No Mere Christian

Y ou must picture me alone...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... I gave in, and admitted God was God, and knelt and prayed: perhaps, that night, the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England.

Thus Clive Staples Lewis, known to millions of grateful readers as C.S. Lewis described his conversion. A gifted author and professor of English literature, Lewis is also remembered for his lively and imaginative Christian works.

Children usually know him as the creator of Narnia, the imaginary land entered through an old wardrobe. Adults may have met him as the genius behind The Screwtape Letters. Still others primarily think of Lewis as the author of Mere Christianity, a profound work of practical theology. But it's not just his writings that intrigue modern Christians. Even the life story of C.S. Lewis generates enormous interest.

Since Lewis' death in 1963, thousands of scholars have written theses and dissertations about him. In 1965, a research center for scholars - the Marion E. Wade Center - opened at Wheaton College in Illinois. Recently Shadowlands was made into a film starring Anthony Hopkins in the film, based on the play which first appeared in the West End, portrays the love and loss, pain and joy, that came to Lewis late in life.

Reluctant Convert

Much of the interest in Lewis lies in the unique story of his conversion, which he relates in his autobiography, Surprised by Joy. The autobiography is short, not because his life lacked lustre, but because Lewis focused on his journey of faith. The purpose of Surprised by Joy is not so much to explain his conversion to Christianity.

Lewis explained his conversion in terms of joy. He believed that joy is a taste of the heavenly. Joy is what God gives us, often through simple things, but always intended to create in our hearts a longing for him. Lewis did not discover the source of joy for years. In fact, he was an avowed atheist who lived and worked in an academic world hostile to Christianity.

He describes his conversion as occurring in two stages. First, to theism in 1929 and then to Christianity in 1931. Many of Lewis' colleagues were understandably shocked. The man who had been so staunch an atheist had now become a Christian. And not just a Christian, but one who insisted on sharing his faith through his writings.

'The Screwtape Letters'

Lewis published The Screwtape letters in 1942. They appeared in serial form in The Guardian, a weekly church newspaper, and met with immediate success. Shortly afterwards, the letters were printed in book form and have been in print ever since. The Screwtape Letters, a masterful use of imagination, propelled Lewis to worldwide fame.

In the story, Screwtape is an important devil in the bureaucracy of hell. His letters advice Wormwood, his nephew and a devil newly assigned to a 'patient' on earth, form the book structure. In each letter, Screwtape proposes some new strategy to be tried in an effort to win the patient's soul for hell.

Through humour, Lewis takes the reader into the absurdities of human thinking. Each chapter, between three and five pages, covers a separate topic, always humorously. For example, discussing prayer, faith and doubt, Screwtape tells Wormwood not to 'forget to use the "Heads I win, tails you lose" argument. If the thing he prays for doesn't happen, then that is one more proof that petitionary prayers don't work; if it does happen, he will, of course, be able to see some of the physical causes which led up to it.'

Deeper Truths

One of Lewis' most impressive works is his seven-part Chronicles of Narnia. This series for children is far more than fantasy. It is a magical realm where Lewis wanted children to experience the core of Christianity, but on their level. The most important book in the series is the Lion, the Whitch and the Wardrobe, a book that appeals to the child in all of us. It can be read on many levels, of course - either enjoyed simply as a children's book or for those who are aware of the spiritual analogies Lewis is making, an allegory of the magic of life, the terror of sin, and the wonder of Christ's sacrifice through a child's eyes.

Another allegorical piece, The Great Divorce, is considered by some to be Lewis' masterpiece. The story is about a bus trip from hell to heaven - and back, for some of the passengers. Lewis blends perception, reason and imagination masterfully,

In the story, the narrator dreams he is in a cold and dingy city. From the beginning, the reader suspects the city is more than a city, but only later is it identified as hell. Catching the bus with hell's citizens, the narrator watches their actions. The passengers, oblivious to their own displays of crude and revolting behaviour, are acutely aware of their fellow passengers' shortcomings.

The bus leaves hell, flying high into the sky until it reaches the outskirts of heaven. To stay, each passenger must make a painful decision. For those who refuse to do so, choosing instead the return trip to hell, the bus waits. None of this was intended to be a literal description of what happens after death. Instead, its purpose is to point out the consequences of decisions we make in life. The Great Divorce is about the here and now, not the hereafter.

Mere Christianity

Perhaps the best known of Lewis' works is Mere Christianity. It is Christian apology, which is an intellectual defence of the faith. The title itself showcases the richness of his writing style. By using the wordmere, Lewis does not mean Christianity is simple, nor insignificant. Instead, he limits his discussion to the central core of the Christian faith rather than to personal preference in issues of peripheral doctrines.

Peppered throughout the book are questions most of us have asked, yet never answered. Lewis characteristically offers answers that, once read, seem both obvious and yet brilliant. For example, he admits the initial difficulty he experienced in fulfilling an oft-repeated maxim to love a sinner but hate the sin.

'For a long time I used to think this is silly, straw-splitting distinction: how could you hate what a man did and not hate the man? But years later it occurred to me that there was one man to whom I had been doing this all my life - namely myself ,' Lewis said.

Imagination and Faith

As his books demonstrate, Lewis believed that good thinking and good imagining and complementary.He explains in Surprised by Joy that experiences in his early life led to both his understanding and his appreciation of each: 'The only two kinds of talk I wanted were the almost purely imaginative and the almost purely rational.'

Throughout his writings, Lewis shows that Christianity is more than an exercise in reason. True faith requires not just rational thinking, but imaginative ability as well. That is because faith is not merely a matter of logic, but also of emotion. That is why his definition of faith in Mere Christianity is 'art of holding on to things your reason has once accepted, in spite of your changing moods'

His ability to blend the imaginative with the rational in a fluid and witty style is, perhaps, the greatest factor in his success. In his mind, the two were essential for understanding the precepts of the Christian faith, because faith, after all, 'is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen' (Hebrews 11:1, RSV).

A second important factor in his success was Lewis' educational background. Never educated as a theologian, he used non-theological language to describe theological ideas. However, Lewis was a formidable scholar of English literature. This background, as well as his insatiable appetite for books, contributed to the range of genres (forms) in which he published his material.

Of course, not every Christian would agree with all the views of C.S. Lewis. In fact, some of his views are quite unorthodox. Yet his readers have been willing to overlook these differences, appreciating his many strengths. Lewis was an atheist who converted. His focus is this transformation, and such of increasing importance at a time when doubt and disbelief seem more common than faith. He also dared to face suffering and loss with honesty, believing that life and joy must be fully appreciated, in spite of the inevitability of pain.

C.S. Lewis is widely acclaimed as one of the most influential Christian writers of the 20th century. His Christian writings have sold between one and two million copies worldwide every year since 1980. His words continue to strike a responsive chord today because he struggles with the same questions all us ask about life.

A Lewis Library C.S. Lewis was a prolific writer, producing more than 40 books. Below are the titles of six of his more important Christian works not discussed in the main article. A Grief Observed (1661). Written as a journal after the death of his wife, Joy; the emotional counterpart of The Problem of Pain. Miracles (1947). Argues that miracles are possible, using the ultimate miracle, the Incarnation. Out of the Silent Planet (1938). Theological science fiction dealing with the Fall, sin and atonement allegorically; the first, and considered the best, volume of his science-fiction trilogy, which also includes Perelandra (1943) and That Hideous Strength (1945). The Abolition of Man (1943). Draws from the great non-Christian religious writings to prove the existence of a natural law; shows how the modern system of education abandoned its task of teaching values. The four Loves (1960). Discusses and distinguishes between four types of love: affection, friendship, eros and charity. The Problem of Pain (1940). Examines the classic question of how a good and omnipotent God can allow suffering.

Shadowlands Shadowlands is a heartrending film that reveals C.S. Lewis struggle to love, despite painful memories of childhood grief. His mother, Flora Lewis, died of cancer when he was 9. Ironically, his wife, Joy, also died of cancer, leaving behind two boys, just as Flora Lewis had done. Douglas Gresham, son of Joy Gresham Lewis and stepson of C.S. Lewis, later wrote that his mother's 'death taught him [C.S. Lewis] something that he had yet to learn; that in the very deepest despair there is hope, and when by grief the entire universe is suddenly emptied, there is God' Anthony Hopkins and Debra Winger, portray C.S. Lewis and Joy Gresham Lewis in the film Shadowlands