The Doctrine of the Atonement in the Writings of C.S. Lewis

Abstract

This dissertation examines the theology of C.S. Lewis in light of the writings of Athanasius, Augustine, and Anselm. Specifically, it looks at the role that justice and mercy play in each of these theologian’s understanding of the atonement. It proceeds on the basis that Lewis does in fact have a specific, robust, and coherent understanding of the atonement, and that his theological anthropology and his understanding of sanctification are an outworking of his understanding of the atonement. Chapter 1 lays out Lewis’ theological orientation and his method. Chapter 2 engages with Athanasius, Augustine, and Anselm on the atonement, and it lays out the particular concepts that were crucial in their understanding of the atonement, namely the justice and mercy of God. It outlines the fundamental concepts that we find in seedling form in Athanasius and Augustine and that were brought to full fruition in Anselm. It also argues that Anselm’s satisfaction theory is best understood as grounded in the nature of God, rather than in Anselm’s feudal, Medieval context. Chapter 3 examines Lewis on the atonement, and it traces the concepts that Lewis uses to describe and explain Christ’s death and resurrection. While Lewis does not adhere to any one doctrine or understanding of the atonement, there is a common thread that unites the various pictures that he takes to be true representations of the atonement. Fundamentally, for Lewis, the atonement is about the restitution of proper order that was disrupted in the Fall. Chapter 3 examines which theories of the atonement Lewis accepts and which he rejects. It also traces his understanding of the atonement to his understanding of the nature of God, relying on the concept of justitia defined as proper order, which has its source in the nature of God himself. In so doing, it aims to show that Lewis’ later understanding of the atonement is fundamentally Anselmian. Chapter 4 engages with Lewis’ theological anthropology and his understanding of sanctification, focusing on the process of “good infection” and how Lewis envisions the spread of the new life made available after Christ’s act of atonement. Sanctification, for Lewis, like the atonement, is also fundamentally about proper order. This plays out in his theological anthropology largely in terms of humility and obedience to God. Finally, chapter 5 addresses Narnia specifically and traces the concepts of justitia and proper order throughout the series and aims to show that, by focusing on proper order, we can see how the series hangs together as a whole theologically as an outworking of Lewis’ understanding of the atonement.