Welcome to Lesser-Known Lewis, where two friends and C. S. Lewis fans explore his lesser-known works.
While C. S. Lewis is well-known for being widely enjoyed on a vast number of Christian topics across a variety of genres, his essays, sermons, and other shorter works have often, sadly, gone unread. Even Aravis, in A Horse and His Boy, had “never heard of anyone who wanted to read the essays.”
However, we are here to change this.
At Lesser-Known Lewis, we believe that C. S. Lewis’ essays are just as worth reading as any of the other legendary works he wrote. Many of them are of pressing importance for Christians in today’s world.
On Lesser-Known Lewis, we want to deliver the most important and relevant parts of each of Lewis’ essays as we tackle them one by one, injecting each discussion with as much personal reflection (and laughter!) as possible.
While we admit to being nerds, this is not an academic podcast. We are not scholars, we are fans, amateurs. Lovers of Lewis and, more importantly, lovers of Jesus. Ultimately, Jesus is the point of this podcast. We do not want to leave each episode having merely “looked at” an essay. We will not be content until we have “looked along” the essay to see the one who Lewis was always pointing at — Jesus Christ.
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To Connect — lesserknownlewis@gmail.com
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Who is Lesser-Known Lewis?
Lesser-Known Lewis was created by co-hosts Jordan Duncan and Sean Stevenson-Douglas in 2022. Jordan and Sean went to the same high school and youth groups together way back in 2004, before podcasts even existed. But one was a cool rebel and the other was a sheltered nerd (10 points if you can guess which was which). So it wasn’t until they ended up at the same Bible college in a small, prairie Canadian town that they became really good friends, bonding over their shared love of the Bible, books, and Battlestar Galactica.
After they both graduated from Eston College in Saskatchewan, Jordan spent the better part of a decade serving families in churches around southern Alberta. He then completed a Master of Divinity from Trinity School for Ministry in Pennsylvania, where his love for C. S. Lewis was re-ignited. Jordan’s life-long obsession has been finding ways to communicate the good news of Jesus clearly, creatively, and compellingly in everyday language.
Sean, since graduating from Eston, married his love Melissa and they now have three children. After spending a few years overseas, Sean returned with his family to serve as the President of Eston College. Sean also received his Master of Arts in Leadership and now sits on the ACOP Canadian Leadership Team. His passion is making disciples who make disciples. His joy in ministry is to activate people in the mission of God and in a living connection with the Holy Spirit. He is an avid student of spiritual formation through ancient church practices and spending time in creation.
How We Got Here
Early in 2022, a quick “catch up” text conversation between Sean and Jordan revealed that they were both reading — and loving! — a collection of Lewis’ essays. Their response, “What!? You too?” led to the creation of the podcast within a few weeks. “What? You too?” is the same response that Lewis said creates friendships, and also led David and Matt to create the Pints with Jack podcast. So with similar goals, mission, passions, and purposes, Pints found it fitting to host Lesser-Known Lewis on their site, and we are thankful!
Episode Catalogue
Season 1 – C. S. Lewis for a World in Conflict
| Episode | Essays / Episode Title | Description |
| 1 | “Membership” | What’s Lewis got to do with attending church? Lewis gives us reasons for returning to church in the post-COVID world. |
| 2 | “Learning in War-Time” | Lewis teaches us how to navigate and conduct ourselves in a post-COVID world. Lewis helps us think through the Christian response when the world faces war. |
| 3 | “Why I Am Not a Pacifist” | Lewis helps us think through the Christian response when the world faces war. |
| 4 | “On Living in an Atomic Age” | Lewis teaches us how to navigate and conduct ourselves in a post-COVID world. Lewis helps us think through the Christian response when the world faces war. |
| 5 | “Equality” & “Two Ways with the Self” | Two short essays to help follow up the “Membership” essay in episode one and reflect further on reasons for returning to church in the post-COVID world. |
| 6 | “Meditation on the Third Commandment” | What’s Lewis got to do with political Facebook posts, COVID lockdowns, and freedom rallies? Lewis suggests a way forward for political tensions in the post-COVID world. |
| 7 | “The Necessity of Chivalry” | What’s Lewis got to do with Jordan Peterson? Lewis paints a vision for godly masculinity, one highly sought-after and apparently confused in today’s world. |
| 8 | “A Dream” & “Blimpophobia” & “Private Bates” | What’s Lewis got to do with COVID lockdowns and emergency measures? Lewis’ arguments against the restrictions of freedoms in his post-WWII world might draw some parallels to the restrictions of freedoms in our post-COVID world. |
| 9 | “Religion and Rocketry” | What’s Lewis got to do with Elon Musk and SpaceX? Lewis thought and wrote a lot about space travel, alien creatures, and how redemption works into all of that. In these two essays, he puts many of those thoughts together in eloquent prose. Timely thoughts for a world where conspiracies are common, and privatized space travel is fastly approaching. |
| 10 | “The Seeing Eye” | What’s Lewis got to do with Elon Musk and SpaceX? Lewis thought and wrote a lot about space travel, alien creatures, and how redemption works into all of that. In these two essays, he puts many of those thoughts together in eloquent prose. Timely thoughts for a world where conspiracies are common, and privatized space travel is fastly approaching. |
| 11 | “The Conditions for a Just War” | What’s Lewis got to do with hangmen? Lewis helps us think through the Christian response when the world faces war. |
| Finale | Lewis and Scripture | We reflect back on all the essays, connecting each essay to as many scriptures as we can. |
Season 2 – C. S. Lewis as Guide for the Christian Life
| Episodes | Essay / Episode Title | Description | Guests |
| 1-2 | “Work and Prayer” | Lewis on Prayer | |
| 3-4 | “The Efficacy of Prayer” | Lewis on Prayer | |
| 5-6 | “Petitionary Prayer: A Problem Without an Answer” | Lewis on Prayer | |
| 7-10 | “The Weight of Glory” | Lewis for Advent | Rev. Dr. Dean Pinter |
| 11 | “Scraps” | Lewis for Christmas | |
| 12, 15 | “Some Thoughts” | Lewis for Christmas | |
| Bonus | To See and Shine the Weight of Glory — An Epiphany Sermon | Bonus episode: A sermon by Jordan for Epiphany | |
| Bonus | No Ordinary Episodes: A Conversation with Lewis’ Holiest Object — His Neighbour Part 2 — His Friends | Bonus episodes: Conversations with Lewis’ Neighbour | Terry Legg |
| 13-14 | “The Psalms” | Lewis on the Psalms | |
| 16-17 | “Miserable Offenders” | Lewis for Lent | |
| 18-19 | “The Trouble with ‘X'” | Lewis for Lent | Rev. Dr. Joel Scandrett |
| 20-21 | “On Forgiveness” | Lewis for Lent | William O’Flaherty |
| 22-23 | “Dangers of National Repentance” | Lewis for Lent | Rev. Dr. David Ney |
| Finale | Lewis and Scripture | Season 2 Wrap-up, reflecting on what we can learn from Lewis about how to read and use scripture | Rev. Dr. Bryan Hollon |
| Bonus | The Gift of Prayer in Narnia | Bonus episode: a talk Jordan gave about what Lewis might be saying about prayer through the Chronicles of Narnia |
Season 3 – C. S. Lewis “On Metaphor and Myth”
| Episodes | Essay / Episode Title | Description | Guests |
| 1 | What is Myth? | An introduction to the idea of Myth | Dr. Charlie W. Starr |
| 2 | Why Does Myth Matter? | An introduction to the idea of Myth | Dr. Charlie W. Starr |
| 3-4 | “Is Theology Poetry?” | Lewis answers the accusation that Christians believe based merely on poetry, and we are introduced to his ideas of Metaphor, Myth, the Myth of scientism, and Epistemology. | Dr. Jerry Root |
| 5-6 | “The Language of Religion” | Lewis on Metaphor | Mere C. S. Lewis Podcast |
| 7-8 | “Bluspels and Flalansferes: A Semantic Nightmare” | Lewis on Metaphor | |
| 9 | “Who gaf me drink?” | A review Lewis wrote on Romanticism Comes of Age by his friend and fellow Inkling Owen Barfield, and a discussion on metaphor and imagination from the Barfieldian perspective | Owen A. Barfield |
| 10 | “G. A. L. Burgeon” | A review Lewis wrote on This Ever Diverse Pair by his friend and fellow Inkling Owen Barfield, and a discussion on metaphor and imagination from the Barfieldian perspective | Owen A. Barfield |
| 11-12 | “The Funeral of a Great Myth” | Lewis on the Myth of “Scientism” | Dr. Bethany Sollereder |
| 13-15 | “Light” AKA “The Man Born Blind” | ADVENT: The themes of Epistemology & Sensucht in Lewis’ first and last short story. | Dr. Charlie W. Starr |
| Bonus | Why Read Lewis #CSLewisReadingDay | Dr. Root shares how his journey to Christ paralleled his journey into Lewis | Dr. Jerry Root |
| 16 | Sept 22, 1931 Letter to Arthur Greeves | ADVENT: Lewis on Sensucht and his Addison’s Walk conversion conversation | |
| 17-18 | “Myth Became Fact” | CHRISTMAS: Lewis on Myth and the Incarnation | Rev. Andrew Lazo |
| 19 | Oct 1, 1931 Letter to Arthur Greeves | ADVENT: Lewis on Myth becoming fact in his Addison’s Walk conversion conversation | |
| 20-21 | “Psychoanalysis and Literary Criticism” | Lewis on Myth: against Frued and for Jung | Dr. Chris Pipkin, The Inklings Variety Hour Podcast |
| 22 | “Three Kinds of Men” | LENT | Eston College Students |
| 23-24 | “A Slip of the Tongue” | LENT | |
| Bonus | Sarah Arthur & her book “Once Upon a Queen” | Author Sarah Author talks about the process of writing her new book which incorporates myth becoming fact | Sarah Arthur |
| Bonus | Myth & Imagination in Spiritual Formation | Author Sarah Author talks about how myth and imagination are important avenues for spiritual formation | Sarah Arthur |
| 25-26 | “Meditation in a Toolshed” | Lewis on Epistemology | Rev. Andrew Lazo |
| Finale | Myth & Scripture | Season 3 Wrap-up, reflecting on how reading Myths and learning to read Myth can help us read Scripture better | Dr. Louis Markos |
Season 4 – Apologetics for a Disenchanted World
| Episodes | Essay / Episode Title | Description | Guests |
| 1 | “God in the Dock” | ||
| 2 | “The Decline of Religion” | ||
| 3 | “Revival or Decay?” | ||
| 4 | “On the Transmission of Christianity” | Daniel Payne, The Lamp-Post Listener | |
| 5 | “Modern Man and His Categories of Thought” | ||
| Bonus | Disenchanted Man and His Categories of Thought | ||
| 6 | “Before We Can Communicate” and “Pittenger & the Version Vernacular” | ||
| Bonus | The Vulgar Gospel | ||
| 7 | “Is Theism Important?” | ||
| 8 | “Obstinacy in Belief” | ||
| 9 | “Christian Apologetics” | ||
| 10 | “Talking About Bicycles” | ADVENT | Daniel Payne, The Lamp-Post Listener |
| 11 | “Hedonics” | ADVENT | |
| Finale | Scripture in a Disenchanted World |
Recurring Mini-Series’ on Advent, Christmas, Lent, and Scripture
C. S. Lewis was an Anglican and celebrated the seasons of Advent, Christmas, and Lent according to their traditional theological themes and spiritual practices. Each year as we journey through these seasons of the Church calendar ourselves, we will hit pause on whichever set of essays we are looking at, and look instead at a few essays from Lewis that will help us reflect appropriately on the Church season we are in.
Below is a list of essays we have covered for each Church season so far, as well as our season finale episodes which always come back to Lewis and Scripture. Click the links to be taken to the first episode for each essay.
Advent
“The Weight of Glory” with Rev. Dr. Dean Pinter
“Light” AKA “The Man Born Blind” with Dr. Charlie W. Starr
Sept 22, 1931 Letter to Arthur Greeves
Christmas
“Scraps”
“Some Thoughts” (Part 1)
“Myth Became Fact” with Rev. Andrew Lazo
Lent
“Some Thoughts” (Part 2)
“Miserable Offenders”
“The Trouble with ‘X'” with Rev. Dr. Joel Scandrett
“On Forgiveness” with William O’Flaherty
“Dangers of National Repentance” with Rev. Dr. David Ney
“Three Kinds of Men” with Eston College Students
“A Slip of the Tongue”
Scripture (Season Finale Episodes)
Season 1 Lewis & Scripture
Season 2 Lewis & Scripture with Rev. Dr. Bryan Hollon
Season 3 Scripture as Myth
Bonus Episodes
Intro to Lesser-Known Lewis
A Sermon for Epiphany
No Ordinary Episode (Part 1) — Lewis’ Neighbour
No Ordinary Episode (Part 2) — Lewis’ Friends
The Gift of Prayer in Narnia
1 Year Anniversary — Looking Backward & Forward
The Lost Screwtape Sequel with Dr. Charlie W. Starr
Why Read Lewis — #CSLewisReadingDay with Dr. Jerry Root
Sarah Arthur & her book “Once Upon a Queen”
Myth & Imagination in Spiritual Formation with Sarah Arthur
Collaborations
After Hours on Pints with Jack
“Religion and Rocketry” on The Inklings Variety Hour
Talking Jack’s Essays on The Lamp-Post Listener
Ch 7 of The Last Battle on The Lamp-Post Listener
Future Seasons:
Future seasons will be made up of essays that are related to one another, centering around a book or essay by Lewis. Of course, Lewis did not intend for any of these essays to be collected or considered together in any fashion. But we have categorized them together with what we find to be helpful themes and will use the following books and essays as launch pads or centerpieces for the upcoming seasons of essays we explore:
The Abolition of Man
Miracles
An Experiment in Criticism
Mythopoeia
“On Stories”
“Christianity and Culture”
“Mere Christians”
