Theology and Children’s Literature, with Daniel McClain

Church Life Today

As you may have heard on recent episodes of Church Life Today, Ignatius Press just released a new volume called The Chronicles of Transformation: A Spiritual Journey with C. S. Lewis. I am the editor of that volume, for which seven other scholars in theology, literature, and the arts joined me to write contemplative, spiritual essays on Lewis’ Chronicles. We also brought in the original illustrations of an incredible visual artist and an original poem cycle from a remarkable poet. The idea of The Chronicles of Transformation is to help adult and young adult readers to rediscover (or discover for the first time) the joy of entering into Narnia, except this time to be even more mindful about the deep and abiding moral and spiritual transformation that can take place there for those of us who dare to become childlike. In previous weeks we’ve shared interviews with some of the contributors to the volume––and maybe we will have some more of the contributors join us soon––but today we want to bring back an interview that was not explicitly about Lewis or his chronicles, though it had everything to do with the enduring value of children’s literature, for children and for adults. This interview with the Rev. Dr. Daniel McClain first aired in 2019 after he gave a lecture at Notre Dame on just this topic. I hope you enjoy it, and I also hope you will check out our volume on The Chronicles of Transformation.

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