Every once in a while I read a book that makes me catch my breath, but I think I’m starting to see a trend.

Perelandra was one of them. Just about every one of the Chronicles of Narnia also did it. Mere Christianity did. This last weekend I read Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold and it did the same.

What do all of these have in common? They’re all written by C.S. Lewis. What else do they have in common? The parts that really reach out and grab me are all deeply theological passages. It’s as if Lewis has this incredible gift for taking something we so often disdain as ephemeral or unscientific and making it into the most concrete reality out there. He shows the physical world for what it really is: a temporary reality that is only a small portion of the Reality that is eternal.

Till We Have Faces is not Lewis’s story (the subtitle itself should indicate that). It is based on a Greek myth, and thus draws in the polytheistic tone and tenor of that literature. But as one who believed that pagan religion could be beneficial as a step in the direction of true Christian monotheism, Lewis digs down into the story and turns it entirely on its head. The story is tragic, but beautiful.

You won’t find as clear of analogies between this plot and the eternal drama told in the Scriptures as you do in Perelandra or Narnia, because those two worlds are set up as somewhat parallel worlds by which God can be viewed creating similar stories to Scripture in fantastic settings. Instead, Faces takes place in this world, in the mythological past, and begins to reveal how all is not what it seems. There is something greater that lies behind the mythology, something True that has been obscured.

One cannot be saved by reading this book, but a reader will definitely be encouraged to look a little deeper, and a believer will be inspired to imagine a much more stirring, beautiful picture of God than he or she has ever considered. If you know Christ, read it to stimulate your own relationship with him. If you do not know Christ, reading this will make you wonder what it is you’re missing.

This book is one of my new favorites. You definitely must read it.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 6th, 2010 at 4:15 pm and is filed under Books, Religion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.