Scripture, revelation and Platonism in C. S. Lewis

Abstract

Noting that C. S. Lewis's writings do not contain a systematic statement of his understanding of the relationship between scripture and revelation, this essay exposes the literary, theological and philosophical undergirding of his approach to scripture, which was neither fundamentalist nor modernist. It then outlines his treatment of six ‘modes’ of revelation: five general and incomplete (the numinous, the notion of Sehnsucht, conscience/the moral law, the election of Israel, pagan myths), the sixth particular and perfect – Jesus Christ. After considering Lewis's notion of ‘transposition’ and delineating the trajectory of his philosophical idealism, the essay contends that Lewis's tendency to Platonise reality leads him to articulate some unfortunate and unsatisfactory theological expressions.