C. S. Lewis & World War I — Atheism to Christianity | NR
A hundred years ago, Lewis was an atheist in the trenches of a terrible war.In the spring of 1918, Germany and the Central Powers staged a final massive offensive that threatened to overwhelm British and French forces along the Western Front. Sir Douglas Haig, commander of the British Expeditionary Force in Europe, issued the order: “Every position must be held to the last man. . . . With our backs to the wall and believing in the justice of our cause, each man must fight to the end.”One of the young soldiers with his back to the wall was Second Lieutenant Clive Staples Lewis. A confirmed atheist at the time, C. S. Lewis would survive the storm and steel of the First World War. But the experience of war would transform him, launching him on a spiritual journey that culminated, years later, in his conversion to Christianity. He would earn worldwide fame as a Christian apologist and author of a series of children’s books, The Chronicles of Narnia, which tell the story of “a great war . . . with all the world looking on,” a battle between the forces of Light and Darkness.
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I want to give Lewis any credit he is due for his books. But he is not to be trusted on some key issues about the Bible: 1) He said this about about Genesis: “The first chapters of Genesis, no doubt, give the story of the creation in the form of a folk-tale —— a fact recognized as early as the time of St Jerome…….” This is found in his book, “God In The Dock,” in the chapter titled “Dogma And The Universe.” 2) He believed that the Biblical account of Jonah and the great fish was a fable, not factual. This can be found in his book, “God In The Dock,” in the chapter titled “Answers To Questions About Christianity,” question 10. His whole answer to question 10 will shock those who believe the Bible is to be trusted as the Word of God. The late preacher, D. M. Lloyd Jones, was a great defender of the Christian faith. He said Lewis was not an evangelical, in spite of his popularity among evangelicals. What he said about Lewis is very significant. It can be read in his in his sermon, “What Is An Evangelical?” The sermon is found his book, “Knowing The Times. Lloyd-Jones said, “I find that C. S. Lewis has almost become the patron saint of evangelicals. He was never an evangelical and said so quite plainly himself.”
So, we must read and recommend Lewis with great discernment.
Thanks, Bruce. He certainly has problems at many points. He was a complicated man and didn’t shed all his aberrant beliefs with his conversion.
Maranatha!
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3
Certainly Lewis had significant doctrinal issues, but his books are familiar to all. His ransom theory concept of the atonement is just one of the potential issues. But this story is interesting nevertheless.
You can find the Ransom theory is the earliest of the atonement theories found among the Church Fathers. The problem with the Ransom Theory is not that it is untrue, but that it is woefully incomplete. Lewis’ main problem, in my view, is that he was a philosopher rather than a theologian. I like the way he challenges my thinking, nevertheless.