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C.S.
Lewiss Case for Christianity | An Interview with Richard Purtill |
By Gord Wilson
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Catholic author Dr. Richard Purtill is Professor Emeritus in Philosophy
at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington. He is the author
of twenty books, including J.R.R.
Tolkien: Myth, Morality, and Religion and C.S.
Lewis Case for the Christian Faith, both published by Ignatius
Press. For more information about his writing, visit his website at www.alivingdog.com.
Wilson: Your books on J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis are both bestsellers
for Ignatius Press. What attracted you, as a philosopher, to study these
authors ideas?
Richard
Purtill: I read a lot of C.S. Lewis nonfiction and apologetics
before I read his well-known fantasies, The Chronicles of Narnia.
Somewhere along the line I read his science fiction trilogy.
Gord Wilson: You referred to "apologetics." What does that
mean?
Purtill: C.S. Lewis has been called "the apostle to the skeptics."
Hes probably the best apologist of the twentieth century. Hes
a key figure in apologetics, which means, showing people the rational basis
for Christianity, and that you dont need to simply say, "its
just a matter of faith."
Wilson: Why do you think Lewis and Tolkien are so widely read?
Purtill: Tolkien is largely read due to his fiction, of course. I
think things hes written in his letters and in a short essay called
"On Fairy stories," which is in The Tolkien Reader, are
quite insightful about the way fantasy fiction is written.
Wilson: Tolkien was a Catholic, and a close friend of Lewis, and influential
in Lewis conversion from an atheist. Why do you think C.S. Lewis did
not become Catholic?
Purtill: Thats a good question. Joseph Pierce has written a
book about it [C.S.
Lewis and the Catholic Church]. I suspect partly it was due to his
upbringing in Northern Ireland. One of his friends said he had a "skunner,"
that is, a prejudice against the Catholics. He never quite overcame that.
But his brother, Warnie, who had a drinking problem, often stayed with Roman
Catholic nuns in Ireland. Somebody gave a metaphor that Lewis was like a
church bell: he calls people into the Church, but he stays outside. It may
be that his staying outside enabled him to reach more people who eventually
came into the Church. Many of his friends and students did eventually come
into the Church.
Wilson: Do you think he may be read with profit by Catholics today?
Purtill: Oh yes. If you didnt know he was Church of England,
you probably would just assume he was Catholic.

   
Wilson: If someone wanted to encounter C.S. Lewis today, where should
they begin?
Purtill: It depends on whether one wants to start with the logical
side of his nonfiction or the imaginative side of his fantasies and science
fiction. For the first, Mere Christianity would be a good introduction.
For the second, the space trilogy: Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra,
and That Hideous Strength would be a good place to start.
Wilson: What approach do you take in your book, C.S.
Lewis Case for the Christian Faith?
Purtill: That book is almost entirely about his apologetics, although
a couple of times I mention his fiction. He made a case for the Christian
Faith which could be answered and argued. What I try to do is draw together
the various things he said in various places and give a coherent picture
from his various writings.
Wilson: Are you a "cradle Catholic?"
Purtill: No, Im a convert. When I converted in my teens,
it was largely due to reading Lewis The Screwtape Letters and
a lot of works by G.K. Chesterton. So Chesterton and Lewis sort of guided
me into the Catholic Church, even though Lewis wasnt a Catholic.
Wilson: C.S. Lewis wrote across an unusually wide spectrum: from fantasy
and science fiction to philosophy and poetry. You also have written widely.
Purtill: If you have a certain type of mind, which I admire in Lewis,
and maybe share to a small extent, you have both an imaginative side and
a logical side. Ive written everything from fantasy novels to textbooks
on logic. Lewis had both the logical side and the imaginative side. They
dont conflict; they support each other. By using his imagination,
he came up with marvelous metaphors that really add to his nonfiction writing.
Gord Wilson has an M.A. in English from Western Washington University,
where Dr. Purtill was his philosophy professor. He has written for Campus
Life, His, CCM, New Oxford Review, HM, and various animation magazines
and local publications. A convert to Catholicism, he states that he followed
Malcom Muggeridge, Thomas Howard, and G.K. Chesterton into the Catholic
Church. Prior to becoming Catholic he was active in Campus Crusade and InterVarsity.
He still enjoys contemporary Christian music and is writing a book about
gospel rock.
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