C. S. Lewis, Letters on Living the Faith, ed. David C. Downing (New York: HarperOne, 2026)

The unstated goal of this work that David C. Downing has edited is to provide the reader with a sampling of advice via responses to theological questions that C. S. Lewis’s letter-correspondents put to him from the years 1941 to 1963. In the process, Downing structures the volume as follows: an introduction on Lewis as a mentor via letters (“C. S. Lewis as A Mentor by Mail,” ix–xiii), Lewis’s responses grouped into twelve topics (see below), and two small chapters, one about Lewis (“About C. S. Lewis,” 235) and another about Downing (“About the Editor at Large,” 237–38). 

In the introduction, Downing notes that the number of Lewis’s surviving private letters span three volumes and 3,500 pages and include letters to friends, acquaintances, and complete strangers who admired Lewis and asked him for advice. He has culled through them and grouped this advice around the following twelve topics:

• “On Prayer” (1–12)
• “Meditations on Love” (13–24)
• “Letters to Spiritual Seekers” (25–60)
• “On Christian Formation” (61–78)
• “Putting Faith into Practice” (79–120)
• “Questions About Christian Theology and Morality” (121–58)
• “Questions about the Bible” (159–74)
• “Psychology and Spirituality” (175–84)
• “Letters to Roman Catholics and About Catholic Doctrines” (185–200)
• “Confessions About His Own Struggles” (201–12)
• “Questions about Narnia” (213–18)
• “On Sorrow and Death, Consolation and Courage” (219–34) 

To give the reader an idea of each section, I will quote from one (sometimes more than one) or part of one of Lewis’s bits of advice for each topic. In response to the advantages of liturgical prayer, Lewis said, “The advantage of a fixed form of service is that we know what is coming. Ex tempore public prayer has this difficulty: we don’t know whether we can mentally join in it until we’ve heard it—it might be phony or heretical. We are therefore called upon to carry on a critical and a devotional activity at the same moment: two things hardly compatible” (7)

In a letter to Lewis’s brother about loving one’s enemies, he noted that “I pray every night for the people I am most tempted to hate or despise (the present list is Stalin, Hitler Mussolini . . .)” (15). 

To a woman who had recently become a Christian, which pushes back against the heightened emotionalism of some strains of Christianity, Lewis adviced that she does not “count on any remarkable sensations, either at this or your first (or fifty-first) Communion. God gives these or not as He pleases. Their presence does not prove that things are especially well, nor their absence that things are wrong. The intention, the obedience, is what matters” (32–33). 

To one correspondent, Lewis observed the following paradox that is at the heart of the Christian faith: “the whole point is that you can keep forever only what you give up” (64). 

In response to the state of the world in December 1946 and the proliferation of news stories about it, which still applies to our world today, especially to social media, Lewis said, “It is one of the evils of rapid diffusion of news that the sorrows of all the world come to us every morning. I think each village was meant to feel pity for its own sick and poor whom it can help and I doubt if it is the duty of any private person to fix his mind on ills which he cannot help. (This may even become an escape from the works of charity we really can do to those we know)” (86). 

Lewis evidently abominated the commercial aspects of Christmas, confessing “Christmas cards in general and the whole vast commercial drive called ‘Xmas’ are one of my pet abominations: I wish they could die away and leave the Christian feast unentangled. Not of course that even secular festivities are, on their own level, an evil: but the labored and organized jollity of this—the spurious childlikeness—the half-hearted and sometimes rather profane attempts to keep up some superficial connection with the Nativity—are disgusting” (86–87). 

There seems to be nothing on which Lewis would not comment, for he noted in one letter the following about masturbation: “For me the real evil of masturbation would be that it takes an appetite which, in lawful use, leads the individual out of himself to complete (and correct) his own personality in that of another (and finally in children and grandchildren) and turns it back: sends the man back into the prison of himself, there to keep a harem of imaginary brides” (110). 

Lewis noted the following about seeing the nature through the lens of the supernatural: “You don’t see Nature till you believe in the Supernatural: don’t get the full, hot, salty tang of her except by contrast with the pure water from beyond the world” (129). 

Concerning the Inspiration of Scripture, Lewis wrote: “I myself think of [Inspiration] as analogous to the Incarnation—that, as in Christ a human soul-and-body are taken up and made the vehicle of Deity, so in Scripture, a mass of human legend, history, moral teaching etc. are taken up and made the vehicle of God’s Word” (167). 

Concerning the constancy of faith despite one’s feelings, Lewis observed, “It is a great joy to be able to ‘feel’ God’s love as a reality, and one must give thanks for it and use it. But you must be prepared for the feeling dying away again, for feelings are by nature impermanent. The great thing is to continue to believe when the feeling is absent: and these periods do quite as much for one as those when the feeling is present” (183–84). 

In response to a question why Lewis was not a Roman Catholic, he said: “The whole setup of modern Romanism [with its dogma of the Blessed Virgin Mary, papalism, and Transubstantiation] seems to me to be as much a provincial or local variation from the central, ancient tradition as any particular Protestant sect is. I must therefore reject their claim: though this does not mean rejecting particular things they say” (188).

Lewis was transparent about the difficulty in believing in an afterlife, noting that it was also difficult not to believe in it: “Yes, people do find it hard to keep on feeling as if you believed in the next life: but then it is just as hard to keep on feeling as if you believed you were going to be nothing after death. I know this because in the old days before I was a Christian I used to try” (210).

To a mother who was concerned that her child loved Aslan more than Jesus, Lewis advised her to have her son pray the following prayer: “Dear God, if the things I’ve been thinking and feeling about those books are things You don’t like and are bad for me, please take way those feelings and thoughts. But if they are not bad, then please stop me from worrying about them” (216). 

In response to his being awakened from a coma close to the time of his death in 1963, Lewis said, “I was unexpectedly revived from a long coma . . . but it would have been a luxuriously easy passage and one almost . . . regrets having the door shut in one’s face. Ought we to honor Lazarus rather than Stephen as the protomartyr?” (233–340. 

This work is compact, unique, enjoyable, and reads as if it were almost like you were sitting down with Lewis and asking him the questions that you always wanted him to answer. It was a delight to read and I encourage you to pick up your copy from HarperOne today! 

I am grateful for my gratis copy of this work from HarperOne, which in no way influenced my reading of it.

The Oxford Handbook of Textual Criticism of the Bible, eds. Sidnie White Crawford and Tommy Wasserman (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2025)

The goal of this volume is to give an overview of textual criticism of the Bible, both in the Hebrew, Old Testament and Greek, New Testament. In the process, the editors, Sidnie White Crawford and Tommy Wasserman, have divided this work into three parts. The first (“Part I Overarching Issues”) contains six chapters devoted to aspects of overarching issues related to the Jewish and Christian canons, various presuppositions, methods, and goals of textual criticism, the relationship between textual criticism and literary criticism, and advances in textual criticism from newer fields of study. The second part (“Part II The Hebrew Bible and the Deuterocanon”) consists of fifteen contributions that explore textual criticism of the Hebrew Bible, Old Testament, especially in light of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The third (“Part III The New Testament) contains seventeen essays that investigate the field of New Testament textual criticism. 

Part I consists of chapters 1–6, the first two of which (“The Formation of the Jewish Canon,” 19–32 by James C. VanderKam and “The Formation of the Christian Canon,” 33–54 by John D. Meade) examine the canonization of the books of the Hebrew Bible, Old Testament, and the New Testament. In the third contribution (“Philosophies of Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible,” 55–69), Ronald Hendel explores the philosophical presuppositions of textual critics of the Hebrew Bible. The fourth essay (“Beyond ‘Textual’ and ‘Literary’ Criticism: A New Paradigm for the Study of Textual History,” 70–87 by Molly M. Zahn) argues against the past categorization of textual criticism as a “lower” form of criticism against literary criticism, which was deemed the “higher” form of it, concluding that one should consider all textual variants as part of a text’s composition history. In chapter 5 (“Philosophies of Textual Criticisms for the New Testament,” 88–107), Michael W. Holmes discusses the various approaches to the editing of ancient works with an eye to the New Testament. Part I’s sixth and final contribution (“Book History, New/Material Philology, and Paratextual Criticism,” 108–27 by David Davage and Liv Ingeborg Lied) focuses on why scholars must engage with manuscripts and early printed books.  

Part II is made up of chapters 7–21, which focus on the Hebrew Bible, the Christian Old Testament. In chapter 7 (“The History of Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible from Antiquity to the Twentieth Century,” 131–46), Eugene Ulrich and Sidnie White Crawford provide a history of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament textual criticism. Chapter 8 (“The Earliest Texts of the Hebrew Bible,” 147–68 by Emanuel Tov) explores whether one can recover the earliest texts of the Hebrew Bible, Old Testament books. In the ninth essay (“The Masoretic Text and Its Value for Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible,” 169–90), Armin Lange investigates the Masoretic Text’s history from antiquity to today. Chapter 10 (“The Significance of the Septuagint in the Textual Study of the Hebrew Bible,” 191–212 by Anneli Aejmelaeus) discusses the oldest extant witness to the text of the Hebrew Bible, the Greek Septuagint. In the eleventh essay (“The Samaritan Pentateuch and Its Value for Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible,” 213–23), Hila Dayfani introduces the Samaritan Pentateuch. Chapter 12 (“The Syriac Peshitta and Its Value for Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible,” 224–35 by Bradley J. Marsh Jr.) explores the Syriac Peshitta, which dates to the second to early third centuries AD. In the thirteenth contribution (“The Latin Versions and Their Value for Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible,” 236–49), Andrés Piquer Otero and Pablo A. Torijano introduce the Latin versions of the Hebrew Bible, Old Testament, the Vetus Latina and St. Jerome’s Vulgate. Chapter 14 (“The Targumim and Their Value for Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible,” 250–73 by Leeor Gottlieb) presents the Targumim or the Jewish Aramaic translations of the Hebrew Bible, Old Testament. 

Chapters 15–17 (“Editing the Hebrew Bible: Biblica Hebraica Quinta,” 274–84 by Innocent Himbaza, “Editing the Hebrew Bible: The Hebrew University Bible Project,” 285–300 by Michael Segal, and “Editing the Hebrew Bible: The Hebrew Bible: A Critical Edition,” 301–8 by Ronald Hendel) introduce three text-critical projects related to the Hebrew Bible, Old Testament: Biblica Hebraica Quinta, The Hebrew University Bible Project, and The Hebrew Bible: A Critical Edition. In the eighteenth essay (“Teaching Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible,” 309–23), John Screnock lays out an approach to teaching textual criticism in the classroom. Chapter 19 (“The Theory and Practice of Textual Criticism of the Septuagint,” 324–39 by Tuukka Kauhanen) demonstrates how to conduct textual criticism of the Septuagint. In the twentieth contribution (“The Practice of Hebrew Bible Textual Criticism in the Twenty-First Century,” 340–54) Drew Longacre discusses modern technological resources for textual criticism. Part II’s final essay (“Issues in the Textual Criticism of the Deuterocanon,” 355–70 by Benjamin G. Wright III) explores textual criticism of the so-called Deuterocanonical works, which are part of the Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, and Slavonic Bibles. 

Part III consists of chapters 22–38, which are devoted to textual criticism of the New Testament. In chapter 22 (“The Practice of New Testament Textual Criticism in the Twenty-First Century,” 373–94) H. A. G. Houghton discusses the current state of the field of New Testament textual criticism. Chapter 23 (“The History of New Testament Textual Criticism,” 395–418 by Jan Krans and An-Ting Yi) outlines the history of the discipline from the production of the New Testament manuscripts to the nineteenth century. In the twenty-fourth contribution (“The Dating of Early Christian Manuscripts: Paleography and Material Culture,” 419–45) Pasquale Orsini analyzes and dates important early Christian manuscripts. Chapter 25 (“Text-Types and the Coherence-Based Genealogical Method,” 446–62 by Peter J. Gurry) surveys text-types, the problem with those types that Bruce Metzger developed and popularized, and advocates a new method for categorizing texts, the Coherence-Based Genealogical Method. In the twenty-sixth essay (“The Greek New Testament Manuscripts and Other Witnesses,” 463–86 by Elijah Hixon) surveys early important Greek manuscripts. Chapter 27–31 (“The Syriac and Christian Palestinian Aramaic Versions of the New Testament,” 487–502 by Andreas Juckel, “The Latin Versions of the New Testament,” 503–16 by Georg Gäbel, “The Coptic Versions of the New Testament,” 517–32 by Christian Askeland, “The Ethiopic Version of the New Testament,” 533–41 by Curt Niccum, and “The Gothic Version of the New Testament,” 542–50 by Carla Falluomini) explore the ancient Syrian, Aramaic, Latin, Coptic, Ethiopic, and Gothic versions of the New Testament. 

In chapter 32 (“Patristic Evidence in New Testament Textual Criticism,” 551–70) Holger Strutwolf discusses the use of patristic quotations of the New Testament books in textual criticism. Chapter 33 (“Criteria for the Assessment of Readings in New Testament Textual Criticism,” 571–99 by Tommy Wasserman) examines criteria for the selection of readings in textual criticism of the New Testament works. In the thirty-fourth contribution (“The New Testament Text, Paratexts, and Reception History,” 600–23), Jennifer Wright Knust demonstrates that the text of the New Testament has been supplemented by extra-textual features such as the breaking up of the text into chapters, verses, etc. throughout its history. Chapter 35 (“New Testament Textual Criticism and Exegesis,” 624–36 by Elizabeth E. Shively) observes that textual criticism has long been the precursor of exegesis for the purpose of finding the original text. She argues that this should not be the case, and that one must intertwine textual criticism and exegesis. In the thirty-sixth contribution (“New Testament Textual Criticism and Digital Humanities,” 637–56), Claire Clivaz analyzes the relationship between textual criticism and the digital humanities. Chapter 37 (“Critical Editions of the Greek New Testament from the Twentieth to Twenty-First Century,” 657–87 by Annette Hüffmeier and Gregory S. Paulson) explores the various critical editions of the Greek New Testament. And in Part III’s final chapter (“New Testament Textual Criticism in Teaching and Practice,” 688–706), Amy S. Anderson reflects on the best methods and practices for teaching New Testament textual criticism and paleography in the classroom. 

This work is thorough, exhaustive, and a great overview of presuppositions, methods, and practices of textual criticism of the Jewish Bible, Christian Old Testament, and the Christian New Testament. Crawford and Wasserman, as well as the long list of contributors, have done an exceptional job and should be commended! I encourage you to pick up your copy today from Oxford University Press today! 

I am grateful to Oxford University Press for the gratis copy of this work, which in no way influenced my review of it.   

I am honored to offer an online (Zoom) class beginning January 30, 2021 that will meet eight times, on Saturdays, either in the morning, early afternoon, or late afternoon EST. Each session will be recorded and I will do my best to accommodate everyone who signs up, irrespective of their location in the world!

The course will cover the following areas related inscriptions and how to use them to interpret the New Testament:

• The Why, What, and How of Inscriptions 
• The Typology of Inscriptions: Public 
• The Typology of Inscriptions: Private
• The Typology of Inscriptions: Graffiti and Magic
• Using Inscriptional Corpora
• Inscriptions as Embedded Artifacts

The final two meetings will be devoted to two specific case studies related to inscriptions and the New Testament:

• Greco-Roman Women and the New Testament 
• Imperial Divine Honors and the New Testament

Check out the course webpage by clicking here for more details!

Currently, I am writing two new books for two major publishing houses. The first is a monograph on imperial cults (the worship of the Roman emperor like or as a god) in first century CE Philippi, Thessalonica, and Corinth and Paul the apostle’s responses to them in the letters that he composed to the Christian communities in those cities. This book will contain around 40 pictures of archaeological sites, statuary, coins, and inscriptions from Philippi, Thessalonica, and Corinth, all of which will require permission from the excavations and museums in those cities. 

The second book is a collection of hundreds (!) of inscriptions associated with historical figures, social practices, and customs mentioned in the New Testament for the purpose of helping readers understand and interpret the New Testament more accurately. For each inscription, I will provide the original text, be it Greek, Latin, Aramaic, or Hebrew, a fresh English translation of it, a picture of the inscription, and a discussion of the inscription’s archaeological context and how it relates to the New Testament. In all, this book will contain about 100 pictures, maybe more, of inscriptions from various museums in Europe and the United States. 

Permission to use most of these images costs money; sometimes a lot of it. For example, for my second book, Christ’s Enthronement at God’s Right Hand, which is forthcoming in early 2021, the Vatican Museum charged € 170 to publish two black and white photos of two artifacts on display there.  

What this means is that I need your help and partnership to create these two unique, visually rich books! 

Donate to my Patreon now by clicking this link!  

I am delighted to see praise for my book, Studying the New Testament Through Inscriptions: An Introduction. Bob Turner, Library Director at Harding School of Theology (Memphis, TN), has hailed my book as “a really impressive work” that “any NT student or scholar” should purchase. One particular strength of my book, he notes, is that it is really “an exercise in both epigraphy and hermeneutics.” To exemplify this, Turner points to my chapter on 1 Corinthians 11:21 and the translation of the Greek verb προλαμβάνω, which is important for reconstructing the problem with the Lord’s Banquet at Corinth that Paul the apostle addresses. Does it mean to eat, to devour, or to go ahead with? Turner notes, “In that conversation Burnett engages with the leading figures in Corinthian scholarship, reviews the usages of that word in antiquity, reconstructs the social setting of house churches in that world, and shows how inscriptional evidence can inform the reading of that passage.” For the rest of Turner’s review click here.

I appreciate Turner’s kind comments and encourage everyone to purchase Studying the New Testament Through Inscriptions to see the immeasurable benefit that inscriptions have for interpreting the New Testament. It is available now for your Kindle on Amazon or your Nook from Barnes & Noble. As soon as some Coronavirus restrictions are lifted, physical copies of Studying the New Testament Through Inscriptions will be available everywhere good books are sold, including Amazon, ChristianBook.com, and Barnes & Noble.