The Christian Myth

C.S. Lewis helped to re-awaken my love of myth and magic. The British author and Professor of Classics in the mid-twentieth century has helped millions of Christians find the freedom to embrace Christianity in a new way — one that is utterly appropriate for meeting modern culture where it’s at.

Until recently, it was the tendency of Western thought to attempt to attain truth without spirit, knowledge without revelation, and wisdom without suffering. C.S. Lewis, over 50 years ago, saw the fallacy in this, and devoted much of his work to helping people see that the story of Christ can be understood as both truth and myth. Now, early in the 21st century, as Western Philosophy seems to be taking a turn back towards the intuitive and fanastic, and at the same time, breaking away from the harsh stoicism of knowledge derived from purely emprical means, perhaps the Church has been given a vocabulary and outlook to meet the spiritual needs of modern culture.

Interestingly enough, Lewis was rigorously trained by William Kirkpatrick, the ruthless, rationalistic atheist. Kirkpatrick taught him, above all, to pass all of his thoughts and assumptions through the filter of mental clarity and logic. This background, combined with his education steeped in classical literature, imparted Lewis with the combined acuity to speak both to the Man of Reason, and the Spiritual Seeker.

Christianity Today magazine, in April 2001, in a wonderful article explains more about the influence of C.S. Lewis and his work.

One Response to “The Christian Myth”

  1. Sas Says:

    Good job.

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