Did C.S. Lewis Abandon Apologetics After the Anscombe Debate?

My thoughts: 1. AN Wilson's biography is widely held by those who knew Lewis best and Lewis scholars in general to be one of the least accurate biographies of the major Lewis biographies. Indeed, Wilson himself later admitted as much after he came back to Christianity, that he put too much stock in the pscyhoanalysis of Lewis than he should've done (and Lewis himself warned against this sort of thing). 2. I think it's true, though, that Lewis himself felt defeated after the debate. There's plenty of evidence for this in Lewis' own letters to others and from testimonials of friends like George Sayer, Derek Brewer, and Hugo Dyson as well as those from others present at the debate like Antony Flew. However I also think Lewis' feelings of defeat do not necessarily imply he was defeated. Or at least that he was as defeated as he thought he was. Rather I suspect Lewis' defeat was overblown in Lewis' own mind. Perhaps this is owing to the fact that Lewis knew Anscombe was a fine young philosopher at the time (as was her husband Peter Geach) and that Lewis knew he hadn't kept up his philosophical education given his scholarly role had shifted to English literature. These facts in Lewis' mind may have exacerbated Lewis' own emotions coming out of the debate and in particular after the debate wasn't as clear cut a victory as previous debates had been for him. Hence I suppose his post-debate feelings of defeat probably were more despairing than his actual debate performance which may have been quite decent. And Anscombe herself said (reprinted in the second volume of her collected papers): "My own recollection is that it was an occasion of sober discussion of certain quite definite criticisms, which Lewis' rethinking and rewriting showed he thought were accurate." 3. In any case, it is a testament to Lewis' humility that he revised his argument from reason in Miracles and that he spoke well of Anscombe afterwards. On a related note, some people may be interested to see Anscombe's own analysis of Lewis' rewritten argument in her paper "C. S. Lewis's Rewrite of Chapter III of Miracles." 4. Lewis still kept writing apologetics even if we only consider the Narnia books. After all, Lewis himself said: "I thought I saw how stories of this kind could sneak past a certain inhibition which had paralysed much of my own religion in childhood. Why did one find it so hard to feel as one was told one ought to feel about God or the sufferings of Christ? I thought the chief reason was that one was told one ought to. An obligation to feel can freeze feelings. And reverence itself did harm. The whole subject was associated with lowered voices; almost as if it were something medical. But supposing that by casting all these things into an imaginary world, stripping them of their stained-glass and Sunday school associations, one could make them for the first time appear in their true potency? Could one not thus steal past those watchful dragons? I thought one could." Of course, this is precisely what Lewis attempted to do in his Narnia books. So, even if Narnia was all Lewis wrote after the debate, which of course it wasn't (e.g. God in the Dock), I don't see it as Lewis as abandoning apologetics, but rather consciously or subconsciously shifting his apologetics strategy. He moved from a more obvious and explicit defense of the faith to a more subtle and discreet defense. In short, I think Lewis fine tuned or recalibrated his apologetics rather than that Lewis abandoned apologetics entirely. Just as Lewis honed and improved his argument from reason after the debate, so too Lewis honed and improved his apologetics in general after the debate. For Lewis I think this marks an advance, not a retreat, in his apologetics.

C.S. Lewis is a genius because of how accessible he is to all types of audiences.

C.S. Lewis, G.K. Chesterton and T.S. Eliot are perhaps the best Christian writers in English of all time. None of the were overly technical in their writing, but anyone who thinks they were "unscholarly" or lacked academic rigor is a fool.

I love Lewis too. The Great Divorce is probably one of my all time favorites, along with his space trilogy. I’m actually Roman Catholic but there’s a lot to admire about the great man!

I just showed my parents your video on C.S. Lewis's Till We Have Faces - they really enjoyed it! I'm so glad you appreciate him so much, and keep drawing out the value of his life and work, and its relevance to people today.

Beautiful defense of Lewis. He’s my favorite theologian for the exact reasons you outlined. His ability to approach incredibly complex topics with an air of humility is truly astounding. It’s also one of the reasons why his works has been so beloved.

Your videos are greatly underappreciated. The quality and the content itself is just outstanding. You have my respect.

I feel like the thumbnails and the editing are on an upwards trend when it comes to quality. Glad to see the presentation get better and better!

This is well done. Loving the new graphic work throughout the episode too!

Thanks for doing this! I actually wrote about this debate in seminary. I find the nuances fascinating, especially considering that Anscombe was a believer as well.

Thank you for this video Gavin. I’m currently working my way through Harry Lee Poe’s 3 part biography of C.S. Lewis, and I’m now fascinated to see how this event is covered within it.

Love the new editing, really clean and well done, dial back some on the sound design and you’re perfect 👌

Thanks for another great video! As someone who is in ministry and also doing academic work, I would be really interested in a video on your academic process. How do you balance ministry and the academy? How do you prioritize sources, find new topics, think through potential answers to hard questions, etc. I think a video like that would be very helpful! Thankful for your continually helpful ministry!

I read Victor Repperts book back in 2011, and it solidified the argument from reason as one of my favorite avenues to faith. He also does a great job poking holes in the Anscombe debate legends.

Hello dr.ortlund, thank you so much for these videos. You have been a great help in my spiritual journey. May the lord continue blessing you. Your video on ecclesial anxiety has aided me immensely. Thank you. Love from florida !

Woa, video and editing quality went way up on this video. Keep it up Gavin 👍🙏

It’s quite sad that people still think this yet he wrote countless essays related to apologetics after this ‘debate’. Dr. Art Lindsley lays it out in his book CS Lewis’ case for Christ

I’d never heard of this. Appreciate the insight!

Gavin, I can’t thank you enough for this video. The Lord has blessed me so much through Lewis, and I’m glad to hear your excellent refutation of this myth that has been irresponsibly perpetuated about him.

Ooh snazzy production & editing! Very slick, but I will say the sound effects are a little distracting. Still---great video. Thanks for all you do!