C.S. Lewis: His Views on Scripture, Mythology, and Their Application to the Book of Esther

Abstract

This paper seeks to analyze C.S. Lewis's beliefs about the inspiration of certain parts of Scripture, particularly Esther and the Old Testament. Lewis thought it likely that the book of Esther was work of fiction. In this paper, Lewis's comments on his beliefs about the nature of verbal inspiration are summarized along with some of his beliefs about the nature and function of mythology. Then, features of the book of Esther are analyzed as a test case for why Lewis may have doubted the historicity of this book. This is done to show that Lewis was consistent in his belief that certain parts of the Old Testament did not need to be considered historical to be canonical or inspired.