C. S. Lewis in America Readings and reception, 1935-1947

Historian Noll (America's Book) and contributors Johnson, a professor of history at Wheaton College; Farney, vice president for advancement and alumni relations at Wheaton College; and Black, a professor of political science at Wheaton College, take a fine-grained look at the U.S. reception of C.S. Lewis's works between 1937 and 1947 to "gain deeper insight into both Lewis and America" during a period of "pervasive national crises." Combing through book reviews and writings by academics, journalists, and religious thinkers, Noll posits that "the deeply learned" and "unusually creative" author was able to garner overwhelmingly positive reception in an America riven by religious and cultural divides. Farney attributes Lewis's success to his focus on exploring Christian religious truths, which appealed to audiences amid the Great Depression and WWII, as the public sought "something into which they could place their trust." The book also explores how today's Christians might communicate "God's truth" using Lewis's creativity, whether that entails "visual arts, musical compositions and performances, mathematical equations, historical analyses, and more." Supported by meticulous historical context, this anthology provides insight into an influential thinker's faith and its relevance today. Believers curious about Lewis's legacy will be fascinated and inspired. (Nov.)

Noll (emeritus, history, Wheaton Coll. and Univ. of Notre Dame; The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind) applies his talents as a historian to the description and evaluation of early North American reviews of C.S. Lewis's works. The content originates in a series of lectures given at Wheaton College in 2022. Its chapters concentrating on the Roman Catholic reception of Lewis, the secular response, and the Protestant reaction are each followed by an essay from a Wheaton professor. Noll uses their book reviews as a window into the cultural life at the time, and to suggest that there was more social consensus in that era than might be expected. He also asks the question of what application can be made from the broad acceptance and influence of Lewis for evangelicals looking to emulate him today. While the attention to historical nuance and details in this study is to be commended, the takeaways and application to current issues could have been developed further. VERDICT A careful and modest addition to the scholarly conversation around the life and works of C.S. Lewis.--Zachariah Motts