Cs Lewis Faith

C.S Lewis: A man of faith and intelligence

In his widely successful book “Mere Christianity” C.S. Lewis wrote: “The more we let God take us over, the more truly ourselves we become.” (Page # unknown) You might be surprised to know that such a faithful quote comes from a once adamant atheist. The story of C.S Lewis is one of intelligence, spirituality and literature. He was perhaps best known as a novelist and in his classic children’s stories “The Chronicles of Narnia.” While this book series is amazing in and of itself an accomplishment, we often leave out his other interesting life details and books that he has written. Throughout this essay we will discuss topics such as his childhood and early interests, his education and conversion to

This tragedy greatly affected the entire family and soon after young C.S Lewis went off to boarding school (the same one in which his brother attended) after boarding school he went on the attend Campbell college, Malvern college and Oxford university. In 1918 when WWI broke out in England Lewis served in the Royal army until he was wounded in battle the next year and came home to resume his studies at Oxford. During his time at Oxford he served as English and philosophy tutor and won an essay contest on the subject of Optimism. He also wrote two volumes of poetry in his early twenties. (Summary taken from www.cslewis.org The Life of C.S Lewis Timeline) As a young child C.S Lewis had been brought up to believe in God by his mother. But after her death he became an adamant atheist. However as C.S Lewis made friends with the faculty of Oxford he realized that all of them were Christian. Some of these men included Hugo Dyson and J.R.R

Tolkien these two men. That evening’s discussion was important in bringing about the following day’s event that Lewis recorded in Surprised by Joy: “When we [Warnie and Jack] set out [by motorcycle to the Whipsnade Zoo] I did not believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, and when we reached the zoo I did.” (www.cslewis.org) After this encounter Lewis became a devoted Christian writing several books and even having a radio show based on Christian principles. His quotes are famous, inspiring and thought provoking. After his conversion to Christianity he did his best known writing. He wrote “The Chronicles of Narnia” “The Screw tape letters” and other works with theological ties. C.S Lewis’s work did not go unnoticed. He received several awards and recognitions such as he was made honorary Doctor of Divinity by the University of St. Andrews in 1946, was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in and accepted the position of Chair of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Cambridge in 1954. After all of these awards and accomplishments C.S Lewis died at the age of 64 on Friday, November 22 1963. His legacy lives on through his written works and inspiring messages. Today his books and messages inspire children and adults