Life is crazy, this we know for sure. But what about when we don't know a thing? As in, what does someone who has always known what to do (or at least, pretended until she figured it out) in every circumstance during the first half of her life do for the next half?
This, I don't know for sure.
But in the meantime, I am pretty sure this paper made me love C.S. Lewis even more. And, definitely deserves an A...
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C.S. Lewis continues to be, posthumously, one of the
greatest Christian apologists of the twentieth century. In fact, a recent poll of Christianity Today revealed that there
is one book in addition to the Bible which has most influenced their lives, and
that is C.S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity.[i]
Clive Staples Lewis, known to his inner circle fondly as
“Jack,” was one of the most profound thinkers in Christianity; yet, for all his
intellectual thought, the way in which he combined the use of imagination
sparked an even greater response from both believers and non-believers
alike. His power of influence typically
extended to those skeptical or wavering on Christianity, largely in part
because he was relatable. A
self-professed “regular” guy, C.S. Lewis had an extraordinary gift for reaching
the masses. He channeled his own
childhood grief and subsequent atheism into multiple stories – both non-fiction
and fiction (i.e. The Chronicles of Narnia) alike – again, utilizing the
combination of his scholarly intellect and penetrating imagination.
I learned so much more about C.S. Lewis than I had
previously known and, in so doing, developed an even greater appreciation (if
that’s possible) for the immeasurable impact he singlehandedly had on
Christianity. We have all been asked
the question at one point in time or another of: “If you could sit down with any historical
figure/hero/athlete/etc…who would you pick and why?” For me, it’s Lewis. I can’t even imagine what the conversations between him and J.R.R. Tolkein must
have sounded like! (Side note: I always answered this question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” one way –
a writer. Hence, another reason for my
landmark project choice.)
Finally, here’s what this research and what I learned has
affected my thinking – confirmation.
Studying in depth about C.S. Lewis has confirmed for me that we are each
put on this earth with gifts given to us by God that can be used in amazing
ways to reach countless others. It
confirmed that “regular” people can do profoundly incredible and inconceivable
things. And, above all else, my thinking
has been re-shifted to that of “pure and simple,” which was exactly what C.S.
Lewis exemplified in his thinking about God.
While philosophy, intellect, theology, translations, etc.
are certainly not without merit, sometimes it is nice to be reminded that those
things are better coupled with the other side of the equation.
Within the pages of Scripture lie innumerable turning points for its characters. From the Thessalonians who turned away from idols to serve the living and true God (1 Thess. 1:9) to Nicodemus turning his back on all those years of learning and the influential people in his life to become a follower of Jesus (John 3:1-12), to one of the most notable turning points of all - the conversion of Saul of Tarsus as a persecutor of early Christians to Paul, the Apostle, who tirelessly sought and taught about Jesus in his post-conversion life (Acts 9:1-19), the Bible is rich with landmark examples in Christianity. Yet a recent poll of Christianity Today readers revealed that there is one book in addition to the Bible which has most influenced their lives: C.S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity.[1]
[i]
Lindsley, Art. Knowing & Doing,
The Importance of Imagination for C.S.
Lewis and for Us. C.S. Lewis
Institute Report: Summer 2001.
THE ACTUAL PAPER:
Within the pages of Scripture lie innumerable turning points for its characters. From the Thessalonians who turned away from idols to serve the living and true God (1 Thess. 1:9) to Nicodemus turning his back on all those years of learning and the influential people in his life to become a follower of Jesus (John 3:1-12), to one of the most notable turning points of all - the conversion of Saul of Tarsus as a persecutor of early Christians to Paul, the Apostle, who tirelessly sought and taught about Jesus in his post-conversion life (Acts 9:1-19), the Bible is rich with landmark examples in Christianity. Yet a recent poll of Christianity Today readers revealed that there is one book in addition to the Bible which has most influenced their lives: C.S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity.[1]
Much like
the Bible continues to hail as the best-selling and most widely distributed
book, the writings of C.S. Lewis continue to have a profound impact on
Christianity today. During the 1998
C.S. Lewis centenary celebrations, Christianity
Today described Lewis as “the Aquinas, the Augustine and the Aesop of
contemporary evangelism,” while according to Professor Adrian Hasting’s
classic History of Christianity in
England, C.S. Lewis composed almost single-handedly “the popular religious
apologetic of modern Britain.”[2] His influence shows no sign of abating; if
anything, it is increasing as indicated by the number of C.S. Lewis books sold
annually.[3] While there are myriad reasons for this, not
the least of which being his intelligence and giftedness as a writer, this
paper will attempt to show it was Lewis’s pure and simple approach to thinking
about God that resulted in merely, unequivocal belief in Him.
After C.S.
Lewis – “Jack” to his inner circle, died one week shy of his sixty-fifth
birthday in 1963 on the same day of President JFK’s assassination, Time magazine’s “Religion” section
proclaimed, “C.S. Lewis goes marching on.”[4]
Later, in another Time article on
renewed interest in philosophical proofs for God’s existence, he was cited as
the twentieth-century’s “most-read apologist for God.”[5] Certainly other Christian authors sell books
in large numbers, so why C.S. Lewis?
What makes his writings have such an extraordinary reach, and of even
more [eternal] importance, cause such an extraordinary change in people?
For Lewis,
Christianity was something which seized the mind, fueled the imagination, and
filled the heart. Becoming a Christian
after years of devout atheism changed the way he viewed the world and the
people in it. In fact, the change was
so powerful it rendered him unable to remain silent about the transformation,
setting his skills as a communicator in motion. How he thought
about God was so deeply ingrained in his own story, there was no chance it
could escape being interwoven into any future stories he would craft, write,
and tell. Translation was the only
choice for such an ingenious storyteller; his own experience remaining dormant
and eluding the words of a page was not an option.
The power
and sphere of C.S. Lewis’s influence seems to reach those who are skeptical or
wavering on Christianity, in large part due to his relatability as a former
atheist turned Christian. Moreover, his
unadulterated thought process about God and Christianity provides perhaps, an
even more identifiable path for those whom his influence continues to extend. Lewis showed that reason is the anchor of
faith. He presented a defense of the
Christian faith that appealed to reason, and in so doing, removed obstacles to
faith which most people commonly face.
By
restoring reason to its rightful place, Lewis delineated how Christianity
could appeal to those ardently seeking answers to the great questions of life.
According to Robert Banks, an
Australian biblical scholar, practical theologian, author and professor with a
particular interest in the life and works of C.S. Lewis, “He wanted to speak
about what most Christians, most of the time have mostly believed in and
revolved their lives around – mere Christianity. That is, a belief and knowledge of the reality
of God, of his presence actively in our world, and of the absolute
centralities of the life, teaching, death and resurrection of Christ. These are the things which preoccupied
Lewis.”[6]
Throughout
his writings, C.S. Lewis depicted a style of apologetics that began first with
using “the most persuasive way of convincing unbelievers of God’s reality: an
appeal in the first instance, to their deepest longings providing them with a
compelling vision of who God might be, and what they might become.”[7] By tying faith and reason together, he
masterfully bridged the gap between the pretension of modern elite
intellectuals and the modern day commoner.
To him, just as Christianity was both faithful and rational, so too
were all people both imaginative and intellectual: “Reason is the natural organ of truth; but
imagination is the organ of meaning.”[8]
The
concept of story or narrative was crucial for Lewis; he characterized the
concept that Christian imagination could expand our sense of what’s
possible. Christian imagination, for
him, brought re-enchantment back into a world that had been disenchanted by
the limited possibilities of modernism and scientism.[9] This thought process allowed the masses to
approach Christianity with far less fear while simultaneously being provided a
means for deep thinking about it. As he
himself noted, “Christ never meant that we were to remain children in
intelligence…He wants a child’s heart, but a grown up’s head.”[10]
Even his
well-known novels of
pure fantasy focus on the theme of youth and conversion. In a passage from Mere Christianity, Lewis
speaks of an "emblematic" boy whom he calls Dick, and writes several
words that could be taken as summing up the Narnia saga: "It costs God nothing, so far as we
know, to create nice things: but to convert rebellious wills cost him
crucifixion. As long as Dick does not
turn to God, he thinks his niceness is his own, and just as long as he thinks
that, it is not his own. It is only
when Dick realizes that his niceness is not his own but a gift from God, and
when he offers it back to God — it is just then that it begins to be really
his own. For now Dick is beginning to take a share in his own
creation. The only things we can keep
are the things we freely give to God. What
we try to keep for ourselves is just what we are sure to lose.”[11]
Dick is not only Edmund, the small boy for whom the lion Aslan gives
his life, letting himself be killed in the second episode of Narnia; Dick is
obviously the author. How many of us,
of C.S. Lewis’ entire reader populous, can relate? There comes an identification point in all
of our lives, regardless of when such a point occurs, when the light shines
through our own inner darkness of cavernous, hellish doubt to reveal with such
dumbfounding confirmation that nothing is our own. We are God’s. There is
a God. Merely, Christianity exists.
During one
of his many lectures, Robert Banks stated that “It’s the rational, cognitive
dimension of C.S. Lewis’s Christianity which, among many Christians, is the
thing which most marks him out as being helpful and effective.”[12] That
exact psychical process was paramount in the development of believers and the
change among them which he so notably affected. Within the advancement of Christian thought, as C.S. Lewis himself
encountered, one must first identify as a “Christian” (for the purposes of
this paper being defined as “Christ-follower”). Lewis and Augustine - both multifaceted
theologians, philosophers, and writers - came to faith in Jesus Christ as
adults, and the differences and similarities between them are teeming and
telling.
Each was well-acquainted with the pagan
philosophical options of their respective day; both were adept in the art of
ancient rhetoric, though neither knew Hebrew; both originally considered the
style of biblical texts to be inelegant and somewhat boorish. There were also many differences, although
one in particular will suffice: whereas Augustine felt compelled to disavow as
false the Manichaean gnostic myths in which he used to believe, Lewis’s
conversion led him to the nexus and fusing of imagination and intellect. It was then that he began to recognize the
biblical story of Jesus as ‘myth become fact.’[13]
The phrase has perplexed critics and admirers alike as to its ramifications
for his view of Scripture. It also puts
Evangelicals (the group most responsible for Lewis’s popularity) in somewhat
of a trick bag when it comes to Scripture, for Evangelicals are comfortable
with ‘fact’ but go on high-alert over ‘myth.’[14] C.S. Lewis acknowledged the Bible as more
than literature, but not less. As is
true of all worthy literature, the purpose of the Bible is not to spotlight
its own originality but to express a truth, goodness, and artistry from
elsewhere. Because of this, Lewis was
expeditious in his distancing himself from fundamentalists and modern biblical
critics alike, purporting that “neither came to scripture with open minds or
ears to hear what God was saying through (biblical) literature and myth.”[15]
So too, was Augustine quick in distancing himself from Manichaeism,
post-conversion. According to his Confessions, after nine or ten years of
adhering to the Manichaean faith as a member of the group of “hearers” (note
the irony in comparison to Lewis’s complaint about fundamentalists and modern
biblical critics above), Augustine became a vigorous adversary of
Manichaeism. He saw their beliefs that
knowledge was the key to salvation as too passive and unable to effect any
change in one’s life.[16] “I still thought that it is not we who
sin but some other nature that sins within us. It flattered my pride to think that I
incurred no guilt and, when I did wrong, not to confess it. I preferred to excuse myself and blame this
unknown thing which was in me but was not part of me. The truth, of course, was that it was all my
own self, and my own impiety had divided me against myself. My sin was all the more incurable because I
did not think myself a sinner” (Confessions, Book V, Section 10). Much like C.S. Lewis, Augustine came to realize
that a person’s life must be changed
in order to be a saved and true believer.
By and by, the combination of imagination and intellect was paramount
to C.S. Lewis when it came to thinking about Christianity. Both must (and in his mind were) be present;
they were not mutually exclusive. Once
as a young man, Lewis, having been particularly drawn to Norse mythology, said
he saw an illustration from “Siegfried and Twilight of the Gods” and, coupled
with one line: “the sky turned around,” was enough for the “pure
Northern-ness” to engulf him.[17]
While perhaps only a myth, that experience embodied his definition of
one: “a particular kind of story which has a value in itself – a value
independent of its embodiment in any literary work.”[18] Myths, he claimed, are therefore
‘extra-literary’ – storied accounts of what may have been the historical fact,
and they are addressed primarily to the imagination rather than the intellect.[19] C.S. Lewis’s view that any story can take on
mythic proportions, but only those that make us feel “as if something of great
moment had been communicated to us”[20]
supports his lifelong love affair with myth, for as he said, “I have the
deepest respect even for Pagan myths, still more for myths in Holy Scripture.”[21] Without question, his great “Siegfried and
Twilight of the Gods” moment was one of many within his own story, and helped
prepare him for the masses as it coincided with his coming to believe that the
story of Christ was true myth: myth
made fact.[22]
The experience of the power of myth was not an isolated experience for
him, but a recurring theme in Lewis’s life and writing. When he arrived at Oxford, he joined an
Icelandic study group led by J.R.R. Tolkien (one of his future best friends
and mentors) and was so taken by the newfound pagan mythology that he later
described himself as “a converted Pagan living among apostate Puritans.”[23] In fact, one of Lewis’s early objections to
the Christian faith was its comparison with Paganism: no one
ever attempted to show in what sense Christianity fulfilled Paganism or
Paganism prefigured Christianity. The
accepted position seemed to be that religions were normally a mere farrago of
nonsense, though our own, by a fortunate exception was true…But on what
grounds could I believe this exception?
Why was it so differently treated?
Need I at any rate, continue to treat it differently? I was very anxious not to.[24]
By that time, Lewis was too experienced in literary criticism to regard
the Gospels as myth. Once, he raised
this talk track with Tolkien which led to a crucial all night conversation.
They debated with one another that these pagan religions did contain truths and arose out of the structure of reality
created by God. These pagan myths were
thus echoes of reality and cosmic pointers to the true myth, the ‘myth become
fact’ in Christ.
The Gospel account of Christ is the story that fulfills the previous
stories, with the caveat that the Gospel narrative is historical – a true
fact. Later in Lewis’s essay “Modern Theology
and Biblical Criticism,” he further developed these arguments in opposition to
(atheists) others like Rudolf Bultmann, who wanted to argue that many of the
Gospel accounts are mythological, that is, historically untrue.[25] Lewis had the great advantage of having
himself been an opponent of Christianity and remembering vividly not only his
intellectual positions, but also his feelings.[26] As he wrote in his account of his conversion
in Surprised By Joy: I was at this time living, like so many
Atheists or Antitheists, in a whirl of contradictions. I maintained that God did not exist. I also was very angry with God for not
existing. I was also equally angry with
him for creating a world.
Vacillating between his imagination and intellect, C.S. Lewis managed
to cultivate a denominational and political neutrality and, not surprisingly,
chose his words with the utmost care.
He was particular about what he said in public, but even more so, what
he did not say, believing that his usefulness was dependent upon staying clear
of theological fights between differing Christian positions.[27]
Lewis’s popularizing of theology was
even more remarkable in that he did not read newspapers or magazines, watch
television, or listen to the radio.[28] He also did not, or could not, make much of
“modern theology” (i.e. [Paul] Tillich, [Emil] Brunner, [Reinhold] Niebuhr)
and generally thought he was a man out of his own time.[29] To him, there was no point in keeping in
touch with the contemporary scene. How
better to “do” pure and simple belief than this?
C.S. Lewis was a surpassingly deep and
disciplined thinker, although to say that his conversion stemmed from a pure
and simple approach to thinking about God is not an understatement. Lewis’s imagination played an inarguable key
role in his development from an apathetic Christian child to an ardent Atheist
to an unwavering Christian. The
emerging and ongoing contradiction between his reason and his imagination was
of paramount importance for Lewis, much as it is for each of us today both inside
and outside of the church. Is there a God? Is there no God? Is any of it a myth? Is there an in-between gray area that is
reasonable to traverse for a while?
How can these questions cease to be raised?
They shouldn’t, nor have they, or
will ever. C.S. Lewis not only knew
that, he was living, breathing, relatable proof. It is difficult to exaggerate the importance
of the life of C.S. Lewis. A
meritorious and world-renown author, his own story is a compelling and
relevant example of the required growth and maturation of a Christian, in the
continuance of mere Christianity. Lewis
never stopped questioning, never stopped sharing, and never stopped using his incredible
gift of communication to help others come to the same conclusion. He learned the language of his audience, and
translated every bit of his experiential theology into the vernacular. He was/is able to communicate at different
levels and connect with different audiences largely in part because he viewed
himself as a regular guy[30]
– one whose personal experiences with suffering and doubt prepared him to both
empathize and interact with those whose faith was wavering or never present at
all.
Insofar as the relevance of C.S. Lewis proves momentous today,
conceivably it is he himself who best summarizes why. From the preface of his best known and most
influential theological work, Mere
Christianity, Clive Staples Lewis - a “Jack” of all trades who served his
Master well, wrote these words:
“Ever since I became a Christian, I
have thought that perhaps the best, perhaps the only service I could do for my
unbelieving neighbours was to explain and defend the belief.”
No cultural change, not even the emergence of post-modernism, will ever
reduce the appositeness of C.S. Lewis – one of the greatest Christian
apologists and thinkers of the twentieth century. His changed life, translated through mythical
and factual words and a pure and simple approach to God, evangelistically
baptizes our imaginations and changes us.
Works
Cited
Augustine of Hippo, Confessions, 3:4.
C.S. Lewis, Collected
Letters III, 1424.
C.S. Lewis. Mere
Christianity. New York: Harper Collins (2001). 1952. Print.
C.S. Lewis. Surprised
By Joy. New York: Harcourt Inc.: A Harvest Book. 1955.
Print.
Davis, Robert Con. Contemporary Literary Criticism: Modernism though Poststructuralism.
New
York: Longman Press. 1986.
Print.
Dorsett, Lyle W. “C.S. Lewis: A Profile of His Life.” Christian
History Institute, Issue 7. May
1985.
Web. 10 February 2016.
Downing, David C. “C.S. Lewis among the Postmodernists.” Web.
10 February 2016.
Elst, Philip Vander. “The Relevance of C.S. Lewis.” Be
Thinking. Web. 10 February 2016.
Lindsley, Art. Knowing &
Doing. The Importance of Imagination
for C.S. Lewis and for Us.
C.S. Lewis Institute Report: Summer 2001.
McGrath,
Alister E. Historical Theology, Second Edition. West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell.
2013. Print.
MacSwain, Robert and Ward,
Michael. The Cambridge Companion to C.S. Lewis. New York:
Cambridge
University Press. 2010. Print.
Monda, Andrea. “The Conversion Story of C.S. Lewis.” Provided Courtesy of Eternal World
Payne, Kaley. “Bible Society Australia Commemorates the 50th
Anniversary of C.S. Lewis’
Death.”
Bible Society News. October 2013. Web. 10 February 2016.
Purtill, Richard. C.S.
Lewis Case for the Christian Faith. San
Francisco: Ignatius Press. 2004.
Print.
Sutherland, Martin. A Myth
Retold: Encountering C.S. Lewis as
Theologian. Oregon: Wipf &
Stock
Publishers. 2014. Print.
Theroux, David. “Why C.S. Lewis Is
as Influential as Ever.” Independent Institute.
August 2015.
Web.
9 February 2016.
Vanhoozer, Kevin J. “On Scripture.” The Cambridge Companion to C.S. Lewis.
New York:
Cambridge
University Press. 2010. Print.
[1] Lindsley, Art. Knowing & Doing, The Importance of Imagination for C.S. Lewis
and for Us. C.S. Lewis Institute
Report: Summer 2001.
[2] Elst,
Philip Vander. “The Relevance of C.S.
Lewis.” Be Thinking. Web. 10 February 2016.
[3] While
no one knows the precise number, it is estimated C.S. Lewis’s books are selling
at a rate of approximately two million a year, and every year that rate is
increasing (http://www.biblesociety.org.au/news/bible-society-australia-commemorates-50th-anniversary-cs-lewis-death).
[4]
Purtill, Richard. C.S. Lewis Case for the
Christian Faith. San Francisco: Ignatius Press. 2004. Page 7.
[6]
Payne, Kaley. “Bible Society Australia Commemorates the 50th
Anniversary of C.S. Lewis’ Death.” Bible Society News. October 2013.
Web. 10 February 2016.
[7]
Ibid.
[8]
Ibid.
[9]
Ibid.
[10]
Ibid.
[11] Mere Christianity.
[12] Payne,
Kaley. “Bible Society Australia
Commemorates the 50th Anniversary of C.S. Lewis’ Death.” Bible Society News. October 2013. Web. 10 February 2016.
[13] Ibid.
[14]
MacSwain, Robert and Ward, Michael. The Cambridge Companion to C.S. Lewis. On
Scripture, Vanhoozer, Kevin J. New York:
Cambridge University Press. Page
75. 2010.
[15] Ibid.
[16] Augustine of
Hippo, Confessions, 3:4
[17]
Lindsley, Art. Knowing & Doing,
The Importance of Imagination for C.S. Lewis
and for Us. C.S. Lewis Institute
Report: Summer 2001.
[18]
MacSwain, Robert and Ward, Michael. The Cambridge Companion to C.S. Lewis. On
Scripture, Vanhoozer, Kevin J. New York:
Cambridge University Press. Page
76. 2010.
[19]
Ibid.
[20]
Ibid.
[21]
Ibid.
[22]
Ibid.
[23]
Lindsley, Art. Knowing & Doing,
The Importance of Imagination for C.S.
Lewis and for Us. C.S. Lewis
Institute Report: Summer 2001.
[24] Ibid.
[25] Ibid.
[26]
Purtill, Richard. C.S. Lewis Case for the
Christian Faith. San Francisco: Ignatius Press. 2004. Page 21.
[27]
Lewis, Collected Letters III, 1424.
[28]
Sutherland, Martin. A Myth Retold: Re-encountering
C.S. Lewis as Theologian. Page
24. Wipf and Stock Publishers: 2014.
[29] Ibid.
[30] “I’M TALL, FAT, RATHER BALD, red-faced,
double-chinned, black-haired, have a deep voice, and wear glasses for reading.”
–C.S. Lewis to a young admirer in 1954. [Dorsett, Lyle W. C.S.
Lewis: A Profile of His Life. Christian History Institute. Issue 7.
1985.]
