Not a Tame Lion: The Life, Teachings, and Legacy of C.S. Lewis

Glaspey (Discovering God Through the Arts), a teacher at Northwind Seminary, persuasively argues for the continued relevance of C.S. Lewis’s work to contemporary Christians. The author details Lewis’s biography and explores his perspectives on politics, eternal life, and morality, pointing to Lewis’s commitment to “God’s authority, moral discipline, and integrity of action” as a blueprint for people of faith today. He covers the trajectory of Lewis’s life, from his childhood in Belfast and studying at Oxford University to the formation of the Inklings literary coterie and the publication of the Chronicles of Narnia series. Analyzing Lewis’s musings on God in The Four Loves, Glaspey posits that Lewis viewed God as a person who plays an active role in the lives of humans. Lewis’s conception of virtue, Glaspey contends, requires a disposition toward goodness that one develops by nurturing an internal confidence in God’s “rules” that is more powerful than mere obedience. As Glaspey admits, there’s plenty of literature on Lewis and his faith, and while this doesn’t break new ground, the uninitiated will be well served by Glaspey’s straightforward account of Lewis’s life and enlightening tour of his philosophy. This workmanlike primer on Lewis and his spiritual life gets the job done. (Dec.)