10 Quotes From “C.S. Lewis In A Time Of War”

In A Time Of WarI loved C.S. Lewis In A Time Of War by Justin Phillips! It appealed to my interests in World War II history, old-time radio, and one of my favorite authors: C.S. Lewis. You can read my book review by clicking here. Below are 10 quotes from this book which will give you a little of the flavor of this work.

“In a time of uncertainty and questioning it is the responsibility of the church—and of religious broadcasting as one of its most powerful voices—to declare the truth about God and His relation to man. It has to expound the Christian faith in terms that can be easily understood by ordinary men and women, and to examine the ways in which that faith can be applied to present-day society during these difficult times.” —James Welch, the BBC director of religious broadcasting responsible for getting C.S. Lewis on the air

“It seems to me that the New Testament, by preaching repentance and forgiveness, always assumes an audience who already believe in the law of nature and know they have disobeyed it. In modern England we cannot at present assume this, and therefore most apologetic begins a stage too far on. The first step is to create, or recover, the sense of guilt. Hence if I gave a series of talks, I should mention Christianity only at the end, and would prefer not to unmask my battery till then.” —C.S. Lewis

“Having seen more of his original manuscripts than probably anybody else, Walter Hooper observes that there is next to no evidence of rewriting or of copious changes. The manuscript of The Screwtape Letters is a case in point. There was only the one draft.” —Justin Phillips

“A charitable trust was set up called The Agape Fund, using the Greek word for love. Until his marriage in 1957, two-thirds of all Lewis’s royalties went into this fund to help those in need—normally under the cover of anonymity.” —Justin Phillips

“If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning.” —C.S. Lewis

“Walter Hooper had discovered a calculation made by Warnie [Lewis] in 1967, described in his diary some four years after Jack’s [C.S. Lewis] death, that by the time the typewriter was finally packed up Warnie must have written at least 12,000 letters on it on his brother’s behalf.” —Justin Phillips

“Any amount of theology can now be smuggled into people’s minds under the cover of romance without them knowing it.” —C.S. Lewis 

“But if you will go to God just as you are, fully admitting that you care about Him very little, and put yourself in His hands, if you’re even ready to be made to care and leave Him to work, He’ll do the rest.” —C.S. Lewis

“All I am in private life is a literary critic and historian, that’s my job. And I am prepared to say on that basis if anyone thinks the Gospels are either legends or novels, then that person is simply showing his incompetence as a literary critic. I’ve read a great many novels and I know a few amount about the legends that grew up among early people, and I know perfectly well the Gospels are not that kind of stuff. They are absolutely full of the sort of things that don’t come into legends. Take one simple example. The passage in which Our Lord is scribbling in the dust before He gives His answer about the woman taken in adultery. Nothing whatever comes of it, no doctrine has ever been based on it, it has no point at all; there’s no conceivable reason why anyone should ever have written it down, unless he’s seen it happening. From first to last the things strike me as records of fact. And, in my opinion, the people who think that any of the episodes in the Gospels are imaginary are the people who have no imagination themselves and have never understood what imaginative story-telling is.” —C.S. Lewis

“Numbers vary, but in the year 2000 some estimates put worldwide sales of Lewis’ books at over 200 million copies in more than thirty languages.” —Justin Phillips

C.S. Lewis In A Time Of War (book review)

In A Time Of WarC.S. Lewis In A Time Of War by Justin Phillips combined several favorite things for me: World War II history, an inside look at old-time radio, a biography on one of my favorite authors, and a fascinating look at the repercussions of one man’s life.

The BBC Radio was just coming into its own during the lead up to World War II. England again was to play a major part on the world stage, and the radio became not only the primary means of communicating inside Great Britain, but also to the world as well. Radio was used to inform, to pass along vital information, to entertain, and to boost morale.

After having already endured The Great War (what we now call World War I), the English populace was largely dismayed at being forced into another bloody conflict. As anyone might imagine, morale was at an all-time low and questioning God’s role in these cataclysmic events was at an all-time high. The BBC felt duty-bound to try to raise morale and answer these questions.

Looking back on history, C.S. Lewis seems the perfect choice to be the voice of encouragement and reason that the BBC would use, but at the time Lewis was a little-known don at Magdalen College who had never written a script to be read over the airways (something far different than writing for someone else to read themselves in essay or book form). So not only did the BBC take a huge leap of faith, but so did Lewis, as a failure in this venture could have seriously damaged his reputation and future.

As it turned out, Lewis’ talks were immensely popular, and the text of those talks ended up being published in the book form we now know as Mere Christianity. C.S. Lewis also experienced one of the most productive times of his life, cranking out many other of his most popular books, sermons, and talks given to the Royal Air Force and other military personnel.

If you are a fan of C.S. Lewis, World War II history or old-time radio, there is much to enjoy in this well told story by Justin Phillips. Definitely a great read!

NOTE: Focus on the Family produced an excellent audio drama using this book as the source. Check out my review of that production by clicking here

C.S. Lewis In His Own Voice

Mere ChristianityThis address from C.S. Lewis was broadcast on the BBC in 1944. Sadly, this is the only one of his radio talks that have survived. But the good news is these talks form the bulk of C.S. Lewis’ amazing book Mere Christianity.