Author Archives: Dr Snyder

Iron Sharpening Iron: Sayers Sharpening Lewis

  

Reading the letters of famous people gives researchers like me greater insight into how their minds work. What’s even better is to find letters between superb thinkers and writers that illuminate how they think and what is going on inside them. A great example of this are the letters between C. S. Lewis and Dorothy L. Sayers. They are lively and fascinating. When Lewis and Sayers corresponded in 1946 about the value of one’s labors—in this case, their writing endeavors—Lewis… Read more »

Lewis-Sayers-History: The Research Continues

  

I mentioned in a previous post my research into the educational philosophies of C. S. Lewis and Dorothy L. Sayers and the quest to determine how closely they may have aligned. There are many facets of education to consider when doing such research. One quite evident agreement between these two friends/colleagues is the significance of studying history. This is naturally interesting to me, as I have been a historian and professor of history for more than thirty years. If you… Read more »

Dorothy L. Sayers & the Revival of Rhetoric

  

Whenever I finish one writing project, a new one seems to pop up in my mind. Now that my recently published book, Many Times & Many Places: C. S. Lewis & the Value of History, has been introduced to the public (and many thanks to those who have dipped their literary toes into it), I am now researching something else related to Lewis that interests me. It has to do with a comparison of Lewis with Dorothy L. Sayers, who… Read more »

The Devil Is in the Details

  

I recently spoke at a C. S. Lewis conference about the significance of The Screwtape Letters. This is obviously one of the best-known works by Lewis and continues to hold a strong fascination in the minds of those who have read it. Americans have loved it ever since it was first published. In my presentation, I thought I would begin with what ostensibly could be called a “catchy” title. Catchy, yes, but also quite accurate. I did provide a general… Read more »

A Busy Lewis Week … and Life

  

I’ve often commented that the Marion E. Wade Center at Wheaton College is nearly a second home for me. Surrounded by all things C. S. Lewis (his writings, his personal library, books and dissertations about him), I have found the Wade to be an invaluable resource for my research and writing. It was at the Wade in 2014 where my research confirmed that a niche in Lewis scholarship could be found for a historian who focuses on American history. Thus,… Read more »

Jesus on the Cross: “I Thirst”

  

Two simple words of Jesus from the cross—I thirst—confirm His human nature. The exact nature of Jesus was a source of debate in the early church. I don’t think there was any disagreement during the apostolic era about precisely who He was as both God and man, but when certain theologians came along and raised questions, the church leaders needed to get together and settle the matter once and for all. One question raised was whether Christ’s divine nature removed… Read more »

On Being an “X”

  

Those of us who have delved deeply into C. S. Lewis’s writings are still sometimes alerted to one of those writings that we either have forgotten or either have not grasped the significance of it in an earlier reading. That has been the case with me in teaching my course on Lewis’s essays the past couple of months. I naturally included most of the “big” ones that everyone mentions, but as I developed the course, I came across a few… Read more »