A Year with C.S. Lewis was my go-to devotional for about a 5 year window. I just loved his witty takes, his everyday language, and his optimistic outlook.
Once I decided to go to seminary and started reading heady theology, Lewis took a back seat. I tried to pick it up again a couple of years ago but it seemed too folksy and some of his logic seemed questionable.
Lately I have been doing an experiment: taking material that I used to get a lot out of and attempting to update-adapt-translate for my current context and our contemporary era.
Bringing Lewis into the 21st century is a fun experience. I actually think that his ideas hold up for the most part but that his language just needs a little updating.
Here is an example from Mere Christianity:
A live body is not one that never gets hurt, but one that can to some extent repair itself. In the same way, a Christian is not a woman who never goes wrong, but a woman who is enabled to repent and pick herself up and begin over again after each stumble – because the Christ-life is inside her, repairing her all the time, enabling her to repeat (in some degree) the kind of voluntary death which Christ carried out.
That is why the Christian is in a different position from other people who are trying to be good. They hope, by being good, to please God if there is one; or – if they think that there is not – at least they hope to deserve approval from good people. But the Christian thinks any good she does comes from the Christ-life within her.
She does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because God loves us; just as the roof of a greenhouse does not attract the sun because it is bright, but becomes bright because the sun shines on it.
It is amazing how just a couple of pronoun changes and making God-language gender neutral (as God is) takes away all the distracting antiquated elements and allows the encouraging thought to come through with clarity and insight.
I am encouraged that I will be able to do this same process with some more material that has been so valuable to me over the years.
How about you? Anything that you would like to see updated-adapted-translated for our current context and contemporary era?
Bo Sanders: Public Theology 
June 21, 2018 at 6:31 pm
Love it. On a similar theme, I really like Fortress Press’s newer translations of Bonhoeffer that update some of the language. Whenever I used to quote Discipleship in a sermon I would say something awkward like, “Bonhoeffer said, ‘When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die,’ but actually Jesus wants women to die to. ”
So much better if we are gender inclusive from the get go. 🙂