C. S. Lewis & Imagination with Dr. Jerry Root
Monday, January 22, 2024 7pm
Narnia, Perelandra—places of wonder and longing. The White Witch, Screwtape—personifications of evil. Aslan—a portrait of the divine. Like Turkish Delight, some of C.S. Lewis’s writing surprises and whets our appetite for more. But some of his works bite and nip at our heels. What enabled C.S. Lewis to create such vivid characters and compelling plots? Perhaps it was simply that C.S. Lewis had an unsurpassed imagination. Or perhaps he had a knack for finding the right metaphor or analogy that awakened readers’ imaginations in new ways.
C.S. Lewis had a remarkable career, producing many books in eighteen different literary genres, including: apologetics, autobiography, educational philosophy, fairy stories, science fiction, and literary criticism. And while he had and still has critics, Lewis' works continue to find devoted readers.
This talk will introduce C.S. Lewis through the prism of imagination. For Lewis, imagination is both a means and an end. And because he used his own imagination well and often, he is a practiced guide for those of us who desire to reach beyond our grasp. Each chapter highlights Lewis’s major works and then shows how Lewis uses imagination to captivate readers. While many have read books by C.S. Lewis, not many readers understand his power to give new slants on the things we think we know. More than a genius, Lewis disciplined his imagination, harnessing its creativity in service of helping others believe more deeply.
P.S. Don’t miss the 5 week class that starts the following week on the life and works of C. S. Lewis with Mike Woodruff.
Dr. Jerry Root is professor emeritus at Wheaton College, as well as a visiting professor at Biola University, Talbot Graduate School of Theology, and Moody Bible Institute.
He has been studying C. S. Lewis and topics constellating around Lewis for 50 years, as well as teaching Lewis for 40 years. He has lectured on Lewis topics at 78 Universities in 18 countries. Besides his many books, Jerry has written numerous articles about C. S. Lewis and evangelism published in other books, journals, and periodicals.
After undergrad, Jerry pursued and received his Master of Divinity degree from Talbot Graduate School of Theology and later earned his Ph.D. through the Open University at the Oxford Center for Mission Studies. Jerry and his wife Claudia have been married since 1975. Together, they have 4 married children and 15 grandchildren.