C.S. Lewis
Clive Staples Lewis was born on November 29, 1898 in Belfast, Ireland, and he moved to England at the age of ten (Howard 13). His death was on November 22, in 1963. This was the same day as the deaths of John F Kennedy and Aldous Huxley (Howard 15). Lewis wasn't always a Christian. His friend J.R.R. Tolkien had Lewis convinced that Christianity was nothing more than a myth. Lewis had a knowledge of myth, however, and it very well could have been that knowledge that spurred his conversion to Christianity (Como 16).
Lewis was very much into romantic literature, but the joy he experienced in that was dying out. He realized his mythological love was imaginary, and as his world became more and more unreall; he had nothing to cling to. It was at this point that Lewis became an Atheist. Eventually Lewis reached a point where he believed in a Universal Spirit, though it wasn't God. Nor was there any prayer or communication with it. Slowly the impression came upon him that the Christian myth could very well be true. That began to bring his imagination to Christian ideals, and in 1929 he admitted that "God was God" (Como 16-17). The biggest influence on Lewis' transformation was George McDonald and his book Phantastes (Como 16). George, interestingly enough, is a principle and the only named character is Lewis' book The Great Divorce. Lewis, speaking through the narrator in a place just outside of Heaven, tells George how Phantastes influenced him, and, by this time, Lewis was well-rounded enough to speak through George and talk to Lewis under personage words that he might actually speak if the story were to take place (Lewis, Divorce 65-67).
Some of the stories such as The Abolition of Man show concerns that Lewis had. This book speaks on how education affects morality and how a text book can confuse a child's mind on being humble or what should be important (Lewis, Abolition 15). In Mere Christianity Lewis explains that "God loves love and hates hate and wants man to love one another" (Lewis, Mere 44). The Problem of Pain deals with a Christian's views of suffering. Mental pain is more common and more painful than physical pain, but physical pain is more dramatic (Lewis, Pain 156). God does not cause suffering, however he allows it and uses it to turn the eyes of men back to Heaven (Lewis, Pain 112). Jesus did not come so man would not have suffering, but so the suffering ends in glory, for the suffering on Earth is not worth comparing to the glory of Heaven (Lewis, Pain 144). Lewis also wrote a book dealing entirely with miracles which is called Miracles. God becoming a man is the "Grand Miracle"discussed in this book, and all miracles prepare for, exhibit, or result from this (Lewis, Miracles 108).
Lewis wrote The Screwtape Letters to show the nature of demons and a practical way in which they might very well operate. And his reason for writing them was because of a fact best said by Thomas Moroe who stated, "The devil... the prowde spirite... cannot endure to be mocked" (Lewis, Letters 5). Lewis teaches the tempting methods demons use and displays the hate they feel even for each other. Screwtape's nephew Wormwood, for example, tries to get Screwtape into trouble with the secret police because of a slight error (Lewis, Letters 100). Lewis expresses the idea that the souls lured into Hell are actually consumed by the demons. Casanova and Hitler were very good tasting to the demons that had the opportunity to feast on them, but a lukewarm adulterer who was led by nothing but confusion and blindness is not nearly so pleasant (Lewis, Toast 154-155). If a demon fails at bringing in a soul, the demon is consumed in reward for his blunder (Lewis, Letters 145-146).
The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe is the first book in The Chronicles of Narnia. It was published in 1950, and another book in the series was published each year after that until 1956 (British 389). J.R.R. Tolkien believed that the Narnia stories were much too allegorical for children. Lewis disagreed by saying that he was not rewriting the New Testament or anything of the sort, however he wanted to prepare a child's mind for the introduction of the Bible (British 340).
In the stories, Aslan the great lion seems to be as Christ both in love and in power. As Christ did, Aslan willingly gives his life for a traitor, and, like Christ, Aslan could easily kill his persecutors and deliver himself (Lewis, Lion 149). Also like Jesus, Aslan, who has no blame, rises from the dead (Lewis, Lion 159). Aslan is obviously equivalent to Christ, but according to Lewis only in a sense that as Christ is to us, so is Aslan to this story (Howard 25). "What Aslan does is not what Christ did in his time on Earth, but what Christ might do were there to be a world like Narnia," said Lewis (British 340).
British Novelists 1930-1959 Dictionary if Literary Biography, Vol 15. New York: Gale Research Co, 1983
Como, James T. C.S. Lewis at the Breakfast Table, and Other Reminiscences. New York: Macmillan, 1979.
Howard, Thomas. The Achievement of C.S. Lewis. Wheaton: Harold Shaw Pub, 1980.
Lewis, C.S. The Abolition of Man. New York: Macmillan, 1947.
Lewis, C.S. The Great Divorce. New York: Macmillan, 1946.
Lewis, C.S. The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. New York: Macmillan, 1950.
Lewis, C.S. Mere Christianity. New York: Macmillan, 1952.
Lewis, C.S. Miracles. New York: Macmillan, 1947.
Lewis, C.S. The Problem of Pain. New York: Macmillan, 1943.
Lewis, C.S. The Screwtape Letters. New York: Macmillan, 1943.
Lewis, C.S. "Screwtape Proposes a Toast." The Screwtape Letters. New York: Macmillan, 1943.