The Inklings: J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis – Prof. Lee Oser

Prof. Lee Oser portrays the Inklings—and especially J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis—as a countercultural circle of Christian writers and scholars whose friendship, medieval learning, and shared experience of war grounded a robust Christian imagination that resisted modern secularism by telling better, theologically rich stories.
This lecture was given on October 28th, 2025, at United States Military Academy.
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About the Speakers:
Lee Oser's scholarly focus is Religion and Literature. His books include Christian Humanism in Shakespeare: A Study in Religion and Literature and The Return of Christian Humanism: Chesterton, Eliot, Tolkien and the Romance of History. Also, he is a noted novelist who specializes in satire.
Keywords: Boethius, Christian Imagination, CS Lewis And Conversion, Inklings Literary Club, JRR Tolkien, Medieval Conception Of The Cosmos, Myth vs. True Myth, Owen Barfield And Language, War And Friendship











