C.S. Lewis the Churchman: His Work on the Anglican Commission to Revise the Psalter

Abstract

In 1958, the Archbishop of Canterbury invited Lewis to serve on a six-person committee, chaired by Bishop Donald Coggan, tasked with revising the language of Coverdale’s Psalms. Lewis agreed, thus embarking upon what Joel Heck claims to be “the crowning achievement of his public church life.” This article draws on published and unpublished materials from the Archbishop’s Commission Report, including previously unpublished minutes of the Commission as well as notes and letters by Lewis, to examine Lewis’s contribution to the four-year project.  Some of the correspondence also shed light on the camaraderie and care within the commission, not least of which is the surprising friendship that developed between Lewis and T.S. Eliot.