C.S. Lewis as a Central Figure in Formulating the Theistic Argument from Desire

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Peter S. Williams

Abstract

C.S. Lewis made various theistic arguments from the existence of a desire that he called “Joy”, “Romantic” longing or “Sehnsucht”. This paper evaluates Lewis’ contribution to this area of natural theology by situating it within an exploration of: a) the historical roots of such arguments, b) historic theological reflections upon desire, c) historic formulations of theistic arguments from desire, d) Lewis’ contemporaries who made theistic arguments from desire, and e) the contemporary philosophical discussion of theistic arguments from desire. With respect to the contemporary discussion, I focus upon my own defence of a cumulative argument from desire inspired by Lewis’ writings.

Article Details

How to Cite
Williams, P. S. “C.S. Lewis As a Central Figure in Formulating the Theistic Argument from Desire”. Linguaculture, vol. 10, no. 2, Dec. 2019, pp. 115-34, doi:10.47743/lincu-2019-2-0149.
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Author Biography

Peter S. Williams, NLA University College, Norway

Peter S. Williams (MA, MPhil) is a UK based philosopher and apologist and an Assistant Professor in Communication and Worldviews at Gimlekollen School of Journalism and Communication, NLA University College, Norway. His publications include: Getting at Jesus: A Comprehensive Critique of Neo-Atheist Nonsense about the Jesus of History (Wipf & Stock, 2019); A Faithful Guide to Philosophy: A Christian Introduction to the Love of Wisdom, reprint edition (Wipf & Stock, 2019); C.S. Lewis vs. the New Atheists (Paternoster, 2013); Understanding Jesus: Five Ways to Spiritual Enlightenment (Paternoster, 2011) and A Sceptic’s Guide to Atheism (Paternoster, 2009). He is co-editor of C.S. Lewis at Poets’ Corner (Cascade, 2016) and a contributor to Craig Blomberg et al, Resurrection: Faith or Fact? A Scholars’ Debate Between a Skeptic and a Christian (Pitchstone, 2019) and C.S. Lewis’s Christian Apologetics: Pro and Con (Brill/Rodopi, 2015). Peter is currently writing a response to neo-atheist Richard Dawkins’ latest book, Outgrowing God (Bantam, 2019). See www.peterswilliams.com.

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