{"id":32784,"date":"2023-08-30T16:19:45","date_gmt":"2023-08-30T23:19:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=32784"},"modified":"2023-08-30T16:19:45","modified_gmt":"2023-08-30T23:19:45","slug":"england-2005","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/england-2005\/","title":{"rendered":"England, 2005"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was the summer before my 8th <\/sup>grade year. My mother and I served in childcare at a Christian conference for missionaries held at The University of Exeter. Before we arrived at Exeter we spent a few days in London. As a 13-year-old, my impression was London was a place rich with history. There was only one problem. I found history boring. In fact, I dismissed all of the statues we walked past (and, if my memory serves me correctly, London has many). I called them \u201cODDS\u201d which stood for \u201cOld Dead Dude Statue\u201d.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, I have matured since 2005. As I approach coming to England for the second time, my hope is that with the deeper appreciation for history I have obtained, I will drink up more of the richness of history this country possesses. With the specificity of the city of Oxford, there are several things that excite me about our upcoming advance. In this post, I will highlight what they are, referencing C.S. Lewis, History Hit\u2019s YouTube video on Oxford, and close with Paul Sullivan\u2019s The Secret History of Oxford<\/em>. After this, I will conclude with a posture I intend to hold while immersed in the rich history of Oxford.<\/p>\n

C.S. Lewis \u2013 An Oxford Man<\/strong><\/p>\n

Not surprisingly, C.S. Lewis is in the upper echelon of authors I enjoy. Because of this, I am eager to explore the city Lewis called home for many years. In Alister McGrath\u2019s biography of Lewis, he writes this:<\/p>\n

Lewis had already fallen in love with Oxford, on account of both its stunning architecture and its rich intellectual heritage. It was a city based on culture and learning, not on Britain’s imperial exploitation of its colonies nor industrial desecration of the local landscape. As Lewis put it in Spirits in Bondage<\/em>, Oxford was one of the few great cities \u2018That was not built for gross, material gains, Sharp, wolfish power or empire’s glutted feast.\u2019[1]<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The significance of Lewis in my intellectual journey gives me an excitement to learn all I can about the history of the city this intellectual giant walked around in. According to Sullivan, \u201cHis biggest legacy in modern Oxford is the C.S. Lewis Nature Reserve at Risinghurst, formerly part of the grounds of his house The Kilns, which is now a private residence with a blue plaque to the famous scholar-author.\u201d[2]<\/a> Hopefully, I will see The Kilns and the Nature Reserve, as well as what I learned from a YouTube video about Oxford.<\/p>\n

YouTube Video on Oxford \u2013 The Inspiration for Narnia<\/strong><\/p>\n

Whenever I have thought about going to Oxford, one of the places that comes to mind is the famous Eagle and Child pub. It is at this pub where the Inklings, a writers group that included Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, gathered for conversation. In the Rabbit Room of this pub is where they met and where Lewis first shared his most famous work The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe<\/em>.[5]<\/a> It is said the streets of Oxford inspired Narnia. There is even a solitary lamppost outside Brazenose College that some believe was the inspiration for lamppost in Narnia.<\/p>\n

The Secret History of Oxford \u2013 Christ Church<\/strong><\/p>\n

A majority of our time in Oxford will be at Christ Church. Sullivan points out that this is both a college and church. \u201cThe head of the college is a Church of England Dean and its college chapel doubles as Oxford’s Cathedral, HQ of the Diocese of Oxford.\u201d[3]<\/a> This is a prestigious institution with an alumnus of notable individuals.[4]<\/a> The hallways I will walk will be filled with history from which to glean.<\/p>\n

Posture for Oxford<\/strong><\/p>\n

Unlike 13-year-old David, the heart posture in Oxford will be one of curiosity, eagerness, as well as a reception to the less impressive, and sometimes downright ugly, pieces of Oxford\u2019s history. Oxford is rich with intellectual and cultural history. Yet, my hope is to learn both the purposefully hidden secrets of Oxford in addition to the remarkable aspects of Oxford\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Alister McGrath, C. S. Lewis — A Life: Eccentric Genius, Reluctant Prophet<\/em> (Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2013), 79-80.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Paul Sullivan, The Secret History of Oxford<\/em> (The History Press, 2013), 103-133. I am not sure the exact page number for this text, for I utilized books.google (https:\/\/www.google.com\/books\/edition\/The_Secret_History_of_Oxford\/JPU6AwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1).<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Ibid. 16.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Ibid. 17.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> The Secrets of Oxford\u2019s Streets | And What Lies Beneath the University<\/em>, 2023, https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Jck5VOnNL0s, 8:08-10:10.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was the summer before my 8th grade year. My mother and I served in childcare at a Christian conference for missionaries held at The University of Exeter. Before we arrived at Exeter we spent a few days in London. As a 13-year-old, my impression was London was a place rich with history. There was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":152,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2347,2804,39,1552,1590],"class_list":["post-32784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dlgp01","tag-cslewis","tag-history","tag-oxford","tag-sullivan","cohort-dlgp01"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32784","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/152"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32784"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32784\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32785,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32784\/revisions\/32785"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}