The C.S. Lewis podcast

#240 Stefan Knibbe: Lewis’s Shifting Views on Freedom, Suffering, and Hell in Till We Have Faces

The C.S. Lewis podcast

Show Notes

Ruth Jackson is joined by theologian and Lewis scholar Stefan Knibbe to explore “revolutions” in CS Lewis’ thinking about freedom, suffering and hell. Drawing on 'The Problem of Pain', 'Surprised by Joy' and 'Till We Have Faces', Stefan traces how Lewis moves from a focus on free will as the right to accept or reject God, towards freedom as liberation from sin by God’s grace. He shows how George MacDonald’s vision of God’s relentless love and even his view of hell helped reshape Lewis’ later work, and why encountering God himself rather than neat arguments becomes Lewis’ deepest answer to the problem of evil. Recorded at the 2024 “Undiscovered CS Lewis” conference at George Fox University, this episode will send you back to Lewis with fresh eyes again.

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