Running Head: C.S.

LEWIS: A JOURNEY TO CHRIST

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C.S. Lewis: A Journey to Christ

Amy C Emerson

Colorado Christian University

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Summary
In the vast plethora of Christian literature, a name which always stands out is that of C.S.

Lewis. However, C.S. Lewis was not a lifelong Christian, and even spent some time in

bitterness before the Lord started to pull away at the scales of his heart. Though his pilgrimage to

Christ was introspectively long and burdensome, he emerged from the encounter spiritually

cultivated. His journey and encounters with God left him willing and able to provide words and

insights of unparalleled richness to his brothers and sisters in Christ.

Until he gave his life to Christ wholly, C.S. Lewis was a man who struggle with spiritual

discomfort or spiritual reluctance. Though he was an atheist most of his life, in the early 1920’s

Lewis found himself admitting that the belief in God is probable, however still maintained that it

was “ludicrous’ and did not fit his perception of life, nor did it align with his experiences

(McArther, 2013, pg134). Yet in the 1930’s, Lewis’s writings show the beginning of his quest

for a deeper meaning to life. Finally, in what Lewis calls the “Trinity Term of 1929” he could no

longer deny the overwhelming evidence that pointed to the existence of God, nor could he ignore

God’s pounding in his hearts door. He begrudgingly prayed admittance to God. Though God had

formally introduced Himself to Lewis, whether it be early 1929 or actually be early 1930, is still

up for debate, as Mr. Lewis can sometimes be confused by dates, it is the overall consensus that

it took over a year for Lewis to cross over from theism to a true relationship with Christ. The

reluctance lay in the fact that Lewis, though logical and realistic in thought, placed great

emphasis on the imagination. With God, he still had not found the link between reason and

ingenuity.

C.S. Lewis was a man who struggled to find the depth and true meaning of things, while

still holding tightly to the imagination and the possibilities it could bring forth. To him, the
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universe still demanded answers, and God had yet to provide them. In September of 1931, Lewis

began a friendship with author J.R.R Tolkien, a friendship which played a critical role his

development of thought towards God (McGrath, 2013, pg148). It was through the mentoring of

Tolkien where Lewis learned what the big picture of Christianity really looked like, and

providing him the answer that had plagued him since he was young: how could only Christianity

be true, and everything else be false? (McGrath, 2013, pg 150). Tolkien dispensed to him the

keys of freedom by showing him that, where other religions supplied partial insights and

fractional truths, it is Christianity which provides the full and unblemished anecdote.

Furthermore, where Lewis once feared belief in God, and the threat God placed on his creativity,

he now saw a God Who did not associate with suppression, and called out for deep thought

which could only come from imagination.

C.S. Lewis was a man who was not easily convinced. Though he was finally able to see

the imaginative appeal to Christianity (McGrath, 2013, 151), Lewis, a deeply thoughtful

individual, still needed time to explore this newfound knowledge. His final step of the journey

occurred during a trip to a zoo. Again, it is not certain if this trip occurred several days or several

months after his conversation with Tolkien. Whatever the timeline, Lewis’s lack of immediacy

shows the extreme value he placed on the conversion, as it required a passage of inquisition. Yet

his conversion was somewhat anticlimactic; he simply says that he left on his trip not believing

that Jesus was the Son of God, and when he arrived at the destination, he did (McGrath, 2013,

152). Though not dramatic to the observer, it is the day which marks the official conversion of a

man who provided the world with some of the greatest writing in Christian literature.

As someone who grew up reading and admiring C.S. Lewis, I find the knowledge of his

personal struggles with Christianity quite startling. While I knew that he was a former atheist, I
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had no recollection of his inflexibility to simply embrace Jesus. The very idea that it took over a

year after admitting there is a God to embrace Christ as his Savior informs me of his depth and

thoughtfulness. I find myself admiring Mr. Lewis for the very fact that he does not take matters

lightly, rather he grievously inquires of them as a detective studies a significant crime scene in

great detail. His need to explore and ponder deeply reveals him to be far more personal and

relatable as well, for he understands the struggles of the human mind and does not hold back this

empathy in his writing. I now see C.S. Lewis as someone who is to be heard on a personal level.

I believe one of the greatest honors we can give him is to acknowledge his journey, and approach

his writings without intimidation, rather with thoughtfulness and mindfulness.

In conclusion, C.S. Lewis is someone whom Christians owe a great debt. He is a man

who took his enduring journey from atheism, to theism, and finally to a deeply personal

relationship with Christ, and transcended it to valuable information for his audience. Engaging

and informative, Lewis has the ability to make sense of reality, and provide his audience with

words which carry immense weight towards their lives as Christians. God gave C.S. Lewis a

purpose for his struggle, and Lewis left a legacy of prominence, making him a hero in his own

right.
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References

McGrath, A. (2013). C.S. Lewis: A life. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.