One-credit course considers the “big questions” through Lewis’ lens

The Department of Theology is offering a one-credit course entitled “C. S. Lewis on God, Evil, Virtue and Vice.” The course, taught by Wilsey Professor of Theology William Mattison III, focuses on addressing “the big questions” through the lens of Lewis’ Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters, and The Great Divorce. The class is filled to capacity, with 465 students in attendance every Monday night.

Mattison explained to the Rover his reasons for centering the course around C. S. Lewis: “I chose C. S. Lewis since he is one of the great Christian apologists, someone who explains the mysteries of the faith in terms accessible to non-believers, and in a manner that deepens the faith of believers. I wanted to read with students about the basic claims of our faith, and we do that through Mere Christianity.” 

The class is a continuation of the success of the spring 2024 one-credit class on Augustine’s Confessions, taught by Father Kevin Grove, C.S.C. Both courses were sponsored by the McGrath Institute for Church Life’s “Take a Second Look” program, an initiative developed by Fr. Grove, Joshua McManaway of the McGrath Institute, and Professor Anthony Pagliarini, the theology department’s Director of Undergraduate Studies. 

According to its website, the “Take a Second Look” program encourages students to think more deeply about “the beauty and profundity of the Catholic faith that they thought they had left behind, outgrown, or had never considered relevant to their lives in the first place.”

Mattison said, “Given that a one-credit course gets you little in terms of core or major requirements, it was a beautiful sign of the Spirit that so many ND undergraduates were longing to have their faith nourished in an intellectually informed manner. [The Confessions class] was such a success that the Theology department decided to offer such a course every spring, and for this second one they asked me.” 

Senior Maria Murinova told the Rover that it was largely Fr. Grove’s class that inspired her to enroll in this course on C. S. Lewis. “I took the [Lewis] class because the Augustine’s Confessions class with Fr. Grove last spring was really impactful for me. I’m also a huge fan of C. S. Lewis and have actually already read the works we’re going through in the course.”

Senior Ainsley Gibbs told the Rover that the choice of C. S. Lewis as the guiding thread of moral questions is what drew her to the class: “I was motivated to take the Lewis course because I read Mere Christianity over the summer and loved it so much that I read it again. I wanted to take this course to be introduced to more of his work in a theology context and with a professor and so many friends.” 

Mattison echoed Gibbs’ assessment of the communal aspect of the class, “I hope the course helps build friendships among ND students interested in living out their faith boldly in community with others.”

In addition to the intellectual and social aspects of the class, Mattison noted the applicability of Lewis’ apologetics to our regular experience: “[I] wanted them to see that our faith is eminently practical, and that claims about God, Jesus Christ, God’s grace and the Church shape our everyday lives. Hence the course is subtitled, ‘God and Evil, Virtue and Vice.’ Our faith’s claims about God and evil play out in how we live everyday (virtue and vice). To get at that, we read The Screwtape Letters and The Great Divorce.”

Senior Collin Bowers hopes to grow in his evangelical skills by reading Lewis: “I want to learn how to more effectively share Christianity with others. C. S. Lewis is a master at explaining Christian ideas to a secular world that puts its faith in the false gods of science, technology, and individualism. I particularly love his analogies, which make Christian ideas seem like common sense.” 

However, Bowers also expressed his reservations about presenting Mere Christianity as a sufficient guide to the basics of the Christian faith, since the work never addresses the question of an institutional and universal Church, a fundamental teaching of Catholicism. “Although Lewis was Anglican, his compelling arguments for God, Jesus Christ, and objective morality have led many to a deepened faith and to the Catholic Church founded by Christ Himself,” Bowers noted.

Lewis addresses this concern in the preface of Mere Christianity: “You will not learn from me whether you ought to become an Anglican, a Methodist, a Presbyterian, or a Roman Catholic. This omission is intentional (even in the list I have just given the order is alphabetical).”

Mattison explained that there is only one written requirement for the class: “For a final assignment, students compose their own Screwtape letters, ideally in the context of the life of a Notre Dame student. … I also hope to gather 30 to 40 of the best final submissions and get them published in a book, a sort of Notre Dame version of The Screwtape Letters.” Mattison added a possible name for the compilation: “The Devilish Leprechaun Letters.”

The class meets on Monday nights at 7 p.m. in the largest lecture hall on campus, Debartolo 101.

Daniel Martin is a senior from Skippack, Pennsylvania in the Program of Liberal Studies. He can be contacted at dmarti29@nd.edu. 

Photo Credit: Irish Rover

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