Lewis is most known for his fictional and fantasy works with the Chronicles of Narnia being at the top of the list by a stretch. His works on the Christian life and apologetics are also popularly known and have impacted many in the church. But there is more to the mind of Lewis than what is immediately recognizable in his more popular works. Being a professor of medieval and Renaissance literature, there are truths and themes from this literature that deeply shaped his own writings.
Baxter walks us through how not only Scripture but also great medieval books and authors were foundational in Lewis’ formation as a thinker and writer. Using medieval writers such as Boethius and Dante as guides and major influences for Lewis, we get a glimpse into the medieval worldview that Lewis cherished and relied on to form his own thoughts and desires.
Lewis could not “formulate an argument, write a letter, offer a word of consolation, or weave a fictional story of his own without opening up the dam and letting all the old ideas and emotions, stored up in his memory by long reading, break forth.”
Baxter, page 6
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and it opened my mind to a new world that I have rarely if ever realized was under the surface of many of Lewis’ writings. Any fan of Lewis will do well to read carefully through this book to see how Lewis saw, through the great books that lined his shelves. I think it is safe to say that C. S. Lewis was one of the great minds used by God in the 20th century to impact the world around him. What impacted him? What shaped his thoughts that eventually became some of the greatest writings in the last century? Take this book and learn more about the medieval world of C. S. Lewis.
Read & Repeat
read & repeat 
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