My Problem With C.S. Lewis – Philip Pullman

1. 

   @Micizah

   July 6, 2026 at 4:49 am

   There's a reason Narnia, Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan, etc are all massive classics with their focus on childhood and imagination. Loved by generations. Can't say I've heard of this guy or his dark whatsits. Sorry. Also, the characters in Narnia had already been introduced to what was essentially heaven earlier in the series through Reepicheep, what other conclusion could Lewis properly come up with? The veil had been lifted, so to speak. It was a sad but expected ending that made perfect sense. There is nothing wrong with embracing the joys of childhood and being suspicious of growing older. We read books to escape, not to be lectured to, old boy. Of course it's good to have the opportunity to experience the mess of old age, in fact we should be grateful there are more adventures to come. I don't think Lewis is condemning adulthood or even puberty and sexuality like some mad puritan!

   "A filthy lie!" 😄 I never want to read what this guy came up with, I can imagine a cynical, serious, fact based, anti-faith lecture of tedium from start to finish. Grey, boring, awkward and a total lack of joy in all corners. This of course is why everyone has heard of Lewis and I've already forgotten this guy's name. I'd hate to hear his thoughts on Arthur Ransome and the Swallows and Amazons stories. "They should have all grown up and showed us their business prowess! Come on Nancy, you must drop the pirate act and go to university!" 😂

   Plus, I hate to state the obvious, but we call them children's books for obvious reasons.

   Get fucked you tiresome old git.

2. 

   @davidthom7127

   July 6, 2026 at 4:49 am

   He's SO humourless

3. 

   @Derntator

   July 6, 2026 at 4:49 am

   Beautiful interview.
   – 1 unspoken element when discussing JESUS’s 3 days in Hell: TIME IS RELATIVE , especially when considering his “eternal damnation” to be resurrected for our sins is the message of his “Triumph over Satin & Hell” itself.
   Implying he may have been down there for a millennia…. Or a sec when compared to what we knew as 3 days.
   NOTE: I too am a “Cosmic Realist” (born & raised throughly as a Roman Catholic), just food for thought.

   Keep it up Alex
   🇺🇸🦾🫱🏻‍🫲🏾🇬🇧

4. 

   @kentstallard6512

   July 6, 2026 at 4:49 am

   Lewis is soooo overrated…a lightweight.

5. 

   @Checkmate1959

   July 6, 2026 at 4:49 am

   If you read befween the lines with this dude, is that he is hung up on sexuality…he criticized JRR Tolkien for not having sexuality in his books…sounds like the dude has some "issues".

6. 

   @aijakemusicofficial

   July 6, 2026 at 4:49 am

   Why are you acting like a children’s fantasy novel owes you a theory of adult sexuality and emancipation? 😂

7. 

   @mattjhodgkinson79

   July 6, 2026 at 4:49 am

   A wonderfully rich conversation. You excelled in drawing out interesting views from Pullman, adding your own points without steamrollering him.

   I raised an eyebrow at his concept of his hand having consciousness – let alone a glass of water. Something about consciousness leads people to extraordinary stances. One's hand might feel like it is moving on its own, but it's still being directed by the motor cortex sending nerve impulses. Anaesthetise those nerves and it won't seem so autonomous. There's a fascinating discussion to be had about how motor memory and being "on autopilot" impact our ideas of consciousness, but conscious hands ain't it. The memory of water is the kind of silliness homeopaths dream up, not the stuff of serious philosophy or science.

8. 

   @AnimatedLoopHD

   July 6, 2026 at 4:49 am

   Haven't watched it yet, but already giving a like for the the thumbnail throwing shade at C.S. Lewis. He's gotta be one of the most overrated writers all time. Chronicles of Narnia is the poor man's Lord Of The Rings. And C.S. Lewis was an ultra rigid, narrow-minded religious lunatic.

9. 

   @LudvigIndestrucable

   July 6, 2026 at 4:49 am

   Your hand is not conscious, if you block connection to the brain it's entirely useless.
   The term 'muscle memory' isn't literal, it refers to unconscious neural connections and activities relating to muscle control for specific activities.

10. 

    @TheAtomicPhilosopher

    July 6, 2026 at 4:49 am

    "C.S. Lewis was a terrible story teller." Say that to 'Til We Have Faces' face!

11. 

    @PatsRule1224

    July 6, 2026 at 4:49 am

    It's always interesting when these highfalutin philosophy types horseshoe right back around to being blithering idiots.

    "Matter is consciousness"
    Um, no
    "I don't know if this glass can be conscious"
    Really? I do, and the answer is no
    "My hand is conscious"
    Lol no really it isn't

    But these charlatans speak with such breathless flowery mystique that they trick you into thinking there's some legitimacy to what they say

12. 

    @Cimozjen

    July 6, 2026 at 4:49 am

    I am not surprised that The Lord of the Rings is the major fantasy book that has been adapted. It isn't that C.S. Lewis's work can't be adapted; they did adapt it, and people hated it. It shows the difference between Tolkien and Lewis in the end.

13. 

    @marchess286

    July 6, 2026 at 4:49 am

    Filthy old man. Not fit to shine Lewis' or jrrts shoes

14. 

    @DrLifeandDeath

    July 6, 2026 at 4:49 am

    For someone who hates dogmatism, Phillip Pullman seems to know how things should be and how they should be done, quite definitely

15. 

    @Pebble_Collector

    July 6, 2026 at 4:49 am

    The bit about the Christian iconography being different had Jesus been Roman is hilarious.

16. 

    @maxrice6990

    July 6, 2026 at 4:49 am

    Finally someone said it, my 2 year old is the only one in the family who really enjoys Goodnight moon so it's good to know my opinion on that work is correct

17. 

    @okp-l5n

    July 6, 2026 at 4:49 am

    Imagine saying Christopher Hitchens had a lack of humor or didnt stand for something good. What a clown comment.

18. 

    @themongreldiscourse8853

    July 6, 2026 at 4:49 am

    have not listened to the whole thing but must comment… I agree about first 2 specific critiques of cs Lewis, but re. larger point made — nobody says there was no sex in the garden of Eden. according to the story, biting that apple wasn't about getting to grow up and have sex, it was about being ashamed of it. The assumption is that there was no knowledge of the difference between animal bodily compulsion and human consciousness, such dichotomies did not exist, that knowledge belonged to the Word or language. Denial of the knowledge of this painful divide does not make the knowledge go away, it just comes out in twisted forms. Making sex sacramental, integrating the word in the world, is a way back to the garden. But this middle way is no way to rile up a good sporting event between us and them boiling into yet more addictively agitating world war.. The leading intellectual voices just spew out what.comes into their pretty little heads, who cares if it offers just one more fatal tear in the social fabric. Close your eyes, remember what an apple tastes like and feel the shame.

19. 

    @drfoxcourt

    July 6, 2026 at 4:49 am

    Mr Pullman needs to have one or two deep conversations with Scott McLeod (aka Scott McCloud) regarding comics.

20. 

    @jamesmoran9030

    July 6, 2026 at 4:49 am

    Pullman, says the story of Jesus could be improved by him escaping Jerusalem and therefore avoiding his crucifixion. The crucifixion is the point. It is what makes the story great. "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." 1 Corinthians 1:18

21. 

    @ChibiSteak

    July 6, 2026 at 4:49 am

    1:22:17 fin

22. 

    @rolisreefranch

    July 6, 2026 at 4:49 am

    What a sad materialist, atheist, moral relativist with no belief in anything greater than himself. His sense of inferiority compared to Lewis is apparent.

23. 

    @rolisreefranch

    July 6, 2026 at 4:49 am

    Who is Philip Pullman? Never heard of him…

24. 

    @marcrichter9160

    July 6, 2026 at 4:49 am

    Why, if Jesus is killed, does it make it better for us? Oh that’s such a good question. When I was a kid, I felt that the Christian logic was the logic of two wrongs to make a right. Which I instinctively knew was gibberish.

25. 

    @marcrichter9160

    July 6, 2026 at 4:49 am

    Yes, as we all know from experience here, that Peter Hitchins is a silly Ass. 😂

26. 

    @JY-CY67-68

    July 6, 2026 at 4:49 am

    So he's one of the best selling fiction authors of all time, who cares what this pompous douchebag thinks; this all amounts to "I don't like it" so what? fuck off

27. 

    @busterdafydd3096

    July 6, 2026 at 4:49 am

    38:27 montage? Show a year (prior) of activities of that year, to expand on a brief back story

28. 

    @ChibiSteak

    July 6, 2026 at 4:49 am

    54:11

29. 

    @niamh8585

    July 6, 2026 at 4:49 am

    oh my god i’m way late but i always wanted you to cover lewis on your channel!

30. 

    @MichaelJarrell-t7b

    July 6, 2026 at 4:49 am

    Perhaps I'm being a true jerk here, but these people do know that these books are fiction, i.e. not real. Don't they?

31. 

    @thezincbar

    July 6, 2026 at 4:49 am

    Golden Compass and Subtle Knife are miraculous books. I listened to them on tape constantly growing up. I think Amber Spyglass fell far short, and the Book of Dust trilogy is unreadable. I have always wished to admire and look up to Pullman, but after reading his essays and watching many interviews like this one, I never have.

32. 

    @juliannaakuchie7215

    July 6, 2026 at 4:49 am

    But the Narnia kids did grow up, didn't they? 🤔 At least to young adults cuz they were rulers of Narnia for awhile.

33. 

    @MMAGuru64

    July 6, 2026 at 4:49 am

    20:11 dude, he was gone for 40 days and 40 nights wdymmm

34. 

    @iwantcheesypuffs

    July 6, 2026 at 4:49 am

    Anyone can be a critic. Dissention and division scales much faster than kindness — unfortunately.

35. 

    @dvdmon

    July 6, 2026 at 4:49 am

    Great interview. II read His Dark Materials to my daughter when she was still young – maybe age 8-10? We both loved them. This was back about 10-12 years ago before the TV series came out. Still Haven't read Book of Dust, but it's on my list. My daughter loved the character of Lyra who she was at the time just a few years younger. That was one thing that dissapointed me about the show – how old the actress was who plaid Lyra except possibly for the very first season. I thought the TV show was in most ways SO much better than the movie, but the one thing that the movie really excelled at was the casting, which I thought was perfect. The TV show wasn't the cheesy mess that the movie was, yet I still remember the movie quite well to this day, and the TV show is a very blurry memory, even though it was much more recent…

36. 

    @harpo345

    July 6, 2026 at 4:49 am

    The fact that the Catholic church is the villain of Pullman's books and the protagonist tortures children to death, gives us a clue as to why he hates the very christian CS Lewis.

37. 

    @SKRATCH1988

    July 6, 2026 at 4:49 am

    i have john lennox up in another tab, and he just finished bringing up C.S. Lewis. and i paused it and clicked this tab unaware of what it was. hahahha simulation is on one today.

38. 

    @rhondah1587

    July 6, 2026 at 4:49 am

    Years ago, I read Pullman's trilogy and very much enjoyed all three books. I never have read anything by C.S. Lewis and from all I've heard about his writings and his ideology, probably never will.

39. 

    @ronitovonmerche1

    July 6, 2026 at 4:49 am

    Mere gnostic propaganda

40. 

    @Skepticfriend

    July 6, 2026 at 4:49 am

    WTF I just got back from Narnia and it’s all good now.

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