The C.S. Lewis Index: A Comprehensive Guide to Lewis's Writings and Ideas (Paperback)

by Janine Goffar (Author) "Abandonment [by God]-see also Absence of God..." (more)
Key Phrases: careful lest the desire, more evil than lust, finding anything vividly, Inner Rings, New Testament, Law of Nature (more...)

Product Details

• Paperback: 678 pages
• Publisher: Crossway Books (July 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0891079807
• ISBN-13: 978-0891079804
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,364,040 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Applying Lewis's ideas to other areas, March 4, 2001

By	D. Brown (Dayton, OH USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Mr. Merkel finds that Goffar takes "academic liberty" in applying some of Lewis's words to topics that he did not address. So far as it goes, this is a perfectly legitimate concern. He further believes that this constitutes the "propogation of a personal agenda", which is an interesting position given the quotes which she has selected under this heading.

It is, I think, a mis-reading of the Index to imply that all seven entries under "abortion" suggest that Lewis would have supported a pro-abortion position. Certainly some of the entries make such a suggestion (or at least lean in that direction), but others suggest the opposite (the references to God's view that birth is important, that death is an evil, that many sins also harm others and should thus be illegal).

In my view, all but one of the entries under the heading of Abortion were reasonably placed. They do not directly address the topic, and Goffar makes that very clear, both by the ** notation, and by parenthetical references to what Lewis _was_ writing about. The reader would never get the idea that Lewis had been actually writing about abortion, but does see some ideas of Lewis's that may shed light on the abortion controversy, which is the value of such entries.

On a topic about which Lewis wrote in volume, such as the nature of Christ, there is no need to extrapolate his ideas. On a topic about which he did not write at all, however, such extrapolation gives an idea as to how he might see the issue, or general concerns which might apply to one position or another.

As a final note, should the reader wish to read only those remarks of Lewis which directly address the topic at hand, this is easily done, as the others are conspicuously marked. No "close inspection" is required.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Let Lewis Speak for Himself, June 5, 2000

By	Gary Merkel (Newark, Delaware) - See all my reviews

I am deeply disappointed with Janine Goffar's index of C.S. Lewis's writing. On the very first page of this book, Goffar catalogs seven entries under the specific topic of "abortion" suggesting that C.S. Lewis would support a pro-choice position.

Upon closer inspection, we determine that Ms. Goffar takes academic liberty in applying the "ideas" of C.S. Lewis to topics that he did not even address. This is not scholarship, it is simply the propagation of a personal agenda under the cover of scholarship. A thoughtful reading of "The Abolition of Man" might have obviated such an extrapolation against Lewis's ideas.

In spiking this book with her own agenda, Ms. Goffar has been unjust to Lewis and the student who buys it. After reading page one of this book, I had learned much about Ms. Goffar, and very little about C.S. Lewis. As an index this book may be useful, but for a summary of Lewis's ideas buy his books, and not this one.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars At last, a concordance for C.S. Lewis' works, May 20, 2000

By	Volkert Volkersz (Snohomish, WA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

As an indivual who likes to read and quote C.S. Lewis, I have often thought about tackling the task that Janine Goffar has accomplished with this volume. Organized alphabecially, like a concordance, usually with a brief quote on the topic at hand, the reader is referred to one or more works by Lewis where the subject is covered in more detail. This volume would be a welcome addition to the collection of any serious reader (or quoter) of the theological works of Lewis, who introduced many to the concept of "mere Christianity."