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Between the Lines
The Many Worlds of C.S. Lewis
By Alison Andrews
January 2, 2006
With all the attention
devoted to the newly released movie of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe,
it seems the world is ready for a C.S. Lewis revival, the way J.R.R. Tolkien
became a best-selling writer again after The Lord of the Rings movies
came out. Movies tend to spark the public’s interest in the books on which they
were based, and I think that has to be a good thing (even though I always
like the book better—but that’s just me).
Some of us, however, fell in
love with Lewis’s works at an early age and never stopped reading him.
Fortunately, Lewis was a prolific author who wrote in a number of genres,
demonstrating his staggering imaginative ability to step with ease between the
dissimilar worlds he created and inhabited. From literary criticism to theology
to science fiction to fantasy, what type of book couldn’t Lewis master?
It helped that he was a brilliant thinker and flawless stylist, but the enduring
success of his work rests on his ability to capture not just the minds of his
readers, but their imaginations as well.
Into the Wardrobe
As a child, I was hooked on The Chronicles of Narnia by the time Lucy
walked through the wardrobe and encountered Mr. Tumnus the faun. The deepest
desire of my heart was to go to Narnia myself, although I was old enough to
realize that Narnia wasn’t real. It seemed so real, though¾sometimes,
surfacing from one of the books, it seemed more real than the ordinary world I
inhabited. Lewis’s great gift was his ability to invent unforgettable characters
and images. Who could forget the White Witch’s sledge halting as winter loses
its hold on the land, or the Stone Table, or Reepicheep the Mouse paddling his
canoe through crystal waters to the edge of the world? If you think The
Chronicles of Narnia are for children, please do reconsider. Lewis did not
“write down” to children; in fact, he considered the division between literature
for children and adults to be misleading. In an essay titled “On Stories,” he
wrote, “No book is really worth reading at ten which is not equally (and often
far more) worth reading at the age of fifty….The only imaginative works we grow
out of are those which it would have been better not to have read at all.”
A Different War of the
Worlds
Lewis thought it was possible for life to exist on other planets, so he wrote
about what those planets might be like. The trilogy composed of Out of the
Silent Planet, Perelandra, and That Hideous Strength follows
Dr. Ransom, a Cambridge philologist (a.k.a. a linguist) on his journey to
Malacandra (the planet we call Mars) and Perelandra (or Venus). Ransom learns
about the serious war that continues throughout the universe and the crucial
part he must play to save the silent planet we know as Earth from its corrupt
ruling spirit.
If this sounds allegorical,
it almost is, but not quite. Like the Chronicles, which take on their own
reality apart from a retelling of Christ’s Incarnation, Lewis is asking, “What
if there was a race that never fell from grace? And what if a new race was
created and faced temptation for the first time?” Once you get past the outdated
notions of space travel (the books were published from 1938 to 1945), you will
be amazed at the insights Lewis offers into the power of choice to affect the
ongoing war in the universe.
Devils Need Mentors, Too
Lewis stated that of all his books he found The Screwtape Letters the
most difficult to write. It was torture to force himself to think like a demon
day after day. Yet generations of Christians have been thankful that he did so.
Screwtape purports to be the correspondence from a senior tempter to his
inexperienced nephew, Wormwood. Screwtape’s advice to Wormwood offers the reader
an invaluable glimpse into the reverse theology of Hell (for example, he calls
Satan “Our Father Below,” and God “the Enemy”). The benefit for the Christian is
that it allows us to shed our ignorance of the devil’s devices. Each time I
reread Screwtape, I think about the voices that whisper in my ear and
what God would have me do instead.
The Essence of
Christianity
If you’d like to venture into Lewis’s theological works, you have many to choose
from, and I hope you will. Since I can only discuss one, however, I pick Mere
Christianity. This masterwork distills Christianity into its essential
beliefs. The title does not mean “trifling” Christianity. Rather, it is an
answer to the trend (which Lewis deplored) of linking Christianity with other
ideas, such as “Christianity and psychology” or “Christianity and Marxism.” For
him, Christianity was only worth believing if it is true—and C.S. Lewis did more
toward helping thoughtful people accept its truth than any writer of the
twentieth century, especially because he was able to write in such diverse ways
about the nature of evil and the greater power of Love.
ninetyandnine.com
© 2006, Alison Andrews
---------
Alison Andrews lives
near Fort Worth, Texas, with her husband and daughter. She and her husband lead
the small group ministry for their church. At any given moment, she's either
reading a classic novel or singing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" over and over...and
over. |
