CS Lewis
The Chronicles of Narnia ..The Lion Islan represents Christ and his sacrifice he made for us all …the book, and movie is an allegory of the battle between Christ and the devil, the battle between good and evil, the inhumanity of war …as the lion resurrects as with Christ … in Prince Caspian, Lucy says to the Islan the Lion ( Christ ) nobody believed me when I talked about seeing you and saving me … The Lion said why would that stop you from coming to me …I just love the allegory in the Chronicles and how it represents Christianity for children to understand as well as adults …
CS Lewis was born in Belfast Ireland in 1898…Jack as he was called, since loosing his dog Jacksie at the age of 5 was a Christian Apologist, he served on the English facility at Oxford and an active member of the Oxford literary group called The Inklings .. according to his memoir in 1955 called Surprised by Joy … he was baptized into the church of Ireland but fell away from religion and faith but only to regain it at 32 owing to the influences of his friend JRR Tolkien and others, and became a layman of The Church Of England, Lewis’s faith profoundly affected his work, Christian broadcasting during the war and the writing of 30 books… The Chronicles of Narnia and many philosophical writings, and are deeply cited by Christian scholars alike …
Lewis stated that his experience of being in WW1 and seeing two of his friends die next to him, as he was wounded and the death of his mother and his unhappiness in school were the basis of his pessimism and atheism …
Janie Moore… well this I found interesting and no double standard here for sure … during his training as a cadet in the army he made a pack with a fellow cadet Paddy Moore, if anything happened to either one of them that one of them would take care of their family …Paddy Moire was killed in 1918 and Jack as he was called, had met Janie prior to the war, now moved in with Janie at the house they called The kilns, Janie who was 26 years his senior.. they lived together until Janie passed away he was deeply committed to her and it has been written that there was a 50/50 chance they where having an affair, Maureen who was Paddy’s sister and was living with them said yes more than likely it was true, forgive me but it’s the romantic in me to think it was 🤷♀️… it wasn’t till 1956 Jack met Joy Davidman through correspondence …
His atheism started at the age of 15 when he found religion a chore, his return to Christianity returned in 1931 after a walk with friend Tolkien and Hugo Dyson .. he became a committed Anglican and upheld the Anglican theory, though in his apologetic writings he made an effort to avoid espousing any one denomination..
During WWII Lewis took in child evacuees from London and other cities …
Lewis in 1951 received a CBE which means Commander in the order of the British Empire for all his Christian broadcasting during WWII helping the troops etc… he declined the honor to avoid association with any political issues …
In 1954 Lewis accepted a newly founded chair a professor of medieval and renaissance literature, at Magdalena college Cambridge where he finished his career …
Lewis took little interest in political issues and held most politicians in disdain …
He refused his knighthood for fear his distractors might accuse him of a political view point…
Lewis suffered from PTSD and anxiety from seeing his friend die and the many horrors of war ..
Lewis married Joy Davidman who he was corresponding with in 1956 and stayed married till her death of bone cancer in 1960,.you can watch the movie Shadowlands from 1994 with Sir Anthony Hopkins and Debra Winger as Joy, it’s a very good explanation of their relationship… I also recommend Freud’s Last Session on Netflix with Matthew Goode as CS Lewis and Sir Anthony Hopkins as Freud, this was first a play and also it’s fictional as this never took place but a take on two of the greatest minds of the last century ..
there is so much on CS Lewis that people already know, I tried to keep this short it wasn’t easy..
one last thing I found absolutely beautiful about Lewis besides Matthew Goode lol 😂 in the Movie Freud’s Last session is when he describes a tin biscuit box his brother Warren made him for his birthday when they where boys at boarding school, he describes it as filled twigs and green moss deer and other animal creatures of the forest , it gave him a feeling of joy and peace .. he loved walking in the forest …
To learn more I recommend
The Chronicles of Narnia
Shadowlands
Freud’s Last Session
Halina, thank you for writing this post on CS Lewis. He was a remarkable Christian, respected by Anglicans, Catholics and several Protestant denominations. My 2 favorite works of his are Four Loves and Surprised by Joy. He is a beautiful example of ecumenism, and known for drawing people together to share our common humanity and rich expressions of prayer life. I enjoy his creativity, his honesty about a suffering humanity, his courage in facing the real trials and tribulations in life, and his trust and hope in the Lord.
Lewis also exemplifies the beauty and joy in drawing the best from various charisms and prayer traditions throughout the millennia of the Christian church ... from the Early Fathers, monastic traditions, Franciscans, Benedictines, Jesuit, and various companion traditions of women's charisms and orders. Lewis reminds us that the richness of prayer traditions are all about AND, NOT OR.
As a former Anglican and current Catholic, I relate to CS Lewis's faith experience and his desire to draw us closer together in prayer and faith.
Thank you for sharing this.