An examination was made of Clive Staples Lewis's concept of Christianity as "myth become fact," in light of the "quest for the historical Jesus" movement of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. Chapter One included a basic overview of Lewis's literary output, as well as a specific examination of the various theological and literary influences on Lewis's life and thought. / Chapter Two explored Lewis's approach to the concept of "myth" in both literature and religion, illustrating how this concept of myth was a major factor in Lewis's conversion to Christianity. Lewis's views of the complex nature of myth, as well as his insights concerning Christianity's relation to the mythic elements in both pagan mythology and Hebrew thought were analyzed. Also examined was Lewis's distinction between the roles of the mythical in the Old and New Testaments. / Chapter Three considered the results of New Testament Biblical scholarship in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, providing the background for a clearer concept of Lewis's own views of the nature of the historical Jesus and Lewis's awareness and criticism of New Testament research. / Chapter Four inspected in detail Lewis's own reaction to the "quest for the historical Jesus" movement, examining Lewis's attacks on New Testament scholarship's practise of analyzing various fragments of the Gospels to determine their original meaning. Lewis's view of the Gospel of John as a historical rather than merely theological work, and Lewis's views of modern scholarship's attacks on Jesus's claims to Divinity were also analyzed. Finally, Lewis's concepts of the miraculous and its relation to the modern scientific world view were reviewed. / Chapter Five presented Lewis's own views on the nature of the historical Jesus. Also discussed was Lewis's attempt to recreate the mythic elements of the Christian story in a children's fantasy, The Narnia Chronicles. Finally, a comparison of Lewis's portrayal of his fictional Christ-figure, Aslan, and his views of the historical Jesus was made, drawing out what these parallels signify for Lewis's vision of Christianity as "myth become fact". / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 47-02, Section: A, page: 0553. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1985.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_75767 |
| Contributors | FRESHWATER, MARK EDWARDS., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 296 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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