Meet the creator of the Chronicles of Narnia! His life was anything but boring.

C. S. Lewis’s Early Life

Clive Staples Lewis was born in Ireland in 1898 to Albert and Flora Lewis. He had one older brother, Warren Hamilton Lewis. Early in his life, he adopted the name "Jack," simply because he liked the sound of it. From that point on, he was known by this nickname to close friends and family. Lewis’s mother died in 1908, and he was sent to a number of different schools in England. In about 1913, he abandoned his childhood Christian faith.

As a boy, Jack had a passion for "dressed animals," falling in love with Beatrix Potter's stories and often writing and illustrating his own animal stories. He and his brother, “Warnie,” together created the world of Boxen, which was inhabited and run by animals. Lewis loved to read, and as his father's house was filled with books, he often felt that finding a book he hadn't read was as easy as finding a blade of grass.

As a teenager, he was wonderstruck by Richard Wagner and the songs and legends of Norse mythology. They intensified a longing he had within him, a deep desire he would later call "joy." He also grew to love nature. The beautiful scenes he saw in nature reminded him of the stories of the North, and the stories of the North reminded him of the beauties of nature. In his teenage years, his writing moved away from the tales of Boxen, and he began to use new literary forms (poetry and opera) to try and capture his interest in Norse myth and in the natural world.

In 1916 Lewis won a scholarship to University College, Oxford. However, in 1917 he enlisted in the British Army, and was commissioned an officer in the 3rd Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry. He arrived at the front line in the Somme Valley in France on his 19th birthday. He was wounded during the Battle of Arras, and on his recovery assigned duty in England. He was discharged in December 1918, and returned to his studies.

C. S. Lewis’s Conversion to Christianity:

For much of his life, C. S. Lewis was decidedly anti-Christian. He was an atheist, and held a materialistic worldview. This began to change when he met J. R. R. Tolkien. Tolkien, who is now best known as the world-renowned author of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, made Lewis’s acquaintance while the two men were teaching at Oxford. The two immediately became friends. They shared an intense interest in myth, “faery story,” and the philosophy of language. As he became better friends with Lewis, Tolkien, who was a devout Roman Catholic, spoke with his new friend about the realties of the Christian faith, trying to lead him into the truth. As time wore on, and Tolkien and Lewis became better friends, Lewis began to accept certain elements of Tolkien’s argument.

The turning point came in September of 1932 over the course of two particularly eventful evenings. On the night of September 19, Lewis, Tolkien, and their friend Hugo Dyson engaged in an intense late-night discussion about the nature of Christian truth. Then, on the 28th of September, Lewis returned to the Christian faith while riding in the side-car of his brother Warren’s motorcycle. Warren had himself just recently converted to Christianty, and was taking Lewis to the Whipsnade Zoo. In his biography, Surprised by Joy, Lewis relates the story, saying: "When we set out I did not believe that Jesus is the Son of God and when we reached the zoo I did.” Lewis joined the Anglican church that year, taking his first communion on Christmas Day.

After joining the church, Lewis proceeded to write a variety of great books, including novels (of which The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is the most famous), works of philosophy and scholarship, and many dearly loved Christian writings. By the time of his death in 1963, C. S. Lewis had become one of the world’s most celebrated Christian authors. To this day, his work continues to inspire and educate.

I hope you enjoyed learning about C.S. Lewis! Please comment - it is much appreciated. Questions are welcomed.

~ Mandy