A Biography of C. S. Lewis
Clive Staples Lewis (November 29, 1898 - November 22, 1963), commonly referred to as C. S. Lewis, was an author and scholar. He was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He adopted the name "Jack", which is how he was known to his friends and acquaintances. (The name came from the family dog.) He is known for his work on medieval literature, his Christian apologetics and his fiction, especially The Chronicles of Narnia.
Scholar
He taught as a fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford for nearly thirty years, and later was the first Professor of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at the University of Cambridge and a fellow of Magdalene College, Cambridge. Using this position, he argued that there was no such thing as an English Renaissance. Much of his scholarly work concentrated on the later Middle Ages, especially its use of allegory. His The Allegory of Love (1936) helped reinvigorate the serious study of late medieval narratives like the "Roman de la Rose." Lewis wrote a preface to John Milton's poem Paradise Lost which is still one of the more important critical responses to that work. His last academic publication, The Discarded Image, an Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance Literature (1964), is an excellent summary of the medieval world view, the "discarded image" of the cosmos in his title.
Lewis was a prolific writer and a member of the literary discussion society The Inklings with his close friends J. R. R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, and Owen Barfield.
Writer of Fiction
In addition to his scholarly work he wrote a number of popular novels, including his "Space Trilogy" of science fiction books: Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra (also known by the pulpish title Voyage to Venus), and That Hideous Strength. The trilogy blends traditional science fiction elements with exploration of the Christian themes of sin, fall, and redemption. The first two, in fitting with Lewis' academic speciality, give his science fiction the flavor of Medieval literature.
The Great Divorce is a short novel about imagined conversations in the foothills of Heaven between the saved and the potentially 'damned'. Its conceit is that the 'damned' apparently damn themselves by their own choice, in the sense that nothing prevents them from going to heaven and staying there if they so choose. But some find the radical changes of attitude required to remain there to be threatening or uncomfortable, and so decide to return to Hell. This work deliberately echoes two other more famous works with a similar theme: the Divine Comedy of Dante Aligheri, and the Pilgrim's Progress of John Bunyan. For example it echoes Dante in having Lewis guided in his journey by his intellectual mentor, the Scottish writer George MacDonald, just as Dante was guided in his imaginary journey by his mentor Virgil; and it echoes Bunyan in its conclusion, wherein its vision of Heaven turns out in the end to have been a common, if ununsually vivid, dream.
Another short novel, The Screwtape Letters, comprises letters of advice from an elderly demon to his nephew. In the letters, Screwtape, the elder demon, instructs his nephew, Wormwood, on the best ways to secure the damnation of a particular human.
The Chronicles of Narnia is a series of seven fantasy novels for children that is by far the most popular of his works. The books have a Christian allegorical theme and describe the adventures of a group of children who visit a magical land called Narnia. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, which was the first published and the most popular book of the series, has been adapted for both stage and screen. The Chronicles of Narnia borrow from Greek and Roman mythology, and traditional English and Irish fairy tales. Lewis reportedly based his depiction of Narnia in the novels on the geography and scenery of the Mourne Mountains in County Down, Northern Ireland. Lewis cited MacDonald as an influence in writing the series.
Lewis' last novel was Till We Have Faces. Many believe (as he did) that it is his most mature and masterful work of fiction, but it was never a popular success. It is a retelling of the myth of Cupid and Psyche from the unusual perspective of Psyche's sister. It is deeply concerned with religious ideas, but the setting is entirely pagan, and the connections with specific Christian beliefs are left implicit.
Prior to Lewis' conversion to Christianity, he published two books: Spirits in Bondage, a collection of poems, and Dymer, a single narrative poem. Both were published under the pen name of Clive Hamilton.
A Christian Writer
In addition to his career as an English Professor, and his novels, Lewis also wrote a number of books about Christianity - perhaps most famously, Mere Christianity. As an adult convert to the Anglican church (he stated that he was influenced by his friend Tolkien) he was very much interested in presenting a reasonable case for the truth of Christianity. Mere Christianity, The Problem of Pain, and Miracles were all concerned, to one degree or another, with refuting popular objections to Christianity.
He has become popularly known as The Apostle to the Sceptics, because he originally approached religious belief as a sceptic, and felt that he was converted by the evidence. Consequently, his books on Christianity have major themes of dealing with perceived problems in accepting Christianity, such as "How could a good God allow pain to exist in the world", which he examined in detail in his work The Problem of Pain.
Lewis wrote an autobiography entitled Surprised by Joy, which describes his conversion (it was written before he met his wife, Joy Gresham). His essays and public speeches on Christian belief, many of which were collected in God in the Dock and The Weight of Glory and Other Addresses, remain popular today for their insights into faith. His most famous work, the Chronicles of Narnia, contains much strongly Christian allegory.
Jesus and the Trilemma
One of Lewis's best known arguments is the Trilemma: Liar, Lunatic or Lord. The basis is, assuming that Jesus really made the divine claims the Gospels attribute to him, He left us with three options:
1. He was telling lies and knew he was, so he was a liar,
2. He was telling lies but thought he was telling the truth, so he was a lunatic, or
3. He was telling the truth.
According to Lewis, one cannot logically make the argument that "Jesus was just a very great teacher," for if a man claims to be divine and is not, then he is hardly a great teacher but rather on the level of a man "claiming to be a poached egg".
Advocates of the Trilemma argument must also defend the accuracy of the reports of the claim (i.e., the Gospels).[1] They point out that there is a trilemma involved here as well—the Gospel writers were:
1. Telling lies, and they knew it, so they were liars,
2. Telling lies, but they didn't know it, as they misunderstood, or
3. Telling the truth.
Others point out that in a court case, if all the testimony is on one side, then the only issue becomes the credibility of the witnesses; and in assessing the credibility of the writers of the New Testament we must take into account the many unflattering details the writers of the New Testament provide about themselves,e.g.: Saint Peter's denial of Jesus [2]; or that other disciple (traditionally identified with Saint Mark the evangelist) who ran away naked from the arrest of Jesus at Gethsemane in his haste to save himself [3]; or the participation of Saul of Tarsus, later known as Saint Paul, in the lynching of Saint Stephen by an infuriated mob [4] [5].
In all fairness, however, those who find such gospel accounts as the Miracles of Jesus, or his Transfiguration, to be incredible on their face, certainly need no other reason to logically reject the credibility of those who claim to be witnesses of such events.
Portrayals of Lewis' Life
Recently there has been some interest in biographical material concerning Lewis. This has resulted in several biographies (including books written by close friends of Lewis, among them Roger Lancelyn Green and George Sayer), at least one play about his life, and a 1993 movie, titled Shadowlands, based on an original stage and television play. The movie fictionalizes his relationship with an American writer, Joy Gresham, whom he met and married in London, only to watch her die slowly from bone cancer. Lewis' book A Grief Observed describes his experience of bereavement, and describes it in such a raw and personal fashion that Lewis originally released it under the pseudonym "N. W. Clerk" to keep readers from associating the book with him (ultimately too many friends recommended the book to Lewis as a method for dealing with his own grief, and he made his authorship public).
Lewis' Death and Legacy
Lewis died on November 22, 1963, at the Oxford home he shared with his brother, Warren. He is buried in the Headington Quarry Churchyard, Oxford, England. Media coverage of his death was overshadowed by news of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, which happened on the same day, as did the death of author Aldous Huxley.
Many books have been inspired by Lewis, including A Severe Mercy by his correspondent Sheldon Vanauken. The Chronicles Of Narnia has been particularly influential, including on the incredibly popular Harry Potter, whose author J.K. Rowling would point them as major influence on her novels. Other modern children authors like Daniel Handler (A Series of Unfortunate Events) and Eoin Colfer (Artemis Fowl) have been influenced more or less by Lewis' series.
Bibliography
The Chronicles of Narnia
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (1950)
Prince Caspian (1951)
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952)
The Silver Chair (1953)
The Horse and His Boy (1954)
The Magician's Nephew (1955)
The Last Battle (1956)
Other Fiction
The Pilgrim's Regress (1933)
Out of the Silent Planet (1938)
The Screwtape Letters (1942)
Perelandra (1943)
The Great Divorce (1945)
That Hideous Strength (1946)
Till We Have Faces (1956)
Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer (1963)
Nonfiction
The Allegory of Love (1936)
The Problem of Pain (1940)
The Abolition of Man (1943)
Miracles (1947, revised 1960)
The Weight of Glory, and Other Addresses (1949, based on earlier radio broadcasts, enlarged edition 1980)
Mere Christianity (1952, based on radio broadcasts of 1943)
English Literature In the Sixteenth Century Excluding Drama (1954)
Surprised by Joy (1955, autobiography)
Reflections on the Psalms (1958)
Studies in Words (1960)
The Four Loves (1960)
The World's Last Night and Other Essays (1960)
An Experiment in Criticism (1961)
A Grief Observed (initially published under the pseudonym "N. W. Clerk") (1961)
They Asked for a Paper (1962)
The Discarded Image (1964)
Books about C.S. Lewis
John Beversluis, C.S. Lewis and the Search for Rational Religion (1985: Wm B. Eerdmans) ISBN 0-8028-0046-7
George Sayer, Jack: A Life of C.S. Lewis, Crossway Books, 1994 reprint, ISBN 0891077618
Kathryn Lindskoog, Light in the Shadowlands: Protecting the Real C.S. Lewis, Multnomah Pub., 1994, ISBN 0880706953
Joseph Pearce, C.S. Lewis and the Catholic Church, Ignatius Press, 2003, ISBN 0898709792
A.N. Wilson, C.S. Lewis A Biography, W.W.Norton, 1990, ISBN 0-393-32340-4
Jeffrey D. Schultz and John G. West Jr, The C. S. Lewis Readers' Encyclopedia
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