Clive Staples Lewis (1898-1963) is one of the greatest literary figures of the 20th century. Whether he’s narrating the stories of Narnia, describing the tactics of the sinister Uncle Wormwood, or simply sharing the inner struggles that marked his spiritual journey, Lewis has captivated a very large and eager readership for over three quarters of a century. He is known to most as a Christian apologist and a beloved author, but he was also an Oxford academic of exceptional brilliance who carried on a somewhat eccentric and enigmatic private life. He has inspired dozens of biographies, has been portrayed by Anthony Hopkins on the big screen in Shadowlands, and has attracted a world-wide network of devoted admirers.
Early Education and Oxford
In many ways, Lewis had a difficult upbringing. When he was only nine-years-old his mother died of cancer, a loss Lewis felt keenly. He had a troubled relationship with his father and was generally unhappy as a student until he went to study with William T. Kirk from 1914-1917. Kirk had a formative influence on Lewis’ early intellectual development.
Lewis began his studies at Oxford University in 1917 only to have them interrupted by the First World War. He served in France for several months before being wounded and was eventually discharged from the military. He resumed his studies at Oxford and generally excelled, eventually being elected as a Fellow and Tutor of English Literature at Magdalen College (pronounced “Maudlin” College) in 1925. Lewis served in this position for the next three decades, distinguishing himself as a first rate scholar of Medieval and Renaissance Literature. He eventually qualified himself for a prestigious Cambridge Chair, which he occupied from 1954 until his death in 1963.
It was in his early years as a Fellow at Oxford that Lewis helped to organize “The Inklings,” a gathering of friends and colleagues who made up a sort of literary discussion group. Famous members of the club include Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, Owen Barfield, and Charles Williams. The Inklings met off and on from 1930 to 1949, usually holding their meetings at the now famous Eagle and Child pub.
Conversion to Christianity
Through a variety of influences, including his friendship with J. R. R. Tolkien, Lewis came to embrace the Christian faith in 1929. His conversion came about after many months of wrestling with the intellectual underpinnings of Christianity. Writing of his conversion experience he said,
“You must picture me alone in that room in Magdalen, night after night, feeling, whenever my mind lifted even for a second from my work, the steady, unrelenting approach of Him whom I so earnestly desired not to meet. That which I greatly feared had at last come upon me. In the Trinity Term of 1929 I gave in, and admitted that God was God, and knelt and prayed: perhaps, that night, the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England.” (Lewis, Surprised by Joy)
His slow, and it could be said, agonizing conversion to the Christian faith would in many ways set the trajectory for his future as a leading Christian apologist. Lewis was concerned with providing honest answers to the honest questions of spiritual seekers who, like him, had perhaps struggled for some time with the claims of Christianity.
Literary Career
In the 1940s, Lewis established himself as a popular Christian writer. Some of his most significant works written during this period focused on apologetic questions, such as The Problem of Pain and The Weight of Glory. However, his most popular book of this decade, The Screwtape Letters, was more of an imaginative piece of fiction inspired by Christian ideas. The book takes the form of a series of letters between a master demon and his apprentice, who together discuss strategies for keeping their “patients” from embracing Christian belief. The book is obviously speculative, but nonetheless full of insight into demonic activity.
Lewis’ most popular work of apologetics, Mere Christianity, was published in 1952. Adapted from a series of BBC radio talks, Mere Christianity argues for the existence of God and the validity of Christianity through a series of inquiries into human experience and rationality. It’s in Mere Christianity that Lewis presents, in its most popular and winsome form, an argument for the existence of God from the existence of moral absolutes. Mere Christianity also lays out Lewis’ famous trilemma, that Jesus must have been either a liar, a lunatic, or the Lord, and that no other option is available to those who wish to make sense of Jesus.
The 1950s saw the publication of the books for which Lewis is most widely known today, the fantasy series, The Chronicles of Narnia. These seven books, published between 1950 and 1956, introduced the world to the Pevensie siblings, the White Witch, a host of talking animals, and of course, the great lion Aslan. The land of Narnia subtly introduces readers to some of the most significant themes in Christianity such as grace, sacrifice, and redemption. These Christian themes have contributed to the books’ enduring popularity.
Marriage and Death
The story of Lewis’ marriage to Joy Davidman toward the end of his life was remarkable and unusual. What began as nothing more than a civil marriage of convenience turned into a passionate, though short-lived, romance. Joy died of cancer in 1960, just four years after their marriage. Lewis followed her three years later, dying just a few minutes before President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963.
Greatest Works: The Chronicles of Narnia, The Screwtape Letters, Mere Christianity
Recommended Biography: C. S. Lewis – A Life: Eccentric Genius, Reluctant Prophet by Alister McGrath
Some sites we’ll visit on the tour:
The Eagle and Child in Oxford – The pub where Lewis met with the famous Inklings Club.
University Church of St. Mary in Oxford – Where church where Lewis preached his famous Weight of Glory sermons.
The Kilns in Oxford – The house where Lewis lived from 1930 until his death in 1963.
Holy Trinity Church in Oxford – The churchyard where Lewis is buried alongside his brother, Warnie.
