Another book about C.S. Lewis? Well, yes, and this one is a welcome entry. In the five sections of his book (which began as an article in 2001 for Christianity Today), Louis Markos trolls through Lewis's fiction and nonfiction, organizing the Oxford don's thoughts on everything from the role of science in faith to the problem of pain and suffering.

In doing so, he shows readers how the writings of Lewis might serve as a framework for their own "wrestlings" with contemporary culture (agonistes is Greek for wrestler).

Markos writes that Lewis taught us "to see all those hidden presuppositions that exert such an influence on us for good or for ill." Lewis also helps us to "see the magic and the wonder that runs rampant in God's sympathetic universe."

Markos appreciates myth and mystery as much as logic and reason. His intriguing chapters on the New Age (building bridges), the arts (in which the Incarnation is central), and his bracing defense of heaven and hell are not to be missed. Although Markos occasionally lapses into scholarly prose, general readers will find this accessible.

Cindy Crosby is a regular contributor to Publishers Weekly

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