Michael Ward (scholar)


Michael Ward is an English literary critic, theologian and Catholic priest. His academic focus is theological imagination, especially in the writings of C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, and G. K. Chesterton. He is best known for his book Planet Narnia, in which he argues that Lewis structured The Chronicles of Narnia so as to embody and express the imagery of the seven heavens. On the fiftieth anniversary of Lewis's death, Ward unveiled a permanent national memorial to him in Poets' Corner, Westminster Abbey. He won a Mythopoeic Award in 2011.

Career

Ward was born in Cuckfield, West Sussex. He studied at Regent's Park College, Oxford, Peterhouse, Cambridge, and the University of St Andrews. He is currently an Associate Member of the Faculty of Theology and Religion at the University of Oxford, and Professor of Apologetics at Houston Christian University. He was Senior Research Fellow at Blackfriars Hall, University of Oxford.
Ward trained for the Anglican ministry at Ridley Hall, Cambridge, and was ordained a priest in the Church of England in 2005. He served as Chaplain of Peterhouse, Cambridge and Chaplain of St Peter's College, Oxford. He joined the Catholic Church in 2012, and was ordained a priest within the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham in June 2018.
Ward played the part of C. S. Lewis's vicar in the 2021 film The Most Reluctant Convert. He has been an extra in a number of films and television dramas, including a speaking role in A Very Open Prison and a featured cameo in The World Is Not Enough. In 2023, he co-authored Popcorn with the Pope: A Guide to the Vatican Film List with David Paul Baird and Andrew Petiprin, which reviews all forty-five films on a list compiled under the pontificate of Pope John Paul II to mark the centenary of cinema.

Books

After Humanity: A Guide to C. S. Lewis's The Abolition of Man, Word on Fire Academic, 2021. Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C. S. Lewis, Oxford University Press, 2008. Popcorn with the Pope: A Guide to the Vatican Film List, Word on Fire, 2023. C. S. Lewis at Poets' Corner, Wipf & Stock, 2016. The Cambridge Companion to C. S. Lewis, Cambridge University Press, 2010. Heresies and How to Avoid Them: Why it Matters What Christians Believe, Hendrickson, 2007.

Essays