnapodewski4694]

I regrett never have learned Greek, if I could read the New Testament in original, I had not to fight with up to date theologians. The apostles used the Septuaginta, so it is exact enough too.

[@DrGero15]

25:45 Can you expound on this a little?

[@DiscipleDojo]

Not sure what to expound on. People who consider Lewis a "heretic" are people whose judgment I don't think to be worthy of consideration. 🤷

[@DrGero15]

@@DiscipleDojo I mean can you define heretic vs heterodox? I love C.S. Lewis, but some of his beliefs didn't line up with the Bible. You said you didn't agree with him on everything, so I should imagine you would consider him heterodox on those points. Why would you discard someone else's judgement about the severity of the disagreements they may have even on the same points as you?

[@DarkPaladin1130]

Can I ask you a question? I pray I can get an answer. I too collect figures. Mostly MOTU. I feel super guilty, it's a hobby I enjoy, but I don't know how it glorifies God. I DONT idolize the collection, it DOES NOT come before God in any sense of the imagination. I just enjoy the figures, the art of it. I'm 47 years old, they are the primary toy I grew up on in the 80's. Is it ok to have this hobby? Am I upsetting the Lord? He did say not to be of this world or seek earthly treasures. GOD BLESS YOU, and thank you. 🙏

[@DiscipleDojo]

Unless the Spirit convicts you of it, there is nothing wrong with collecting toys as a hobby.

[@DarkPaladin1130]

​​@@DiscipleDojo Thank you for taking the time to view my comment. I have prayed on it many times, but have not received any kinda of messages, responses, or signs that point in any direction. So far, the Lord doesn't appear to see a problem. I know in the past, I have experienced things, pretty quick if I was starting to veer off the path. So far, nothing from the Lord on this particular situation. I'll keep praying on it for sure.

[@Dizerner]

The toys are not the problem, but what they may represent-if they exhibit and glorify occultic activity, supernatural powers derived from mystic entities not based in God.

[@joestfrancois]

JM, we are diametrically opposed on a lot of stuff. C.S. Lewis is yet one more. I read the Narnia stuff and the Sci-Fi when I was a kid, a very long time ago. Recently I read "Till We Have Faces," and two of his religious apologetic books, "Surprised by Joy," and "Miracles." I was recommended "Screwtape Letters," but by then I had an unfavorable opinion of him. It is not that I am unfamiliar with him, I just find him unconvincing. He leans heavily on how he feels about things as evidence of truth. That does not work for me. Truth is truth, feelings and logic are not evidence of truth. I am a hard pass on this Bible. But hey, I just finished Daniel in the Hebrew Bible. I have been reading in the NRSV but check stuff in the NEB and the NIV as I read. I will watch your vid on the apocrypha when I finish the OT, I have never read that stuff. Then I am going to read the NT in chronological order of writing, or the best guess of that anyway. Really, a fascinating book, the Bible. The truth of it? Depends on how you define truth.

[@DiscipleDojo]

Revisit the Space Trilogy as an adult and you'll see whole layers of meaning you missed as a kid. 🙂

[@joestfrancois]

@@DiscipleDojo When you talked about the Sci-Fi I couldn't recall the plot, it has been a very long time. I just re-read Asimov's "Foundation" from the same time period in my life. Not what I remembered at all. I imagine Lewis' Sci-Fi will be the same. I will take a look though.

[@joestfrancois]

@@DiscipleDojo JM, I borrowed "Out of the Silent Planet," and read it again. I get now what is in there, the stuff I missed as a child, but I am not moved. I don't think I am going to read the rest of the trilogy. Lewis to me is a super well educated person with weak arguments for Christianity. I was disappointed too - after your recommendation I was expecting a lot more.

[@joestfrancois]

@@DiscipleDojo I am going back to Daniel in the Hebrew Bible, and then "El Principito," or the other way round.

[@jamessheffield4173]

Are the gospels legends? Another point is that on that view you would have to regard the accounts of the Man as being legends. Now, as a literary historian, I am perfectly convinced that whatever else the Gospels are they are not legends. I have read a great deal of legend and I am quite clear that they are not the same sort of thing. They are not artistic enough to be legends. From an imaginative point of view they are clumsy, they don’t work up to things properly. Most of the life of Jesus is totally unknown to us, as is the life of anyone else who lived at that time, and no people building up a legend would allow that to be so. Apart from bits of the Platonic dialogues, there are no conversations that I know of in ancient literature like the Fourth Gospel. There is nothing, even in modern literature, until about a hundred years ago when the realistic novel came into existence. In the story of the woman taken in adultery we are told Christ bent down and scribbled in the dust with His finger. Nothing comes of this. No one has ever based any doctrine on it. And the art of inventing little irrelevant details to make an imaginary scene more convincing is a purely modern art. Surely the only explanation of this passage is that the thing really happened? The author put it in simply because he had seen it. C.S. Lewis, "What Are We to Make of Jesus Christ?" (1950)

[@treismac]

I humbly offer my constructive troll comment: review a study Bible based on a less heterodox non-theologian.

[@MM-jf1me]

(I'm not associated with this channel in any way beyond being a fellow watcher and commenter like you.) Constructive comments are great, but as JM clearly says multiple times in this video: the C. S. Lewis Bible is a devotional Bible. Your comment comes across as if you're suggesting a direct alternative to the book being discussed, but you're actually suggesting something not covered in this video at all. Perhaps you were suggesting a completely different topic you'd like to see JM cover? Which devotional Bibles and study Bibles would you like to hear JM's opinions on? Maybe you could contact him directly and see if he's already looking into a Bible you're curious about.