by Josh » March 23rd, 2006, 6:39 pm
I don't think Lewis would be angry about the esteem to which he is held, though he might be a bit embarassed by it and he might have some difficulty understanding it. He set out to write in such a way as to unite the Christian faith under a common flag, and inasmuch as Christians of denominations ranging from Roman Catholic to conservative Presbyterian claim Lewis as their own, he accomplished his mission. He'd probably be very happy about that.
But, I think he would be very disappointed that a successor has not arisen in his wake, someone who is influenced by him as he was influenced by Chesterton and MacDonald. Many good Christian writers today quote Lewis like he's going out of style (from Piper, a reformed baptist, to Kreeft, a Roman Catholic, and all along the spectrum), and some even try to emulate his style, but no one has picked up the banner (of Christ, not of Lewis--everyone seems to want to carry forward the banner of Lewis) and carried it forward to the challenges facing intellectual Christianity today (which are different from the challenges confronted by Lewis in the first half of the 20th century).
I also think Lewis would feel that he is quoted (directly) way too much. Modern writers should come up with their own ideas, whether those ideas are influenced by Lewis or not. Lewis said that he fancied that he had never written anything without subconsciously quoting MacDonald, and yet you rarely find a direct quote from anyone in any of Lewis's works.
ecclesia semper reformata, semper reformanda.
--John Calvin