In his excellent new book, C.S.Lewis' Case for Christ, Art Lindsley (senior fellow at the C.S. Lewis Institute in Springfield, Virginia) gleans insights from reason, imagination and faith from the life and teachings of C.S. Lewis. Clive Staples Lewis was a writer, teacher, thinker and a Christian. He was an Oxford professor who was born November 29th, 1898 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. he died on November 22nd, 1963, the same day John F. Kennedy was assassinated.
Lewis became well known in Britain during World War II due to his regular BBC broadcasts. Besides his many books defending and explaining his faith in Christ, Lewis wrote fiction, science fiction, poetry and well-respected works in English literature. His influence only increase with time.
Lewis was an ardent atheist until the age of thirty-one. His first book, Pilgrim's Regress, describe some of the dilemmas he faced on his spiritual journey. Lewis was a thorough scholar, a debater, and an intellectual genius. He cultivated life-long friendships with people such as J.R.R. Tolkein. He was a powerful communicator in the both written and spoken word.
To Lewis, Jesus Christ was the key to unlock the mysteries of life. He said, "I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else."
On his journey to faith, Lewis encountered many obstacles. These included problems with prayer, the problem of evil, parallel mythologies, immersion in rationalism, imagination vs. reason, and disbelief in miracles. One by one, these arguments against God were countered and his obstacles to faith were knocked down.
Tomorrow we begin a series of posts considering these obstacles and how Lewis overcame them, showing the relevance of his experience to ours today. Click here for part 1.
[Summarised from Part 1 of Art Lindsley's book C.S. Lewis' Case for Christ]
Thanks Mark. Love the wisdom of C.S. Lewis… Here are some favourite quotes:)
“Look for yourself and you will find loneliness and despair. But look for Christ and you will find Him and everything else” – C.S. Lewis
“Look for Christ and you will find Him, and with Him everything else thrown in”
– C.S. Lewis
“The Church exists for nothing else but to draw men into Christ” – C.S. Lewis
“The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God” – C.S. Lewis
“It is in the process of being worshipped that God communicates His presence to men”
– C.S. Lewis
“God doesn’t want something from us. He simply wants us” – C.S. Lewis
“We have nothing to offer God that is not already His own” – C.S. Lewis
Great book Mark! Believers and non-believers should study C. S. Lewis’s “Case for Christ” C.S. Lewis came to the conviction that Jesus Christ was the key to unlock the mysteries of life. He said, “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”
Mark, indeed, he’s my ‘favourite dead genius’ – a true Mozart of literature!
However I’m not sure why you’d be promoting yet another book ABOUT Lewis, rather than strongly encouraging everyone to actually him themselves?
There can be no clearer or better introduction to his ‘Case for Christ’ than MERE CHRISTIANITY, which of course he wrote to outline that very point!
I sense most of the books about Lewis coming out nowadays are just cashing in on his popularity, and are essentially pointing out the bleeding obvious.
Yes, Tim, reading Lewis’ own books is essential. I especially like “Mere Christianity.” However, I found this book particularly insightful in offering a concise summary of Lewis’ life and how he overcame various obstacles to faith in his own spiritual journey. It also highlights Lewis’ ongoing relevance in a post-modern world.