Wade Center

If you want to understand the writings of C.S. Lewis, Dorothy L. Sayers, and Charles Williams, you need to read Dante Alighieri's,  The Divine Comedy. In this week's episode co-hosts Dr. Jim Beitler and Aaron Hill sit down with Dr. Richard Hughes Gibson, Professor of English at Wheaton College, to discuss his recent book called The Way of Dante that details the medieval Italian poet's influence on three of the Wade Center's authors. Journey with us through hell, purgatory, and paradise as we ask Rick about how Lewis, Sayers, and Williams read, reflected on, and debated Dante's allegorical work and why all of this matters for our lives today.

How can we trust a God that let's bad things happen to us? How can we worship in the ordinary and in the difficult times in life, even when we are suffering? In this week's episode, co-hosts Dr. Jim Beitler and Aaron Hill sit down with author and Anglican priest, Tish Harrison Warren, to discuss her recent books and her newest forthcoming book "What Grows in Weary Lands: On Christian Resilience" about how can we continue to worship and pray when we are weary and our spiritual lives feel arid. Books/Talks by Tish Harrison Warren Prayer in the Night: For Those Who Work or Watch or Weep Liturgy of the Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Everyday Life Wade Center Lecture: "Waiting on the Slow Work of God: How the Habit of Hope Transforms Us" Songs/Artists Mentioned "Show the Way" by David Wilcox "Your Labor is not in Vain" by Wendell Kimbrough Jon Guerra

Would J.R.R. Tolkien have approved of the recent Rings of Power series or Peter Jackson's The Hobbit trilogy? We couldn't resist asking Dr. Holly Ordway her opinion on Tolkien's films and how she thinks Tolkien would have reacted. Don't forget to check out out main episode this week with Dr. Holly Ordway about her recent book on Tolkien's Faith: A Spiritual Biography (2023) and the truth about whether the friendship between Tolkien and C.S. Lewis fell apart (or not) at the end of their lives.

Millions explore and live inside of J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy novels on a regular basis, but few study and examine his faith. Join co-hosts Dr. Jim Beitler and Aaron Hill as they discuss sit down with Dr. Holly Ordway, author of Tolkien's Faith: A Spiritual Biography (2023), to discuss Tolkien's faith, his friendship with C.S. Lewis, his opinion of The Chronicles of Narnia, why his novels weren't more spiritually explicit with their content and themes, and how Tolkien read Scripture—including his work on translating the book of Jonah.

Crystal L. and David C. Downing, former co-hosts of the podcast, return to discuss Crystal's latest book, The Wages of Cinema (IVP, 2025). Join Dr. Jim Beitler and Aaron Hill as they sit down to discuss the intersection of film theory with Dorothy L. Sayers and Christian theology. If you want to dig in more make sure to watch Crystal's lecture at The Wade Center on YouTube this past summer and grab a copy of her book over at InterVarsity Press.

In addition to being his teaching home, Oxford was an integral part of C.S. Lewis's life. His drafty rooms in The New Building, his pastoral residence at The Kilns, the trees lining Addison's Walk all shaped the life and writings of C.S. Lewis. Join co-hosts Dr. Jim Beitler and Aaron Hill as they go on a tour of C.S. Lewis's Oxford with Dr. Simon Horobin, Professor of English Language & Literature at Magdalen College. Grab a copy of Dr. Horobin's book here.

Did C.S. Lewis believe in evolution or not? Join co-hosts Dr. Jim Beitler and Aaron Hill for a bonus episode where we ask this question of Dr. John H. Walton, Emeritus Professor of Old Testament at Wheaton College. Dr. Walton is widely known for his Lost World Series books as well as his commentaries and teaching on the creation account in Scripture. Make sure to check out our main episode with Dr. Walton where we discuss how Lewis frame creation in his writings, particularly in Perelandra and The Magician's Nephew.

C.S. Lewis fictionalized the creation account in several of his novels, most notably in Perelandra and The Magician's Nephew. Join co-hosts Dr. Jim Beitler and Aaron Hill as they explore Lewis's imaginative and expansive creation narratives with Dr. John H. Walton, Emeritus Professor of Old Testament at Wheaton College. Dr. Walton is widely known for his Lost World Series books as well as his own interpretations of the creation account in Scripture. You won't want to miss this week's discussion as we explore how Lewis's writings compare to the biblical account on a host of topics from sacred space, to the Fall, to creation ex nihilo, to the serpent, and so much more.

"At the end of all our exploring, we will arrive where we began and know the place for the first time." - "Little Gidding," T.S. Eliot Listeners shared some amazing "Books Worth (re)Reading" in response to our first installment, so we are back with a sequel! Join co-hosts Dr. Jim Beitler and Aaron Hill as they revisit the books that we (and our listeners) love and continue to reread. If you are a regular listener, please email us your list of books as well as an explanation of how they've shaped your mind, imagination, and spirit. Below are the second set of books mentioned in this installment of the series. Gilead, Marilynne Robinson Being Disciples: Essentials of the Christian Life, Rowan Williams The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming, Henri J.M. Nouwen The Strength to Love, Martin Luther King, Jr. What Are People For?, Wendell Berry The Question of God: C.S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud Debate God, Love, Sex, and the Meaning of Life, Armand, Nicholi Piranesi, Susanna Clarke The One, The Three, and the Many: God, Creation and the Culture of Modernity, Colin E. Gunton Life Together, Dietrich Bonhoeffer The Man Who Was Thursday, G.K. Chesterton (Print copy) 

Millions know him as a novelist and an Oxford Don, but C.S. Lewis's most lasting impact may be his role model as a Christian witness and evangelist. President of Wheaton College, Dr. Philip Ryken joins co-hosts Dr. Jim Beitler and Aaron Hill to explore C.S. Lewis's views about the witness of Scripture and what he can teach us about our own approach to Christian witness. How did Lewis approach Scripture, doctrine, and evangelism and how might that inform our own efforts to bear witness to the truth?

If this podcast is bound together by anything, it is a love of books—particularly, a love for books written by the Wade Center authors. Inspired by C.S. Lewis's habit and love of re-reading books, co-hosts Dr. Jim Beitler and Aaron Hill embark this week on an exploration of the books that they love and continue to reread. If you are a regular listener, please email us your list of books as well as an explanation of how they've shaped your mind, imagination, and spirit. Below are the first set of books mentioned in this episode. The Magician's Nephew, C.S. Lewis The Two Towers, J.R.R. Tolkien Perelandra, C.S. Lewis The Overstory, Richard Powers Evocations of Grace, Joseph Sittler For the Life of the World, Alexander Schmemann No Future Without Forgiveness, Desmond Tutu Creation and Fall, Dietrich Bonhoeffer "The Word of Jesus on Prayer," Unspoken Sermons II, George MacDonald The Great Divorce, C.S. Lewis

Sometimes the best way to understand an author is by exploring their conversation partners? Who are they responding to? In his recent Hansen lectures—now released in book form through IVP as The Last Romantic—Dr. Jeffrey Barbeau explores the ways in which C.S. Lewis is indebted to, influenced by, and fulfills the aspirations of Romantic authors such as Wordsworth, Coleridge, and even Schleiermacher. Join Dr. Jim Beitler, Director of the Marion E. Wade Center, and co-host Aaron Hill as they sit down with Dr. Jeffrey Barbeau to discuss how Lewis is The Last Romantic and how seeing him through this literary light can help us understand not just Lewis's writings but his legacy and applicability to modern life.

In addition to creating myths themselves, the friendship of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien is the stuff of myth and legend. Join Dr. Jim Beitler, Director of the Marion E. Wade Center, and co-host Aaron Hill as they sit down with illustrator and professor John Hendrix to discuss his latest graphic novel, The Mythmakers: The Remarkable Fellowship of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. We discuss the visual language that Hendrix created for The Inklings, his creative process, and the ways in which Lewis and Tolkien impacted the 20th and 21st centuries.

In our anxiety-ridden age, we are all seeking a home where we feel safe, loved, and accepted. But what happens if no place on earth and no moment in time satisfies your deepest longings for home and community? Join Dr. Jim Beitler, Director of the Marion E. Wade Center, and co-host Aaron Hill as they connect with Amy Baik Lee, author of This Homeward Ache. Explore what C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and George MacDonald might teach us about the difference between home-sickness, nostalgia, and "this homeward ache;" how we should respond to Sehnsucht; and Clyde S. Kilby's resolutions for a life well-lived.

We're back! Join Dr. Jim Beitler, Director of the Marion E. Wade Center, and co-host Aaron Hill as they connect with Jonathan Rodgers, author of The Wilderking Trilogy and host of the celebrated podcast, The Habit. Recently republished by our friends over at The Rabbit Room, Jim and Aaron discuss the first novel in Rodger's Wilderking trilogy, The Bark of the Bog Owl. Learn how to be a writer even if you don't feel like one, how to accept and embrace God's plan (and timing) for your life, and how Wade Center authors such as C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien inspired and helped shape Rodger's own fantasy stories.

We're back! Join Dr. Jim Beitler, Director of the Marion E. Wade Center, and co-host Aaron Hill as they sit down with Dr. Kristen L. Page to discuss everything from how C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien portrayed ecosystems and environmentalism in The Chronicles of Narnia to The Lord of the Rings, to how studying ecology can help us understand our place in the order of Creation, to Dr. Page's recent Hansen lectures published as the book, The Wonders of Creation. Don't forget to check out Dr. Page's new podcast "about the stories we hear from the landscapes around us" called Listen Here.

We're back! In our first new episode of Season 7, Dr. Jim Beitler, Director of the Marion E. Wade Center, and co-host Aaron Hill sit down for a jovial and wide-ranging discussion with Dr. Matthew J. Milliner. Topics ranges from one of Charles William's most praised works, The Descent of the Dove, to Dr. Milliner's recent book The Everlasting People: G.K. Chesterton and the First Nations, and the dangers of experimenting and re-inventing Christianity as a spiritual explorer. 

To celebrate the start of the Wade Center's new Director, Dr. Jim Beitler (Professor of English) we decided to re-release an archival episode recorded and released back in July 2019. 'Rhetoric' is often a byword for hollow or negative speech. In truth, rhetoric is the art of persuasion. This week, Dr. Jim Beitler discusses his new book, Seasoned Speech: Rhetoric in the Life of the Church. Of the five figures featured in Beitler's book, we discuss the rhetoric of C.S. Lewis and Dorothy L. Sayers. What can we learn from their example, and how can properly "seasoned speech" assist us in persuasively communicating the truth of the gospel?

Our dear friends and co-hosts of the podcast, Drs. Crystal & David C. Downing, are retiring as co-directors of the Wade Center in June. Professor of English, Dr. Jim Beitler will serve as the Wade Center's new director starting in July. To bid the Downings a fond farewell and pass the baton to our new director, we decided to share some of our favorite Wade author quotes. If you would like to tell the Downings how much the podcast has meant to you, send them an email at wade@wheaton.edu and we'll pass it along. Despair not, faithful listeners! Dr. Beitler and Producer Aaron Hill will return with new episodes, a new format, and new topics in September. To tide you over until we re-launch, we will be re-releasing some of our favorite episodes, starting next week with Dr. Beitler's episode on "The Rhetoric of Lewis and Sayers" from July 2019.

Through his writings, C.S. Lewis emphasized the importance of travel and learning for through these two activities we gain the needed perspective to see life through the lens of "many places" and "many times." In this week's episode, Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing sit down with author's Dr. Alan Snyder and Jamin Metcalf to discuss their recently published book on C.S. Lewis and history, Many Times & Many Places (2023). Does history have a plot or a coherent storyline? Can we read and interpret history? Is every good event attributable to God and every evil event attributable to the sins of men? What is the value of studying history in an age that is enamored with progress and infected with chronological snobbery?