Okay, let me begin by admitting that Iwas raised by liberal Christians and was, consequently, fed a steady diet of CS Lewis from an early age. Even though I resisted reading any of the many Lewis books in the house, I was being fed the stuff indirectly as he, along with Thomas Merton and a liberal reading of Thomas Aquinas, was such a huge influence on my parents thinking that almost everything they believed was coloured by something Lewis wrote. Even now I will sometimes say something that I honestly believe to be my own thought and be told that I am in fact quoting some Lewis book I have never read.
Lately, I have begun to read some of his stuff and find it all familiar and harmless for the most part.
With one exception. The Four Loves strikes me as a painfully shallow, self righteous and wrong-headed piece of writing. I wouldn't discourage anyone from reading it (following Jane Austen's example, I advocate reading promiscuously). I just think it's wrong. And I have at least one significant ally in this.
Deirdre McCloskey bases a lot of her thinking on Christian love but, like my parents, she is strongly influenced by Lewis to the detriment of her thinking.
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