Faith as Rational Narrative Paradigm in C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity
Open Access
Author:
Kenniston, Dillon Michael Russell
Area of Honors:
Communication Arts and Sciences (Berks/Lehigh)
Degree:
Bachelor of Arts
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Dr. Rachel Friedman And Dr. Weaver Santaniello, Thesis Supervisor Rachel Friedman, Thesis Supervisor Donna Santaniello, Thesis Supervisor Dr. Sandy Feinstein, Thesis Honors Advisor
Keywords:
Lewis Christianity narrative paradigm faith
Abstract:
My thesis investigates C.S. Lewis’ appeal to natural law and the context with which he uses and defends the word “faith” in his work Mere Christianity. To accomplish this, I use Walter Fisher’s narrative paradigm and apply the manner in which Fisher uses it to supplement the rational world paradigm to how readers of Lewis might come to better understand his definition of “faith.” Faith thus becomes a synthesis of rational world paradigm and narrative paradigm, which I call “rational narrative paradigm.” Intrinsic to this “faith” based exegetical framework is his apologia of Natural Law, which serves to further contextualize how Lewis unpacks the biblical Christian narrative.
