I think the title may be slightly misleading. It might be better titled BRITISH BROADCASTING IN A TIME OF WAR. The author gives a lot of background information. I wonder if some of the background information is all that relevant? I personally found the background information interesting. For example he covered the radio programs which covered the topic of gardening. Britain's food supply was limited due to the ships being sunk by enemy submarines. So the British had to grow more food. Since supplies of certain goods were scarce, there was also a cooking/ nutrition radio program. The author pointed out that time was probably one of the healthiest time of eating. Mr. Ian Taylor, who lived through that time period, told me that people didn't eat to excess and sweets were severely rationed. As a result, Mr. Taylor has good teeth. His dentist could tell Mr. Taylor lived through that time because of Mr. Taylor's teeth. So the book basically corroborates Mr. Taylor's statement.
Other background information includes a chapter on the story behind the broadcast of Dorothy Sayer's radio drama THE MAN BORN TO BE KING. Lewis is sparingly mentioned in this chapter. Again interesting, but how relevant to Lewis' broadcasting efforts?
Yes, the book does cover C.S. Lewis' wartime broadcasts. Apparently Lewis eventually came to detest the BBC and radio broadcasting. After all his full time job was as an Oxford Don. He had to take the train to London from Oxford. It was unfortunate that he did not have nearby broadcasting facilities available. Credit should be given to the producers for approaching Lewis. But the demands on Lewis' time was a bit of a bother. The author points out that Lewis had to take care of the infirm mother of his friend Paddy Moore. Lewis promised to take care of Mr. Moore's mother if Paddy got killed. The care of Mrs. Moore took up a good deal of Lewis' attention. That is why Lewis did not wish to be away from home. He preferred to commute back to Oxford than stay overnight in London after his broadcast. Lewis' care of Mrs. Moore made me think he was living under, what we Lutherans call, the "theology of the cross."
I remember hearing at this one C.S. Lewis talk recently held at Stanford, that people could see their own religious tradition in Lewis' works. I agree. Lewis talked of his work as pre-evangelism. In the Lutheran framework, we would say that Lewis is engaging in the work of the Law. People's heart's must be prepared to receive the Gospel. The Law points to people's sin and inadequacies, thus pointing to their need of a savior (i.e. the Gospel). If the Gospel is not preceded by the Law, then the need or relevancy of the Gospel is not seen. People would say "Why do I need a savior? I'm basically a good person. God certainly can't refuse me."
I think it is no surprise that people of different denominations see their own tradition in Lewis's works. After all he did submit his work on occasion to clergy of different denominations for review.
In reading the book another radio broadcast personality, who was sort of contemporary with Lewis came to mind. Walter Maier (1893-1950) was the first speaker of the Lutheran Hour. Like Lewis, Maier did have a foot in both the academic world and the radio world. And like Lewis, Dr. Maier's audience included people who were not from his denomination, including Roman Catholics. One listener wrote and hoped that Dr. Maier would die a good Catholic. Dr. Maier received his PhD from Harvard and taught at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. Unlike Oxford, Dr. Maier at least had a Christian friendly environment. Dr. Maier also had a support staff for his radio ministry. One of the people who helped Dr. Maier was Herman Gockel. Pastor Gockel was a pastor who lost his preaching voice. This would be somewhat traumatic for a pastor, whose livelihood depended on his voice. But a place was found for him at the Lutheran Hour where he offered pastoral counseling by correspondence. Pastor Gockel eventually went on to
write devotional books and direct the Lutheran TV show THIS IS THE LIFE. Our congregation was fortunate to have Dr. Gockel as a member during the later years of his life. Dr Maier's life is recounted in the biography A MAN SPOKE, A WORLD LISTENED by Paul Maier.
Perhaps Mr. Lewis would have felt less stress if he had some people
to handle the correspondence. On the other hand maybe Lewis and Maier
had different leanings. Perhaps Lewis naturally gravitated towards
the university, while Maier gravitated towards radio.
# posted by GuyTak @ 5:52 PM
