Ep 78: Dr. Michael Ward on C.S. Lewis, Paganism, and Christmas

Dr. Michael Ward is a professor at both Oxford University and Houston Baptist University where he teaches on imaginative apologetics. Dr. Ward is perhaps best know as a C.S. Lewis scholar and for his groundbreaking work Planet Narnia. You can read more about his life, his research focus, and find links to many of his articles at his websites:
http://www.michaelward.net/
http://www.planetnarnia.com/

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I interviewed Dr. Ward in research for my book Celebrating the 12 Days of Christmas. I specifically wanted to ask him what C.S. Lewis' approach to "paganism," and mythology was in the hopes of gaining a broader understanding of how that can help us view some of the pagan influences embedded into our Christmas customs and traditions. I also wanted to ask him about Lewis' views on Christmas and what some of his own Christmas traditions were. This episode was released on November 29 to commemorate Lewis' birthday. In my book there is a section on paganism and Christmas that was directly influenced by my interview with Dr. Ward as well as his writing, which can primarily be found in these 3 articles: "God the Father of Lights: C.S. Lewis on Christianity and Paganism
C.S. Lewis, Jupiter, and Christmas
C.S. Lewis and the Star of Bethlehem

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Related Podcast Episodes and Articles:
Ep. 29: Melody Green—Tolkien Scholar
Episode 15: Mike Foster Tolkien Scholar and Author.
Ep 71: Happy Pagan Christmas!
Ep 72: The 12 Days of Christmas, New Years, and Epiphany
Ep28: Dialouges With Brandon: What Makes a Good Novel?

Episode 08: Dr. Jeremiah Gibbs on Postmodern Apologetics

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