Any C.S. Lewis fans out there?

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OriginalJS:
Lewis was not an apologist for any particular church. It is not possible to tell from his writing whether he is Catholic or Protestant, but his writing is unmistakeably Christian.
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I was reading in the preface to The Seeing Eye (an abridgement of Christian Reflections) where Lewis had written to someone, saying, “A great deal of my utility has depended on my having kept out of dogfights between professing schools of ‘Christian’ thought. I’d sooner preserve that abstinence to the end.” At the beginning of this preface, Walter Hooper writes, “…Lewis thought that the best service he could d for his unbelieving neighbors was to explain and defend that has been common to nearly all Christians at all times- that ‘enormous common ground’ which he usually referred to as ‘mere’ Christianity.”

I think this explains the great popularity of Lewis to a wide spectrum of Christians.
 
I was introduced to Lewis with “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” in 3rd grade, and absolutely lived for the Chronicles of Narnia from that point on in my childhood. I had no problem figuring out the religious themes in the books (at least some of them). I also read the space trilogy and “The Screwtape Letters” around then. I didn’t really like the trilogy, but it might have been a bit much for me at that age. More recently, I read “The Great Divorce” (I think it was that one…), and loved it. It’s interesting how Lewis is so beloved of both Catholics and Protestants…what a rarity.
 
Yes. I read a lot of C. S. Lewis when I was in college (the science fiction trilogy and other books). Then Chronicals of Narnia. I saw where C. S. Lewis cited George MacDonald as a big influence and so I read a small book by George MacDonald as well.

I’m planning to go to RCIA classes this fall. The first thing I noticed on my priest’s bookshelf was a C. S. Lewis book (wondering why was that there)?

I’ve been told that my local RC parrish is a good one and the priests are all great.
 
Mere Christianity is one of my favorite books of all time. Anyone ever found a good audio version of it? Supposedly Michael York did one in the 1970’s but it’s long out of print.

Just a note of related interest: A few people have mentioned the relationship between Lewis and Tolkien. In “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” extended version DVD, one of the extra disc commentaries mentions that one of the film’s researchers had read that Tolkien likely based Treebeard on his friend Lewis, as he had threatened to write him into the book-- larger than life, and always singing in a great booming voice that could be heard many doors away. Apparently they kept that in mind when crafting the screen version.

I’ve never seen it mentioned anywhere else but I would really like to believe it.
 
Oh yah I just remebered that “Till we have faces” is by CS Lewis…has anyone else read that book?
 
I have it sitting on my shelf but never read it…is it good?
 
Yes, its good…its were they get the term “don’t kill the messanger”…
 
I absolutely love CS Lewis. He should be cannonized. 😉

Seriously, though, I really like his work. The Chronicles of Narnia are the best children’s books ever to be published. Even now, as an adult, those books bring me to tears. JRR Tolkien, a friend of CS Lewis, greatly admired those books for he said that they were the only allegorical books that could make a child feel for Aslan and one would feel for Christ. While this is somewhat problematic (CS Lewis himself said that this was problematic), it shows the great depth of the stories and the artistic wonder. It’s a great read.

I recommend reading Mere Christianity first. The Screwtape Letters are quite interesting too, but not as much fun. Narnia rocks, so read those quickly too. I loved the Four Loves as well. That’s as far as my reading of CS Lewis has gone; I’m actually heading down to the bookstore right now to pick up some copies of CS Lewis’ works. (I have the old collection of Lewis’ Narnia, but we seem to be missing the second book … plus I don’t have copies of any other Lewis writings, I checked them out of the library. But I like them so much that I’m going to buy them.)

Did I mention that CS Lewis rocks? Alot?
 
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Exalt:
I absolutely love CS Lewis. He should be cannonized. 😉

Seriously, though, I really like his work. The Chronicles of Narnia are the best children’s books ever to be published. Even now, as an adult, those books bring me to tears. JRR Tolkien, a friend of CS Lewis, greatly admired those books for he said that they were the only allegorical books that could make a child feel for Aslan and one would feel for Christ. While this is somewhat problematic (CS Lewis himself said that this was problematic), it shows the great depth of the stories and the artistic wonder. It’s a great read.

I recommend reading Mere Christianity first. The Screwtape Letters are quite interesting too, but not as much fun. Narnia rocks, so read those quickly too. I loved the Four Loves as well. That’s as far as my reading of CS Lewis has gone; I’m actually heading down to the bookstore right now to pick up some copies of CS Lewis’ works. (I have the old collection of Lewis’ Narnia, but we seem to be missing the second book … plus I don’t have copies of any other Lewis writings, I checked them out of the library. But I like them so much that I’m going to buy them.)

Did I mention that CS Lewis rocks? Alot?
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I agree about the Narnia books. Even though they are for children, they can be enjoyed by adults. When I bought a box set of the Narnia Chronicles 5 years ago, the clerk said they’d make a great gift. I said “Yes- for me!” Lewis felt no shame in reading children’s books as an adult; he said that books that could only be enjoyed by children were bad books.
 
I’m also a big fan of Lewis, but I must admit I’m an even bigger fan of G.K. Chesterton. He seems to be much more obscure than Lewis, although I attribute this to the fact that he was Catholic, which almost automatically means that no Protestant will read him. While he wrote quite prolifically in many areas (apologetics, fiction, etc.), I’ve only had a chance to read Heretics and Orthodoxy. I look forward to reading more because he has a very engaging and humorous style that argues against modernist ideas by common-sensically attacking their root assumptions.
 
Andreas Hofer:
which almost automatically means that no Protestant will read him. .
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I’m a “protestant” and I have heard of G.K. Chesterton. While i haven’t read him yet, a lot of my protestant friends do. I know of two quotes of his that I enjoy.

“Every man who knocks on the door of a brothel is really seeking God.” (Not word for word.)

“Let all babies be born. Then let us drown those we do not like.”

That really puts abortion into perspective, I think.
 
Andreas Hofer:
I’m also a big fan of Lewis, but I must admit I’m an even bigger fan of G.K. Chesterton. He seems to be much more obscure than Lewis, although I attribute this to the fact that he was Catholic, which almost automatically means that no Protestant will read him. While he wrote quite prolifically in many areas (apologetics, fiction, etc.), I’ve only had a chance to read Heretics and Orthodoxy. I look forward to reading more because he has a very engaging and humorous style that argues against modernist ideas by common-sensically attacking their root assumptions.
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Yes Chesteron is awesome. Not to turn this into a Chesterton thread, but there is a Lewis connection there as well. Along with George McDonald, Lewis said that the other single book that was most influential in his conversion was Chesteron’s ‘Everlasting Man’.

I say this with great affection for Lewis, but of the two Chesterton’s mind was by far the more powerful, and his writing more profoundly moving. Reading him, one actually finds oneself gasping for air as ones breath is taken away. Lewis is like Chesterton lite.
 
I think I have read everything that C.S. Lewis wrote. I first read the Narnia series in 5th grade and have re-read them about ten times over the years. I just love his books!
 
Andreas Hofer:
. While he wrote quite prolifically in many areas (apologetics, fiction, etc.), I’ve only had a chance to read Heretics and Orthodoxy. I look forward to reading more because he has a very engaging and humorous style that argues against modernist ideas by common-sensically attacking their root assumptions.
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Here are two other good books of his to read:

The Everlasting Man: Puts the Incarnation in the context of world history. Originally written as a refutation of H.G. Wells’s Outline of World History.
What’s Wrong with the World: Many of his arguments are still valid today.
 
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jc413:
Tanais, I find it very interesting that you say Lewis had puritanical prejudices. How so? Can you give some examples?

Funny thing is, Lewis is often under fire from fundamentalist Christians because he did *not *have puritanical prejudices.

I’m really curious what you are referring to?? :confused:
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While Lewis certainly didn’t act puritanical- he was a sacramentalist, and he enjoyed a good smoke and drink (in moderation of course)- He was raised in an Irish Protestant household, and this may have influenced him in some way against becoming Catholic. But this is just speculation.
 
Lewis is the only author where I will reread his books over and over - each time finding a new gem.

My favorite - The Great Divorce.

I liked The Last Battle even better the The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe.

great site:
ic.net/~erasmus/RAZ26.HTM
 
I am a C.S. Lewis fan. He attacks Protestant attacks of Catholicism and reverses it using layman’s terminology.

For example, a protestant said, hey why do you catholics keep doing the Eucharist every time in mass? C.S. Lewis said how many times are you going to tell your wife I love you? 4 times? Great comeback. He kicks butt.
 
I am a C.S. Lewis fan. He attacks Protestant attacks of Catholicism and reverses it using layman’s terminology.

For example, a protestant said, hey why do you catholics keep doing the Eucharist every time in mass? C.S. Lewis said how many times are you going to tell your wife I love you? 4 times? Great comeback.
 
My daughter and I are reading The Chronicles of Narnia right now. Has anyone else read these? Opinions?

btw - we are enjoying them!

It is my first book by Lewis and I am looking forward to reading the others. I think I’ll pick up The Screwtape Letters next.
 
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James1234:
I am a C.S. Lewis fan. He attacks Protestant attacks of Catholicism and reverses it using layman’s terminology.

For example, a protestant said, hey why do you catholics keep doing the Eucharist every time in mass? C.S. Lewis said how many times are you going to tell your wife I love you? 4 times? Great comeback.
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?? Lewis wasn’t Catholic–he was Church of England.
 
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