The Cracked Acorn: C.S. Lewis

C.S. Lewis’ the NARNIA movies bumped off a remake of KING KONG and once made it to the top of the moviegoers’ list.

In many magazines and newspapers, it spawned a look into the life of C.S. Lewis. I have attended several Sunday school classes where his name was mentioned. To many scholars, C.S. Lewis is very popular. I have tried to discover the why of the attraction to pull many fine minds to the books and literature that have arisen around the life of an atheist who eventually joined the Anglican church. He came to believe in God but not the Son. In 200 words, we can get a glimpse of some facts and snippets about the writings of C.S. Lewis.

Lewis was born in Belfast on November 29, 1898, and died on the day JFK was assassinated, November 22, 1963. He was in WWI as an officer and wounded. His mother brought him up as a Christian and she died when he was ten years old. In a boys’ school, Lewis drifted into atheism and began to write stories of myth and fantasy. He lived 32 years with the mother of his WWI trench killed friend. He never expressed his fondest for women or for children. His favorite pastimes were smoking and drinking in the pubs with his intellectual men friends. This may have given birth to some of his writings. He had a chair at Oxford University, teaching language and medieval literature. The NARNIA books were written over a 5-year period. In 1951, he married. Joy, his wife, became ill with cancer and died in 1959, leaving her son- adopted by Lewis. C.S. Lewis has been labeled a great thinker of our time and a philosopher that influenced multiple groups of readers today. Some go so far as to note that Lewis was truly the greatest Christian author of all time.

Here are quotes:

“The strongest spell to be found in the evil enchantment of worldliness. Religion is what we do in our solitude. The world is starved for meditation and true friendship. We have failed to practice the behavior we expect to see from other people. Badness is spoiled goodness. Love is sterner than mere kindness. Pain is the flag of truth for the rebel soul. We are born helpless and then we discover loneliness. Joy is the serious business of Heaven. The road to the promised land runs past Sinai. Religious bad men are the worst. History is a story written by the finger of God. Heaven will solve our problems. When we find the good taste, it is lost. The less the Bible is read the more it is translated. We cannot evade the presence of God. Psalms express how God made David dance. It is hard for an Atheist to avoid the dangers that wait for him.”

I believe in the One they called Jesus, I believe He stilled storm Galilee; I believe that He walked on the water, And I believe that He’s the answer for me. Yes, I believe in the One they called Jesus, I believe He died on Mount Calvary, And I believe that the tomb was found empty, And I believe that He’s the answer for me. (Songs of Faith and Praise)