Volume 7, number 1 (2017)

JIS logoVolume 7, number 1 (April 2017)

 

Click on an article for more information:

Brian M. Williams, 'C. S. Lewis & John Hick on Theodicy: Superficially Similar but Significantly Different', pp. 3-27
In the April 2014 edition of Journal of Inklings Studies, Mark S. M. Scott compared the theodicies of C. S. Lewis and John Hick, concluding that there are ‘significant structural and substantive affinities’ between the two. In my essay, I too analyze these theodicies but arrive at a different conclusion. I argue two points: First, I argue that Lewis’ and Hick’s theodicies bear merely superficial similarities. Second, and more importantly, I argue that they stand in significant opposition to one another at fundamental points. The purpose of this essay is to set Lewis’ views on suffering apart from Hick’s and to suggest that, in the end, perhaps Lewis’ theodicy should not be included in the broad category of “greater-good” theodicies, and would therefore be immune to attacks leveled against Hick’s theodicy as well as the various attacks leveled against the greater-good approach in general. For those who reject the greater-good approach and who hold that gratuitous evil does not count against God’s moral perfection, Lewis’ theodicy could serve as a helpful starting point from which one could develop more thoroughly a non-greater-good theodicy.

Duane Litz Jr, 'Recovering Mrs Fidget: An Analysis of the Rise, Fall, and Restoration of Storge as Envisioned in The Four Loves and Lewis’ Fiction, pp. 29-102
It is often observed that The Four Loves serves as a resource for reading Lewis’s fictional work. Scholarship admits that The Four Loves may even be used as a ‘roadmap’ for understanding love in his novels. However, previous treatments have yet to expose the particularly descriptive and comprehensive nature of Storge that runs throughout Lewis’s literature. This study adequately proves that the reader may use The Four Loves as a guide in order to define and understand natural Affection as it immerges in his narrative passages. Simultaneously, numerous examples from Lewis’s fictional corpus are offered in order to clarify concepts that will eventually coalesce in The Four Loves. Through careful analysis, it is evident that Lewis’s fiction illustrates the grandeur of Storge when it is crafted by artful Charity; the diabolical nature of Storge when it is corrupted by self-absorption; and the reemergence of Storge when it is reordered by a journey of transformation. Therefore, using Lewis’s Mrs. Fidget as a model to engage various facets of Storge, and utilizing The Four Loves as a guide to reading Lewis’s fiction, this study demonstrates that Lewis establishes a methodology for the rise, fall, and restoration of Affectionate love in his writings.

Don King, Warren Lewis, Mrs Janie King Moore, and The Kilns', pp. 103-118
Warren Lewis’s antipathy for Mrs. Janie King Moore (1872-1951), his brother’s longtime companion and adopted “mother” is well-documented. Accordingly, it is not entirely surprising that as the years passed, Warren kept a record of Moore’s dogmatic, selfish, and condescending statements and dialogues. To these he added other examples of “wheezes” that he overheard while living in The Kilns, eventually compiling what he called “Mens Humana,” or Kilns Table Talk. In what follows I mine Warren’s “Mens Humana,” offer explanatory comments, and focus in particular upon his comments regarding Moore, her daughter, Maureen, and Vera Henry, Moore’s goddaughter and occasional Kilns housekeeper. I conclude with several observations about Warren as a member of The Kilns household and as a writer.

Jon Fennell, 'Objective Value: A Note on Values vs Valuing in The Abolition of Man', pp. 119-123
The Abolition of Man articulates a theory of objective value whose core is the act of valuing. Although Lewis for tactical purposes speaks of ‘values’, within the theory of objective value there is, properly speaking, no place for this term since it necessarily refers to a phantom.

Book Reviews
Justin Dyer and Micah J. Watson, C.S. Lewis on Politics and the Natural Law. Reviewed by Basil J. McLaren, pp. 125-128

Wesley A. Kort, Reading C. S. Lewis: A Commentary. Reviewed by Peter Benbow, pp. 129-132

Raymond Edwards, Tolkien. Reviewed by Nelson Goering, pp. 133-137

Contributors