Clive Staples (C.S.) Lewis & Salvation

[Melchior_1]

C.S. Lewis, a peer and friend of J.R.R Tolkien, wrote several great non-fiction and fiction work. The Great Divorce and Mere Christianity for example, are two of his premier works.

It’s pretty obvious he was a solid guy and a good Christian. But he was also never converted to the Catholic Church. There has been discussion among these boards (and other web sites) that one must be a member of the Catholic Church to have Salvation.

So my question; do people think that, despite not being Catholic, that C.S. Lewis could be in Heaven?

 

[OraLabora]

Absolutely he could be in heaven:

818 “However, one cannot charge with the sin of the separation those who at present are born into these communities [that resulted from such separation] and in them are brought up in the faith of Christ, and the Catholic Church accepts them with respect and affection as brothers … All who have been justified by faith in Baptism are incorporated into Christ; they therefore have a right to be called Christians, and with good reason are accepted as brothers in the Lord by the children of the Catholic Church.”

819 “Furthermore, many elements of sanctification and of truth” are found outside the visible confines of the Catholic Church: “the written Word of God; the life of grace; faith, hope, and charity, with the other interior gifts of the Holy Spirit, as well as visible elements.” Christ’s Spirit uses these Churches and ecclesial communities as means of salvation, whose power derives from the fullness of grace and truth that Christ has entrusted to the Catholic Church. All these blessings come from Christ and lead to him, and are in themselves calls to “Catholic unity.”

(CCC)

 

[Bob_Crowley]

I’m basing this on a comment by my old Protestant pastor. He once confided to me in his office that he “wondered if Protestants get into heaven.” Apart from any direct spiritual sense or doubts he might have had, his argument was that he thought God was not as easy-going about the division of the Church as we are. In particular the Reformation was, in his words, “easily the most violent episode in church history.”

Now for him to make such a comment, and konwing how accurate he usually was, with a reputation for holiness and wisdom (even my Catholic psychiatrist said to me, “Whenever I heard Rev. Missenden mentioned in church circles, it was always with the greatest respect”), he’d have had sincere doubts. I had a brief vision of him after his death (one of a few), in which he appeared, and said, “We’re not in heaven. Oh, we’re not in any pain, so you don’t have to worry about that. In fact, it’s pretty good around here” (and his expression at the time was one of considerable enjoyment), He then repeated, “But we’re not in heaven.”

Exactly what I’m supposed to do with that I’m not sure.

But the fact is that Protestants persist in dividing the church, ignore Christ’s statement to Peter about being the Rock, never fully participate in the Eucharist or Christ’s body and blood ("He who does not eat my flesh and drink my blood has no part in me". That’s not just symbolic.) and often tell lies about Catholics and the Catholic church. In fact, the old pastor said, “Protestants can be arrogant at times. They tell a lot of lies about Catholics and the Catholic Church”. Lying is a sin, particularly if it is unconfessed.

He also commented about the approved Marian apparitions. “There’s been a lot of them. I think they’re a judgement on a divided church”.

So for all CS Lewis’ holiness, and that of my old pastor, my own belief is that he, and every other sincere Protestant, is camped just outside the Pearly Gates, and that they won’t get in until the churches formally unite. The same would apply for Dietrich Bonhoeffer, William Carey, Albert Schweitzer, and every other Protestant. And a lot of them were exceptionally good Christians in every other regard.

I personally think the answer is “No.” When my father in law died, I had a similar vision, in which he was told he’d have to wait. He was a good man, and a Baptist.

But as I said above, exactly what I’m supposed to do with all this, I don’t know.

 

[OraLabora]

None of what you wrote is part of the Deposit of Faith or Divine Revelation, but are interpretations of personal visions.

The official quotes I provided from the CCC indicate that the sin is not belonging to a separated church, but was the separation itself. Even individual Protestants, for the most part, even if they “tell lies” about the Church, are merely reflecting the (poor) teaching they received. You aren’t lying if you believe what you say to be true. They aren’t the “inventor” of the lie, but have come to believe in the lie due to flawed teaching. Remember for a sin to be mortal:

Grave matter: yes, it is grave matter
Full knowledge that it is a sin: how can they have it, if they’ve been poorly taught?
Full consent.

Where I would have problem believing someone goes to heaven is when a Catholic leaves the Church to join a separated church. That is in itself re-creating the act of schism, and is apostasy. That is damning. But even then, a lack of intelligence may diminish the sin, so too can poor catechesis by the Church herself.

So bottom line, all of this really relies on the infinite mercy and infinite justice of God Himself. Only He can say. We are merely speculating.

 

[Andreas_Hofer]

None of what you wrote is part of the Deposit of Faith or Divine Revelation, but are interpretations of personal visions.

The official quotes I provided from the CCC indicate that the sin is not belonging to a separated church, but was the separation itself. Even individual Protestants, for the most part, even if they “tell lies” about the Church, are merely reflecting the (poor) teaching they received. You aren’t lying if you believe what you say to be true. They aren’t the “inventor” of the lie, but have come to believe in the lie due to flawed teaching. Remember for a sin to be mortal:

Grave matter: yes, it is grave matter
Full knowledge that it is a sin: how can they have it, if they’ve been poorly taught?
Full consent.

Where I would have problem believing someone goes to heaven is when a Catholic leaves the Church to join a separated church. That is in itself re-creating the act of schism, and is apostasy. That is damning. But even then, a lack of intelligence may diminish the sin, so too can poor catechesis by the Church herself.

So bottom line, all of this really relies on the infinite mercy and infinite justice of God Himself. Only He can say. We are merely speculating.

The CCC does not say that belonging to a heretical ecclesial community is not a sin; it says that those who belong to such communities now cannot be charged with the sin of separation. So they didn’t do the separating. But they can certainly be guilty of remaining separate. At the end of the day, each individual will be judged on whether they cooperated with the graces offered, including the prevenient grace of the gift of reason (so much of Protestantism is either outright illogical or simply inconsistent with the plain text of Scripture - for a modern example consider rapture enthusiasm). C. S. Lewis certainly was not a candidate for invincible ignorance, so his chances of salvation appear rather slim. But since we can’t judge the state of his soul, we grant him the same chance we grant everyone else who was well acquainted with the Church and refused to enter it - it looks grim, but the Just Judge might be capable of mercies we don’t understand.

 

[Thomas_Casey]

I have deleted two posts from this thread that are unwarranted. Speculating about the soul of another person, alive or dead is contrary to charity and arrogant at best. Please do not post such comments on this forum.

Please pray for me and thank you for your cooperation.

Thomas Casey
Moderator

 

[GloriousOrder]

The problem with the first two replies explaining this is that you seem to have assumed Lewis was born into Protestantism. Surely he was an Anglican from birth, but after he went to a higher form of school (around age 14-17) he became a complete atheist. It was only when he met J.R.R. Tolkien in the 1920’s that he came back to belief. The famous line in his “autobiography” (Surprised by Joy) is: “I was taught two things in University life: never trust a papist and never trust a philologist. Tolkien was both of those things.”, and yet they became the best of friends. Lewis had the chance to join Catholicism all throughout his re-conversion, but he did not.

We must love him as a brother regardless of his fate, and hope that he is with the Most High, or at least in Purgatory. He certainly deserved great mercy and Grace, for he was an apologist who brought so many back to God (and continues to do so). How could the Lord condemn such righteous activity and good work? Anyway, he confessed Jesus as Lord, and made no small confession of it publicly.

 

[OraLabora]

Lewis had the chance to join Catholicism all throughout his re-conversion, but he did not.

Conversion is generally a life-long process even for baptized, practicing Catholics; its why we have the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Only God knows where his conversion path would have led, had his life not been cut short.

As such we have no way of knowing if he (or anybody other than the Saints) is saved or not. Charity would have me believe that such a great man was not cut off from God’s mercy.