Favourite
Author Number One: C.S.Lewis
My
favourite author is well-known writer, C.S. Lewis. Born in 1898 in Belfast, Ireland,
Lewis was sent to England
for schooling with his older brother, Warren, after their mother died. His
education continued between the two countries, and later Lewis was accepted to
study at Oxford.
He also served in the military and was wounded in France in 1918. He was a highly
respected academic, prolific writer, and much loved teacher.
An avowed
atheist, Lewis came to faith in Christ in 1931, as he tells it in his
autobiography Surprised by Joy ‘the
most reluctant convert in all of England’. I gave in, and
admitted that God was God, he said. After this he spoke and wrote extensively to explain his change of
heart. He was able to take profound
spiritual truths and explain them in such a way that everyone could understand.
This was powerful, because he was speaking from the heart and from his own
experience.
His writing
included expository books (explaining the Christian faith), and allegorical
stories such as The Screwtape Letters.
He is also well-known for his seven-part Narnia Chronicles, the first of which was
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,
published in 1950.
Lewis was
single for most of his life, but in the 1950s he met an American divorcee, Joy
Davidman, with whom he struck up a great friendship. They were married in 1957 when
she was seriously ill with cancer. Remarkably she recovered and they had two
wonderful years together before the cancer returned and she died. This story is
told very emotionally in the film Shadowlands.
After Joy’s
death Lewis’ preaching changed. Having spoken so eloquently about coping with
grief, he now had his own personal grief to deal with. Another book was in the
making, A Grief Observed, which was
published in 1961. The teaching of Lewis reached new depths.
I find
C.S.Lewis has a way of explaining matters of faith in an easy and logical
manner, and I very much enjoy reading his books. He advised writers to know
exactly what they want to say, and to be sure they are saying exactly that.
Lewis died on 22 November, 1963, the same day President John Kennedy was shot.
A favourite
quote from Lewis:-
There will be no sceptics in hell, neither
atheists, infidels nor agnostics. Eternity will make everyone a Bible believer.
C.S.Lewis
quotes: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/c/c_s_lewis.html#
Can a mortal ask questions which God finds
unanswerable? Quite easily, I should think. All nonsense questions are
unanswerable.
I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.
There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, "Thy will be done," and those to whom God says, "All right, then, have it your way."
