“Find out how much God has given you and from it take what you need; the remainder is needed by others.” – St. Augustine
Since I’ve built up a large collection of extra books and resources, every week I give some away absolutely free, no strings attached.
Each giveaway lasts seven days with a new one beginning every Friday. You can enter any time during the week. Check out my past giveaways here.
Today marks the fiftieth anniversary of the death of C.S. Lewis, one of the greatest and most influential Christian writers of the last century. Thanks to Ignatius Press, today I’m giving away several Lewis-related books. One lucky winner will receive:
C. S. Lewis: The Man Who Created Narnia
by Michael Coren
Ignatius Press, 139 pages, paperback
Released on February 1, 2006
Michael Coren, an expert on the life and writings of Lewis, presents an engrossing biography for young people and adults of the man “who created Narnia”. Following in the wake of the first of several theatrical major feature films from Lewis’s “Chronicles of Narnia”, this biography, lavishly illustrated with numerous photos from the whole life of Lewis, is written in a captivating way that it will appeal to all ages, youth and adults alike.
Starting with “Beginnings”, Coren tells of the fascinating details of the childhood and youth of Lewis, one that was, in Lewis’s own words full of “long corridors, attics explored in solitude, sunlit rooms and endless books”. It continues with his studies at Oxford, his subsequent celebrated teaching career at Oxford, his wonderful friendships with other great writers like J.R.R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, G.K. Chesterton and George Sayer, his meeting and marriage with Joy Davidman, and how he dealt with the sorrow of her death. The book especially focuses on how Lewis created his wonderful Narnia tales which became seven books that resulted in perhaps the most widely read set of children’s Christian allegories, “The Chronicles of Narnia”.
C.S. Lewis’ Case for the Christian Faith
by Richard Purtill
Ignatius Press, 191 pages, paperback
Released on March 1, 2004
Drawing on the whole body of C.S. Lewis’ published fiction and non-fiction, as well as previously unpublished letters, Richard Purtill offers a clear, comprehensive assessment of Lewis’ defense of Christianity. He examines Lewis’ thinking on religion in light of contemporary thought, giving attention to such central issues as: the nature of God, the divinity of Christ, the manifestation of miracles in history, the challenge of faith, the meaning of death and the afterlife.
C.S. Lewis’ Case for the Christian Faith is an excellent introduction to Lewis’s best thinking on the major themes of the Christian tradition. Those who know his writing will find a new appreciation of his “Christian imagination” and a deep respect for his distinctive contribution to an understanding of Christianity.
Remembering C.S. Lewis: Recollections of Those Who Knew Him
Edited by James Como
Ignatius Press, 509 pages, paperback
Released on December 1, 2005
n this intimate, candid, and sometimes surprising community biography of the celebrated author and Christian apologist, twenty-four men and women who knew C.S. Lewis—as teacher, colleague, friend—offer their reminiscences and impressions of the complex man behind the critical and academic acclaim.
Through their recollections, we see “Jack” Lewis dazzling Oxford as he takes on atheists, materialists, and a host of other challengers. Most poignantly, we see him in everyday settings: striding up and down the platform at a railroad station, presiding over leisurely dinners with students, expounding on the virtues of the pub.
“The net effect of this collection,” said the Catholic Review, “is to make us feel that we know Lewis as well as [his] friends.” And to quote the New Yorker, “The heterogeneity of the contributors assures a variety of Lewises, but certain traits appear in all these accounts: intelligence, imagination, gusto, a sense of fun, and, most frequently, magnanimity.”
Looking for the King: An Inklings Novel
by David Downing
Ignatius Press, 250 pages, hardcover
Released on October 30, 2010
It is 1940, and American Tom McCord, a 23-year-old aspiring doctoral candidate, is in England researching the historical evidence for the legendary King Arthur. There he meets perky and intuitive Laura Hartman, a fellow American staying with her aunt in Oxford, and the two of them team up for an even more ambitious and dangerous quest.
Aided by the Inklings-that illustrious circle of scholars and writers made famous by its two most prolific members, C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien-Tom and Laura begin to suspect that the fabled Spear of Destiny, the lance that pierced the side of Christ on the cross, is hidden somewhere in England.
Tom discovers that Laura has been having mysterious dreams, which seem to be related to the subject of his research, and, though doubtful of her visions, he hires her as an assistant. Heeding the insights and advice of the Inklings, while becoming aware of being shadowed by powerful and secretive foes who would claim the spear as their own, Tom and Laura end up on a thrilling treasure hunt that crisscrosses the English countryside and leads beyond a search for the elusive relics of Camelot into the depths of the human heart and soul.
Weaving his fast-paced narrative with conversation based on the works of the Inklings, author David Downing offers a vivid portrait of Oxford and draws a welcome glimpse into the personalities and ideas of Lewis and Tolkien, while never losing sight of his action-packed adventure story and its two very appealing main characters.
Narnia and Beyond: A Guide to the Fiction of C. S. Lewis
by Thomas Howard
Ignatius Press, 237 pages, paperback
Released on February 27, 2006
Regarded as one of the best authorities on the fiction of C.S. Lewis, Thomas Howard presents in this work brilliant new insights into Lewis’ fiction and helps us to see things we may not have seen nor appreciated before. Focusing on Narnia, the space trilogy and Til We Have Faces, Howard explores with remarkable clarity the moral vision in the imaginary world of the master storyteller Lewis.
“AT LAST! A book about C.S. Lewis that doesn’t sound like a term paper, a book that is a joy to read, a book written with Lewis’s own passionate power with words. Mercurial magic. A feast for the spirit. Without question the best book yet written about the works of C.S. Lewis.”
—Peter Kreeft, Author, C.S. Lewis for the Third Millennium
“A SPLENDID BOOK, one of the very best critical works on Lewis’s fiction.”
—George Sayer Author, Jack: The Life of C.S. Lewis
“Tom Howard reads Lewis carefully and brings to his reading a special excitement that is uniquely his own. His treatment of That Hideous Strength is the best I have read.”
—Paul Ford, Author, Companion to Narnia
Second Friends: C.S. Lewis and Ronald Knox in Conversation
by Milton Walsh
Ignatius Press, 360 pages, paperback
Released on June 1, 2008
C. S. Lewis and Ronald Knox were two of the most popular authors of Christian apologetics in the twentieth century … and for many years they were neighbors in Oxford. In Second Friends, Milton Walsh delves into their writings and compares their views on a variety of compelling topics, such as the existence of God, the divinity of Christ, the problem of suffering, miracles, the way of Love, the role of religion in society, prayer, and more. They both bring to the conversation a passionate love of truth, clarity of thought, and a wonderful wit.
Lewis and Knox both experienced powerful conversions to the Christian faith, an important aspect that Walsh covers in detail. Both wrote about their conversion experiences because they wanted to explain to others why they took that life-changing step. They each valued logical thinking, and they professed that the Christian faith should be embraced, not only because it is good, but because it is true. Reason provides the intellectual foundation of belief for both authors.
For both these apologists, Christianity is much more than a doctrinal system: it is above all a personal relationship with Christ that entails romance, struggle, and loyalty. A common adjective applied to Lewis and Knox as writers was “imaginative”. They saw lack of imagination as a great hurdle to faith, and they believed that imagination is a privileged path leading to a deeper apprehension of the truth.
Lewis and Knox, while convinced that the Christian faith rested on sound reason and that it fulfilled the deepest human longings, also knew that God is a mystery–and so is the human heart. In the face of these twin mysteries, Milton Walsh shows that both men approached their evangelizing efforts in a spirit of humility, as he explores how they appealed to the mind, the heart, and the imagination in presenting the Christian faith.
I’m using Rafflecopter to help with the giveaway, which is great because it gives you multiple entries for commenting, posting on Facebook, sharing on Twitter, etc. Click below to enter:
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The winner(s) will be randomly selected next Friday and the books will be sent out, free of charge, shortly thereafter.
In the future I’ll be giving away more books and resources, sometimes multiple items per giveaway! So subscribe via feed reader or email to ensure you never miss your chance to win.
(Since I’m covering the shipping costs, only residents within the continental United States are eligible to win.)