The Romantic Rationalist - C S Lewis

 

 C. S. Lewis. The Romantic Rationalist

  (1898–1963) 

 Arguably the greatest Christian writer, theologian and apologist of the 20th Century.

  Christian writer and scholar 

 C. S. Lewis spent most of his life as tutor and lecturer at Oxford and Cambridge Universities and as writer of many scholarly and Christian books.  Lewis is best known as the author of more than twenty-five Christian works. He had been a “happy atheist” at fourteen and over a long period was persuaded that the Christian religion is the only logical way by which to understand humans and the universe.

Becoming imaginative and innovative. 

 Becoming a Christian at about thirty, he shortly afterwards wrote an autobiographical novel called The Pilgrim’s Regress (1933). Later he told of his birth and upbringing in Surprised by Joy (1955). Millions of copies of his books were sold during his lifetime and an increasingly massive number have followed since his death. One person, asked which of Lewis’s books he thought best, said, “The one I am now reading.” For a long time his Screwtape Letters (1942), being letters from a major devil to a lesser one in charge of a young man’s soul, was Lewis’s most popular work.

Logical Christian

 Another widely-read work is Mere Christianity (1952), a simple but profound defence and rationale of the Christian position. Some scholars declare his best book. Loved by young and old alike.

 

 He also wrote Miracles (1947), The Problem of Pain (1940),  and many others. His Abolition of Man (1943) was admitted by the Britannica Encyclopedia to the Great Books of the World.

The man who writes for children and adults

 Lewis’s fiction is also vastly read, especially the Chronicles of Narnia (1950–1956), seven books for children illustrated by Pauline Baynes—a set of stories guaranteed to delight children from five years onward. They tell of adventures that ensue upon passing through a magical wardrobe and other similar entrances into entrancing lands watched over by a magnificent lion called Aslan, actually the symbol of Christ. While these books have been instrumental in the saving of many people, they are not sermons but exciting adventure stories. A few of these works have been  featured as  highly acclaimed movies.  Suitable for grown ups too.

Non-conventional Sci-Fi 

The Space Trilogy, consisting of Out of the Silent Planet (1938), Perelandra (1943), and That Hideous Strength (1945), take the reader, in the first two volumes, to Mars and then Venus, while the third is mainly anti-utopian with events occurring in England. Perelandra recounts the adventures of a good and a bad man who in an Edenic world try to persuade an “Eve” to their respective viewpoints. But in this story Eve does not fall. 

Travels to Hell and beyond

The Great Divorce (1946) involves a dream visit of a busload of people going from hell to heaven and there being warmly invited in but refusing the glory they can see over the mountains ahead. Their trouble is that they cannot give up, even after the punishments of hell itself, their claim to self over God

The Romantic Rationalist

. The great interest in Lewis has resulted in many books, many  dissertations, movies, documentaries and many societies devoted to his writings.

  His works have been reprinted many times over. He can be found on  social media. web and even in apps. His most recent space is in the Bible.ai website and app, among others, as an  interactive theologian with his  warm voice, measured tone and profound intellect. The Bible.ai app is available on the App Store with the corresponding Android app being available in the near future.

I wholeheartedly commend his books to you. If you already a fan and have a favourite book, why not post your choice and why on this website/ blog?