Tag Archives: C. S. Lewis

The GOP in Trump’s Coils

By Robin Bates | Published: October 9, 2019

Trump is like the witch in Lewis’s “Silver Chair,” casting a spell on the GOP that gets them to believe an alternative reality.

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C. S. Lewis and Trumpian Doublespeak

By Robin Bates | Published: October 8, 2019

C. S. Lewis’s “Last Battle” shows us a forerunner to Trump in Shift the Ape, who accuses his attackers of what he himself is guilty of.

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C.S. Lewis’s Book of Revelation

By Robin Bates | Published: May 25, 2019

Spiritual Sunday C. S. Lewis’s Last Battle draws heavily on the the Book of Revelation, which has been furnishing the lectionary readings for the last few Sundays. Even though I didn’t know this when I read it as a child, it still struck me as too didactic, at times more allegory than adventure. Therefore, although […]

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Morgan Le Faye through the Ages

By Robin Bates | Published: March 10, 2019

Monday Last week I finished teaching a short “Wizards and Enchantresses” course for Sewanee’s Lifelong Learning program and thoroughly enjoyed myself. Having already talked about my class on Merlin (see here, here, and here), today I share what I had to say about Morgan Le Faye and her successors. With Morgan, we looked at how […]

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C. S. Lewis: Literature as Theology

By Robin Bates | Published: February 23, 2019

Spiritual Sunday I write today about a fascinating talk I heard in our church’s Adult Forum this past Sunday. Dr. Rob MacSwain, editor of The Cambridge Companion to C. S. Lewis, talked about Lewis’s special contribution to our understanding of God and Christianity. MacSwain, who teaches “Theology of Ethics” at Sewanee’s School of Theology, opened […]

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Finding God in Nature

By Robin Bates | Published: September 2, 2018

John Gatta’s book “Making Nature Sacred” explores how nature spirituality entered into America’s religions and was noted by its creative writers.

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The Always Overflowing Sea

By Robin Bates | Published: January 21, 2018

Neruda’s “Ode to the Sea” can also be an exploration of our relationship to God.

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A Teacher, Lit, & a Jailed Student

By Robin Bates | Published: November 16, 2017

In “Reading with Patrick,” English teacher Michelle Kuo works with a student in 8th grade and then later after he has killed a man. The story brings up questions about lit’s impact.

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Pullman vs. C. S. Lewis on the Issue of Sin

By Robin Bates | Published: February 20, 2016

Philip Pullman loathes C. S. Lewis, despite the many similarities between “The Golden Compass” and the Narnia Chronicles. The reason may be the way handles sinning children.

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