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Showing posts from September, 2022

The Middle Ages is not done yet...

  Alongside not bathing (a stereotype that happens not to be true) and mouths of rotting teeth (equally false), one other aspect of the Middle Ages we can do without apparently is the Medieval model of the cosmos. Superseded by science, it might remain of antiquarian interest but no more than that. In no way can it be be believed in or operate as a model whose contemplation may have something to offer us in the course of our lives. We have, happily or not, superseded the medieval mind. C.S. Lewis, however, thought differently and not only was he an engaged, and engaging, scholar of that very mind but sought to imaginatively transpose it in forms that put it to use in helping shape minds anew whether through Christian apologetics, science fiction or children's fantasy. Jason M. Baxter's 'The Medieval Mind of C.S. Lewis: How Great Books Shaped a Great Mind' lucidly explores how he did so, and more importantly why we might ourselves think it important. We might think it im