C.S. Lewis

C.S. Lewis was a remarkable man and a Christian.

He grew up with a formal religion, praying and reading the Bible but he didn’t really know God in a personal way. As he passed through some dark and difficult passages in his life he gradually peeled God away from his life, thinking he was to be measured only in pleasant circumstance terms. Arriving at Oxford as an active but confused atheist (he sometimes expressed anger at God not existing!), he plunged into the academic world and became part of a group of thinkers and budding authors. It was a source of mild annoyance that the core of this group were Christians including J.R.R. Tolkien who was a professor at the College. To his amazement they were prepared to talk to him about Jesus and argue their case as those who really believed in a living God.

Lewis in remembering his conversion speaks of a period of great struggle, a time of awful misery when he resisted the approaches of God. He was being pursued by the Almighty God who invaded his thoughts and disturbed his reason. He was brought to an end of arguments against Christ and stopped fighting, surrendering his life to Jesus Christ. For the first time Lewis knew someone who filled in the blanks in his knowledge of life and answered the deep questions of the heart. He later wrote many books which argued the difficult issues of Christianity; The Problem of Pain, The Screwtape Letters and his wonderful series from the land of Narnia which he authored to help entertain some children who were living in his house.

C.S. Lewis among others found that their considerable reasoning powers could not answer the empty spaces of the heart and life, only Christ could do that. He gives a purpose that is greater than our circumstances and gives point and value to all that we do. Get into the C.S. Lewis novels and discover the same relationship with God that so changed his life. I can loan them to you if you can’t put your hand on one.