Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and
Anglican
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
lay theologian
A lay theologian is a theologian "who is not ordained
Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominati ...
. He held academic positions in English literature at both
Oxford University
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
(
Magdalen College
Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the st ...
, 1925–1954) and
Cambridge University
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
(
Magdalene College
Magdalene College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary ...
, 1954–1963). He is best known as the author of ''
The Chronicles of Narnia
''The Chronicles of Narnia'' is a series of seven high fantasy novels by British author C. S. Lewis. Illustrated by Pauline Baynes and originally published between 1950 and 1956, ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' has been adapted for radio, telev ...
'', but he is also noted for his other works of fiction, such as ''
The Screwtape Letters
''The Screwtape Letters'' is a Christian apologetic novel by C. S. Lewis and dedicated to J. R. R. Tolkien. It is written in a satirical, epistolary style and while it is fictional in format, the plot and characters are used to address Christi ...
'' and ''
The Space Trilogy
''The Space Trilogy'' or ''Cosmic Trilogy'' is a series of science fiction novels by C. S. Lewis. The trilogy consists of '' Out of the Silent Planet'' (1938), '' Perelandra'' (1943), and ''That Hideous Strength'' (1945). A philologist named ...
'', and for his non-fiction
Christian apologetics
Christian apologetics ( grc, ἀπολογία, "verbal defense, speech in defense") is a branch of Christian theology that defends Christianity.
Christian apologetics has taken many forms over the centuries, starting with Paul the Apostle in ...
, including ''
Mere Christianity
''Mere Christianity'' is a Christian apologetical book by the British author C. S. Lewis. It was adapted from a series of BBC radio talks made between 1941 and 1944, originally published as three separate volumes: ''Broadcast Talks'' (1942), ' ...
'', ''
Miracles
A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divin ...
'', and ''
The Problem of Pain
''The Problem of Pain'' is a 1940 book on the problem of evil by C. S. Lewis, in which Lewis argues that human pain, animal pain, and hell are not sufficient reasons to reject belief in a good and powerful God.
Lewis states that his writing ...
''.
Lewis was a close friend of
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philology, philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''.
From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was ...
, author of ''
The Lord of the Rings
''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's boo ...
''. Both men served on the English faculty at Oxford University and were active in the informal Oxford literary group known as the
Inklings
The Inklings were an informal literary discussion group associated with J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis at the University of Oxford for nearly two decades between the early 1930s and late 1949. The Inklings were literary enthusiasts who pra ...
. According to Lewis's 1955 memoir '' Surprised by Joy'', he was baptized in the
Church of Ireland
The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the second ...
but fell away from his faith during adolescence. Lewis returned to
Anglicanism
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...
at the age of 32, owing to the influence of Tolkien and other friends, and he became an "ordinary layman of the
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
". Lewis's faith profoundly affected his work, and his wartime radio broadcasts on the subject of Christianity brought him wide acclaim.
Lewis wrote more than 30 books which have been translated into more than 30 languages and have sold millions of copies. The books that make up ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' have sold the most and have been popularized on stage, TV, radio, and cinema. His philosophical writings are widely cited by Christian scholars from many denominations.
In 1956, Lewis married American writer
Joy Davidman
Helen Joy Davidman (18 April 1915 – 13 July 1960) was an American poet and writer. Often referred to as a child prodigy, she earned a master's degree from Columbia University in English literature at age twenty in 1935. For her book of po ...
; she died of cancer four years later at the age of 45. Lewis died on 22 November 1963 from kidney failure, one week before his 65th birthday. In 2013, on the 50th anniversary of his death, Lewis was honoured with a memorial in
Poets' Corner
Poets' Corner is the name traditionally given to a section of the South Transept of Westminster Abbey in the City of Westminster, London because of the high number of poets, playwrights, and writers buried and commemorated there.
The first poe ...
in
Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...
.
Biography
Childhood
Clive Staples Lewis was born in
Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...
in
Ulster
Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...
, Ireland (before
partition
Partition may refer to:
Computing Hardware
* Disk partitioning, the division of a hard disk drive
* Memory partition, a subdivision of a computer's memory, usually for use by a single job
Software
* Partition (database), the division of a ...
), on 29 November 1898. His father was Albert James Lewis (1863–1929), a solicitor whose father Richard Lewis had come to Ireland from Wales during the mid-19th century. Lewis's mother was Florence Augusta Lewis Hamilton (1862–1908), known as Flora, the daughter of Thomas Hamilton, a
Church of Ireland
The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the second ...
priest, and the great-granddaughter of both Bishop Hugh Hamilton and John Staples. Lewis had an elder brother, Warren Hamilton Lewis (known as "Warnie"). He was baptized on 29 January 1899 by his maternal grandfather in
St Mark's Church, Dundela
St Mark's Church, Dundela, is a Grade A listed parish church of the Church of Ireland located in the Sydenham area of Belfast, Northern Ireland.
History
For much of its history, the parish of Dundela was located within the neighbouring parish ...
.
When his dog Jacksie was killed by a car, the four-year old Lewis adopted the name Jacksie. At first, he would answer to no other name, but later accepted Jack, the name by which he was known to friends and family for the rest of his life. When he was seven, his family moved into "Little Lea", the family home of his childhood, in the Strandtown area of East Belfast.
As a boy, Lewis was fascinated with
anthropomorphic
Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology.
Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...
animals; he fell in love with
Beatrix Potter
Helen Beatrix Potter (, 28 July 186622 December 1943) was an English writer, illustrator, natural scientist, and conservationist. She is best known for her children's books featuring animals, such as ''The Tale of Peter Rabbit'', which was he ...
's stories and often wrote and illustrated his own animal tales. Along with his brother Warnie, he created the world of Boxen, a fantasy land inhabited and run by animals. Lewis loved to read from an early age. His father's house was filled with books; he later wrote that finding something to read was as easy as walking into a field and "finding a new blade of grass".
Lewis was schooled by private tutors until age nine, when his mother died in 1908 from cancer. His father then sent him to England to live and study at
Wynyard School
Wynyard School was a boarding school in Watford, Hertfordshire, England.
It was attended by C.S. Lewis (from September 1908 until June 1910) and his brother Warren. Lewis, C. S., ''They Stand Together: The Letters of C. S. Lewis to Arthur Gree ...
in
Watford
Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne.
Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...
,
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...
. Lewis's brother had enrolled there three years previously. Not long after, the school was closed due to a lack of pupils. Lewis then attended
Campbell College
Campbell College located in Belfast, Northern Ireland and founded in 1894 comprises a preparatory school department (junior age) and a senior Northern Ireland 'Voluntary Grammar' school, the latter meaning, in terms of provision of education, a ...
in the east of Belfast about a mile from his home, but left after a few months due to respiratory problems.
He was then sent back to England to the health-resort town of
Malvern
Malvern or Malverne may refer to:
Places Australia
* Malvern, South Australia, a suburb of Adelaide
* Malvern, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne
* City of Malvern, a former local government area near Melbourne
* Electoral district of Malvern, an e ...
,
Worcestershire
Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...
, where he attended the preparatory school Cherbourg House, which Lewis referred to as "
Chartres
Chartres () is the prefecture of the Eure-et-Loir department in the Centre-Val de Loire region in France. It is located about southwest of Paris. At the 2019 census, there were 170,763 inhabitants in the metropolitan area of Chartres (as d ...
" in his
autobiography
An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life.
It is a form of biography.
Definition
The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...
. It was during this time that he abandoned the Christianity he was taught as a child and became an
atheist
Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...
. During this time he also developed a fascination with European
myth
Myth is a folklore genre consisting of Narrative, narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or Origin myth, origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not Objectivity (philosophy), ...
ology and the
occult
The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism a ...
.
In September 1913, Lewis enrolled at
Malvern College
Malvern College is an Independent school (United Kingdom), independent coeducational day and boarding school in Malvern, Worcestershire, Malvern, Worcestershire, England. It is a public school (United Kingdom), public school in the British sen ...
, where he remained until the following June. He found the school socially competitive. After leaving Malvern, he studied privately with
William T. Kirkpatrick
William Thompson Kirkpatrick (10 January 1848 - 22 March 1921) was an Irish teacher and grammar school headmaster. He is best known for having been the tutor of the two Lewis brothers from Belfast, Warren Hamilton Lewis, Warnie Lewis and C.S. Lew ...
, his father's old tutor and former headmaster of
Lurgan College
Lurgan College is a selective, non-denominational, co-educational 14-19 Grammar School, situated in the town of Lurgan, County Armagh, Northern Ireland.
History
In lieu of the establishment of Lurgan Model primary school in 1863, the town of Lur ...
.
As a teenager, Lewis was wonderstruck by the songs and legends of what he called ''Northernness'', the ancient literature of Scandinavia preserved in the
Icelandic sagas
The sagas of Icelanders ( is, Íslendingasögur, ), also known as family sagas, are one genre of Icelandic sagas. They are prose narratives mostly based on historical events that mostly took place in Iceland in the ninth, tenth, and early el ...
. These legends intensified an inner longing that he would later call "joy". He also grew to love nature; its beauty reminded him of the stories of the North, and the stories of the North reminded him of the beauties of nature. His teenage writings moved away from the tales of Boxen, and he began experimenting with different art forms such as
epic poetry
An epic poem, or simply an epic, is a lengthy narrative poem typically about the extraordinary deeds of extraordinary characters who, in dealings with gods or other superhuman forces, gave shape to the mortal universe for their descendants.
...
and
opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...
to try to capture his new-found interest in
Norse mythology
Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia, and into the Nordic folklore of the modern period ...
and the natural world.
Studying with Kirkpatrick ("The Great Knock", as Lewis afterward called him) instilled in him a love of
Greek literature
Greek literature () dates back from the ancient Greek literature, beginning in 800 BC, to the modern Greek literature of today.
Ancient Greek literature was written in an Ancient Greek dialect, literature ranges from the oldest surviving writte ...
and
mythology
Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...
and sharpened his debate and reasoning skills. In 1916, Lewis was awarded a scholarship at
University College, Oxford
University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the univer ...
.
"My Irish life"
Lewis experienced a certain
cultural shock
Culture shock is an experience a person may have when one moves to a cultural environment which is different from one's own; it is also the personal disorientation a person may feel when experiencing an unfamiliar way of life due to immigration ...
on first arriving in England: "No Englishman will be able to understand my first impressions of England," Lewis wrote in '' Surprised by Joy''. "The strange
English accents
Spoken English shows great variation across regions where it is the predominant language. For example, the United Kingdom has the largest variation of accents of any country in the world, and therefore no single "British accent" exists. This ar ...
with which I was surrounded seemed like the voices of demons. But what was worst was the English landscape ... I have made up the quarrel since; but at that moment I conceived a hatred for England which took many years to heal."
From boyhood, Lewis had immersed himself in Norse and
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
mythology, and later in
Irish mythology
Irish mythology is the body of myths native to the island of Ireland. It was originally passed down orally in the prehistoric era, being part of ancient Celtic religion. Many myths were later written down in the early medieval era by C ...
and
literature
Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...
. He also expressed an interest in the
Irish language
Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...
, though there is not much evidence that he laboured to learn it. He developed a particular fondness for
W. B. Yeats
William Butler Yeats (13 June 186528 January 1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival and became a pillar of the Irish liter ...
, in part because of Yeats's use of Ireland's Celtic heritage in poetry. In a letter to a friend, Lewis wrote, "I have here discovered an author exactly after my own heart, whom I am sure you would delight in, W. B. Yeats. He writes plays and poems of rare spirit and beauty about our old Irish mythology."
In 1921, Lewis met Yeats twice, since Yeats had moved to Oxford. Lewis was surprised to find his English peers indifferent to Yeats and the
Celtic Revival
The Celtic Revival (also referred to as the Celtic Twilight) is a variety of movements and trends in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries that see a renewed interest in aspects of Celtic culture. Artists and writers drew on the traditions of Gael ...
movement, and wrote: "I am often surprised to find how utterly ignored Yeats is among the men I have met: perhaps his appeal is purely Irish – if so, then thank the gods that I am Irish."Yeats's appeal wasn't exclusively Irish; he was also a major "magical opponent" of famed English occultist
Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley (; born Edward Alexander Crowley; 12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947) was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, painter, novelist, and mountaineer. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the pro ...
, as noted extensively throughout Lawrence Sutin' ''Do what thou wilt: a life of Aleister Crowley'' New York: MacMillan (St. Martins). cf. pp. 56–78. Early in his career, Lewis considered sending his work to the major
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
publishers, writing: "If I do ever send my stuff to a publisher, I think I shall try Maunsel, those Dublin people, and so tack myself definitely onto the Irish school."
After his
conversion to Christianity
Conversion to Christianity is the religious conversion of a previously non-Christian person to Christianity. Different Christian denominations may perform various different kinds of rituals or ceremonies initiation into their community of believ ...
, his interests gravitated towards
Christian theology
Christian theology is the theology of Christianity, Christian belief and practice. Such study concentrates primarily upon the texts of the Old Testament and of the New Testament, as well as on Christian tradition. Christian theology, theologian ...
tongue-in-cheek
The idiom tongue-in-cheek refers to a humorous or sarcastic statement expressed in a serious manner.
History
The phrase originally expressed contempt, but by 1842 had acquired its modern meaning. Early users of the phrase include Sir Walter Scott ...
chauvinism
Chauvinism is the unreasonable belief in the superiority or dominance of one's own group or people, who are seen as strong and virtuous, while others are considered weak, unworthy, or inferior. It can be described as a form of extreme patriotis ...
towards the English. Describing an encounter with a fellow Irishman, he wrote: "Like all
Irish people
The Irish ( ga, Muintir na hÉireann or ''Na hÉireannaigh'') are an ethnic group and nation native to the island of Ireland, who share a common history and culture. There have been humans in Ireland for about 33,000 years, and it has been c ...
who meet in England, we ended by criticisms on the invincible flippancy and dullness of the
Anglo-Saxon
The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...
race. After all, there is no doubt, ''ami'', that the Irish are the only people: with all their faults, I would not gladly live or die among another folk." Throughout his life, he sought out the company of other Irish people living in England and visited Northern Ireland regularly. In 1958 he spent his honeymoon there at the Old Inn,
Crawfordsburn
Crawfordsburn () is a small village in County Down, Northern Ireland. The village, which is now effectively a commuter suburb, lies between Holywood and Bangor to the north of the A2 road, about 4 km west of Bangor town centre. Bounded to ...
, which he called "my Irish life".
Various critics have suggested that it was Lewis's dismay over the
sectarian conflict
Sectarian violence and/or sectarian strife is a form of communal violence which is inspired by sectarianism, that is, discrimination, hatred or prejudice between different sects of a particular mode of an ideology or different sects of a religion ...
in his native Belfast which led him to eventually adopt such an
ecumenical
Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjec ...
brand of Christianity. As one critic has said, Lewis "repeatedly extolled the virtues of all branches of the Christian faith, emphasising a need for unity among Christians around what the
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
writer called 'Mere Christianity', the core doctrinal beliefs that all denominations share". On the other hand, Paul Stevens of the
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...
has written that "Lewis' mere Christianity masked many of the political prejudices of an old-fashioned
Ulster Protestant
Ulster Protestants ( ga, Protastúnaigh Ultach) are an ethnoreligious group in the Irish province of Ulster, where they make up about 43.5% of the population. Most Ulster Protestants are descendants of settlers who arrived from Britain in the ...
, a native of middle-class Belfast for whom British withdrawal from Northern Ireland even in the 1950s and 1960s was unthinkable."
First World War and Oxford University
Lewis entered Oxford in the 1917 summer term, studying at
University College
In a number of countries, a university college is a college institution that provides tertiary education but does not have full or independent university status. A university college is often part of a larger university. The precise usage varies ...
, and shortly after, he joined the
Officers' Training Corps
The Officers' Training Corps (OTC), more fully called the University Officers' Training Corps (UOTC), are military leadership training units operated by the British Army. Their focus is to develop the leadership abilities of their members whilst ...
at the university as his "most promising route into the army". From there, he was drafted into a Cadet Battalion for training. After his training, he was commissioned into the 3rd Battalion of the
Somerset Light Infantry
The Somerset Light Infantry (Prince Albert's) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army, which served under various titles from 1685 to 1959. In 1959, the regiment was amalgamated with the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry to form the Some ...
of the
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
as a
Second Lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank.
Australia
The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...
, and was later transferred to the 1st Battalion of the regiment, then serving in France (he would not remain with the 3rd Battalion as it moved to Northern Ireland). Within months of entering Oxford, he was shipped by the British Army to France to fight in the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
.
On his 19th birthday (29 November 1917), Lewis arrived at the front line in the Somme Valley in France, where he experienced
trench warfare
Trench warfare is a type of land warfare using occupied lines largely comprising military trenches, in which troops are well-protected from the enemy's small arms fire and are substantially sheltered from artillery. Trench warfare became a ...
for the first time. On 15 April 1918, as 1st Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry assaulted the village of Riez du Vinage in the midst of the German spring offensive, Lewis was wounded and two of his colleagues were killed by a
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
shell
Shell may refer to:
Architecture and design
* Shell (structure), a thin structure
** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses
** Thin-shell structure
Science Biology
* Seashell, a hard o ...
falling short of its target. He was depressed and homesick during his convalescence and, upon his recovery in October, he was assigned to duty in
Andover
Andover may refer to:
Places Australia
* Andover, Tasmania
Canada
* Andover Parish, New Brunswick
* Perth-Andover, New Brunswick
United Kingdom
* Andover, Hampshire, England
** RAF Andover, a former Royal Air Force station
United States
* Ando ...
, England. He was
demobilized
Demobilization or demobilisation (see spelling differences) is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or because a crisis has been peacefully resolved and milita ...
in December 1918 and soon restarted his studies. In a later letter, Lewis stated that his experience of the horrors of war, along with the loss of his mother and unhappiness in school, were the basis of his pessimism and atheism.
After Lewis returned to Oxford University, he received a
First
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
in
Honour Moderations
Honour Moderations (or ''Mods'') are a set of examinations at the University of Oxford at the end of the first part of some degree courses (e.g., Greats or '' Literae Humaniores'').
Honour Moderations candidates have a class awarded (hence the ' ...
(Greek and
Latin literature
Latin literature includes the essays, histories, poems, plays, and other writings written in the Latin language. The beginning of formal Latin literature dates to 240 BC, when the first stage play in Latin was performed in Rome. Latin literature ...
) in 1920, a First in Greats (Philosophy and Ancient History) in 1922, and a
First
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
in
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
in 1923. In 1924 he became a Philosophy tutor at
University College
In a number of countries, a university college is a college institution that provides tertiary education but does not have full or independent university status. A university college is often part of a larger university. The precise usage varies ...
and, in 1925, was elected a
Fellow
A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context.
In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements.
Within the context of higher education ...
and Tutor in English Literature at
Magdalen College
Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the st ...
, where he served for 29 years until 1954.
Janie Moore
During his army training, Lewis shared a room with another cadet, Edward Courtnay Francis "Paddy" Moore (1898–1918). Maureen Moore, Paddy's sister, said that the two made a mutual pact that if either died during the war, the survivor would take care of both of their families. Paddy was killed in action in 1918 and Lewis kept his promise. Paddy had earlier introduced Lewis to his mother, Janie King Moore, and a friendship quickly sprang up between Lewis, who was 18 when they met, and Janie, who was 45. The friendship with Moore was particularly important to Lewis while he was recovering from his wounds in hospital, as his father did not visit him.
Lewis lived with and cared for Moore until she was hospitalized in the late 1940s. He routinely introduced her as his mother, referred to her as such in letters, and developed a deeply affectionate friendship with her. Lewis's own mother had died when he was a child, while his father was distant, demanding, and eccentric.
Speculation regarding their relationship resurfaced with the 1990 publication of
A. N. Wilson
Andrew Norman Wilson (born 27 October 1950)"A. N. Wilson" ''Encyclopædia Britannica''.
's biography of Lewis. Wilson (who never met Lewis) attempted to make a case for their having been lovers for a time. Wilson's biography was not the first to address the question of Lewis's relationship with Moore.
George Sayer
George Sydney Benedict Sayer (1 June 1914 – 20 October 2005) was a teacher at Malvern College, trustee of the Lewis estate and probably best known for his biography of the author C. S. Lewis.
knew Lewis for 29 years, and he had sought to shed light on the relationship during the period of 14 years before Lewis's conversion to Christianity. In his biography ''Jack: A Life of C. S. Lewis'', he wrote:
Later Sayer changed his mind. In the introduction to the 1997 edition of his biography of Lewis he wrote:
However, the romantic nature of the relationship is doubted by other writers; for example, Philip Zaleski and Carol Zaleski write in ''The Fellowship'' that
Lewis spoke well of Mrs. Moore throughout his life, saying to his friend George Sayer, "She was generous and taught me to be generous, too." In December 1917, Lewis wrote in a letter to his childhood friend Arthur Greeves that Janie and Greeves were "the two people who matter most to me in the world".
In 1930, Lewis moved into
The Kilns
The Kilns, also known as C. S. Lewis House, is the house in Risinghurst, Oxford, England, where the author C. S. Lewis wrote all of his Narnia books and other classics. The house itself was featured in the Narnia books.Maureen Maureen is a female given name. In Gaelic, it is Máirín, a pet form of ''Máire'' (the Irish cognate of Mary), which is derived from the Hebrew Miriam. The name has sometimes been regarded as corresponding to the male given name Maurice.
Some ...
. The Kilns was a house in the district of
Headington Quarry
Headington Quarry is a residential district of Oxford, England, located east of Headington and west of Risinghurst, just inside the Oxford ring road in the east of the city. To the south is Wood Farm. Today the district is also known colloquial ...
on the outskirts of Oxford, now part of the suburb of
Risinghurst
Risinghurst is an outlying residential area of Oxford, England, just outside the Eastern Bypass Road which forms part of the Oxford ring road. It is about east of the centre of Headington and east of Oxford city centre. It is part of the Risin ...
. They all contributed financially to the purchase of the house, which eventually passed to Maureen, who by then was Dame Maureen Dunbar, when Warren died in 1973.
Moore had
dementia
Dementia is a disorder which manifests as a set of related symptoms, which usually surfaces when the brain is damaged by injury or disease. The symptoms involve progressive impairments in memory, thinking, and behavior, which negatively affe ...
in her later years and was eventually moved into a
nursing home
A nursing home is a facility for the residential care of elderly or disabled people. Nursing homes may also be referred to as skilled nursing facility (SNF) or long-term care facilities. Often, these terms have slightly different meanings to in ...
, where she died in 1951. Lewis visited her every day in this home until her death.
Return to Christianity
Lewis was raised in a religious family that attended the
Church of Ireland
The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the second ...
. He became an atheist at age 15, though he later described his young self as being paradoxically "very angry with God for not existing" and "equally angry with him for creating a world". His early separation from Christianity began when he started to view his religion as a chore and a duty; around this time, he also gained an interest in the occult, as his studies expanded to include such topics. Lewis quoted
Lucretius
Titus Lucretius Carus ( , ; – ) was a Roman poet and philosopher. His only known work is the philosophical poem ''De rerum natura'', a didactic work about the tenets and philosophy of Epicureanism, and which usually is translated into E ...
(''De rerum natura'', 5.198–9) as having one of the strongest arguments for atheism:
which he translated poetically as follows:
Had God designed the world, it would not be
A world so frail and faulty as we see.
(This is a highly poetic, rather than a literal translation. A more literal translation, by William Ellery Leonard, reads: "That in no wise the nature of all things / For us was fashioned by a power divine – / So great the faults it stands encumbered with.")
Lewis's interest in the works of the Scottish writer
George MacDonald
George MacDonald (10 December 1824 – 18 September 1905) was a Scottish author, poet and Christian Congregational minister. He was a pioneering figure in the field of modern fantasy literature and the mentor of fellow writer Lewis Carroll. I ...
was part of what turned him from atheism. This can be seen particularly well through this passage in Lewis's '' The Great Divorce'', chapter nine, when the semi-autobiographical
main character
A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...
meets MacDonald in
Heaven
Heaven or the heavens, is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the belie ...
:
He eventually returned to Christianity, having been influenced by arguments with his Oxford colleague and friend
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philology, philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''.
From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was ...
, whom he seems to have met for the first time on 11 May 1926, as well as the book ''
The Everlasting Man
''The Everlasting Man'' is a Christian apologetics book written by G. K. Chesterton, published in 1925. It is, to some extent, a deliberate rebuttal of H. G. Wells' ''The Outline of History'', disputing Wells' portrayals of human life and civi ...
'' by G. K. Chesterton. Lewis vigorously resisted conversion, noting that he was brought into Christianity like a prodigal, "kicking, struggling, resentful, and darting his eyes in every direction for a chance to escape". He described his last struggle in '' Surprised by Joy'':
After his conversion to
theism
Theism is broadly defined as the belief in the existence of a supreme being or deities. In common parlance, or when contrasted with ''deism'', the term often describes the classical conception of God that is found in monotheism (also referred to ...
in 1929, Lewis converted to Christianity in 1931, following a long discussion during a late-night walk along
Addison's Walk
Addison's Walk (originally called Water Walk) is a picturesque footpath around a small island in the River Cherwell in the grounds of Magdalen College, Oxford, England. There are good views of Magdalen Tower and Magdalen Bridge from along the ...
with close friends Tolkien and
Hugo Dyson
Henry Victor Dyson Dyson (7 April 1896 – 6 June 1975), generally known as Hugo Dyson and who signed his writings H. V. D. Dyson, was an English academic and a member of the Inklings literary group. He was a committed Christian, and together wi ...
. He records making a specific commitment to Christian belief while on his way to the zoo with his brother. He became a member of the
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
– somewhat to the disappointment of Tolkien, who had hoped that he would join the Catholic Church.
Lewis was a committed
Anglican
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
who upheld a largely orthodox
Anglican theology
Anglican doctrine (also called Episcopal doctrine in some countries) is the body of Christian teachings used to guide the religious and moral practices of Anglicans.
Approach to doctrine
Anglicanism does not possess an agreed-upon confessi ...
, though in his
apologetic
Apologetics (from Greek , "speaking in defense") is the religious discipline of defending religious doctrines through systematic argumentation and discourse. Early Christian writers (c. 120–220) who defended their beliefs against critics and ...
writings, he made an effort to avoid espousing any one denomination. In his later writings, some believe that he proposed ideas such as purification of
venial sin
According to Catholicism, a venial sin is a lesser sin that does not result in a complete separation from God and eternal damnation in Hell as an unrepented mortal sin would. A venial sin consists in acting as one should not, without the actual inc ...
s after death in
purgatory
Purgatory (, borrowed into English via Anglo-Norman and Old French) is, according to the belief of some Christian denominations (mostly Catholic), an intermediate state after physical death for expiatory purification. The process of purgatory ...
mortal sin
A mortal sin ( la, peccatum mortale), in Catholic theology, is a gravely sinful act which can lead to damnation if a person does not repent of the sin before death. A sin is considered to be "mortal" when its quality is such that it leads to ...
(''
The Screwtape Letters
''The Screwtape Letters'' is a Christian apologetic novel by C. S. Lewis and dedicated to J. R. R. Tolkien. It is written in a satirical, epistolary style and while it is fictional in format, the plot and characters are used to address Christi ...
''), which are generally considered to be Roman Catholic teachings, although they are also widely held in Anglicanism (particularly in
high church
The term ''high church'' refers to beliefs and practices of Christian ecclesiology, liturgy, and theology that emphasize formality and resistance to modernisation. Although used in connection with various Christian traditions, the term originate ...
Anglo-Catholic
Anglo-Catholicism comprises beliefs and practices that emphasise the Catholic heritage and identity of the various Anglican churches.
The term was coined in the early 19th century, although movements emphasising the Catholic nature of Anglican ...
circles). Regardless, Lewis considered himself an entirely orthodox Anglican to the end of his life, reflecting that he had initially attended church only to receive communion and had been repelled by the hymns and the poor quality of the sermons. He later came to consider himself honoured by worshipping with men of faith who came in shabby clothes and work boots and who sang all the verses to all the hymns.
Second World War
After the outbreak of the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
The Kilns
The Kilns, also known as C. S. Lewis House, is the house in Risinghurst, Oxford, England, where the author C. S. Lewis wrote all of his Narnia books and other classics. The house itself was featured in the Narnia books. Lewis was only 40 when the war began, and he tried to re-enter military service, offering to instruct cadets; however, his offer was not accepted. He rejected the recruiting office's suggestion of writing columns for the Ministry of Information in the press, as he did not want to "write lies" to deceive the enemy. He later served in the local
Home Guard
Home guard is a title given to various military organizations at various times, with the implication of an emergency or reserve force raised for local defense.
The term "home guard" was first officially used in the American Civil War, starting wi ...
in Oxford.
From 1941 to 1943, Lewis spoke on religious programmes broadcast by
the BBC
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
from London while the city was under periodic air raids. These broadcasts were appreciated by civilians and servicemen at that stage. For example, Air Chief Marshal Sir Donald Hardman wrote:
:"The war, the whole of life, everything tended to seem pointless. We needed, many of us, a key to the meaning of the universe. Lewis provided just that."
The youthful
Alistair Cooke
Alistair Cooke (born Alfred Cooke; 20 November 1908 – 30 March 2004) was a British-American writer whose work as a journalist, television personality and radio broadcaster was done primarily in the United States.R.A.F.
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
stations to speak on his faith, invited by
Chaplain-in-Chief
The Royal Air Force Chaplains Branch provides military chaplains for the Royal Air Force of the United Kingdom.
Mission
The Mission of the Royal Air Force Chaplains Branch is to serve the RAF Community through: Prayer, Presence and Proclamation. ...
Maurice Edwards
Maurice Henry Edwards, OBE (17 May 1886 – 26 April 1961) was a British Anglican priest. During World War II, from 1940 to 1944, he was Chaplain-in-Chief of the Royal Air Force.
Early life
Edwards was born on 17 May 1886. He was educated a ...
.
It was also during the same wartime period that Lewis was invited to become first President of the Oxford Socratic Club in January 1942, a position that he enthusiastically held until he resigned on appointment to
Cambridge University
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
in 1954.
Honour declined
Lewis was named on the last list of honours by
George VI
George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until Death and state funeral of George VI, his death in 1952. ...
in December 1951 as a
Commander of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
(CBE) but declined so as to avoid association with any political issues.
Magdalene College, Cambridge
Magdalene College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary ...
, where he finished his career. He maintained a strong attachment to the city of
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
, keeping a home there and returning on weekends until his death in 1963.
Communist
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
, and a convert from atheism to Christianity. She was separated from her alcoholic and abusive husband, novelist William L. Gresham, and came to England with her two sons, David and
Douglas
Douglas may refer to:
People
* Douglas (given name)
* Douglas (surname)
Animals
*Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking
*Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil W ...
. Lewis at first regarded her as an agreeable intellectual companion and personal friend, and it was on this level that he agreed to enter into a
civil marriage
A civil marriage is a marriage performed, recorded, and recognized by a government official. Such a marriage may be performed by a religion, religious body and recognized by the state, or it may be entirely secular.
History
Every country maintai ...
contract with her so that she could continue to live in the UK. They were married at the
register office
A register office or The General Register Office, much more commonly but erroneously registry office (except in official use), is a British government office where births, deaths, marriages, civil partnership, stillbirths and adoptions in England, ...
, 42 St Giles', Oxford, on 23 April 1956. Lewis's brother Warren wrote: "For Jack the attraction was at first undoubtedly intellectual. Joy was the only woman whom he had met ... who had a brain which matched his own in suppleness, in width of interest, and in analytical grasp, and above all in humour and a sense of fun." After complaining of a painful hip, she was diagnosed with terminal
bone cancer
A bone tumor is an abnormal growth of tissue in bone, traditionally classified as noncancerous (benign) or cancerous (malignant). Cancerous bone tumors usually originate from a cancer in another part of the body such as from lung, breast, thyro ...
, and the relationship developed to the point that they sought a Christian marriage. Since she was divorced, this was not straightforward in the
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
at the time, but a friend, the Rev. Peter Bide, performed the ceremony at her bed in the
Churchill Hospital
The Churchill Hospital is a teaching hospital in Oxford, England. It is managed by the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
History
The original hospital on the site was built in 1940 with the intention of providing medical aid to ...
on 21 March 1957.
Gresham's cancer soon went into remission, and the couple lived together as a family with
Warren Lewis
Warren Hamilton Lewis (16 June 1895 – 9 April 1973) was a British historian and officer in the British Army, best known as the elder brother of writer and professor C. S. Lewis. Warren Lewis was a supply officer with the Royal Army Service Co ...
until 1960, when her cancer recurred. She died on 13 July 1960. Earlier that year, the couple took a brief holiday in Greece and the Aegean; Lewis was fond of walking but not of travel, and this marked his only crossing of the
English Channel
The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...
after 1918. Lewis's book ''
A Grief Observed
''A Grief Observed'' is a collection of C. S. Lewis's reflections on his experience of bereavement following the death of his wife, Joy Davidman, in 1960. The book was published in 1961 under the pseudonym N.W. Clerk because Lewis wished to avoid ...
'' describes his experience of bereavement in such a raw and personal fashion that he originally released it under the pseudonym N. W. Clerk to keep readers from associating the book with him. Ironically, many friends recommended the book to Lewis as a method for dealing with his own grief. After Lewis's death, his authorship was made public by Faber's, with the permission of the
executors
An executor is someone who is responsible for executing, or following through on, an assigned task or duty. The feminine form, executrix, may sometimes be used.
Overview
An executor is a legal term referring to a person named by the maker of a ...
.
Lewis continued to raise Gresham's two sons after her death.
Douglas Gresham
Douglas Howard Gresham (born November 10, 1945) is an American British stage and voice-over actor, biographer, film producer, and executive record producer. He is one of the two stepsons of C. S. Lewis.
Early life
Gresham was born in Ne ...
is a Christian like Lewis and his mother, while David Gresham turned to his mother's ancestral faith, becoming
Orthodox Jewish
Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses on M ...
in his beliefs. His mother's writings had featured the Jews in an unsympathetic manner, particularly on "
shohet
In Judaism, ''shechita'' (anglicized: ; he, ; ; also transliterated ''shehitah, shechitah, shehita'') is slaughtering of certain mammals and birds for food according to ''kashrut''.
Sources
states that sheep and cattle should be slaughtered ...
" (ritual slaughterer). David informed Lewis that he was going to become a ritual slaughterer to present this type of Jewish religious
functionary
An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority, (either their own or that of their ...
to the world in a more favourable light. In a 2005 interview, Douglas Gresham acknowledged that he and his brother were not close, although they had corresponded via email.
David died on 25 December 2014. In 2020, Douglas revealed that his brother had died at a Swiss
mental hospital
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociati ...
, and that when David was a young man he had been diagnosed with
paranoid schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically Auditory hallucination#Schizophrenia, hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. ...
.
Illness and death
In early June 1961, Lewis began experiencing
nephritis
Nephritis is inflammation of the kidneys and may involve the glomeruli, tubules, or interstitial tissue surrounding the glomeruli and tubules. It is one of several different types of nephropathy.
Types
* Glomerulonephritis is inflammation of th ...
, which resulted in
blood poisoning
Sepsis, formerly known as septicemia (septicaemia in British English) or blood poisoning, is a life-threatening condition that arises when the body's response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs. This initial stage is follo ...
. His illness caused him to miss the autumn term at Cambridge, though his health gradually began improving in 1962 and he returned that April. His health continued to improve and, according to his friend
George Sayer
George Sydney Benedict Sayer (1 June 1914 – 20 October 2005) was a teacher at Malvern College, trustee of the Lewis estate and probably best known for his biography of the author C. S. Lewis.
, Lewis was fully himself by early 1963.
On 15 July that year, Lewis fell ill and was admitted to the hospital; he had a heart attack at 5:00 pm the next day and lapsed into a coma, but unexpectedly woke the following day at 2:00 pm. After he was discharged from the hospital, Lewis returned to the Kilns, though he was too ill to return to work. As a result, he resigned from his post at Cambridge in August 1963.
Lewis's condition continued to decline, and he was diagnosed with
end-stage kidney failure
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a type of kidney disease in which a gradual loss of kidney function occurs over a period of months to years. Initially generally no symptoms are seen, but later symptoms may include pedal edema, leg swelling, feelin ...
in mid-November. He collapsed in his bedroom at 5:30 pm on 22 November, exactly one week before his 65th birthday, and died a few minutes later. He is buried in the churchyard of Holy Trinity Church,
Headington
Headington is an eastern suburb of Oxford, England. It is at the top of Headington Hill overlooking the city in the Thames valley below, and bordering Marston to the north-west, Cowley to the south, and Barton and Risinghurst to the east. Th ...
, Oxford. His brother
Warren
A warren is a network of wild rodent or lagomorph, typically rabbit burrows. Domestic warrens are artificial, enclosed establishment of animal husbandry dedicated to the raising of rabbits for meat and fur. The term evolved from the medieval A ...
died on 9 April 1973 and was buried in the same grave.
Media coverage of Lewis's death was almost completely overshadowed by news of the
assassination of John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was assassinated on Friday, November 22, 1963, at 12:30 p.m. CST in Dallas, Texas, while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza. Kennedy was in the vehicle with ...
, which occurred on the same day (approximately 55 minutes following Lewis's collapse), as did the death of English writer
Aldous Huxley
Aldous Leonard Huxley (26 July 1894 – 22 November 1963) was an English writer and philosopher. He wrote nearly 50 books, both novels and non-fiction works, as well as wide-ranging essays, narratives, and poems.
Born into the prominent Huxley ...
, author of ''
Brave New World
''Brave New World'' is a dystopian novel by English author Aldous Huxley, written in 1931 and published in 1932. Largely set in a futuristic World State, whose citizens are environmentally engineered into an intelligence-based social hierarch ...
''. This coincidence was the inspiration for
Peter Kreeft
Peter John Kreeft (; born March 16, 1937) is a professor of philosophy at Boston College and The King's College. A convert to Roman Catholicism, he is the author of over eighty books on Christian philosophy, theology and apologetics. He also f ...
church calendar
The liturgical year, also called the church year, Christian year or kalendar, consists of the cycle of liturgy, liturgical seasons in Christian churches that determines when feast days, including Calendar of saints, celebrations of saints, a ...
Lewis began his academic career as an undergraduate student at
Oxford University
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
, where he won a triple first, the highest honours in three areas of study. He was then elected a Fellow of
Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the s ...
Cambridge University
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
, and was elected a fellow of
Magdalene College
Magdalene College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary ...
. Concerning his appointed academic field, he argued that there was no such thing as an
English Renaissance
The English Renaissance was a Cultural movement, cultural and Art movement, artistic movement in England from the early 16th century to the early 17th century. It is associated with the pan-European Renaissance that is usually regarded as beginni ...
. Much of his scholarly work concentrated on the
later Middle Ages
The Late Middle Ages or Late Medieval Period was the period of European history lasting from AD 1300 to 1500. The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period (and in much of Europe, the Ren ...
, especially its use of allegory. His ''
The Allegory of Love
''The Allegory of Love: A Study in Medieval Tradition'' (1936), by C. S. Lewis (), is an exploration of the allegorical treatment of love in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, which was published on 21 May 1936.Roman de la Rose
''Le Roman de la Rose'' (''The Romance of the Rose'') is a medieval poem written in Old French and presented as an allegorical dream vision. As poetry, ''The Romance of the Rose'' is a notable instance of courtly literature, purporting to provid ...
''.
Lewis was commissioned to write the volume ''English Literature in the Sixteenth Century (Excluding Drama)'' for the Oxford History of English Literature. His book ''A Preface to Paradise Lost'' is still cited as a criticism of that work. His last
academic work
An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, f ...
, ''
The Discarded Image
''The Discarded Image: An Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance Literature'' is a non-fiction book by C. S. Lewis. It was his last book and deals with medieval cosmology and the Ptolemaic universe. It portrays the medieval conception of a ...
: An Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance Literature'' (1964), is a summary of the medieval world view, a reference to the "discarded image" of the cosmos.
Lewis was a prolific writer, and his circle of literary friends became an informal discussion society known as the "
Inklings
The Inklings were an informal literary discussion group associated with J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis at the University of Oxford for nearly two decades between the early 1930s and late 1949. The Inklings were literary enthusiasts who pra ...
", including
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philology, philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''.
From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was ...
,
Nevill Coghill
Nevill Henry Kendal Aylmer Coghill (19 April 1899 – 6 November 1980) was an English literary scholar, known especially for his modern English version of Geoffrey Chaucer's ''Canterbury Tales''.
Life
His father was Sir Egerton Coghill, 5th ...
,
Lord David Cecil
Lord Edward Christian David Gascoyne-Cecil, CH (9 April 1902 – 1 January 1986) was a British biographer, historian, and scholar. He held the style of "Lord" by courtesy, as a younger son of a marquess.
Early life and studies
David Cecil was ...
Owen Barfield
Arthur Owen Barfield (9 November 1898 – 14 December 1997) was a British philosopher, author, poet, critic, and member of the Inklings.
Life
Barfield was born in London, to Elizabeth (née Shoults; 1860–1940) and Arthur Edward Barfield (1864 ...
, and his brother
Warren Lewis
Warren Hamilton Lewis (16 June 1895 – 9 April 1973) was a British historian and officer in the British Army, best known as the elder brother of writer and professor C. S. Lewis. Warren Lewis was a supply officer with the Royal Army Service Co ...
. Glyer points to December 1929 as the Inklings' beginning date. Lewis's friendship with Coghill and Tolkien grew during their time as members of the Kolbítar, an Old Norse reading group that Tolkien founded and which ended around the time of the inception of the Inklings. At Oxford, he was the tutor of poet
John Betjeman
Sir John Betjeman (; 28 August 190619 May 1984) was an English poet, writer, and broadcaster. He was Poet Laureate from 1972 until his death. He was a founding member of The Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architecture, ...
, critic
Kenneth Tynan
Kenneth Peacock Tynan (2 April 1927 – 26 July 1980) was an English theatre critic and writer. Making his initial impact as a critic at ''The Observer'', he praised Osborne's ''Look Back in Anger'' (1956), and encouraged the emerging wave of ...
, mystic
Bede Griffiths
Bede Griffiths OSB Cam (17 December 1906 – 13 May 1993), born Alan Richard Griffiths and also known by the end of his life as Swami Dayananda ("bliss of compassion"), was a British-born priest and Benedictine monk who lived in ashrams in Sou ...
, novelist
Roger Lancelyn Green
Roger Gilbert Lancelyn Green (2 November 1918 – 8 October 1987) was a British biographer and children's writer. He was an Oxford academic who formed part of the Inklings literary discussion group along with C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien. ...
and Sufi scholar
Martin Lings
Martin Lings (24 January 1909 – 12 May 2005), also known as Abū Bakr Sirāj ad-Dīn, was an English writer, Islamic scholar, and philosopher. A student of the Swiss metaphysician Frithjof Schuon and an authority on the work of William Shake ...
, among many other undergraduates. Curiously, the religious and conservative Betjeman detested Lewis, whereas the
anti-establishment
An anti-establishment view or belief is one which stands in opposition to the conventional social, political, and economic principles of a society. The term was first used in the modern sense in 1958, by the British magazine ''New Statesman'' ...
Tynan retained a lifelong admiration for him.
Of Tolkien, Lewis writes in '' Surprised by Joy'':
Novelist
In addition to his scholarly work, Lewis wrote several popular novels, including the science fiction ''
Space Trilogy
''The Space Trilogy'' or ''Cosmic Trilogy'' is a series of science fiction novels by C. S. Lewis. The trilogy consists of ''Out of the Silent Planet'' (1938), '' Perelandra'' (1943), and '' That Hideous Strength'' (1945). A philologist named ...
'' for adults and the
Narnia
''The Chronicles of Narnia'' is a series of seven high fantasy novels by British author C. S. Lewis. Illustrated by Pauline Baynes and originally published between 1950 and 1956, ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' has been adapted for radio, telev ...
fantasies for children. Most deal implicitly with Christian themes such as sin, humanity's fall from grace, and redemption.
His first novel after becoming a Christian was ''
The Pilgrim's Regress
''The Pilgrim's Regress'' is a book of allegorical fiction by C. S. Lewis.
This 1933 novel was Lewis's first published work of prose fiction, and his third piece of work to be published and first after he converted to Christianity. It charts th ...
'' (1933), which depicted his experience with Christianity in the style of
John Bunyan
John Bunyan (; baptised 30 November 162831 August 1688) was an English writer and Puritan preacher best remembered as the author of the Christian allegory ''The Pilgrim's Progress,'' which also became an influential literary model. In addition ...
's ''
The Pilgrim's Progress
''The Pilgrim's Progress from This World, to That Which Is to Come'' is a 1678 Christian allegory written by John Bunyan. It is regarded as one of the most significant works of theological fiction in English literature and a progenitor of ...
''. The book was poorly received by critics at the time, although David
Martyn Lloyd-Jones
David Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899–1981) was a Welsh Protestant minister and medical doctor who was influential in the Calvinist wing of the British evangelical movement in the 20th century. For almost 30 years, he was the minister of Westminster ...
, one of Lewis's contemporaries at Oxford, gave him much-valued encouragement. Asked by Lloyd-Jones when he would write another book, Lewis replied, "When I understand the meaning of prayer."
The ''
Space Trilogy
''The Space Trilogy'' or ''Cosmic Trilogy'' is a series of science fiction novels by C. S. Lewis. The trilogy consists of ''Out of the Silent Planet'' (1938), '' Perelandra'' (1943), and '' That Hideous Strength'' (1945). A philologist named ...
'' (also called the ''Cosmic Trilogy'' or ''Ransom Trilogy'') dealt with what Lewis saw as the dehumanizing trends in contemporary science fiction. The first book, ''
Out of the Silent Planet
''Out of the Silent Planet'' is a science fiction novel by the British author C. S. Lewis, first published in 1938 by John Lane, The Bodley Head. Two sequels were published in 1943 and 1945, completing the ''Space Trilogy''.
Plot
While on a ...
'', was apparently written following a conversation with his friend J. R. R. Tolkien about these trends. Lewis agreed to write a "space travel" story and Tolkien a "time travel" one, but Tolkien never completed "
The Lost Road
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
", linking his
Middle-earth
Middle-earth is the fictional setting of much of the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy. The term is equivalent to the ''Miðgarðr'' of Norse mythology and ''Middangeard'' in Old English works, including ''Beowulf''. Middle-earth is t ...
to the modern world. Lewis's main character
Elwin Ransom
Elwin Ransom is the main character in the first two books of C.S. Lewis' ''The Space Trilogy'', namely ''Out of the Silent Planet'' and ''Perelandra''. In the final book, ''That Hideous Strength'', he is a lesser character (the main characters b ...
is based in part on Tolkien, a fact to which Tolkien alludes in his letters.
The second novel, '' Perelandra'', depicts a new
Garden of Eden
In Abrahamic religions, the Garden of Eden ( he, גַּן־עֵדֶן, ) or Garden of God (, and גַן־אֱלֹהִים ''gan-Elohim''), also called the Terrestrial Paradise, is the Bible, biblical paradise described in Book of Genesis, Genes ...
on the planet Venus, a new
Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve, according to the creation myth of the Abrahamic religions, were the first man and woman. They are central to the belief that humanity is in essence a single family, with everyone descended from a single pair of original ancestors. ...
, and a new "serpent figure" to tempt Eve. The story can be seen as an account of what might have happened if the terrestrial Adam had defeated the serpent and avoided the
Fall of Man
The fall of man, the fall of Adam, or simply the Fall, is a term used in Christianity to describe the transition of the first man and woman from a state of innocent obedience to God in Christianity, God to a state of guilty disobedience.
*
*
*
* ...
, with Ransom intervening in the novel to "ransom" the new Adam and Eve from the deceptions of the enemy. The third novel, ''
That Hideous Strength
''That Hideous Strength: A Modern Fairy-Tale for Grown-Ups'' is a 1945 novel by C. S. Lewis, the final book in Lewis's theological science fiction Space Trilogy. The events of this novel follow those of '' Out of the Silent Planet'' and '' Pere ...
'', develops the theme of nihilistic science threatening traditional human values, embodied in Arthurian legend.
Many ideas in the trilogy, particularly opposition to dehumanization as portrayed in the third book, are presented more formally in ''
The Abolition of Man
''The Abolition of Man'' is a 1943 book by C. S. Lewis. Subtitled "Reflections on education with special reference to the teaching of English in the upper forms of schools", it uses that as a starting point for a defense of objective value and natu ...
'', based on a series of lectures by Lewis at
Durham University
, mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills (Psalm 87:1)
, established = (university status)
, type = Public
, academic_staff = 1,830 (2020)
, administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19)
, chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen
, vice_chan ...
in 1943. Lewis stayed in Durham, where he says he was overwhelmed by the magnificence of the cathedral. ''That Hideous Strength'' is in fact set in the environs of "Edgestow" university, a small English university like Durham, though Lewis disclaims any other resemblance between the two.
Walter Hooper
Walter McGehee Hooper (March 27, 1931December 7, 2020) was an American writer and literary advisor of the estate of C.S. Lewis. He was a literary trustee for Owen Barfield from December 1997 to October 2006.
Life
Hooper was born in Reidsville, No ...
, Lewis's literary executor, discovered a fragment of another science-fiction novel apparently written by Lewis called '' The Dark Tower''. Ransom appears in the story but it is not clear whether the book was intended as part of the same series of novels. The manuscript was eventually published in 1977, though Lewis scholar
Kathryn Lindskoog Kathryn Ann "Kay" Lindskoog (née Stillwell; December 26, 1934 – October 21, 2003) was a C. S. Lewis scholar known partly for her theory that some works attributed to Lewis are forgeries, including '' The Dark Tower''.
Work on C. S. Lewis
The ma ...
doubts its authenticity.
''
The Chronicles of Narnia
''The Chronicles of Narnia'' is a series of seven high fantasy novels by British author C. S. Lewis. Illustrated by Pauline Baynes and originally published between 1950 and 1956, ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' has been adapted for radio, telev ...
'', considered a classic of children's literature, is a series of seven fantasy novels. Written between 1949 and 1954 and illustrated by
Pauline Baynes
Pauline Diana Baynes (9 September 1922 – 1 August 2008) was an English illustrator, author and commercial artist. She contributed drawings and paintings to more than 200 books, mostly in the children's genre. She was the first illustrat ...
, the series is Lewis's most popular work, having sold over 100 million copies in 41 languages . It has been adapted several times, complete or in part, for radio, television, stage and
cinema
Cinema may refer to:
Film
* Cinematography, the art of motion-picture photography
* Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of a moving image
** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking
...
.
The books contain Christian ideas intended to be easily accessible to young readers. In addition to Christian themes, Lewis also borrows characters from
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
and
Roman mythology
Roman mythology is the body of myths of ancient Rome as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans. One of a wide variety of genres of Roman folklore, ''Roman mythology'' may also refer to the modern study of these representat ...
, as well as traditional British and Irish fairy tales.
Lewis's last novel, ''
Till We Have Faces
''Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold'' is a 1956 novel by C. S. Lewis. It is a retelling of Cupid and Psyche, based on its telling in a chapter of ''The Golden Ass'' of Apuleius. This story had haunted Lewis all his life, because he realized th ...
'', a retelling of the myth of Cupid and Psyche, was published in 1956. Although Lewis called it "far and away my best book," it was not as well-reviewed as his previous work.
Other works
Lewis wrote several works on
Heaven
Heaven or the heavens, is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the belie ...
and
Hell
In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell ...
. One of these, '' The Great Divorce'', is a short novella in which a few residents of Hell take a bus ride to Heaven, where they are met by people who dwell there. The proposition is that they can stay if they choose, in which case they can call the place where they had come from "
Purgatory
Purgatory (, borrowed into English via Anglo-Norman and Old French) is, according to the belief of some Christian denominations (mostly Catholic), an intermediate state after physical death for expiatory purification. The process of purgatory ...
", instead of "Hell", but many find it not to their taste. The title is a reference to
William Blake
William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age. ...
's ''
The Marriage of Heaven and Hell
''The Marriage of Heaven and Hell'' is a book by the English poet and printmaker William Blake. It is a series of texts written in imitation of biblical prophecy but expressing Blake's own intensely personal Romantic and revolutionary beliefs ...
'', a concept that Lewis found a "disastrous error". This work deliberately echoes two other more famous works with a similar theme: the ''
Divine Comedy
The ''Divine Comedy'' ( it, Divina Commedia ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature and ...
'' of
Dante Alighieri
Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: '' ...
, and Bunyan's ''
The Pilgrim's Progress
''The Pilgrim's Progress from This World, to That Which Is to Come'' is a 1678 Christian allegory written by John Bunyan. It is regarded as one of the most significant works of theological fiction in English literature and a progenitor of ...
''.
Another short work, ''
The Screwtape Letters
''The Screwtape Letters'' is a Christian apologetic novel by C. S. Lewis and dedicated to J. R. R. Tolkien. It is written in a satirical, epistolary style and while it is fictional in format, the plot and characters are used to address Christi ...
'', which he dedicated to J. R. R. Tolkien, consists of letters of advice from senior
demon
A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in religion, occultism, literature, fiction, mythology, and folklore; as well as in media such as comics, video games, movies, ani ...
Screwtape to his nephew Wormwood on the best ways to tempt a particular human and secure his
damnation
Damnation (from Latin '' damnatio'') is the concept of divine punishment and torment in an afterlife for actions that were committed, or in some cases, not committed on Earth.
In Ancient Egyptian religious tradition, citizens would recite th ...
. Lewis's last novel was ''
Till We Have Faces
''Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold'' is a 1956 novel by C. S. Lewis. It is a retelling of Cupid and Psyche, based on its telling in a chapter of ''The Golden Ass'' of Apuleius. This story had haunted Lewis all his life, because he realized th ...
'', which he thought of as his most mature and masterly work of fiction but which was never a popular success. It is a retelling of the myth of
Cupid and Psyche
Cupid and Psyche is a story originally from ''Metamorphoses'' (also called ''The Golden Ass''), written in the 2nd century AD by Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis (or Platonicus). The tale concerns the overcoming of obstacles to the love between Psyc ...
from the unusual perspective of Psyche's sister. It is deeply concerned with religious ideas, but the setting is entirely
pagan
Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. ...
, and the connections with specific Christian beliefs are left implicit.
Before Lewis's conversion to Christianity, he published two books: ''
Spirits in Bondage
''Spirits in Bondage: A Cycle of Lyrics'' (1919) was C. S. Lewis's first published work (originally published under the pseudonym Clive Hamilton, which is Lewis' first name followed by his mother's maiden name). Lewis was twenty years old and ha ...
'', a collection of poems, and ''
Dymer Dymer may refer to:
* Dymer, Poland
* Dymer, Kyiv Oblast
Dymer ( uk, Димер, russian: Ды́мер) is an urban-type settlement in Vyshhorod Raion of Kyiv Oblast (province) of Ukraine with a population of It hosts the administration of Dyme ...
'', a single
narrative poem
Narrative poetry is a form of poetry that tells a story, often using the voices of both a narrator and characters; the entire story is usually written in metered verse. Narrative poems do not need rhyme. The poems that make up this genre may be s ...
. Both were published under the pen name Clive Hamilton. Other narrative poems have since been published posthumously, including ''Launcelot'', ''The Nameless Isle'', and ''
The Queen of Drum
"The Queen of Drum" is a narrative poem by C. S. Lewis published by J.M. Dent in 1969, post-humously by Lewis' trustee and literary adviser Walter Hooper. It is noted for its varying meter, but has been criticised for having a weak plot. It is inc ...
''.
He also wrote ''
The Four Loves
''The Four Loves'' is a 1960 book by C. S. Lewis which explores the nature of love from a Christian and philosophical perspective through thought experiments. The book was based on a set of radio talks from 1958 which had been criticised in the ...
'', which rhetorically explains four categories of love:
friendship
Friendship is a relationship of mutual affection between people. It is a stronger form of interpersonal bond than an "acquaintance" or an "association", such as a classmate, neighbor, coworker, or colleague.
In some cultures, the concept o ...
,
eros
In Greek mythology, Eros (, ; grc, Ἔρως, Érōs, Love, Desire) is the Greek god of love and sex. His Roman counterpart was Cupid ("desire").''Larousse Desk Reference Encyclopedia'', The Book People, Haydock, 1995, p. 215. In the earli ...
,
affection
Affection or fondness is a "disposition or state of mind or body" that is often associated with a feeling or type of love. It has given rise to a number of branches of philosophy and psychology concerning emotion, disease, influence, and sta ...
, and
charity
Charity may refer to:
Giving
* Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons
* Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing
* Ch ...
.
In 2009, a partial draft was discovered of ''
Language and Human Nature
''Language and Human Nature'' is a joint literature project that was begun, but never completed, between C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien.
In the 1940s, a news release from Lewis and Tolkien's publisher had announced that the book was to be publi ...
'', which Lewis had begun co-writing with J. R. R. Tolkien, but which was never completed.
Christian apologist
Lewis is also regarded by many as one of the most influential
Christian apologists
Christian apologetics ( grc, ἀπολογία, "verbal defense, speech in defense") is a branch of Christian theology that defends Christianity.
Christian apologetics has taken many forms over the centuries, starting with Paul the Apostle in ...
of his time, in addition to his career as an English professor and an author of fiction. ''
Mere Christianity
''Mere Christianity'' is a Christian apologetical book by the British author C. S. Lewis. It was adapted from a series of BBC radio talks made between 1941 and 1944, originally published as three separate volumes: ''Broadcast Talks'' (1942), ' ...
'' was voted best book of the 20th century by ''
Christianity Today
''Christianity Today'' is an evangelical Christian media magazine founded in 1956 by Billy Graham. It is published by Christianity Today International based in Carol Stream, Illinois. ''The Washington Post'' calls ''Christianity Today'' "evange ...
'' in 2000. He has been called "The Apostle to the Skeptics" due to his approach to religious belief as a sceptic, and his following conversion.
Lewis was very interested in presenting an
argument from reason
The argument from reason is an argument against metaphysical naturalism and for the existence of God (or at least a supernatural being that is the source of human reason). The best-known defender of the argument is C. S. Lewis. Lewis first defen ...
against
metaphysical naturalism
Metaphysical naturalism (also called ontological naturalism, philosophical naturalism and antisupernaturalism) is a philosophical worldview which holds that there is nothing but natural elements, principles, and relations of the kind studied by ...
and for the
existence of God
The existence of God (or more generally, the existence of deities) is a subject of debate in theology, philosophy of religion and popular culture. A wide variety of arguments for and against the existence of God or deities can be categorized ...
. ''Mere Christianity'', ''
The Problem of Pain
''The Problem of Pain'' is a 1940 book on the problem of evil by C. S. Lewis, in which Lewis argues that human pain, animal pain, and hell are not sufficient reasons to reject belief in a good and powerful God.
Lewis states that his writing ...
'', and ''
Miracles
A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divin ...
'' were all concerned, to one degree or another, with refuting popular objections to Christianity, such as the question, "How could a good God allow pain to exist in the world?" He also became a popular lecturer and broadcaster, and some of his writing originated as scripts for radio talks or lectures (including much of ''Mere Christianity'').
According to George Sayer, losing a 1948 debate with
Elizabeth Anscombe
Gertrude Elizabeth Margaret Anscombe (; 18 March 1919 – 5 January 2001), usually cited as G. E. M. Anscombe or Elizabeth Anscombe, was a British analytic philosopher. She wrote on the philosophy of mind, philosophy of action, ...
, also a Christian, led Lewis to re-evaluate his role as an apologist, and his future works concentrated on devotional literature and children's books. Anscombe had a completely different recollection of the debate's outcome and its emotional effect on Lewis. Victor Reppert also disputes Sayer, listing some of Lewis's post-1948 apologetic publications, including the second and revised edition of his ''Miracles'' in 1960, in which Lewis addressed Anscombe's criticism. Noteworthy too is Roger Teichman's suggestion in ''The Philosophy of Elizabeth Anscombe'' that the intellectual impact of Anscombe's paper on Lewis's philosophical self-confidence should not be over-rated: "... it seems unlikely that he felt as irretrievably crushed as some of his acquaintances have made out; the episode is probably an inflated legend, in the same category as the affair of
Wittgenstein's Poker
''Wittgenstein's Poker: The Story of a Ten-Minute Argument Between Two Great Philosophers'' is a 2001 book by BBC journalists David Edmonds and John Eidinow about events in the history of philosophy involving Sir Karl Popper and Ludwig Wittg ...
. Certainly, Anscombe herself believed that Lewis's argument, though flawed, was getting at something very important; she thought that this came out more in the improved version of it that Lewis presented in a subsequent edition of ''Miracles'' – though that version also had 'much to criticize in it'."
Lewis wrote an autobiography titled ''Surprised by Joy'', which places special emphasis on his own conversion. He also wrote many essays and public speeches on Christian belief, many of which were collected in ''
God in the Dock
''God in the Dock'' is a collection of previously unpublished essays and speeches from C. S. Lewis, collected from many sources after his death. Its title implies "God on Trial" and the title is based on an analogy made by Lewis suggesting th ...
'' and ''
The Weight of Glory and Other Addresses
''The Weight of Glory and Other Addresses'' is a collection of essays and addresses on Christianity by C.S. Lewis. It was first published as a single transcribed sermon, "The Weight of Glory" in 1941, appearing in the British journal, ''Theology ...
''.
His most famous works, the ''Chronicles of Narnia'', contain many strong Christian messages and are often considered
allegory
As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a hidden meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory th ...
. Lewis, an expert on the subject of allegory, maintained that the books were not allegory, and preferred to call the Christian aspects of them " suppositional". As Lewis wrote in a letter to a Mrs. Hook in December 1958:
Prior to his conversion, Lewis used the word "Moslem" to refer to Muslims, adherents of Islam; following his conversion, however, he started using "
Mohammedan
''Mohammedan'' (also spelled ''Muhammadan'', ''Mahommedan'', ''Mahomedan'' or ''Mahometan'') is a term for a follower of Muhammad, the Islamic prophet. It is used as both a noun and an adjective, meaning belonging or relating to, either Muham ...
s" and described Islam as a Christian heresy rather than an independent religion.
"Trilemma"
In a much-cited passage from ''Mere Christianity'', Lewis challenged the view that Jesus was a great moral teacher but not God. He argued that Jesus made several implicit claims to divinity, which would logically exclude that claim:
Although this argument is sometimes called "Lewis's trilemma", Lewis did not invent it but rather developed and popularized it. It has also been used by Christian apologist
Josh McDowell
Joslin "Josh" McDowell (born August 17, 1939) is an evangelical Christian apologist and evangelist. He is the author or co-author of over 150 books.
In 2006, his book ''Evidence That Demands a Verdict'' was ranked 13th in '' Christianity Tod ...
in his book ''More Than a Carpenter''. It has been widely repeated in Christian apologetic literature, but largely ignored by professional theologians and biblical scholars.
Lewis's Christian apologetics, and this argument in particular, have been criticized. Philosopher John Beversluis described Lewis's arguments as "textually careless and theologically unreliable", and this particular argument as logically unsound and an example of a
false dilemma
A false dilemma, also referred to as false dichotomy or false binary, is an informal fallacy based on a premise that erroneously limits what options are available. The source of the fallacy lies not in an invalid form of inference but in a false ...
John Hick
John Harwood Hick (20 January 1922 – 9 February 2012) was a philosopher of religion and theologian born in England who taught in the United States for the larger part of his career. In philosophical theology, he made contributions in the are ...
claimed that New Testament scholars do not now support the view that Jesus claimed to be God. The
Anglican
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
New Testament scholar
N. T. Wright
Nicholas Thomas Wright (born 1 December 1948), known as N. T. Wright or Tom Wright, is an English New Testament scholar, Pauline theologian and Anglican bishop. He was the bishop of Durham from 2003 to 2010. He then became research profe ...
criticizes Lewis for failing to recognize the significance of Jesus' Jewish identity and setting – an oversight which "at best, drastically short-circuits the argument" and which lays Lewis open to criticism that his argument "doesn't work as history, and it backfires dangerously when historical critics question his reading of the gospels", although he argues that this "doesn't undermine the eventual claim".
Lewis used a similar argument in ''
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
''The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'' is a fantasy novel for children by C. S. Lewis, published by Geoffrey Bles in 1950. It is the first published and best known of seven novels in ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' (1950–1956). Among all the ...
'', when the old Professor advises his young guests that their sister's claims of a magical world must logically be taken as either lies, madness, or truth.
Universal morality
One of the main theses in Lewis's apologia is that there is a common morality known throughout humanity, which he calls "
natural law
Natural law ( la, ius naturale, ''lex naturalis'') is a system of law based on a close observation of human nature, and based on values intrinsic to human nature that can be deduced and applied independently of positive law (the express enacte ...
". In the first five chapters of ''Mere Christianity'', Lewis discusses the idea that people have a standard of behaviour to which they expect people to adhere. Lewis claims that people all over the earth know what this law is and when they break it. He goes on to claim that there must be someone or something behind such a universal set of principles.
Lewis also portrays Universal Morality in his works of fiction. In ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' he describes Universal Morality as the "deep magic" which everyone knew.
In the second chapter of ''Mere Christianity'', Lewis recognizes that "many people find it difficult to understand what this Law of Human Nature ... is." And he responds first to the idea "that the Moral Law is simply our herd instinct" and second to the idea "that the Moral Law is simply a social convention". In responding to the second idea Lewis notes that people often complain that one set of moral ideas is better than another, but that this actually argues for there existing some "Real Morality" to which they are comparing other moralities. Finally, he notes that sometimes differences in moral codes are exaggerated by people who confuse differences in beliefs about morality with differences in beliefs about facts:
Lewis also had fairly progressive views on the topic of "animal morality", in particular the suffering of animals, as is evidenced by several of his essays: most notably, ''On Vivisection'' and "On the Pains of Animals".
Legacy
Lewis continues to attract a wide readership. In 2008, ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'' ranked him eleventh on their list of "the 50 greatest British writers since 1945". Readers of his fiction are often unaware of what Lewis considered the Christian themes of his works. His Christian apologetics are read and quoted by members of many
Christian denomination
A Christian denomination is a distinct religious body within Christianity that comprises all church congregations of the same kind, identifiable by traits such as a name, particular history, organization, leadership, theological doctrine, worsh ...
s. In 2013, on the 50th anniversary of his death, Lewis joined some of Britain's greatest writers recognized at
Poets' Corner
Poets' Corner is the name traditionally given to a section of the South Transept of Westminster Abbey in the City of Westminster, London because of the high number of poets, playwrights, and writers buried and commemorated there.
The first poe ...
,
Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...
. The dedication service, at noon on 22 November 2013, included a reading from ''
The Last Battle
''The Last Battle'' is a high fantasy novel for children by C. S. Lewis, published by The Bodley Head in 1956. It was the seventh and final novel in ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' (1950–1956). Like the other novels in the series, it was illustr ...
'' by
Douglas Gresham
Douglas Howard Gresham (born November 10, 1945) is an American British stage and voice-over actor, biographer, film producer, and executive record producer. He is one of the two stepsons of C. S. Lewis.
Early life
Gresham was born in Ne ...
, younger stepson of Lewis. Flowers were laid by
Walter Hooper
Walter McGehee Hooper (March 27, 1931December 7, 2020) was an American writer and literary advisor of the estate of C.S. Lewis. He was a literary trustee for Owen Barfield from December 1997 to October 2006.
Life
Hooper was born in Reidsville, No ...
, trustee and literary advisor to the Lewis Estate. An address was delivered by former Archbishop of Canterbury
Rowan Williams
Rowan Douglas Williams, Baron Williams of Oystermouth, (born 14 June 1950) is a Welsh Anglican bishop, theologian and poet. He was the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury, a position he held from December 2002 to December 2012. Previously the Bish ...
. The floor stone inscription is a quotation from an address by Lewis:
Lewis has been the subject of several biographies, a few of which were written by close friends, such as
Roger Lancelyn Green
Roger Gilbert Lancelyn Green (2 November 1918 – 8 October 1987) was a British biographer and children's writer. He was an Oxford academic who formed part of the Inklings literary discussion group along with C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien. ...
and George Sayer. In 1985, the screenplay '' Shadowlands'' by William Nicholson dramatized Lewis's life and relationship with Joy Davidman Gresham. It was aired on British television starring
Joss Ackland
Sidney Edmond Jocelyn Ackland CBE (born 29 February 1928) is an English retired actor who has appeared in more than 130 film and television roles. He was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for portraying Jock Del ...
and
Claire Bloom
Patricia Claire Bloom (born 15 February 1931) is an English actress. She is known for leading roles in plays such as ''A Streetcar Named Desire,'' ''A Doll's House'', and '' Long Day's Journey into Night'', and has starred in nearly sixty film ...
. This was also staged as a theatre play starring
Nigel Hawthorne
Sir Nigel Barnard Hawthorne (5 April 1929 – 26 December 2001) was an English actor. He is most known for his stage acting and his portrayal of Sir Humphrey Appleby, the permanent secretary in the 1980s sitcom '' Yes Minister'' and the Cabi ...
in 1989 and made into the 1993 feature film '' Shadowlands'' starring
Anthony Hopkins
Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins (born 31 December 1937) is a Welsh actor, director, and producer. One of Britain's most recognisable and prolific actors, he is known for his performances on the screen and stage. Hopkins has received many accolad ...
and
Debra Winger
Debra Lynn Wingerhttps://www.pressreader.com/usa/closer-weekly/20200511/282084868951188https://www.discountmags.com/magazine/closer-weekly-may-11-2020-digital/in-this-issue/99961 (born May 16, 1955)https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Inter ...
.
Many books have been inspired by Lewis, including ''
A Severe Mercy
''A Severe Mercy'' is an autobiographical book by Sheldon Vanauken, relating the author's relationship with his wife, their friendship with C. S. Lewis, conversion to Christianity, and subsequent tragedy. A Severe Mercy" Origin Entertainment. R ...
'' by his correspondent and friend
Sheldon Vanauken
Sheldon Vanauken (August 4, 1914 – October 18, 1996) was an American author, best known for his autobiographical book ''A Severe Mercy'' (1977), which recounts his and his wife's friendship with C. S. Lewis, their conversion to Christianit ...
. ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' has been particularly influential. Modern children's literature has been more or less influenced by Lewis's series, such as
Daniel Handler
Daniel Handler (born February 28, 1970) is an American author, musician, screenwriter, television writer, and television producer. He is best known for his children's book series ''A Series of Unfortunate Events'' and ''All the Wrong Questions ...
's ''
A Series of Unfortunate Events
''A Series of Unfortunate Events'' is a series of thirteen children's novels written by American author Daniel Handler under the pen name Lemony Snicket. The books follow the turbulent lives of Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire. After their p ...
'',
Eoin Colfer
Eoin Colfer (; born 14 May 1965) is an Irish author of children's books. He worked as a primary school teacher before he became a full-time writer. He is best known for being the author of the Artemis Fowl (series), ''Artemis Fowl'' series. I ...
's ''
Artemis Fowl
''The Fowl Adventures'' is a series of eleven fantasy novels written by Irish people, Irish author Eoin Colfer revolving around various members of the Fowl family. The first cycle, ''Artemis Fowl'', follows Elf (Artemis Fowl), elf LEP Reconna ...
'',
Philip Pullman
Sir Philip Nicholas Outram Pullman (born 19 October 1946) is an English writer. His books include the fantasy trilogy ''His Dark Materials'' and ''The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ'', a fictionalised biography of Jesus. In 2008, ''The ...
's ''
His Dark Materials
''His Dark Materials'' is a trilogy of fantasy novels by Philip Pullman consisting of '' Northern Lights'' (1995; published as ''The Golden Compass'' in North America), ''The Subtle Knife'' (1997), and ''The Amber Spyglass'' (2000). It follows ...
'', and
J. K. Rowling
Joanne Rowling ( "rolling"; born 31 July 1965), also known by her pen name J. K. Rowling, is a British author and Philanthropy, philanthropist. She wrote ''Harry Potter'', a seven-volume children's fantasy series published from 1997 to ...
's ''
Harry Potter
''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...
''. Pullman is an
atheist
Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...
and is known to be sharply critical of C. S. Lewis's work, accusing Lewis of featuring religious propaganda, misogyny, racism, and emotional sadism in his books. However, he has also modestly praised ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' for being a "more serious" work of literature in comparison with Tolkien's "trivial" ''
The Lord of the Rings
''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's boo ...
''. Authors of adult fantasy literature such as
Tim Powers
Timothy Thomas Powers (born February 29, 1952) is an American science fiction and fantasy fiction, fantasy author. Powers has won the World Fantasy Award twice for his critically acclaimed novels ''Last Call (novel), Last Call'' and ''Declare''. ...
have also testified to being influenced by Lewis's work.
In ''A Sword Between the Sexes? C. S. Lewis and the Gender Debates'', Mary Stewart Van Leeuwen finds in Lewis's work "a hierarchical and essentialist view of class and gender" corresponding to an upbringing during
the Edwardian era
The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...
.
Most of Lewis's posthumous work has been edited by his literary executor
Walter Hooper
Walter McGehee Hooper (March 27, 1931December 7, 2020) was an American writer and literary advisor of the estate of C.S. Lewis. He was a literary trustee for Owen Barfield from December 1997 to October 2006.
Life
Hooper was born in Reidsville, No ...
.
Kathryn Lindskoog Kathryn Ann "Kay" Lindskoog (née Stillwell; December 26, 1934 – October 21, 2003) was a C. S. Lewis scholar known partly for her theory that some works attributed to Lewis are forgeries, including '' The Dark Tower''.
Work on C. S. Lewis
The ma ...
, an independent Lewis scholar, argued that Hooper's scholarship is not reliable and that he has made false statements and attributed forged works to Lewis. Lewis's stepson,
Douglas Gresham
Douglas Howard Gresham (born November 10, 1945) is an American British stage and voice-over actor, biographer, film producer, and executive record producer. He is one of the two stepsons of C. S. Lewis.
Early life
Gresham was born in Ne ...
, denies the forgery claims, saying that "The whole controversy thing was engineered for very personal reasons ... Her fanciful theories have been pretty thoroughly discredited."
A bronze statue of Lewis's character Digory from ''
The Magician's Nephew
''The Magician's Nephew'' is a fantasy children's novel by C. S. Lewis, published in 1955 by The Bodley Head. It is the sixth published of seven novels in ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' (1950–1956). In recent editions, which sequence the books ...
'' stands in Belfast's
Holywood
Holy Wood or Holywood may refer to:
Places
* Holywood, County Down, a town and townland in Northern Ireland
** Holywood, County Down (civil parish), a civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland
** Holywood railway station (Northern Ireland)
* ...
Arches in front of the Holywood Road Library.
Several C. S. Lewis Societies exist around the world, including one which was founded in Oxford in 1982. The C.S. Lewis Society at the University of Oxford meets at
Pusey House
Pusey House is an Anglican religious institution located on St Giles', Oxford, United Kingdom, immediately to the south of Pusey Street. It is firmly rooted in the Anglo-Catholic Prayer Book tradition of the Church of England, and was founded ...
during term time to discuss papers on the life and works of Lewis and the other Inklings, and generally appreciate all things Lewisian.
Live-action film adaptations have been made of three of ''The Chronicles of Narnia: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe'' (2005), ''The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, Prince Caspian'' (2008) and ''The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader'' (2010).
Lewis is featured as a main character in ''The Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica'' series by James A. Owen. He is one of two characters in Mark St. Germain's 2009 play ''Freud's Last Session'', which imagines a meeting between Lewis, aged 40, and Sigmund Freud, aged 83, at Freud's house in Hampstead, London, in 1939, as the Second World War is about to break out.
In 2021, ''The Most Reluctant Convert'', a biographical drama about Lewis's life and conversion, was released.
The CS Lewis Nature Reserve, on ground owned by Lewis, lies behind his house, The Kilns. There is public access.
Bibliography
See also
* Marion E. Wade Center at Wheaton College (Illinois), Wheaton College, has the world's largest collection of works by and about Lewis
* Courtly love
* Johan Huizinga
* D. W. Robertson, Jr.
*
*
* Beversluis, John (1985), ''C. S. Lewis and the Search for Rational Religion''. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans
* Bresland, Ronald W. (1999), ''The Backward Glance: C. S. Lewis and Ireland''. Belfast: Institute of Irish Studies at Queen's University of Belfast.
* Brown, Devin (2013), ''A Life Observed: A Spiritual Biography of C. S. Lewis''. Grand Rapids: Brazos Press
* Christopher, Joe R. & Joan K. Ostling (1972), ''C. S. Lewis: An Annotated Checklist of Writings About Him and His Works''. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, n.d.
* James Como, Como, James (1998), ''Branches to Heaven: The Geniuses of C. S. Lewis''. Spence
* Como, James (2006), ''Remembering C. S. Lewis'' (3rd edn. of ''C. S. Lewis at the Breakfast Table''). Ignatius Press
* Connolly, Sean (2007), ''Inklings of Heaven: C. S. Lewis and Eschatology''. Gracewing.
* Coren, Michael (1994), ''The Man Who Created Narnia: The Story of C. S. Lewis''. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, reprint edition 1996 (First published 1994 in Canada by Lester Publishing Limited).
* Christopher Derrick, Derrick, Christopher (1981) ''C. S. Lewis and the Church of Rome: A Study in Proto-Ecumenism''. Ignatius Press.
*
* Downing, David C. (1992), ''Planets in Peril: A Critical Study of C. S. Lewis's Ransom Trilogy''. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press.
* Downing, David C. (2002), ''The Most Reluctant Convert: C. S. Lewis's Journey to Faith''. InterVarsity.
* Downing, David C. (2005), ''Into the Region of Awe: Mysticism in C. S. Lewis''. InterVarsity.
* Downing, David C. (2005), ''Into the Wardrobe: C. S. Lewis and the Narnia Chronicles''. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
*
* Colin Duriez, Duriez, Colin (2003), ''Tolkien and C. S. Lewis: The Gift of Friendship''. Paulist Press
* Duriez, Colin (2015), ''Bedeviled: Lewis, Tolkien and the Shadow of Evil''. InterVarsity Press
* Duriez, Colin & David Porter (2001), ''The Inklings Handbook: The Lives, Thought and Writings of C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, Owen Barfield, and Their Friends''. London: Azure.
*
*
* Edwards, Bruce L. (2005), ''Further Up and Further In: Understanding C. S. Lewis's'' The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Broadman and Holman.
* Edwards, Bruce L. (2005), ''Not a Tame Lion: The Spiritual World of Narnia''. Tyndale.
*
* Alastair Fowler, Fowler, Alastair, "C. S. Lewis: Supervisor", ''Yale Review''; Vol. 91, No. 4 (October 2003).
*
* Helen Gardner (critic), Gardner, Helen (1966 "† Clive Staples Lewis, 1898–1963" Biographical memoir, in ''Proceedings of the British Academy'' 51 (1966), 417–28.
* Gibb, Jocelyn (ed.) (1965), ''Light on C. S. Lewis''. Geoffrey Bles, 1965, & Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1976.
* Gilbert, Douglas & Clyde Kilby (1973) ''C. S. Lewis: Images of His World''. Eerdmans, 1973 & 2005.
*
*
*
* Douglas Gresham, Gresham, Douglas (1994), ''Lenten Lands: My Childhood with Joy Davidman and C. S. Lewis''. HarperSanFrancisco.
* Gresham, Douglas (2005), ''Jack's Life: A Memory of C. S. Lewis''. Broadman & Holman Publishers.
* Griffin, William (2005), ''C. S. Lewis: The Authentic Voice'' (formerly ''C. S. Lewis: A Dramatic Life''). Lion.
* Hart, Dabney Adams (1984), ''Through the Open Door: A New Look at C. S. Lewis''. University of Alabama Press.
* Joel D. Heck, Heck, Joel D. (2006), ''Irrigating Deserts: C. S. Lewis on Education''. Concordia Publishing House.
*
*
*
*
*
*
* Keefe, Carolyn (1979), ''C. S. Lewis: Speaker & Teacher''. Zondervan.
* Kennedy, Jon (2008), ''The Everything Guide to C. S. Lewis and Narnia''. Adams Media.
* Kennedy, Jon (2012), ''C. S. Lewis Themes and Threads''. Amazon Kindle ASIN B00ATSY3AQ
* Clyde S. Kilby, Kilby, Clyde S. (1964), ''The Christian World of C. S. Lewis''. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1964, 1995.
* King, Don W. (2001), ''C. S. Lewis, Poet: The Legacy of His Poetic Impulse''. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press.
*
*
* Lindskoog, Kathryn (1994), ''Light in the Shadowlands: Protecting the Real C. S. Lewis''. Multnomah Pub.
* Lowenberg, Susan (1993), ''C. S. Lewis: A Reference Guide, 1972–1988''. Hall & Co.
* Mardindale, Wayne & Jerry Root (1990), ''The Quotable Lewis''. Tyndale House Publishers.
* Martin, Thomas L. (ed.) (2000), ''Reading the Classics with C. S. Lewis''. Baker Academic.
* Laura Miller (writer), Miller, Laura (2008) "The Magician's Book", Little, Brown & Co.
* David Mills (editor), Mills, David (ed) (1998) ''The Pilgrim's Guide: C. S. Lewis and the Art of Witness''. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.
*
*
*
* Joseph Pearce, Pearce, Joseph (1999), ''C. S. Lewis and the Catholic Church''. HarperCollins, 1999; then Ignatius Press, 2003.
* Peters, Thomas C. (1998), ''Simply C. S. Lewis: A Beginner's Guide to His Life and Works''. Kingsway Publications.
* Phillips, Justin (2003), ''C. S. Lewis at the BBC: Messages of Hope in the Darkness of War''. Marshall Pickering.
* Harry Lee Poe, Poe, Harry Lee & Rebecca Whitten Poe (eds) (2006), ''C. S. Lewis Remembered: Collected Reflections of Students, Friends & Colleagues''. Zondervan.
* Reppert, Victor (2003), ''C. S. Lewis's Dangerous Idea: In Defense of the Argument from Reason''. InterVarsity Press.
* George Sayer, Sayer, George (1988), ''Jack: C. S. Lewis and His Times''. London: Macmillan.
* Schakel, Peter J. (1984), Reason and Imagination in C. S. Lewis: A Study of "Till We Have Faces" ''. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.
* Schakel, Peter J. (2002), ''Imagination and the Arts in C. S. Lewis: Journeying to Narnia and Other Worlds''. University of Missouri Press.
* Schakel, Peter J. (ed.) (1977), ''The Longing for a Form: Essays on the Fiction of C. S. Lewis''. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press.
* Schakel, Peter J. & Charles A. Huttar (eds.) (1991), ''Word and Story in C. S. Lewis''. University of Missouri Press.
* Schofield, Stephen (1983), ''In Search of C. S. Lewis''. Bridge Logos Pub.
* Schultz, Jeffrey D. & John G. West, Jr. (eds) (1998), ''The C. S. Lewis Readers' Encyclopedia''. Zondervan Publishing House.
* Schwartz, Sanford (2009), ''C. S. Lewis on the Final Frontier: Science and the Supernatural in the Space Trilogy''. Oxford University Press. .
* Tennyson, G. B. (ed.) (1989), ''Owen Barfield on C. S. Lewis''. Wesleyan University Press
*
* Wagner, Richard J. (2005) ''C. S. Lewis and Narnia for Dummies''. For Dummies.
* Walker, Andrew & Patrick James (eds.) (1998), ''Rumours of Heaven: Essays in Celebration of C. S. Lewis'', Guildford: Eagle.
* Walsh, Chad (1949), ''C. S. Lewis: Apostle to the Skeptics''. London: Macmillan
* Walsh, Chad (1979), ''The Literary Legacy of C. S. Lewis''. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
* Michael Ward (scholar), Ward, Michael (2008), ''Planet Narnia''. Oxford University Press.
* Watson, George (ed.) (1992), ''Critical Essays on C. S. Lewis''. Menston: Scolar Press.
* Michael White (author), White, Michael (2005), ''C. S. Lewis: The Boy Who Chronicled Narnia''. Abacus.
* Wielenberg, Erik J. (2007), ''God and the Reach of Reason''. Cambridge University Press.
*
*
External links
*
*
*
*
*
Journal of Inklings Studies peer-reviewed journal on Lewis and his literary circle, based at Oxford
C. S. Lewis Reading Room with extensive links to online primary and secondary literature (Tyndale Seminary)
C. S. Lewis research collection at The Marion E. Wade Center at Wheaton College (Illinois), Wheaton College
C. S. Lewis at the ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, Encyclopedia of Science Fiction''
C. S. Lewis at the ''The Encyclopedia of Fantasy, Encyclopedia of Fantasy'' BBC Radio 4 – Great Lives – Suzannah Lipscomb on CS Lewis – 3 January 2017 Step though the wardrobe on Great Lives as CS Lewis – creator of the Narnia Chronicles – is this week's choice
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, C. S.
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