{"id":282,"date":"2008-05-01T10:11:28","date_gmt":"2008-05-01T17:11:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/?p=282"},"modified":"2014-06-04T09:43:37","modified_gmt":"2014-06-04T17:43:37","slug":"storytelling-with-c-s-lewis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/storytelling-with-c-s-lewis\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Write Theology Like C. S. Lewis"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Prince<\/a>I recently watched “Prince Caspian<\/a>“, and (as with all things by C. S. Lewis), it caused me to reflect on the writings and theology of C. S. Lewis. <\/p>\n

Have you ever wondered why he wrote The Chronicles of Narnia<\/a><\/em>? I am convinced it is partly because he knew that stories often teach theology better than simply teaching theology.<\/p>\n

Look at these quotes from Lewis:<\/p>\n

You must translate every bit of your Theology into the vernacular. This is very troublesome and it means you can say very little in half an hour, but it is essential. It is also the greatest service to your own thought. I have come to the conviction that if you cannot translate your thoughts into uneducated language, then your thoughts were confused. Power to translate is the test of having really understood one’s own meaning. A passage from some theological work for translation into the vernacular ought to be a compulsory paper in every Ordination examination.” (God in the Dock<\/a><\/em>, 98).<\/p>\n

I have found that nothing is more dangerous to one’s own faith than the work of an apologist. No doctrine of that Faith seems to me so spectral, so unreal as one that I have just successfully defended in a public debate.” (God in the Dock<\/a><\/em>, 103).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He is not necessarily talking in these quotes about teaching theology through story, but by looking at his practice, I think that he would argue that the most basic “vernacular” of any culture is story. I would love to see some creative, theologically-minded storyteller write a multi-volume novel which teaches basic theology. <\/p>\n

Maybe The Chronicles of Narnia<\/a><\/em> are exactly that…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ever wonder how C. S. Lewis wrote theology that was so persuasive and compelling? It could be because C. S. Lewis knew how to tell a story. C. S. Lewis believed that the best theology was that which is translated into the vernacular and can be understood by almost anyone. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":295,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[1421,1506,28,1450],"class_list":{"0":"post-282","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"tag-cs-lewis","8":"tag-narnia","9":"tag-theology-general","10":"tag-writing","11":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nHow to Write Theology Like C. S. Lewis<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ever wonder how C. S. Lewis wrote theology that was so persuasive and compelling? It could be because C. S. Lewis knew how to tell a story.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/storytelling-with-c-s-lewis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Write Theology Like C. S. Lewis\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ever wonder how C. S. Lewis wrote theology that was so persuasive and compelling? It could be because C. S. Lewis knew how to tell a story.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/storytelling-with-c-s-lewis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Redeeming God\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-05-01T17:11:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-06-04T17:43:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/caspian.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"95\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"140\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jeremy Myers\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@redeeminggod\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@redeeminggod\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jeremy Myers\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/storytelling-with-c-s-lewis\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/storytelling-with-c-s-lewis\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jeremy Myers\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c\"},\"headline\":\"How to Write Theology Like C. S. Lewis\",\"datePublished\":\"2008-05-01T17:11:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-06-04T17:43:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/storytelling-with-c-s-lewis\/\"},\"wordCount\":280,\"commentCount\":3,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/storytelling-with-c-s-lewis\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/caspian.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"CS Lewis\",\"Narnia\",\"Theology - General\",\"writing\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/storytelling-with-c-s-lewis\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/storytelling-with-c-s-lewis\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/storytelling-with-c-s-lewis\/\",\"name\":\"How to Write Theology Like C. S. Lewis\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/storytelling-with-c-s-lewis\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/storytelling-with-c-s-lewis\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/caspian.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2008-05-01T17:11:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-06-04T17:43:37+00:00\",\"description\":\"Ever wonder how C. S. Lewis wrote theology that was so persuasive and compelling? It could be because C. S. Lewis knew how to tell a story.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/storytelling-with-c-s-lewis\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/storytelling-with-c-s-lewis\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/storytelling-with-c-s-lewis\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/caspian.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/caspian.jpg\",\"width\":\"95\",\"height\":\"140\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/storytelling-with-c-s-lewis\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How to Write Theology Like C. S. Lewis\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/\",\"name\":\"Redeeming God\",\"description\":\"Liberating you from bad ideas about God\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c\",\"name\":\"Jeremy Myers\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eddb31e43c2836234b746787cbef8f12?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eddb31e43c2836234b746787cbef8f12?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jeremy Myers\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\"},\"description\":\"Jeremy Myers writes about Scripture and theology in a way that redeems God and people from the prison of religion. He is a popular author and blogger and often gives away free eBooks to his blog subscribers.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\",\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/redeeminggod\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How to Write Theology Like C. S. Lewis","description":"Ever wonder how C. S. Lewis wrote theology that was so persuasive and compelling? It could be because C. S. Lewis knew how to tell a story.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/storytelling-with-c-s-lewis\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How to Write Theology Like C. S. Lewis","og_description":"Ever wonder how C. S. Lewis wrote theology that was so persuasive and compelling? It could be because C. S. Lewis knew how to tell a story.","og_url":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/storytelling-with-c-s-lewis\/","og_site_name":"Redeeming God","article_publisher":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804","article_author":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804","article_published_time":"2008-05-01T17:11:28+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-06-04T17:43:37+00:00","og_image":[{"width":95,"height":140,"url":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/caspian.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Jeremy Myers","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@redeeminggod","twitter_site":"@redeeminggod","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jeremy Myers","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/storytelling-with-c-s-lewis\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/storytelling-with-c-s-lewis\/"},"author":{"name":"Jeremy Myers","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c"},"headline":"How to Write Theology Like C. S. Lewis","datePublished":"2008-05-01T17:11:28+00:00","dateModified":"2014-06-04T17:43:37+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/storytelling-with-c-s-lewis\/"},"wordCount":280,"commentCount":3,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/storytelling-with-c-s-lewis\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/caspian.jpg","keywords":["CS Lewis","Narnia","Theology - General","writing"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/storytelling-with-c-s-lewis\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/storytelling-with-c-s-lewis\/","url":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/storytelling-with-c-s-lewis\/","name":"How to Write Theology Like C. S. Lewis","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/storytelling-with-c-s-lewis\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/storytelling-with-c-s-lewis\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/caspian.jpg","datePublished":"2008-05-01T17:11:28+00:00","dateModified":"2014-06-04T17:43:37+00:00","description":"Ever wonder how C. S. Lewis wrote theology that was so persuasive and compelling? It could be because C. S. Lewis knew how to tell a story.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/storytelling-with-c-s-lewis\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/storytelling-with-c-s-lewis\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/storytelling-with-c-s-lewis\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/caspian.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/caspian.jpg","width":"95","height":"140"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/storytelling-with-c-s-lewis\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How to Write Theology Like C. S. Lewis"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/","name":"Redeeming God","description":"Liberating you from bad ideas about God","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c","name":"Jeremy Myers","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eddb31e43c2836234b746787cbef8f12?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eddb31e43c2836234b746787cbef8f12?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Jeremy Myers"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/"},"description":"Jeremy Myers writes about Scripture and theology in a way that redeems God and people from the prison of religion. He is a popular author and blogger and often gives away free eBooks to his blog subscribers.","sameAs":["https:\/\/redeeminggod.com","http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804","https:\/\/x.com\/redeeminggod"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=282"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/295"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}