Dr. Michael J. Christensen (MA, Yale; PhD, Drew University) has the unique distinction of being a scholar who specializes in two renowned Christian thinkers.
A student of Henri Nouwen, Christensen edited or co-edited several posthumous collections of Nouwen’s writings: The Heart of Henri Nouwen: His Words of Blessing, Spiritual Direction: Wisdom for the Long Walk of Faith, Spiritual Formation: Following the Movements of the Spirit, and Discernment: Reading the Signs of Daily Life.
In 1979, Christensen published C.S. Lewis on Scripture: His Thoughts on the Nature of Biblical Inspiration, The Role of Revelation and the Question of Inerrancy, still the classic Lewis scholarship text on the subject. Christensen has since contributed to The C.S. Lewis Bible, and twice been a Senior Fellow of the Scholars-in-Residence Program at the C.S. Lewis Study Centre at The Kilns in Oxford (2017, 2019).
He has also taught classes on Nouwen, Lewis, and the Oxford Inklings in various venues, including Drew University, Nazarene Theological Seminary, as well as in his work as Academic Dean and Professor of Theology at Northwind Theological Seminary. Northwind’s offerings include doctoral programs in Romantic Theology and Spiritual Formation; Certificates of Completion; and Research Advances where students spend a week learning about the Inklings at one of three study centers (more on that below).
Christensen was kind enough to answer a few questions.
Interview Questions
What was your first exposure to C.S. Lewis’ work?
High School in Southern California in the early 1970s. The first Lewis book was The Screwtape Letters, devils and demons at bedtime (frightening me), and then Mere Christianity (providing me a theological place to lay my head).
I took a course in college on C.S. Lewis and his Circle, taught by a professor who had met Lewis and taught at Wheaton College before coming to Point Loma Nazarene University. Professor Glenn Sadler instilled in me a longing for the joy that Lewis wrote about in nearly all his poetry, prose and stories. I began my lifelong study of the works of the Inklings in that college course my junior year, majoring in English Literature and learning from the Romantic poets about the God of love and the portal of the baptized imagination.
Unless I’m mistaken, you are not only a Nouwen scholar, but one of his former students. Can you share anything about your experiences with him?
Henri was my teacher at Yale Divinity School from 1979-81, and introduced me to contemplative spirituality, the Church Year, a more liturgical form of worship, weekly Eucharist, spiritual formation and the arts, desert fathers and mothers, and social justice engagement. All brand-new practices for me as an evangelical, free church, more conservative Christian.
Henri kind of took me under his wing so I wouldn’t get lost or lose my way in this liberal seminary that offered a smorgasbord of differing theologies and perspectives, from Process Studies to Feminist and Liberation theologies (but not Romantic Theology). I will also be grateful for Henri’s gentle witness to the spiritual need to “let your mind descend into your heart, and there, right here, stand before the face of the Lord, ever present, all seeing within you.”1 In this respect, he channeled the teachings of Theophan the Recluse and the Eastern Christian Monks who practiced hesychasm, the unceasing prayer of the heart.
After graduating from Yale, Henri urged me to check into a Trappist monastery for 40 days and nights, and prepare—with silence, the daily office, and spiritual direction—for the pastoral ministry that awaited me on the other side of the desert. I’ve tried to find that balance between contemplation and action in my career as a local pastor, seminary professor, community development consultant and trainer, writer and scholar, and in academic administration—not always with success.
Because of Henri’s major influence on my spiritual life, I feel called to pass on lessons he taught me, and to promote his legacy of contemplation and action.
Who are some C.S. Lewis scholars who have influenced or collaborated with you over the years?
At Point Loma Nazarene University, my Literature professor introduced me to Dr. Clyde Kilby at Wheaton College—founder of the Marion E. Wade Center and the special collections of Lewis and Inklings works and scholarship. He took a personal interest and helped me with my Honor’s Thesis on Lewis and Scripture. He sent me copies of two of Lewis’s unpublished letters which helped me determine Lewis’s view of biblical inspiration and the issue of inerrancy. Kilby was the leading Inklings scholar at the time, and it was through his support and influence that I was given a chance to prove myself—at twenty-something—as an early Lewis scholar.
Kilby also helped me find a publisher for my Honor’s Thesis—C.S. Lewis on Scriptures—which was well-received, selling over 15,000 copies in hardback before it went into paperback. To my delight, a copy ended up in Billy Graham’s library with some marginalia and is still on display at the Billy Graham Museum. At the urging of Walter Hooper, I’m currently working on a revised and expanded edition with a new chapter on Lewis’s previously unpublished “Lost Letter of Malcolm: Chiefly on Scripture.”
Other now-classic, first-generation, Lewis scholars from the 1970s and 80s (whose careful scholarship has held up well) include: Walter Hooper, Owen Barfield, Chad Walsh, James Como, Paul Ford, Jerry Root, Don King, Margaret Lamp Mead, Thomas Howard, Bruce Edwards, Alister McGrath, and Paul Holmer. I studied philosophical theology at Yale with Holmer, the author of C.S. Lewis: The Shape of His Faith and Thought.
There are so many great contemporary Lewis and Inkling scholars on the scene, doing incredible work to not only keep their legacy alive but to contribute to a body of work worthy of the name Romantic Theology. Younger, second-generation Lewis scholars, I think, would include: Michael Ward, Diana Pavlac Glyer, Malcolm Guite, Charlie W. Starr, Crystal Hurd, Terry Glaspey, Sørina Higgins, Brenton Dickieson, and Andrew Lazo—all of whom (don’t be surprised by this) are affiliated in some way as program faculty and/or friends of Northwind Seminary.
What are some key ways you’ve seen C.S. Lewis studies evolve over the years?
One way Lewis scholarship has evolved is a more nuanced treatment of Lewis’s Platonism and his theory of the imagination in relation to native reason; and also a more systematic presentation of this philosophical theology and literary criticism.
Second-generation Lewis scholarship, I believe, provides a sufficient platform for establishing the Inklings’s unfinished project of imaginative theology—what Lewis and Charles Williams called “Romantic Theology” as a subclass of the Queen of the Sciences.
How has Nouwen informed your approach to spiritual formation?
If Lewis is my mentor for my mind, Nouwen is my mentor for my heart. The integration of mind and heart are essential for spiritual formation. While Lewis’s approach to spiritual formation took the form of spiritual counsel through letters and imaginative apologetics, Nouwen’s approach took the form of group spiritual direction and devotional treatments of classics of Christian spirituality and practice.
Henri remains my teacher after all these years, having had more influence on my spiritual life than any other pastor, teacher or writer than I have known. One of his contributions, not only to my life but to the field of spiritual formation, is his integration of formation through the visual arts—from ancient iconography of the Church to the paintings of Rembrant and Vincent van Gogh—to contemporary images of which feed the imagination and function as a portal for prayer and spiritual dimensions beyond the material perceptions. Both Lewis and Nouwen thought in images and were guided in their writings by what they saw in their baptized imagination.
Another major contribution Nouwen has made to my approach to spiritual formation is his reconstruction of the classical “stage theories” of spiritual progress (e.g. Jacob’s Ladder of divine ascent, or Teresa’s Interior Castle). Nouwen turned Jacob’s Ladder on its side and re-imaginated spiritual development as a series of dynamic movements—“from this quality to that”—during our long journey home. I could say a lot more about this, but better to refer you to our book, Spiritual Formation: Following the Movements of the Spirit by Henri Nouwen.
Nouwen and Lewis are two distinct figures, but they both seem to hold the position of “ecumenical saints,” respected equally by evangelicals and high church Christians. Any thoughts on what makes them so attractive to readers across traditions?
You may remember a number of years ago when The Christian Century did a survey of pastors across the theology and ecclesial spectrum about what books they read for their devotional life. Near the top of three distinct lists—Mainline Protestants, Roman Catholics, and Evangelicals—were two common names: C.S. Lewis and Henri Nouwen. Yes, these two more than others can be considered ecumenical saints or lights. Because both appeal to “mere Christianity” and not to sectarian dogmas or denominational traditions. And both nurture the mind and heart through the power of the baptized imagination.
How did you become a part of Northwind Theological Seminary?
Northwind emerged in 2019-2020 from a vision and calling of our founding President, Dr. Robert J. Duncan, to support and equip local pastors, bi-vocational ministers, second-career clergy, lay leaders, and lifelong learners seeking a theological degree and/or an alternative pathway to ordination in their own faith tradition during a time of great change and upheaval in the Church and culture.
Rob invited me to join Northwind as founding Academic Dean in January 2020, three months before the global COVID lockdown hit. Suddenly, our startup online seminary was well positioned to compete with established seminaries who had to pivot to offer online courses during the pandemic. We grew within the first year to over 100 students.
The initial stirrings of Northwind go back to Drew University in 1999/2000, when four of us Northwinders—Robert J. Duncan, Dr. Carl E. Savage, Leonard Sweet, and I—were academic administrators. Rob Duncan was Director of Admissions and Institutional Advancement in The Theological School. Len Sweet (a Christian futurist and prophetic leader of what he called the nextChurch of a new Reformation) had just been installed as the Vice President and Academic Dean of Drew Theological School. I was Director of the Doctor of Ministry Program. Carl E. Savage was Associate Director of the DMIN program and later a professor of Biblical Studies and Archeology. Working together as an innovative leadership team, inspired by Len’s vision “to re-imagine theological education for a new era”—we created the first Global/Online DMIN degree to be accredited by the Association of Theological Schools.
We worked together for 15 years, and formally retired about the same time. What to do in our retirement? Let’s start a new seminary. We already know how to run one, let’s see if we can start one with a different business model and pedagogy for a new era. To prepare ministerial leaders for the nextChurch, a new Reformation. The “new thing” God is doing in the world and the church.
The name of our seminary—Northwind—points to the breath of God and the dynamic movement of the Spirit to orient the compass of our lives to true North. Symbolically, northernness is an orientation in life, a quality of character, an image and metaphor in theology and ministry, the first of the four Cardinal points of the circle to which all others are related. For C.S. Lewis and other great writers, the way to God lies to the North.
I understand that you’ve led the Northwind Advances to Oxford and Wheaton on various occasions. What can you tell us about these trips’ focus and how it molds students?
Northwind Institute (the non-degree granting partner of Northwind Seminary) offers an onsite, in person, Research Advance (rather than a retreat) every Oxford season: Michaelmas, Hilary, and Trinity terms. Northwind students, faculty and friends met up at Azusa Pacific University to visit the special Inklings and Barfield Collections and to “learn to read and write like an Inkling” with Professor Diana Glyer; at the Wade Center to research the special Inklings collections at Wheaton College and to hear sponsored lectures; and in Oxford to research at “the BOD” (Bodleian Library), learn from local Inklings experts, experience the “city of dreaming spires,” and follow the steps of the Inklings. Next year we hope to return to the Internet Archive in San Francisco and participate in a new Owen Barfield book release.
In person Research Advances help form our community of scholars, nurture our individual spiritual formation, and perfectly complement our online Oxford-style brand of guided education at Northwind. Here’s a link to enroll in or inquire about our next Advance: northwindinstitute.org/advances.
Dr. Christensen’s books can be found on Amazon and all other major book retailers. More information about his courses taught at Northwind, Nazarene Seminary, and Drew University can be found on the institutions’ respective websites. More information about his current projects can be read at his blog, donkeysdelight.blogspot.com.
Interviewer Footnotes
1. Nouwen quotes this statement by Theophan the Recluse in the chapter on prayer in his 1981 book The Way of the Heart: Desert Spirituality and Contemporary Ministry.