Philip Yancey’s Soul Survivor: How Thirteen Unlikely Mentors Helped My Faith Survive the Church was one of my three favorite books I read last year, so I always enjoy reading his articles for Christianity Today. Tuesday, CT posted an article from him, Found in Space – How C.S. Lewis has shaped my faith and writing, that is adapted from the upcoming book, Mere Christians: Inspirational Stories of Encounters with C. S. Lewis. In it, Yancey talks about reading the space trilogy, his introduction to the writings of C.S. Lewis. Echoing what Guillermo del Toro said in the interview I quoted last week, he writes, “[Lewis] made the supernatural so believable that I could not help wondering, What if it’s really true? What if there is a God and an afterlife and what if supernatural forces really are operating behind the scenes on this planet and in my life?”
Pointing out our need for and the importance of myth in popular culture, he quotes William James, “… in the metaphysical and religious sphere, articulate reasons are cogent for us only when our inarticulate feelings of reality have already been impressed in favor of the same conclusion.” You might want to read that again. I’m sure I’ll keep coming back to it until I have it memorized.
Yes, I had to read that three times.
Very interesting….
I’ve never read the space trilogy by Lewis, but I’d really like to check it out sometime soon.