Wednesday Faith Connection Online: Planets in Peril: The Science Fiction Novels of C.S. Lewis

Wednesday Faith Connection
September 15, concluding no later than November 15

Please join us at 7:00 pm on Wednesdays on our Watch page. On September 15,  Dr. Quinn Fox kicks off his Faith Connection series, Planets in Peril: The Science Fiction Novels of C.S. Lewis. If you are interested in meeting in person to hear the presentation and discuss the book afterwards, please email qfox@nationalpres.org.

C.S. Lewis was a distinguished 20^th-century scholar of literature, a popular novelist, and a famous defender of the Christian faith. Today he is best-known for his best-selling series of children’s books, The Chronicles of Narnia (they continue to sell over a million copies annually). Less-frequently read are the three science fiction books in his so-called “Cosmic Trilogy” (also known as the “Space Trilogy” or the “Ransom Trilogy”… named after their main character). The term science fiction is inadequate to describe the books’ genre. Lewis has rather created his own myth of Deep Heaven that carries the reader to Mars, Venus and back to earth again as the stage of a great battle. Published between 1938 and 1945, in a surprising way these books address contemporary themes of environmentalism and racial prejudice.

Please join us each week for a summary of the portion of the story we will explore, followed by a detailed explanation and reflection of the important themes Lewis brings out. For those who would like to (re-) read these “fairy tales for adults” in the weeks ahead, you can obtain copies of the books from a variety of online and local booksellers. For those who would prefer a no-cost option, here are links to online texts:

Out of the Silent Planet

Perelandra

That Hideous Strength