At this week’s Theological Research Seminar, Dr. Stanley Porter will be presenting, “What Kind of a Scholar was C.S. Lewis?”
Read the abstract and his bio below.
All are welcome to attend in Camelford Hall (room 226) at McMaster Divinity College at 1:00pm or via livestream at the link below:
Join the Livestream
Password: z00m (Note that the password has zeros rather than “o”)
Abstract
C. S. Lewis is mostly known today as a writer of very popular “children’s literature” or popular Christian apologetics—and rightly so, since his writings in these areas have had a tremendous influence in popular literature and Christian lay theology. However, producing such writings was not Lewis’s regular job. In fact, in his day Lewis was from the start of his career until his death known as a major scholar of medieval and Renaissance literature, first at Oxford and then Cambridge universities. In this paper, I will examine some of Lewis’s major works of literary history, theory, and criticism (according to one author’s tripartite division) and make some evaluations of the contributions that he made—and even controversial stances that he took. Many of his ideas have stood the test of time, while others are far more controversial or even disputed in contemporary literary criticism.
Bio
Stan has taught for over thirty years in universities and seminaries in Canada, the USA, and the UK. Stan has been President and Professor of New Testament at MDC since 2001. His publications include 38 authored books and over 400 authored journal articles and chapters along with over 100 other shorter pieces; he has also edited over 100 volumes. He remains a well-known and respected expert in Greek and New Testament studies throughout the world, but has interests that cover the range of New Testament studies, from Paul to the gospels to papyrology and textual criticism, as well as the Septuagint. He has supervised over 50 successful PhD students. Stan has a vision for MDC to continue to be a first-choice seminary of academic excellence and spiritual integrity. He is also the founder of the Centre for Biblical Linguistics, Translation, and Exegesis, and remains a strong supporter of OpenText.org. Stan attends a local Baptist church.
About TRS
The MDC Theological Research Seminar (TRS) is a bimonthly gathering for all MDC students and faculty. TRS meets from 1:00 PM to 1:50 PM on alternating Mondays, and includes about thirty minutes for the paper presentation and twenty minutes for discussion.
All advanced degree students are invited to present a paper and share your research with your colleagues. TRS is an excellent opportunity to “test drive” a paper you will be presenting at an upcoming conference and receive helpful feedback on your current research projects. Thinking about submitting an article to a journal and want some interaction first? TRS will provide it. Just published an article or an essay and want to share it us? TRS is an excellent opportunity to broadcast it.
This year the organizing committee consists of Dr. James Dvorak, Dr. Phil Zylla, and Dr. Gord Heath. To submit a paper, contact a member of the organizing committee.