In this week's episode, Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing sit down with Producer Aaron Hill to finish unwrapping the many memorable witticisms, penetrating insights, and enchanting metaphors contained within the final chapters of Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton. Additionally, this is both our final episode of 2022 and the final episode of our bi-weekly format. In 2023, we will shift to a monthly release schedule with episodes going live on the final Friday of the month. Make sure to check out video...
Dec 30, 2022•54 min•Season 4Ep. 26
Over the last century many Christian apologists have made a name for themselves. At the root of this apologetic tree lies the genius and charm of Gilbert Keith Chesterton and Orthodoxy . In this week's episode, Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing sit down with Producer Aaron Hill to unwrap the many memorable witticisms, penetrating insights, and enchanting metaphors contained within the first four chapters of this rather dully-named yet incredibly encouraging book which influenced many Christian a...
Dec 16, 2022•1 hr•Season 4Ep. 25
Did you know that the archaic language in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight colored J.R.R. Tolkien's prose in The Lord of the Rings? Or that the characters in this medieval, fourteenth century, fairy tale for adults informed and inspired characters and themes in both The Chronicles of Narnia and the Ransom trilogy by C.S. Lewis? In this week's episode, Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing sit down to discuss the meaning, symbolism, and application of this tale of fell strokes, of courtly love gone aw...
Dec 02, 2022•1 hr•Season 4Ep. 24
Just when you thought Phantastes couldn't get any more fantastical, George MacDonald slips in two short stories: one in which women with wings, who live on another planet, find babies out in nature, and die from desire; the other in which Cosmo von Wehrstahl, a student in Prague, purchases a magic mirror which contains a beautiful woman. In this follow-up to last week's episode, Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing sit down with Producer Aaron Hill to explore the meaning of Cosmo's story, the ways ...
Nov 11, 2022•39 min•Season 4Ep. 23
This is the story that started it all—the fairy tale that baptized C.S. Lewis's imagination and inspired countless fantasy novels such as Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland . In this week's episode, Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing sit down with Producer Aaron Hill to discuss George MacDonald's dreamlike fairy tale for adults, Phantastes . Join us as explore the symbols, dream sequences, the meaning of the Marble Lady, the journey of Anodos, and the interrelated themes of disencha...
Oct 29, 2022•49 min•Season 4Ep. 22
Tolkien fans, you don't want to miss this episode! As Graham Shea notes, "Critics have long debated whether, and to what degree, J.R.R. Tolkien writes allegorically. Any answer to this question must attempt to reconcile Tolkien’s numerous comments about allegory, which often seem to contradict one another." In this week's episode Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing and Producer Aaron Hill sit down to interview Graham Shea about his recent attempt to resolve the conflict between Tolkien and allegor...
Oct 14, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Season 4Ep. 21
Is there such a thing as Christian literature? How important is originality in literature and culture? Should Christianity embrace or reject culture? In their second discussion of Christian Reflections , Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing discuss Lewis's answers to these timeless questions using two dense but powerful essays by C.S. Lewis titled, "Christianity and Literature" and Christianity and Culture."
Sep 30, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Season 4Ep. 20
When Yuri Gagarin returned from mankind's first trip into space, he declared, "I looked and looked and looked, but I didn't see God." In an essay written in 1963, C.S. Lewis retorted, "Those who do not find Him on earth are unlikely to find Him in space." In this week's episode, Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing sit down with the beloved Dr. Jerry Root to unpack two powerful essays collected and published in Christian Reflections : "De Futilitate and "The Seeing Eye." They discuss the ways in wh...
Sep 16, 2022•48 min•Season 4Ep. 19
For over a decade, C.S. Lewis and Stella Aldwinckle modeled how to discuss Christianity, atheism, and belief with civility and grace through the Oxford Socratic Club. Many of Lewis's talks at the club meetings made their way into print, in the form of essays. In part three of the Wade Center's series on God in the Dock (1970), Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing, along with Producer Aaron M. Hill, discuss two of these essays, "Bulverism" and "Is Theism Important?" Together these essays address obs...
Sep 02, 2022•52 min•Season 4Ep. 18
"Every age has its own outlook. It is specially good at seeing certain truths and specially liable to make certain mistakes." In part two of the Wade Center's series on God in the Dock (1970), Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing discuss three powerful essays published by C.S. Lewis in the 1940s: "On the Reading of Old Books," "Meditation in a Toolshed," and "First and Second Things." While each of these three essays were written to different audiences, Lewis consistently calls out the chronologica...
Aug 19, 2022•47 min•Season 4Ep. 17
Between writing best-selling books, C.S. Lewis published hundreds of essays. Many of them were collected and published after Lewis's death as God in the Dock in 1970. Over the next several episodes, the Wade Center Podcast is going to explore Lewis's wonderful insights about the challenges of maintaining and sharing your faith in the modern world. To kick off this series, Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing sat down with the beloved Dr. Jerry Root to unpack two powerful essays: "Dogma and the Univ...
Aug 05, 2022•59 min•Season 4Ep. 16
To tide you over until we return from vacation, enjoy this re-released episode on George MacDonald from the Wade Center archives. Most Inklings fans see George MacDonald through the lens of C.S. Lewis. Others enter MacDonald's novels through diverse doorways. In this week's episode Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing sit down with Producer Aaron Hill to discuss this 19th century Scots author. Why was George MacDonald so important to Lewis? Why is he considered controversial? Are his writings still...
Jul 22, 2022•49 min•Season 4Ep. 15
C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Madeleine L'Engle, and Neil Gaiman are praised for penning imaginative worlds and inspiring stories. But did you know that all these writers were inspired by George MacDonald? In particular, they were inspired by two of his fantasy novels written for children called The Princess and the Goblin and The Princess and Curdie . In this week's episode, Drs. Crystal Downing and David C. Downing discuss these mythopoeic stories that, as Colin Manlove notes, use "the imaginati...
Jul 08, 2022•59 min•Season 4Ep. 14
"My own debt to [ Unspoken Sermons ] is almost as great as one man can owe to another." With these words, C.S. Lewis acknowledged the role the George MacDonald's spiritual writings (as well as his novels) played in his own faith journey and theology. In this week's episode Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing, along with Producer Aaron Hill, explore a volume of MacDonald quotes collected and edited by C.S. Lewis called George MacDonald: An Anthology. Explore literary and theological parallels betwe...
Jun 24, 2022•56 min•Season 4Ep. 13
"It is worse than useless for Christians to talk about the importance of Christian morality, unless they are prepared to take their stand on the fundamentals of Christian theology." Few Christian authors can cut straight to the heart of our problems like Sayers. In this week's episode, Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing continue to discuss a series of incredibly relevant essays written by Sayers on "The Over Six Deadly Sins," "Strong Meat," and the eponymous "Creed or Chaos."
Jun 10, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Season 4Ep. 12
Words like dogma and theology have for a long time been viewed as "dull" and irrelevant, but in a series of essays written in the late 1930s Dorothy L. Sayers argues quite the opposite: "The Christian faith is the most exciting drama ... and the dogma is the drama." In this week's episode Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing discuss three of Sayers's famous essays—"The Greatest Drama Ever Staged," "The Triumph of Easter," and "The Dogma is the Drama"—compiled in a book titled Creed or Chaos , with ...
May 27, 2022•48 min•Season 4Ep. 11
"As long as you are governed by that desire you will never get what you want. ... Until you conquer the fear of being an outsider, an outsider you will remain." In C.S. Lewis's essays—"The Inner Ring" and "Membership"—he unpacks two dangerous social forces that threaten both the church and the morality of Christians: individualism and cliques. This week Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing continue their examination of Lewis's powerful essays and sermons published as The Weight of Glory and Other A...
May 13, 2022•52 min•Season 4Ep. 10
"We always have to answer the question: How can you be so frivolous and selfish to think of anything by the salvation of human souls?" During World War II, C.S. Lewis preached three sermons which were eventually packaged and published along with six others in 1949 as The Weight of Glory and Other Addresses. In this week's episode, Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing discuss the spiritual significance and application of "The Weight of Glory," "Learning in War-Time," and "Transpositions," as well as...
Apr 29, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Season 4Ep. 9
Upon completion of The Lord of the Rings , new readers often turn to The Silmarillion . But J.R.R. Tolkien's epic collection of mythopoeic stories—covering everything from the creation of Eä (the Ainulindalë), the Valar and Mayar, the creation of the Elves as well as the events of the First and Second Ages of Middle-earth—can be overwhelming. Thankfully, Laura Schmidt, Wade Center Archivist, joins Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing to walk us through to the larger themes and storylines of this am...
Apr 15, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Season 4Ep. 8
Who or what deserves our allegiance? Our heart? An external morality handed down by our parents or Christendom? Our intellect or science? In one of his most challenging books, The Abolition of Man , C.S. Lewis addresses many of the assumptions about morality, theology, and philosophy that are baked into the fabric of our modern world. Join Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing in this week's episode as they explore the context and message of Lewis's book as well as its proper application to our mode...
Apr 01, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Season 4Ep. 7
"Guesses, of course, only guesses. If they are not true, something better will be." At the end of his life, Lewis wrote Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer. Lewis's thoughts on heaven and the resurrection were, perhaps ironically, published posthumously. In this fifth installment of "Love, Pain, Grief, and Joy," Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing, along with Producer Aaron Hill, explore the second half of this often overlooked book including the problem of spiritual and theological bigotry, the...
Mar 18, 2022•36 min•Season 4Ep. 6
"Creation seems to be delegation through and through. He will do nothing simply of Himself which can be done by creatures." Those words were written by C.S. Lewis in Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer at the end of his life and published posthumously. In this fifth installment of "Love, Pain, Grief, and Joy," Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing, along with Producer Aaron Hill, explore this often overlooked book by Lewis. How did Joy's death inspire Lewis to write this book? How and why should i...
Mar 04, 2022•35 min•Season 4Ep. 5
"What reason have we, except our own desperate wishes, to believe that God is ... 'good’?" Phrases such as these in A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis have caused many fans and critics to assume that Lewis lost his faith after the death of his wife, Joy Davidman Lewis. In this fourth installment of "Love, Pain, and Grief," Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing, along with Producer Aaron Hill, explore the context and questions surrounding one of Lewis's most practical and yet misunderstood books. What is...
Feb 18, 2022•50 min•Season 4Ep. 4
“To enter heaven is to become more human than you ever succeeded in being on earth; to enter hell, is to be banished from humanity.” This week, in our third installment of "Love, Pain, and Grief," we continue our discussion of The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis with Dr. Jerry Root. Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing, along with Dr. Root and and Producer Aaron Hill explore questions such as: Why does Hell exist? Who will end up there and why? Is it fair or compassionate to doom people to Hell? What...
Feb 04, 2022•37 min•Season 4Ep. 3
“We can ignore even pleasure. But pain insists upon being attended to." Dr. Jerry Root, scholar and close friend of the podcast, is back again for our second installment of "Love, Pain, and Grief." This week hosts Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing, along with Dr. Root and and Producer Aaron Hill explore The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis. Because all humans wrestle with questions about human and animal pain, suffering, evil, natural disasters, hell, heaven, and the nature of God, Lewis's immensel...
Jan 21, 2022•45 min•Season 4Ep. 2
Over the course of his life, C.S. Lewis wrote several books addressing the most complex and universal human experiences—love, pain, and grief. In this week’s episode, Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing sit down with scholar and close friend of the podcast, Dr. Jerry Root, to discuss The Four Loves (1960) by C.S. Lewis. How does Lewis define philia, storge, eros, and agape? Are his definitions accurate? What is the difference between Gift-love and Need-love? Is Need-love bad? How can love be corru...
Jan 07, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Season 4Ep. 1
Is the Incarnation, like other miracles, a suspension or a reversal of the natural universe? Or, as Lewis writes in "The Grand Miracle," is it "the central chapter" of history such that "every miracle exhibits the character of the Incarnation"? Join Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing as they sit down with Producer Aaron Hill on this special Christmas Day episode to discuss the Incarnation of Jesus Christ; specifically, how it impacted C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Dorothy L. Sayers, George MacDonal...
Dec 17, 2021•39 min•Season 3Ep. 25
Before Sam can declare "I'm back" at the end of Book VI, Frodo must destroy the ring and Aragorn must be enthroned. But nailing down the climax of The Return of the King proved challenging for J.R.R. Tolkien. How do you destroy the ring and resolve such an epic adventure that took eleven years to compose? In the sixth and final installment of the Into The Lord of the Rings series, Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing, along with Producer Aaron M. Hill, discuss the many partings of The Nine Walkers ...
Dec 03, 2021•1 hr 6 min•Season 3Ep. 24
In the opening of Book V of The Return of the King , Beregond gazes out over Pellenor, realizing that soon, "all realms shall be put to the test, to stand, or fall—under the Shadow." In this fifth installment of our series on The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing, along with Producer Aaron M. Hill, explore how each of Tolkien's characters respond to this great test. Will Théoden, Éomer, Éowyn, Denethor, Aragorn, Faramir, Pippin, and Merry be pulled down by th...
Nov 19, 2021•54 min•Season 3Ep. 23
In a 1944 letter to his son, J.R.R. Tolkien shared his surprise at the sudden entrance of Faramir: "I am sure I did not invent him, I did not even want him, though I like him, but there he came walking into the woods of Ithilien." In part four of the Wade Center Podcast's series on The Lord of the Rings , Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing, along with Producer Aaron M. Hill, uncover numerous allusions, motifs, and deeper meanings as they retrace the lonely and tragic steps of two little hobbits, ...
Nov 05, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Season 3Ep. 22
