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person1898–1963

C.S. Lewis

Disciplines:
literature
christianity
oxford
theology/apologetics

Summary

British novelist and Christian apologist — Oxford and Cambridge literature professor — author of The Chronicles of Narnia, The Screwtape Letters, Mere Christianity, and The Problem of Pain — the most widely read Christian apologist of the 20th century.

Core Contribution

Creates Christian apologetics accessible to intellectuals — Lewis's argument that a materialist worldview cannot account for the very faculty (rational thought) required to evaluate it (his 'Argument from Reason') is the most philosophically sophisticated popular apologetic against naturalism.

Key Spikes & Highlights

  • Was an atheist who converted to Christianity at 32 through the argument that his own capacity for rational thought was inexplicable in a purely material universe — his conversion was purely intellectual, preceded by several years of philosophical engagement with theism before any emotional or experiential element
  • Described his conversion as being 'the most reluctant convert in all England' — he was dragged into belief against his will by the force of his own argument; this counter-intuitive account of religious conversion resonates with intellectuals who find emotional conversions suspect
  • Died on November 22, 1963 — the same day as Aldous Huxley and John F. Kennedy; his death was completely overshadowed by Kennedy's assassination and barely reported

Notable Works & Achievements

The Screwtape Letters

Mere Christianity

The Problem of Pain

The Abolition of Man

The Chronicles of Narnia

Surprised by Joy

A Grief Observed

Historical Influences

George MacDonald G.K. Chesterton J.R.R. Tolkien

Intellectual Lineage

BelfastOxford Great WarOxford and Cambridge

Contemporaries & Peers

J.R.R. Tolkien Charles Williams Owen Barfield

Minds Influenced

Christian apologetics Fantasy literature

Intellectual Posterity

Chronicles of Narnia Screwtape LettersMere Christianity Lewis as apologeticsThe Inklings

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