Christopher Schwenk

Clive Staples Lewis

C.S. Lewis was one of the most influential philosophical and religious writers throughout

the 20th century (Liukkonen 1). Lewis was born on November 29th, 1819 (HarperCollins 1). He

was born in Belfast Ireland to Albert J. Lewis and Florence Augusta Hamilton Lewis (Harper

Collins 1). At age ten, Lewis’s mother died of cancer, and he sought a way out of grief

(Liukkonen 1). Lewis ran to writing for his answer (Liukkonen 1). Throughout his life, Lewis

was known to his family and friends as "Jack" (HarperCollins 1). It is known today that “Jack’s”

headmaster, an Anglican priest, encouraged him to think by “application of the rod”

(Answers.com). In June of 1913, Lewis abandoned his faith as a loyal Christian due to this

mistreatment (Lewis Foundation 1). In 1931, Lewis became, once again, a Christian in the

Anglican Church (Lewis Foundation 1). Throughout his time as both an atheist and a Christian,

Lewis composed and published over thirty pieces of writing, allowing him to reach a vast

audience, as well as attract readers, still, today (HarperCollins 1). After living an eventful life,

Lewis died of osteoporosis on November 22, 1963 (Liukkonen 1). Over the course of his life, his

conversion of faith caused drastic change in his writing.

After living a stressful early childhood, Lewis’s headmaster caused Lewis to “snap”, and

he abandoned the Christian faith (Lewis Foundation 1). Among the stressful events in childhood

were the death of his mother, Florence Lewis, constant transfer of residence, and constant

transfer of schooling (Liukkonen 1). Abandoning his headmaster, Lewis chose to be educated

privately in Great Bookham, Surrey (Liukkonen 1). Shortly after transfer, Lewis sought out

atheistic writings (Liukkonen 1). Among his early favorite authors, during this time, was the

atheistic promotional writer, GK Chesterton (Answers.com). Lewis became a closed person,

cutting off contact with many of his friends and family members (Liukkonen 1). In his readers’

opinions, Lewis’s conversion gave him a negative first impression (Liukkonen 1).

After being educated by a private tutor, Lewis struggled to make a living, so he joined the

British Army during the First World War (Answers.com). During this time, Lewis was wounded

and was hospitalized for over 18 months (Answers.com). His first publication was brought from

his wartime experiences (Lewis Foundation 1). In 1919, Lewis published Death in Battle as his

first professional writing (Lewis Foundation 1). It was a depressing pamphlet about his war

battles and adventures (Lewis Foundation 1). As time progressed, Lewis moved more toward

literary criticism than he did towards writing (Liukkonen 1). His criticism opposed classical,

traditional, and purely literary values (Liukkonen 1). Lewis believed that writing should express

voice, opinion, and personality (Liukkonen 1). For example, in The Humanitarian Theory of

Punishment, Lewis questions the idea that to seek to cure a criminal is nobler, more prestigious,

than to rely on punishments (Liukkonen 1). This publication showed, exactly, what Lewis

thought about the world, and it established his writing style for his readers. His writing in the late

stage of his atheism revealed a satirical gift, as shown in Dymer, that Lewis relied on for

popularity in the literary community.

As Lewis realized the simplicity in atheism was to great to feel true, Lewis admitted his belief in

supernatural beings (Lewis Foundation 1). Lewis’s conversion occurred as a landslide. Lewis

announced his deism in Out of Silent Planet, a science fiction novel. Deism is a simple form of

non-Pagan religion, in which a person feels that a God does exist and influence life on Earth. His

conversion to full fledged Christianity was extremely complex.

“When we set out for the zoo, I did not believe that Jesus Christ was the son of God.

When we arrived, I did.”

(Lewis 237)

This conversion occurred during a conversation with members of a religious group of authors

called “The Inklings” (Answers.com). After his religious reformation, Lewis published The

Pilgrims Regress, an allegory of his spiritual journey (Answers.com). His writing’s popularity

grew as he published more and more pleasant, interesting books involving subjects of faith. He

drew more and more attention as he published writings such as Optimism, and Rehabilitation

(Lewis Foundation 1). An extremely popular novel, The Screwtape Letters, includes a fictitious

plot describing advice from an experienced devil to a younger colleague on how to tempt sinners

(Answers.com). This novel drew the majority of Lewis’s audience (Answers.com). Perhaps one

of the most enjoyed books written by Lewis is The Allegory of Love, composed in 1936 (Lewis

Foundation 1). However, his most distinguished and popular accomplishments include The

Chronicles of Narnia, Surprised by Joy, and Mere Christianity (HarperCollins 1). The conversion

from atheism to Christianity, in the long run, made Lewis one of the most popular authors in

history.

It is quite obvious that C.S. Lewis’s conversion to Christianity changed his writing,

significantly. Lewis died of osteoporosis on November 22, 1963, leaving behind a huge

collection of an enormous variety of publications (Liukkonen 1). Lewis’s writings have made

some of the greatest impacts on people of all ethnicities and religions, and is known today as the

greatest European philosophical writer in history, and his writings are enjoyed everywhere

(HarperCollins 1).