C S Lewis Chronicle

The C S Lewis Chronicles by Lewis expert Colin Duriez is a slightly strange volume in that it is not a straight biography but a chronicle covering the years 1862 (when Lewis's mother was born) to 1998 (when centenary conferneces were held in Lewis's honour). This era is split into eight eras headed 1898-1908, 1909-1916, 1917-1918, 1919-1925, 1926-1938, 1939-1945, 1946-1953, 1954-1963. Each chapter has an introductary summary and the various date headings with information beneath. There are also a series of extra sections covering important people in Lewis's childhood, Narnia and the north of Ireland, important childhood places, Top Ten Books, The Four Loves, etc, etc, etc. Some will find the annual reference to the passing of Lewis's birthday on November 29 tefious but I found it a help. This is not the place to begin to read about Lewis but if you have some ideas about him this is a good way of learning about him and his circle. I borrowed my copy from the Evangelical Library.

Schaeffer Biography

It is a while since I read anything by or about Francis Schaeffer and it has been good to read the book about his life by Colin Duriez recently (the IVP book appeared last year). Our CU in Aberystwyth showed the film series How should we then live? I found his books enormously helpful and stimulating as an undergaduate. By the time I became a pastor I felt I could see a little beyond Schaeffer and so moved on, perhaps unwisely.

Well written biographies are always interesting. You get the background as well as what you knew already and there's always some surprise or other (eg his premillennialism or the threat to throw him out of Switzerland) or something you'd missed (eg the apparently haphazard way things developed, his enormous popularity). Often there are things chiefly only of interest to you personally. I'd not seen in print before that he was dyslexic (like one of my sons) or that he was treated at the Royal Free at one point (near where we live). I also noticed that Welshamn Geraint Fielder edited his first IVP book.

Duriez is well placed to do the job being a real fan who met and corresponded with the great man but with some perspective and a number of other interests. This results in a good balance of objectivity and insider info (much like the lectures from Dr Edgar this week). The warts are all there but so is a portrait of a godly man seeking to serve the Lord in his own time. No doubt what he wrote will continue to be a help to many in the years to come, however the main challenge of this book is to live the authentic life in Christ that all believers, well known or not, are called to live.