Mark wrote:
When Lewis used pagan sources, he was always very careful to "baptize" them with the Christian worldview,
Agreed
. I note this point often myself, but it still begs the question as to how "conservative" he truly was theologically as many Christians conservative or not have little use for (or appreciation of) Paganism, literary or otherwise (or Taoism for that matter). And I don't deny he considered himself conservative, nor that many "liberals" within and without the church consider him such also.
But this is largely based on Lewis's reputation built with a sizable body of Christian Apologetics. If that were his only legacy, there would be no question about it. But Lewis was an atheist for a fair portion of his life and had an appreciation for Pagan Mythology and the "Imagination" since childhood. So when one reads his fiction, and some of his non-fiction books such as
The Discarded Image or
The Abolition of Man (and even portions of his Apologetics) one is immediately struck by this appreciation.
I think a lot of this is missed, or glossed over by more politically "progressive" Anglicans and others, who I think have a rather narrow "Politically Correct" view of Lewis. He is often unfairly viewed as misogynist (when in many respects his works reflect views more advanced than many in his era), and sometimes as racist (though I would say "culturalist" would be more apt). I think this has coloured their view of his theology also. After Lewis met and married Joy Davidman (a "feisty" Marxist with Progressive social views), one can discern a shift in his own views which may have (or not) continued had he lived on another few decades.
Having read many of your posts here and on other forums, I don't think we're very far apart
. It's mostly a matter of what emphasis we put on the various aspects of Lewis's complex personality, and the relativity of the terms we're using not only politically, socially, or theologically, but geographically.
GB