Who Is C.S.Lewis
C.S. Lewis is one of the most well-known English writers in history. His books, essays and commentaries are widely read and influential today. Some of his most famous works include The Chronicles of Narnia and The Screwtape Letters. C. S. Lewis was a man of many talents. He was an excellent teacher, conversationalist, and general man of letters who was imaginative and rational, authoritative and familiar, and witty though never frivolous. He embodies the principles we look to explore — timeless wisdom and intellectual curiosity. Here is an attempt to paint a picture of this intellectual giant.
“But in reading great literature I become a thousand men and yet remain myself. Like the night sky in the Greek poem, I see with a myriad eyes, but it is still I who see. Here, as in worship, in love, in moral action, and in knowing, I transcend myself; and am never more myself than when I do.” C.S.Lewis
Clive Staples Lewis (to his friend’s “Jack”) was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland on November 29, 1898 to Albert James Lewis (1863–1929) and Florence Augusta Hamilton (1865–1911). He grew up with his brother Warnie (1896–1963) and sister Maureen (1900–1978). Even at an early age he liked to write stories with his brother Warren, often with talking animals. He was a prolific reader during childhood and teenage years. With his father’s old tutor, William T. Kirkpatrick, Lewis developed a love for Norse and Greek mythology.
Lewis was awarded a scholarship to the University of Oxford in 1916, where he studied Greek and Latin literature. A brilliant academic, he studied at Oxford University and returned from service in World War I to become a research fellow and teacher of English literature at Magdalene College. In 1924 he became a professor of philosophy at University College, and the following year was elected a Fellow of Magdalene College, where he taught English and Literature. He formed a group of writers called the Inklings, which included Tolkien and his brother Warren. Lewis taught at Oxford University and became a renowned Christian apologist who used logic and philosophy to support the principles of his faith.
“You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.” C.S.Lewis
During this time, the Second World War broke out and Lewis famously spoke on broadcasts by the BBC. These talks formed the basis of his highly acclaimed and thought provoking book Mere Christianity. He continued to work at the University of Oxford, but in 1954 accepted a position as chair in Mediaeval and Renaissance Literature at Magdalene College, Cambridge, where he finished his career. He died aged 64 on the same day as President J.F. Kennedy was assassinated.
“If you never take risks, you’ll never accomplish great things. Everybody dies, but not everyone has lived.” C.S.Lewis
C.S. Lewis has profoundly influenced so many people through his writings and thoughts. There are many lessons we can learn from his approach, life and writings and we hope to explore these going forward. Briefly, he was gifted in explaining complicated topics and making these accessible. Although we may not always agree with his conclusions, he had a great ability to construct a proposition, develop an argument and use his imagination to help explore these. Consider the themes, ideas and concepts he peruses through the medium of The Chronicles of Narnia. Secondly, he was able to draw from a vast repository of sources he read and so had a fluent, multidisciplinary approach. He is quoted as being one of the most widely read Professors. However, he also learnt to remember and digest what he read as described by Dr Alister McGrath in his biography of Lewis:
“One of Lewis’s abilities must be noted here, for it is of obvious relevance to his gifts as a writer: his formidable memory. Lewis’s mastery of the Renaissance skill of the ars memorativa unquestionably contributed to the success of his Oxford lectures, enabling him to recite quotes from memory. Kenneth Tynan (1927–1980), an “angry young man” of the 1960s, whom Lewis tutored in the 1940s, recalls Lewis playing a memory game with him. Tynan would read aloud a line he had arbitrarily chosen from a book he had selected from Lewis’s library. Lewis would then identify the work in question, and set the line in its proper context.
Lewis, it seems, could remember texts primarily because he had absorbed their deep inner logic. His diaries bear witness to this habit of reading an astonishing number of texts; his personal library contains annotations indicating when a book was first read, and then read again….”
Lewis’ attitude to reading was very different to that we see today. This counter-cultural approach develops deep understanding, fluency of ideas and learning. Re-reading enabled him to absorb ideas and then apply them. With these tools and understanding, he could clearly articulate ides and stimulate discussion around them.
“In the first place, the majority never read anything twice. The sure mark of an unliterary man is that he considers ‘I’ve read it already’ to be a conclusive argument against reading a work. We have all known women who remembered a novel so dimly that they had to stand for half an hour in the library skimming through it before they were certain they had once read it. But the moment they became certain, they rejected it immediately. It was for them dead, like a burnt-out match, an old railway ticket, or yesterday’s paper; they had already used it. Those who read great works, on the other hand, will read the same work ten, twenty or thirty times during the course of their life.” C.S.Lewis
The legacy of C.S. Lewis is far reaching. He was a modest and humble man, managing to make time to personally respond to innumerable letters from his fans. He managed to combine rigorous thought and ideas with simplicity and deep understanding. As a formidable thinker and possessing a creative intellect, his works continue to inspire, challenge and delight people. There are many lessons we can draw from his life.
“Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less.” C.S. Lewis
