Surprised by C.S. Lewis

“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.”

-C.S. Lewis

Besides our visit to Canterbury Cathedral, another highlight of our recent trip to England and Scotland was visiting the places where novelist, scholar, and broadcaster C.S. Lewis worked, worshipped, and was buried. A student of philosophy who spent thirty years teaching English Literature at Oxford University while authoring 41 books in various genres, Lewis’ relatively quiet life packed a major impact. Even now, over 60 years after his passing, his thoughts continue to challenge, enlighten, and inspire an untold number around the world.

Perhaps Lewis’ superpower was his discipline to not only study, analyze, and think…but to write down what he was learning, how he was processing, and even how God’s Spirit worked inside of him. This has become a passion of my husband’s, capturing the wisdom and insight God provides for future generations by writing things down, recording important conversations, and even reformatting truths from his sermon study for platforms like this one ( zachterry.com ). I am trying to follow in his footsteps, albeit slowly!

As our children were growing up, we enjoyed Lewis’ fictitious work, “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe’ by reading it aloud together. Thankfully, we live in a time where we even got to watch a movie inspired by the book as a special reward at the end of the reading! At the University of Oxford, we were shown the place where Lewis walked out of a conversation about Christianity with his friends (one of them being J.R.R. Tolkien) and saw three things that inspired ideas for characters for that beloved story. He saw a lion on the door of a pub (Aslan), some strange figures on each side of the door (Mr. Tumnus), and a lamppost (entrance to Narnia).

Later, we sat in the church where Lewis faithfully attended and served for thirty years. It was inspiring to me to see how he continued to live a quiet life, excelling in his strengths of study, thinking, and writing, though his voice was popular and well known across his country after his beloved radio broadcasts during World War II.

Interested in learning more about the life and work of C.S. Lewis? I would start with reading or listening to one of his books! But if you’d like an overview, I enjoyed a free online course called “C.S. Lewis on Christianity” from Hillsdale College. You can sign up here.