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C. S. Lewis (view source)

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'''Clive Staples Lewis''' (b. November 29, 1898, [[Belfast]] - d. November 22, 1963, [[Oxford]]) was an [[Ireland|Irish]] writer, novelist, essayist, moral mythologist and a world-acclaimed master of [[Christian apologetics]].

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'''Clive Staples Lewis''' (born November 29, 1898, [[Belfast]] - d. November 22, 1963, [[Oxford]]) was an [[Ireland|Irish]] writer, novelist, essayist, moral mythologist and a world-acclaimed master of [[Christian apologetics]].

==Early life==

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{{QuoteBox|She was floundering in the mazes of Theosophy, Rosicrucianism, Spiritualism; the whole Anglo-American Occultist tradition. I had never heard of such things before; never, except in a nightmare or a fairy tale, conceived of spirits other than God and men. I had loved to read of strange sights and other worlds and unknown modes of being, but never with the slightest belief. Without knowing it, I was already desperately anxious to get rid of my religion.

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You might ask how I combined my directly Atheistical thought with my Occultist fancies. They had only this in common, that both made ''against'' Christianity. And so, little by little I became an apostate, dropping my faith. Dear Miss C. had been the occasion of much good to me as well as of evil. Nor would I deny that in all her 'Higher Thought,' disastrous though its main effect on me was, there were elements of real and disinterested spirituality by which I benefited. <ref>'''Lewis''', ''Surprised by Joy'' op cit.</ref>}}

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You might ask how I combined my directly Atheistical thought with my Occultist fancies. They had only this in common, that both made ''against'' Christianity. And so, little by little I became an apostate, dropping my faith. Dear Miss C. had been the occasion of much good to me as well as of evil. Nor would I deny that in all her 'Higher Thought,' disastrous though its main effect on me was, there were elements of real and disinterested spirituality by which I benefited.<ref>'''Lewis''', ''Surprised by Joy'' op cit.</ref>}}

His melancholy search for the security and settledness he had taken for granted before his mother's death, the constant moving from school to school (where at each he

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On June 1, 1917 Lewis was admitted to No.4 Officer Cadet Battalion, with a minimum service commitment of 4{{1/2}} months. It was during this period that Lewis shared a room and became close friends with another cadet, Edward Courtnay Francis "Paddy" Moore (1898-1918), striking a mutual pact that if either died during the war, the survivor would take care of both their families. In September, he was transferred from the Oxford University OTC to a temporary commission with the rank of Second Lieutenant in the Special Reserve of Officers in the Regular Army. He was posted to the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion of the Somerset Light Infantry in South Devon, and a few days later was then posted to join the 1st Battalion of the regiment in [[France]].<ref>''The Long, Long Trail'' op cit.</ref>

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On November 17, 1917, Lewis arrived in Le Havre, France where he joined his unit. He arrived at the front lines near Monchy-le-Preux on his nineteenth birthday. <ref>McGrath, Alister. ''C. S. Lewis: A Life - Eccentric Genius. Reluctant Prophet''. Page 68. Print. 2013</ref>

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On November 17, 1917, Lewis arrived in Le Havre, France where he joined his unit. He arrived at the front lines near Monchy-le-Preux on his nineteenth birthday.<ref>McGrath, Alister. ''C. S. Lewis: A Life - Eccentric Genius. Reluctant Prophet''. Page 68. Print. 2013</ref>

He was wounded during the [[Battle of Arras]] on April 15, 1918 by shell fragments to the chest, which also broke a rib, left wrist and left leg. After a week of treatment, he was evacuated back to England where he was hospitalized until December 24, 1918 and was demobilized from the Army. Paddy Moore had been killed in action near Peronne, France, and Lewis struck up a close relationship with his mother, Janie King Moore (1873-1951). Although she was 25 years older than Lewis, they were clearly particularly fond of one another and Mrs. Moore played an important role in his convalescence as his father refused to visit him.

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In the summer of 1920, Mrs. Moore and her daughter Maureen moved to Oxford and rented a house in Headington Quarry. Lewis lived with the Moores from June 1921 onward. In August 1930, they all moved to ''Hillsboro'', Headington. In October 1930, Mrs. Moore, Lewis, and Warren Lewis, by now an Army Major, purchased ''The Kilns'' jointly, with title to the property being taken solely in the name of Mrs. Moore and the two brothers holding rights of life tenancy. Built in 1922, ''The Kilns'' was a modest twelve-room brick cottage. Warren said later: "''Jack and I went out and saw the place on Sunday morning, and I instantly caught the infection: we did not go inside the house, but the eight acre garden is such stuff as dreams are made of.''"<ref>'''Lewis, Warren H'''., ''Brothers and Friends: The Diaries of Major Warren Hamilton Lewis'' London: Harper & Row (ed. Clyde S. Kilbey and Marjorie Lamp Mead, 1982)</ref>

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Warren Lewis retired from the military and moved in to the ''The Kilns'' in 1932. The nature of the relationship between Lewis and Mrs. Moore has been the subject of much speculation, although it is most likely that he looked to her as a surrogate for his own dead mother, and she likewise for her dead son. Lewis' stepson Douglas Gresham stated in his biography of Lewis that the relationship "''will remain a mystery''".<ref>'''Gresham, Douglas''', ''Lenten Lands: My Childhood with Joy Davidman and C.S. Lewis'' London: Collins (1988) ISBN 0-0606-3447-2</ref> That he regarded her as an adoptive mother, and felt a filial duty towards her, became more apparent in later life, when Mrs. Moore became "''difficult, demanding, and eventually demented''"<ref>'''Jenkyns, Richard''', ''The Faerie King: The Passion According to C. S. Lewis'' published in [http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=20051226&s=jenkyns122605 ''The New Republic''] (2005) </ref> due to Alzheimer's Disease. In 1950, she was moved into a nursing home nearby. Lewis visited her every day, even turning down speaking engagements so as not to disappoint her. On her death in 1951 he said: "''There has been a great change in my life owing to the death of the old lady I called my mother. She died, without apparent pain after many months of semi-conscious existence, and it would be hypocritical to pretend that it was a grief to us.''"

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Warren Lewis retired from the military and moved in to the ''The Kilns'' in 1932. The nature of the relationship between Lewis and Mrs. Moore has been the subject of much speculation, although it is most likely that he looked to her as a surrogate for his own dead mother, and she likewise for her dead son. Lewis' stepson Douglas Gresham stated in his biography of Lewis that the relationship "''will remain a mystery''".<ref>'''Gresham, Douglas''', ''Lenten Lands: My Childhood with Joy Davidman and C.S. Lewis'' London: Collins (1988) ISBN 0-0606-3447-2</ref> That he regarded her as an adoptive mother, and felt a filial duty towards her, became more apparent in later life, when Mrs. Moore became "''difficult, demanding, and eventually demented''"<ref>'''Jenkyns, Richard''', ''The Faerie King: The Passion According to C. S. Lewis'' published in [http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=20051226&s=jenkyns122605 ''The New Republic''] (2005)</ref> due to Alzheimer's Disease. In 1950, she was moved into a nursing home nearby. Lewis visited her every day, even turning down speaking engagements so as not to disappoint her. On her death in 1951 he said: "''There has been a great change in my life owing to the death of the old lady I called my mother. She died, without apparent pain after many months of semi-conscious existence, and it would be hypocritical to pretend that it was a grief to us.''"

==University Professor==

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The three friends who influenced him were his tutor Kirkpatrick, who taught Lewis "''a form of rigorous inquiry that sought objective truth through the relentless probing of an opponent's positions and definitions, a fierce and, in Kirkpatrick's hands, exaggerated version of Socratic dialogue.''"<ref>'''Edwards''', ''C. S. Lewis: Mere Christian'', op cit.</ref> Owen Barfield, one of his close friends at Oxford, contributed to his acceptance of theism by forcing Lewis through debate to overcome his "''uncritical acceptance of the intellectual climate common to our age and the assumption that whatever has gone out of date is on that count discredited.''"<ref>'''Lewis''', ''Surprised by Joy'' op cit.</ref> Liberated from the notion that the past was invariably wrong and that the present always the barometer of truth, Lewis was able to embrace the possibility that the ancient Christian narrative could have validity even in the twentieth century.<ref>'''Edwards''', ''C. S. Lewis: Mere Christian'', op cit.</ref>

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It was Lewis' frequent discussions with [[J.R.R. Tolkien]] that proved the final turning point. Tolkien was himself a devout [[Catholic]], and through their debates Lewis came to understand that while Christianity may itself comprise a mythology of sorts, it was, in fact, "''the true myth, myth become fact''" <ref>'''Lewis,''' ''Surprised by Joy'', op cit.</ref> and the one in which Lewis could put his full confidence, heart, mind, and soul. On the evening of September 19, 1931, he invited Tolkien and Hugo Dyson to dine with him in Magdalen College. The talk continued through the night, in Lewis' rooms and also out in the grounds of the college.<ref>'''Hooper, Walter''', in his preface to the 1979 edition of Lewis' ''God in the Dock'', London: HarperCollins (1979) ISBN 0-8028-0868-9 </ref> Lewis recalls in ''Surprised by Joy'' that an outing with his brother the following day saw his final acceptance of Christianity: "''When we set out [by motorcycle to the zoo] I did not believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, and when we reached the zoo I did.''"<ref>'''Lewis,''' ''Surprised by Joy'', op cit.</ref> In a letter to his long time friend Arthur Greeves, dated October 1, 1931, Lewis writes: "''I have just passed on from believing in God to definitely believing in Christ — in Christianity. My long night talk with Dyson and Tolkien had a good deal to do with it.''"

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It was Lewis' frequent discussions with [[J.R.R. Tolkien]] that proved the final turning point. Tolkien was himself a devout [[Catholic]], and through their debates Lewis came to understand that while Christianity may itself comprise a mythology of sorts, it was, in fact, "''the true myth, myth become fact''" <ref>'''Lewis,''' ''Surprised by Joy'', op cit.</ref> and the one in which Lewis could put his full confidence, heart, mind, and soul. On the evening of September 19, 1931, he invited Tolkien and Hugo Dyson to dine with him in Magdalen College. The talk continued through the night, in Lewis' rooms and also out in the grounds of the college.<ref>'''Hooper, Walter''', in his preface to the 1979 edition of Lewis' ''God in the Dock'', London: HarperCollins (1979) ISBN 0-8028-0868-9</ref> Lewis recalls in ''Surprised by Joy'' that an outing with his brother the following day saw his final acceptance of Christianity: "''When we set out [by motorcycle to the zoo] I did not believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, and when we reached the zoo I did.''"<ref>'''Lewis,''' ''Surprised by Joy'', op cit.</ref> In a letter to his long time friend Arthur Greeves, dated October 1, 1931, Lewis writes: "''I have just passed on from believing in God to definitely believing in Christ — in Christianity. My long night talk with Dyson and Tolkien had a good deal to do with it.''"

==Lewis the author==

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The couple did not immediately take up residence together - this happened somewhat gradually as more and more, Joy and her children stayed Lewis and Warren at ''The Kilns''. Lewis' feelings for Joy seem to have taken him over in 1957 when it was discovered that Joy had aggressive bone cancer, and was given only weeks to live. While she lay in the hospital, dying, Lewis persuaded one of his clergymen friends to perform a Christian marriage service for this divorced woman and her legal husband. Joy’s cancer unexpectedly went into remission and she was able to return home to ''The Kilns''. Initially confined to a wheelchair, she progressed to crutches and later a cane. In 1958, the couple, by now wildly in love with each other, were finally able to take a honeymoon, in Ireland. Lewis, Joy and her sons, David and Douglas, were given two years of respite from Joy’s cancer, but in 1959, the cancer returned. Despite treatments and drugs, her cancer spread and it became apparent that Joy would die. This she wanted to do at home, with her children, Lewis and her brother-in-law Warren near her.

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They took a final holiday together in [[Greece]] in April 1960. When they returned home, her cancer progressed rapidly. Lewis was at her side constantly and begged her not to leave him. He wrestled with letting her go, wishing to keep her with him even in the face of the horrible pain she suffered. Finally he surrendered to the inevitable and told Joy to leave. She died at the Radcliffe Infirmary on July ~~13th~~, 1960. By her own request, her body was cremated and a poem by Lewis, ''Epitaph'', was cut into a marble plaque which is near where her ashes were scattered at Oxford Crematorium. Lewis was devastated by grief. While he was able to carry on the duties of life after losing Joy, it’s clear that he was a changed man. He poured out his grief on paper, turning his own loss into comfort for thousands. His book, ''A Grief Observed'' published first under a pseudonym in 1961, delves deeply into his personal loss, but the profound insight into the nature of grief that Lewis pours out in the volume transcends his own loss and speaks to the heart of any who have lost a spouse or partner. Lewis's relationship with Joy was the subject of the play and movie ''[[Shadowlands]]''.

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They took a final holiday together in [[Greece]] in April 1960. When they returned home, her cancer progressed rapidly. Lewis was at her side constantly and begged her not to leave him. He wrestled with letting her go, wishing to keep her with him even in the face of the horrible pain she suffered. Finally he surrendered to the inevitable and told Joy to leave. She died at the Radcliffe Infirmary on July 13, 1960. By her own request, her body was cremated and a poem by Lewis, ''Epitaph'', was cut into a marble plaque which is near where her ashes were scattered at Oxford Crematorium. Lewis was devastated by grief. While he was able to carry on the duties of life after losing Joy, it’s clear that he was a changed man. He poured out his grief on paper, turning his own loss into comfort for thousands. His book, ''A Grief Observed'' published first under a pseudonym in 1961, delves deeply into his personal loss, but the profound insight into the nature of grief that Lewis pours out in the volume transcends his own loss and speaks to the heart of any who have lost a spouse or partner. Lewis's relationship with Joy was the subject of the play and movie ''[[Shadowlands]]''.

[[Image:Lewis_tombstone.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Lewis' tombstone]]

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In June 1961, Lewis was diagnosed as having an enlarged prostate gland. He was initially fitted with a catheter, but this caused his kidneys to become infected, which in turn led to a heart problem which made it impossible to operate on him. In November 1963, he was diagnosed with end stage renal failure. Lewis showed a calm approach to death: "''I have done all I wanted to and I'm ready to go,''" he told his brother. Lewis died at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, November 22, 1963, at ''The Kilns'', one week before his 65th birthday. His death was largely ignored by the media, due to the assassination of [[John F. Kennedy]] on the same day. He is buried in the churchyard of Holy Trinity Church, Headington, Oxford, where his funeral took place on Tuesday ~~26th~~ November, 1963. On his tombstone, his brother had engraved the words from ''King Lear'' which had been on the calendar on the day their mother had died: ''Men must endure their going hence''. Warren was buried beside his brother in 1973.

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In June 1961, Lewis was diagnosed as having an enlarged prostate gland. He was initially fitted with a catheter, but this caused his kidneys to become infected, which in turn led to a heart problem which made it impossible to operate on him. In November 1963, he was diagnosed with end stage renal failure. Lewis showed a calm approach to death: "''I have done all I wanted to and I'm ready to go,''" he told his brother. Lewis died at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, November 22, 1963, at ''The Kilns'', one week before his 65th birthday. His death was largely ignored by the media, due to the assassination of [[John F. Kennedy]] on the same day. He is buried in the churchyard of Holy Trinity Church, Headington, Oxford, where his funeral took place on Tuesday 26 November 1963. On his tombstone, his brother had engraved the words from ''King Lear'' which had been on the calendar on the day their mother had died: ''Men must endure their going hence''. Warren was buried beside his brother in 1973.

== See also ==

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[[Category:People who were Educated at Home]]

[[Category:Christians]]

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[[Category: Christian Apologists]]

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[[Category:Christian Apologists]]

== External links ==

* [http://www.lewissociety.org/ C.S. Lewis Society of California]

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