Further Resources
exploring life from every angle
Welcome
Life in the Round offers an engaging space to explore the value of life in dialogue with today’s culture and the historic Christian faith. We love doing this via our in-person events.
Sometimes you might want to explore themes from these events in a deeper way after the event itself. We hope that this page can help point you to some further resources as you do this.
future Events
We are so glad that you were able to join us for the recital-lecture with Professor Jeremy Begbie.
We host events throughout the year, and would love to see you at future events. To find out about these, please sign up to our mailing list.
Professor Jeremy Begbie spoke about C.S. Lewis’s intense feelings of longing, what C.S. Lewis called fleeting experiences of “joy”. In his autobiography Surprised by Joy, C.S. Lewis shares how he turned to stories, music, and paintings to relive these feelings.
C.S. Lewis ultimately discovered that his longings were not fulfilled by books, music, or paintings – they were only reawakened by them. Rather, he discovered that his desires found their object and fulfilment in the person of Jesus Christ. The ‘thing itself’, according to C.S. Lewis – what we really desire – is the living God. In light of this discovery, C.S. Lewis converted to Christianity, referring to himself as ‘the most reluctant convert’.
To hear more about C.S. Lewis’s personal journey to the Christian faith, you can read his autobiography Surprised by Joy, or listen to this podcast with Oxford University Professor Alister McGrath. Why not join one of the C.S. Lewis walking tours of Cambridge?
The books or the music in which we thought the beauty was located...they are not the thing itself; they are only the scent of a flower we have not found; the echo of a tune we have not heard; news from a country we have never yet visited
C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory
Next steps
Reading recommendations
More from professor jeremy begbie
Professor Jeremy Begbie has written and spoken extensively on the intersection of the arts and Christianity.
Books
- Resounding Truth: Christian Wisdom in the World of Music
- Abundantly More: The Theological Promise of the Arts in a Reductionist World
- Resonant Witness: Conversations between Music and Theology
- Voicing Creation’s Praise: Towards a Theology of the Arts
Previous talks
An introduction to Christianity
Christianity in 90 seconds?
If you are curious to hear what Christians actually believe, listen to Christian author and speaker Glen Scrivener’s 90-second summary.
A free Online Course
3. The Three-ness of God
2. The Two-ness of the World
1. The One-ness of You
Perhaps you would like to engage with the Christian faith a little more and investigate it for yourself.
321 is a free online course that invites you to consider God, the world, and yourself, and investigates the core beliefs of Christianity.
Frequently asked questions about Christianity...
- Is faith the enemy of science?
- Why Christianity and not any other faith?
- How can a good God allow suffering?
- Is Christianity outdated and bigoted?
To hear Christian author and speaker, Glen Scrivener answer these and many other questions, head to this page.
Previous Event Photos
