C.S. Lewis

C.S. Lewis is a name beloved amongst children and theologians alike. The creator of the popular Chronicles of Narnia series and an apologist for Christian theology, Lewis produced memorable works of literature throughout his life.

Born in 1898 in Belfast, Ireland, Clives Staple Lewis was raised in Ireland until the death of his mother when he was 9. He was then sent to a boarding school in England. He developed a love for mythology, literature, and classical studies, eventually winning a scholarship to Oxford.

He left Oxford to become an officer in World War I where he fought and was wounded on the front lines. His service-and the death of his best friend in battle-led to his first professional publication, an article titled Death in Battle. He then returned to Oxford where he earned three "firsts" in the subjects of Greek and Latin Literature, Philosophy and Ancient History and English.

Lewis continued at Oxford as a tutor and fellow. It was here that he met the group that would later form the Inklings-J.R.R. Tolkien, Hugo Dyson, Charles Williams, Warren Hamilton Lewis, Robert Havard, Owen Barfield, and Neville Coghill as well as others who floated in and out over the years. The Inklings would meet in Lewis' rooms at Magdalen College and in a back room at a local pub.

Lewis credits a conversation with Tolkien and Dyson (and a motorcycle ride with his brother to the zoo) with his return to Christianity and his acceptance that Jesus Christ was the divine son of God. This began his career of writing theological pieces including the popular Screwtape Letters, which were written in serial form for a magazine and all the proceeds given to charity.

In 1952, Lewis met Joy Davidman Gresham, the woman whom he would later marry. She had converted to Christianity from Judaism partly under the influence of Lewis' writings. When her husband deserted her, she divorce him and moved to England. She and Lewis originally married in a civil ceremony in 1957 when her residency permit was denied. Eight months later, they received marital rites from the church at Joy's bedside where she was being treated for a terminal cancer. Joy died in 1960.

C.S. Lewis died in 1963-on the same day that John F. Kennedy was assassinated and Aldous Huxley died.

Bibliography

Space Trilogy	The Pilgrim's Regress
Out of the Silent Planet	Rehabilitations
Perelandra	16 th Century English Literature
That Hideous Strength	The Allegory of Love
	The Problem of Pain
Narnia	The Screwtape Letters
The Chronicles of Narnia	The Abolition of Man
The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe	Beyond Personality
Prince Caspian	The Great Divorce
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader	Miracles: A Preliminary Study
The Silver Chair	Surprised by Joy
The Horse and His Boy	Vivisection
The Magician's Nephew	Mere Christianity
The Last Battle	'Till We Have Faces
	The Discarded Image
	Studies in Words
	The Four Loves
	Reflections on the Psalms
	Shall We Lose God in Outer Space
	A Grief Observed
	An Experiment in Criticism
	They Asked for a Paper
	Letters to Malcolm
	Screwtape Proposes a Toast
	Of Other Worlds
	The Dark Tower and Other Stories
	The Riddle of Joy (with G.K. Chesterton)
	From Narnia to a Space Odyssey: The War of Letters Between Arthur C. Clarke and C.S. Lewis (with Arthur C. Clarke)

--B. Redman