Will Vaus

This Saturday, May 29, 3 pm, I will be at the Inklings Bookshop & White Hart Cafe in Lynchburg, Virginia signing copies of my new book, The Hidden Story of Narnia . I will also be offering a powerpoint presentation on the spiritual themes in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader . Here is the link to the Inklings Bookshop & White Hart Cafe web site for directions: www.inklingswhitehart.com . I hope to see all of my Lynchburg friends there, and make some new ones....

The Hidden Story of Narnia is now available for purchase on Amazon! Just click here to go there: http://www.amazon.com/Hidden-Story-Narnia-Book-Book/dp/1936294028/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1272660805&sr=8-1 . Of course, if you would like a signed copy, then you can purchase directly from my web site by clicking here: http://www.willvaus.com/inc/sdetail/1768 .

I was at New Covenant Schools in Lynchburg, Virginia on Tuesday, April 27. You may learn more about New Covenant Schools here: www.newcovenantschools.org . My time in the chapel service with middle school and high school students there was most enjoyable. The topic for the day was the spiritual themes in C. S. Lewis' The Voyage of the Dawn Treader . The students' deep familiarity with the book was a joy to hear; one could almost argue that they told me more about the book than the other way around! Afterwards I signed copies of my new book, The Hidden Story of Narnia for a number of interested students and faculty. (By the way, the young man in the second row above, with the dark hair and big smile, Travis Elliott, contributed an endorsement which appears on the back cover of my book.) The students on the other side of the room were just as bright and good looking! As you can see below.... If you would like me to come and do a presentation on The Hidden Story of Narnia ...

Last night I was in Chattanooga, Tennessee speaking to the C. S. Lewis Society there and signing copies of my new book, The Hidden Story of Narnia . And no, I did not take the "choo choo" to get there. I just couldn't resist including the picture above. We had a great group last night, meeting at The Camp House (the storefront meeting place of a contemporary Anglican church--way cool!). We had folks travel to the event from as far away as Nashville and Alabama! There was an enthusiastic response to my presentation on the spiritual themes in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader followed by an engaging time of Q&A. We even had some young boys present who are currently reading the Narnia books and are the same age I was when I first stepped through the wardrobe door. That was neat! Here's a picture of me with the dad (Neil) who brought them.... Thanks to all who came and made it such an enjoyable evening, and special thanks to two of the greatest hosts south ...

We had a great beginning to The Hidden Story of Narnia book tour last night in Monterey, Virginia. There was quite a variety of people present from young singles to parents to grandparents. Some were long time fans of the Narnia stories. Others were encouraged by my presentation on The Voyage of the Dawn Treader to read the Narnia books for the first time. After my presentation and a wonderful time of Q&A I signed books for a number of folks.... If you would like The Hidden Story of Narnia to come to your area, e-mail me at will@willvaus.com .

There are a number of booksigning events coming up for The Hidden Story of Narnia . I will be at the Highland County Public Library in Monterey, Virginia on Tuesday, April 20 at 7 pm. You can find directions to the library here: http://highlandlibrary.homestead.com/ . On Friday, April 23, I will be speaking to the Chattanooga C. S. Lewis Society and signing books in Chattanooga, Tennessee. You can find out more information on their web site here: http://cslewischatt.blogspot.com/ . And on Tuesday, April 27, I will be speaking in chapel at New Covenant Schools in Lynchburg, Virginia. You may find out more about them here: http://www.newcovenantschools.org . If you would like me to do a presentation on The Hidden Story of Narnia and/or sign books for your book club, bookstore, school, church or other group virtually anywhere in the world I'd love to talk with you. E-mail me at will@willvaus.com .

My review of the new edition of Colin Manlove's book, C. S. Lewis: His Literary Achievement , is now posted on the HarperCollins C. S. Lewis blog. Simply click here to read it: http://booksbycslewis.blogspot.com/2010/04/c-s-lewis-his-literary-achievement.html

The Hidden Story of Narnia is now in print and available to order online from my web site using PayPal. Simply click here to order: www.willvaus.com/store . Here is more information about the book from the back cover: When ten-year-old Anne Waller from Suffolk England wrote to C. S. Lewis in 1961 with a question about The Chronicles of Narnia she never expected to receive a reply. However, not only did Lewis answer her letter, he also outlined the spiritual themes in each of the Narnia books. That letter served as inspiration for Will Vaus to write The Hidden Story of Narnia . Nearly 50 years later, Anne Waller Jenkins has written a preface for The Hidden Story , praising the author's "gift of clarity" and the "sheer joy and merriment" of his style. "This book gives great motivation and inspiration to live out my faith. It is a chance to become a true Narnian. What greater charge than--'To Narnia and the North! For Aslan!' I highly recommend...

"As this qualification suggests, to preach Christianity meant primarily to preach the Resurrection. Thus people who had heard only fragments of St. Paul's teaching at Athens got the impression that he was talking about two new gods, Jesus and Anastasis (i.e. Resurrection) (Acts xvii. 18). The Resurrection is the central theme in every Christian sermon reported in the Acts. The Resurrection, and its consequences, were the 'gospel' or good news which the Christians brought: what we call the 'gospels', the narratives of Our Lord's life and death, were composed later for the benefit of those who had already accepted the gospel . They were in no sense the basis of Christianity: they were written for those already converted. The miracle of the Resurrection, and the theology of that miracle, comes first: the biography comes later as a comment on it. Nothing could be more unhistorical than to pick out selected sayings of Christ from the gospels and to regar...

The Garden Tomb "In the earliest days of Christianity an 'apostle' was first and foremost a man who claimed to be an eye-witness of the Resurrection. Only a few days after the Crucifixion when two candidates were nominated for the vacancy created by the treachery of Judas, their qualification was that they had known Jesus personally both before and after His death and could offer first-hand evidence of the Resurrection in addressing the outer world (Acts i. 22). A few days later St. Peter, preaching the first Christian sermon, makes the same claim--'God raised Jesus, of which we all (we Christians) are witnesses' (Acts ii. 32). In the first Letter to the Corinthians St. Paul bases his claim to apostleship on the same ground--'Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen the Lord Jesus?'" C. S. Lewis, Miracles , London: Geoffrey Bles, 1947, p. 171.

'Only the Greatest of all can make Himself small enough to enter Hell. For the higher a thing is, the lower it can descend--a man can sympathise with a horse but a horse cannot sympathise with a rat. Only One has descended into Hell.' 'And will He ever do so again?' 'It was not once long ago that He did it. Time does not work that way when once ye have left the Earth. All moments that have been or shall be were, or are, present in the moment of His descending. There is no spirit in prison to Whom He did not preach.' 'And some hear him?' 'Aye.' (C. S. Lewis, The Great Divorce, London: Geoffrey Bles, 1945, p. 114) "For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison ..." 1 Peter 3:18-19

"God, who needs nothing, loves into existence wholly superfluous creatures in order that He may love and perfect them. He creates the universe, already foreseeing--or should we say 'seeing'? There are no tenses in God--the buzzing cloud of flies about the cross, the flayed back pressed against the uneven stake, the nails driven through the mesial nerves, the repeated incipient suffocation as the body droops, the repeated torture of back and arms as it is time after time, for breath's sake, hitched up. If I may dare the biological image, God is a 'host' who deliberately creates His own parasites, causes us to be that we may exploit and 'take advantage of' Him. Herein is love. This is the diagram of Love Himself, the inventor of all loves." C. S. Lewis, The Four Loves

More endorsements of The Hidden Story of Narnia keep pouring in. I received this one just this morning from Ted Baehr at Movieguide.... "The Hidden Story of Narnia is amazing -- clear, brilliant, interesting, enlightening, and profound. I highly recommend it for everyone and anyone who has read any of the CHRONICLES OF NARNIA books. I have written NARNIA BECKONS about the same subject, I will concede that The Hidden Story of Narnia is the most comprehensive and captivating book on the great series by CS Lewis. It must be read! Bravo!"

For me, the real test of success for my new book, The Hidden Story of Narnia , is whether it can be read and enjoyed, both by academics and by young people. According to the endorsements The Hidden Story has received . . . it has passed the test. Here is what two younger readers have said about The Hidden Story of Narnia: A Book-by-Book Guide to C. S. Lewis' Spiritual Themes.... “This book gives great motivation and inspiration to live out my faith. It is a chance to become a true Narnian. What greater charge than – 'To Narnia and the North! For Aslan!' I highly recommend this book.” Sophie Heinsohn, 12 years old, Maryland, USA “Whether you have just stepped from the threshold of Narnia, fresh from The Last Battle , or you are a veteran traveler who has journeyed beside the Pevensies many a time, you will certainly enjoy this journey through the wardrobe . . .” Travis Elliott, 17 years old, Virginia, USA (By the way, the photo above is of me with a group of stud...

This photo is of me and Sanford (Sandy) Schwartz and Michael Ward at the pre-Perelandra Opera dinner at New College, Oxford, in the summer of 2009. Sandy, who is a professor at Penn State University and author of C. S. Lewis on the Final Frontier has written a very nice endorsement of my new book, The Hidden Story of Narnia: "Once again Will Vaus proves himself a wise and trusty guide to C.S. Lewis. Drawing on the full range of Lewis' works and on his biblical, literary, and philosophical sources, this volume is an ideal companion for individual readers or discussion groups that are concerned with the spiritual implications of the Chronicles of Narnia and are seeking to understand more fully what it means 'to live like a Narnian'." Another friend, Robert Velarde, author of Conversations with C. S. Lewis, The Heart of Narnia and The Wisdom of Pixar , has said this about The Hidden Story: "Experience Narnia like never before as Will Vaus expertly gu...

As I have noted before in this blog, out of the hundreds of published C. S. Lewis letters my favorites are the ones Lewis wrote to some of his child readers of the Narnia stories. And out of those letters to children, Lewis' letters to Laurence Krieg (pictured above) and his mother are, perhaps, the most priceless. Laurence's mother originally wrote to Mr. Lewis because her son was concerned that he was loving Aslan more than Jesus. Lewis wrote back and said, among other things, "Laurence can't really love Aslan more than Jesus, even if he feels that's what he is doing. For the things he loves Aslan for doing or saying are simply the things Jesus really did and said." ( Letters to Children , 6 May 1955) Through the miracle of the Internet I have been in touch with Laurence over the past couple of years. Just recently, Laurence read the manuscript of my new book, The Hidden Story of Narnia , and here is what he had to say about it: " The Hidden Story of N...

The outline of my new book, The Hidden Story of Narnia , is based upon a letter that C. S. Lewis wrote to a girl named Anne in 1961. In the letter (pictured above) Lewis wrote: "The whole Narnian story is about Christ. That is to say, I asked myself 'Supposing there really were a world like Narnia and supposing it had (like our world) gone wrong and supposing Christ wanted to go into that world and save it (as He did ours) what might have happened?' The stories are my answer. Since Narnia is a world of Talking Beasts I thought he would become a Talking Beast there, as he became a Man here. I pictured Him becoming a lion there because (a.) the lion is supposed to be the King of beasts: (b.) Christ is called 'The Lion of Judah' in the Bible: (c.) I'd been having strange dreams about lions when I began writing the books. The whole series works out like this: The Magician's Nephew tells the creation and how evil entered Narnia. The Lion etc ____________...

Wayne Martindale and Jerry Root, editors of The Quotable Lewis have both added their endorsements to many others for my forthcoming book, The Hidden Story of Narnia .... "What a delightful—and helpful—book! Readers of Lewis’ Narnia books will enjoy splashing back into the stories and thinking about the enduring truths so freshly evoked by Lewis and highlighted by Will Vaus. Though rooted in solid scholarship and theology, The Hidden Story of Narnia is accessible to those new to both. It will take you back to The Chronicles of Narnia for another look—at the books, at yourself." Wayne Martindale Professor of English, Wheaton College "C. S. Lewis will continue to be read for a long, long time. He always attracts new readers longing for clear and illuminating introductions to his books, his ideas, and his wide world so integrated by his faith. Will Vaus has proved once again that he knows his subject and he knows how to give readers a more robust appreciation of Le...

My newest book, The Hidden Story of Narnia , is now available for pre-order. The book should be ready to ship by the first or second week of April. But you can learn more about the book and pre-order now by clicking here: www.willvaus.com .

Owen A. Barfield (pictured with me above in Oxford, summer 2009) has called my new book, The Hidden Story of Narnia , "A thoughtful and thought-provoking book." Barfield is the grandson of Owen Barfield, one of C. S. Lewis' closest friends from Oxford student days to the end of Lewis' life in 1963. Owen A. Barfield is also one of his grandfather's literary executors. You may find out more about the Literary Estate of Owen Barfield and what they are up to by clicking here: http://www.owenbarfield.org/ . Owen A. Barfield's Aunt Lucy was the one to whom C. S. Lewis dedicated The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe in these endearing words.... My dear Lucy, I wrote this story for you, but when I began it I had not realized that girls grow quicker than books. As a result you are already too old for fairy tales, and by the time it is printed and bound you will be older still. But some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again. You can the...