Show Notes
What can Lewis' journey from atheism to belief tell us about how and why we change our minds?
C.S. Lewis famously described himself as “the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England”. But an unpublished manuscript appears to reveal something extraordinary: Lewis may have misremembered when his conversion actually happened.
Lewis scholar and Episcopal priest Andrew Lazo joins Ruth Jackson to tell the remarkable story of Early Prose Joy - Lewis’ previously unpublished account of his journey from atheism to belief - and the moment he realised: “Lewis got it wrong!”
Yet, this is about much more than correcting a date. What really caused Lewis to abandon atheism? What role did grief, reason and desire play? Why did he keep rewriting the story of his conversion? And did Lewis eventually discover that what he had been searching for all along wasn’t actually joy, but love?
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Why does C.S. Lewis still speak so powerfully to people decades after his death? Tyler Staton, lead pastor of Bridgetown Church and author of After Amen, joins Ruth Jackson to explore what Lewis can still teach us about prayer, suffering, desire, imagination and finding God when he seems absent. From Mere Christianity and The Weight of Glory to A Grief Observed, The Screwtape Letters and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Tyler reflects on the Lewis ideas that have shaped his own faith and helped him through cancer. They discuss: • Why imagination matters for faith • What apologetics can learn from Lewis’s storytelling • Whether our deepest desires point to God • How to notice God in ordinary life • What to do when prayer feels unanswered • Why honest doubt can itself become prayer • Where to start if you are new to C.S. Lewis Tyler’s advice when God feels absent is striking: “We pray our doubt.” Subscribe to The C.S. Lewis Podcast for conversations exploring the life, theology, imagination and enduring influence of C.S. Lewis. Discover more at cslewispodcast.com