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St Mary's University event revisits GK Chesterton and CS Lewis


l-r: Peter Williams, Rev Dr Paul Rowan, Dale Ahlquist at  the Aquinas Centre, St Mary's

l-r: Peter Williams, Rev Dr Paul Rowan, Dale Ahlquist at the Aquinas Centre, St Mary's

Gaudium et spes 19 sees atheism not just as an error in the interpretation of existence, or a worldview espoused by hostile political regimes, but as a pastoral and spiritual problem in the inner life of a person – unbelief is a question of unrecognised relationship with God. If there is a failure in communication, then responsibility for this can lie, to a greater or lesser degree, in one or both parties to the conversation. Therefore it is legitimate to ponder whether or not the Church always offers the treasures of its tradition with as much creativity, imagination and pastoral wisdom as it might. Avery Dulles advises apologists in every age and culture to learn from the giants of the past.

For this reason - on Tuesday, 1 April 2014, the Aquinas Centre for Educational Research at St Mary’s University, Twickenham, London, hosted an event exploring the work of two apologetic giants of the English language: GK Chesterton and CS Lewis. Genius and Rivalry, Legacy and Friendship, chaired by the Programme Director for BA Theology and Religious Studies, Rev Dr Paul Rowan, involved presentations and a discussion/debate led by Dale Ahlquist, President of the American Chesterton Society, and Peter S Williams, author of C S Lewis vs the New Atheists.

In an evening of great fun and friendship, both speakers acknowledged the genius of Chesterton and Lewis. Ahlquist mischievously put to the audience a question: “Did CS Lewis have any original ideas, or did he get them all from GK Chesterton?” His defence of the question was impressive, to say the least. But, as Williams commented: “...reading Lewis is thrilling, not because he has anything original to say, but because he puts his mastery of language wholly at the service of truth. As Lewis advised: ‘no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it.’” (Mere Christianity).

The evening was rounded off by Dr Antony Towey, Director of the Aquinas Institute, who presented awards to seven students from the BA Theology & RS programme who had risked much in the service of truth and justice during Saint Mary’s recent past. They received a book token and an inscribed copy of Ahlquist’s book, The Complete Thinker: The Marvelous Mind of GK Chesterton. The inscription read: “”Courage…means a strong desire to live taking the form of a readiness to die.’ GKC. With our gratitude and admiration.”

For further information see: 

American Chesteron Society www.chesterton.org/
Aquinas Centre www.smuc.ac.uk/aquinas/

Listen to a recording of the evening here:  www.damaris.org/cm/podcasts/903

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