Lewis at war

Before my parents bought a television we listened to radio drama. It provided voices, sound effects, and music, requiring our imaginations to supply the action. Radio drama has largely disappeared except for Focus on the Family's Radio Theater. Justin Taylor provides descriptions and links to many of their productions including a new one, C.S. Lewis at War: The Dramatic Story Behind 'Mere Christianity.'" Anyone who knows my interests will not be surprised to know that I have ordered the CD set, available on November 1. The Amazon description:

Mere Christianity, one of the greatest Christian books of the twentieth century, was created as a series of radio broadcasts in a time of great conflict and adversity. England had gone to war with Germany. Injury and death impacted everyone. Day-to-day living was immensely difficult. Children were evacuated from London and sent to other parts of the country (Lewis himself took in a few). It was a time of strain, heartbreak, and weariness.

The leaders at the BBC knew the nation needed a moral underpinning to face the crisis and embarked on an aggressive program to provide it. So they commissioned some of the greatest Christian minds to step up. Dorothy Sayers and Lewis agreed to help. From Sayers came the classic radio series Man Born To Be King and from Lewis the now-famous Broadcast Talks that became Mere Christianity. This behind-the-scenes drama integrates the ideas Lewis explored in Mere Christianity with the very real impact of living out a Christian life in a period of trauma: the conflicts pressed hard against the times of grace, compassion, the love of Christ shown to neighbors, and the reasons to trust in God when the world screams otherwise. This Radio Theatre production also touches on the essentials the faith and worldview, not merely as an academic exercise, but as a true life experience.

One of the cast members is John Rhys-Davies, familiar to those who have seen the Indiana Jones and  Lord of the Rings movies.

If you would like to pre-order C.S. Lewis at War: The Dramatic Story Behind Mere Christianity (Radio Theatre), ordering through this link would benefit me slightly.