During the course of the tale, Orual interiorizes the Greek philosophical scepticism toward primitive religion, but finally is brought to realize that the element of fear and awe in the face of the holy is indispensable in the understanding of the beauty and love that is in the Divine. The brutal King of Glome takes into service as a slave a Greek who has studied the wisdom of the philosophers.

Till We Have Faces opens with a complaint lodged against the pagan gods by one Queen Orual of the pre-Christian town of Glome. For readers less than familiar with the novel, I will include short explanations concerning plot and character. In this article, I would like to explore the dialectic set up in the novel between primitive religion (the pagan “thesis”), Greek philosophy (the pagan intellectual “antithesis”), and Christianity (as the transformed “synthesis”). In some ways the best written of Lewis’ novels: compact, dramatic, with more real, many-sided, characters than some of his other fictional creations Till We Have Faces displays themes of special importance for today. Lewis is one of the most popular of twentieth century Christian writers, his late novel, Till We Have Faces 1, has not enjoyed the fame it deserves. Chervin probes Lewis’ didactic efforts which undergird the novel and lead the reader to a Christian synthesis.Īlthough C.S.

In this, her first essay for Faith & Reason, Dr. Lewis’ brilliant novel, till we have faces is unfortunately overlooked by many Christians who are familiar with only his more popular works.

Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis