Not another book on C. S. Lewis! Yes, but this is rather different, as indicated by the subtitle.

Introducing author and theme

As well as covering familiar territory, Brazier offers insights into a side of Lewis’s faith that has been largely overlooked, namely how he came to understand the Jewishness of Jesus and the Hebraic background to Christianity. Perhaps the only previous study of this kind is a brief five-page essay by Kathryn Lindskoog, intriguingly entitled ‘C. S. Lewis’s Anti-Anti-Semitism’. So this is a welcome in-depth addition to our knowledge of one of our best-known Christian apologists and writers.

Not surprisingly, Lewis’s marriage to Joy Davidman, described by him as a Jewish Christian (the term Messianic Jew doesn’t seem to have been in vogue then), is a key part of this story. His relationship and personal life with Joy gave him a more mature understanding than he might otherwise have had, and this features strongly in this book. It is clear that in his later years he was less dominated by Greek philosophical categories and concepts, which gradually gave way to Hebraic ones.

The author, Paul Brazier, is an independent scholar and theologian who also has a sympathetic understanding of Jewish matters, especially concerning Jesus and the New Testament. He holds several degrees, including one in theology, and has published widely in such areas, including a systematic analysis of Lewis’s theology.

... in his later years he was less dominated by Greek philosophical categories and concepts, which gradually gave way to Hebraic ones.

In the Introduction, long enough to be a chapter of its own, Brazier states that his decision to write this book originated in a comment by someone who dismissed Lewis as anti-Semitic, based purely on one line in his The Great Divorce, where the reader in question couldn’t distinguish between Lewis’s own views and that of the character he was portraying.

The aim of Brazier’s book is to examine precisely what Lewis “believed and wrote about the ancient Hebrews, their scriptures, their status as God’s chosen people, and about today’s Jews” (p.3). What did Lewis really have to say about Judaism and the Jews, supersessionism, replacement theology and Israel? Here we will find out, in a book whose objective “is to uncover and analyse this Hebraic seam to C. S. Lewis: the man and his work” (p.5).

Brazier’s book is divided into three parts, with thirteen chapters in all. Each chapter opens with quotes from Lewis and either part of the Old or New Testaments. These quotes form the basis of the analysis in each chapter.

Revelation

Part 1, entitled Revelation, opens with ‘The Young C. S. Lewis’, a chapter examining his life and the early growth of his religious beliefs, which show a mixed but developing attitude towards the Jewish people. Lewis’s conversion had several stages, according to Brazier, who relates how Lewis came to re-evaluate everything in his life and particularly what he read in the Scriptures.

Lewis always pointed to Paul’s Letter to the Romans when looking at the issues of supersessionism and replacement theology.

The remaining chapters in this section are entitled ‘The Hebrews, the Jews . . . and God’ (there are two chapters on this) and ‘God’s Chosen: Holiness, Theology and Spirituality . . . Pride’. Comparisons are made with Karl Barth and with some of his fellow inklings who held “a veiled anti-Semitism in [their] innate beliefs and cultural background” (p.14). The final chapter shows how Lewis always pointed to Paul’s Letter to the Romans when looking at the issues of supersessionism and replacement theology and how his approach was “to cut through the pretence of categorizing such theories as academic, impartial propositions, and to expose them as instances of the sin of pride” (p.15).

Scripture

Part 2, entitled Scripture, starts with a chapter examining Lewis’s view of the Hebrew Bible as holy and inspired, and how he tackled the miraculous and the doctrine of creation. The conclusion is that for Lewis the Bible is ruled over by a divine presence that inspires but does not dictate. The other chapters in this section focus entirely on the Psalms and his book Reflections on the Psalms. These cover topics such as Hebrew theological poetry, a Hebraic doctrine of creation as found in the Psalms, and issues of Hebraic prefigurement, especially regarding the Messiah and Jesus.

Family

Part 3 is entitled Family, perhaps mainly because the last chapter covers his marriage to Joy Davidman and the profound influence this had on his later views on religion and theology, which become more deeply personal and Hebraic. This section also examines the brief essay by Lindskoog mentioned above.

For Lewis, the Bible is ruled over by a divine presence that inspires but does not dictate.

In the conclusion, Brazier states that Lewis was “at his most Hebraic after the death of his wife” (p.250). Despite feeling betrayed and abandoned, he found a way out of his confusion and rebellion via a greater Hebraic understanding of the scriptures and life in general. The dramatic changes over the course of his own life came to a head in these later years.

The book ends with a very full Bibliography and indices of names and subjects, plus, rather more distinctively, five pages of Sectional Contents, a more detailed version of the Contents page at the start of the book.

Overall, this splendid piece of work is a worthy addition to anyone’s bookshelf.

A Hebraic Inkling (312pp) is published by Pickwick Publications (£29.00) and is on offer at Blackwells for £22.27 (inc p&p).