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Christianity Today, July, 2008 |

Found in Space

How C. S. Lewis has shaped my faith and writing.

Philip Yancey | posted 7/22/2008 08:41AM

I first encountered C. S. Lewis through his space trilogy. Though perhaps not his best work, it had an undermining effect on me. He made the supernatural so believable that I could not help wondering, ...

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Amy	Posted: July 30, 2008 9:20 AM

I read the Narina books in middle school and loved them. Then, I read "The Screwtape Letters" in high school. Wow! What an impact that little book had, and continues to have, on me. Lewis is one of my favorite authors, simply because he sees deep into the human heart. His insight in Screwtape is as intensely uncomfortable as it is hilarious. Thanks, Phillip, for your testimony and good words for Jack.

Rumala Morel

Posted: July 30, 2008 1:00 AM

C.S Lewis is someone who helps all of us in every generation & culture know God better! I think all Chrisitians who have a college education should read Lewis to be better able to defend their faith. He was introduced to me by the Fellowship of Christian University Students [FOCUS] in Sri Lanka & he is the author who most influenced my faith. Buddhism attacks the 'Problem of Pain' by attempting to escape it...in to Nirvana. Lewis first made me realise that pain is protective as in leprosy [where people injure themselves because they don't feel pain] and warns us of a world gone wrong. Thank you for recommending that 'the problem of pain' & 'A grief observed' should be read together. I will recommend both books hereafter to so many who question 'How can a loving & all powerful God allow pain?'

Ephrem Hagos

Posted: July 29, 2008 11:58 PM


It is a sad commentary on contemporary Christianity to see it tolerating anyone-but who comes preaching a different savior, a different spirit and a different gospel from the ones taught and offered today by Jesus Christ, personally, with "all the authority in heaven and on earth" but without the help of any so-called "adjectives" be it Lewis or Yancey!

Steve Skete

Posted: July 24, 2008 9:28 AM

A beautiful article. The first of Lewis' books I read was Mere Christianity. It was an exhilirating experience. Then I read "The Abolition of Man" a book with insights into human nature that are so clear they are almost prophetic. The Abolition of Man has the clearest explanation of the "moral law" that I have ever come across. Lewis' arguments are well reasoned, believable and immensely satisfying. It is heartening when a writer like Philip Yancey credit Lewis for helping to make him (Philip) the writer that he is. The world of literature have been significantly enriched by both of these gentlemen.

Laura

Posted: July 23, 2008 6:59 PM


Thank you all for the graceful comments about Lewis and Yancey's response to Lewis. After reading some of the invective in the responses to the Tolle article, I was glad to find some Christians who are capable of appreciating and affirming two Christians--Lewis and Yancey--who did and do think outside the traditional, legalistic, joyless box.

PJ	Posted: July 23, 2008 5:34 PM


I found Lewis conspicuously absent as one of the profiles in "Soul Survivor." Nevertheless, "Survivor" spurred me to research those writers which shaped Lewis himself, and I have found George MacDonald and G.K. Chesterton both to be magnificent. Perhaps one of the independent joys of reading them is that they don't - they can't - quote Lewis.

Douglas Morris

Posted: July 23, 2008 4:08 PM


Paul. In my mind easy believism or cheap grace as it is also reffered to, does not, cannot exist. Is it easy t believe in the Miracle of Jesus Christ? I do not think so! Consider all that one must abandon, in a single moment, to accept our Christ as savior.

lori t

Posted: July 23, 2008 1:18 PM

Bless you all! I agree wholeheartedly with the above comments and, in particular, echo statements appreciating Lewis's integration of imagination and reason, of creativity, intuition and logic. May I also share how very meaningful a book club is in my life; here in Houston we're calling it a 'CSLewis Literary Society' and have changed from monthly meetings to bi-monthly, because we always run out of time (with our impassioned discussions)! I highly recommend the same for all you Lewis-Lovers out there! Again, God bless us in these times, with thanks for Lewis lucidity and, perhaps, an emulating nudge that we do/write/share in the same vein is he did.

Paul	Posted: July 23, 2008 12:09 PM

Wonderful story. I did not encounter Lewis until after college, when I read "A Grief Observed" and "Mere Christianity" after my father's death. "A Grief Observed" helped me move ahead with life after Dad's passing. The latter book helped me to understand why I believe what I believe. Many of my Christian friends, including shockingly, those preparing for ministry, discount Lewis because, as you mentioned, legalist concerns. There's another factor at play, most Christians in the age of easy believism, don't want to be called to spiritual and intellectual rigor. As an aside, I would recommend "Jack's Life," a touching, very human story of Lewis's relationship with his stepson, Douglas Gresham. Thanks again for a great article.

Carolyn

Posted: July 23, 2008 11:22 AM

Lewis has been deeply formative in my own faith through the rigor of his thinking, the clarity of his writing, and the abundant richness of his imagination. I think that I -- with so many others -- owe a greater spiritual debt to his fiction (the Space Trilogy, The Great Divorce, and Till We Have Faces) than to his apologetical writings, good as they are. Lewis has also led me to many other saints who have taught, corrected, encouraged and consoled me over the years: Agustine, Jeremy Taylor, John Bunyan, George Mcdonald, Julian of Norwich. Books bring us into the Communion of Saints! Thank you, Phil Yancey, for your words on this great Adjective.

Sam David

Posted: July 23, 2008 6:38 AM

As I read through Yancey on Lewis, it helps to formulate my own understanding of saints God gives us for our own good. Appreciate the way Yancey has put this forward. It so comforting to know that Lewis knew his limit as I read this from this article as Yancey quotes Lewis saying that the writers are mere adjectives and not The Noun. What a joy to know that many have been drawn to this One Noun and as of now we have so much to pass on to the generation next. The way Christian work is projected these days seems sad. Few individuals are promoted instead of The NOUN. I am afraid that less and less are in the habit of reading these days and if some are reading they are looking at those which promise easy solution or prosperity. It is my prayer that we will have more books that will be appealing to this generation. All the books by Yancey written jointly with Dr. Brand may not be philosophical, but are very real and speaks to the heart. I am sure many more are in pipe line from Yancey.

George Van Kirk

Posted: July 23, 2008 6:00 AM

It's so rare of me to comment!! But I'm always thrilled to find another connection with Yancey and Lewis. I so enjoy the writings of both men. There was a time in my life when I didn't read much. Back in the 70's, I was a young sailor crossing the Pacific with a lot of time on my hands to read and think. My best friend gave me a copy of Out of the Silent Planet and I was hooked!! It started a process of reading and contemplation that led to a rededication of my life to Christ. As I look back on those years, it was my irrational view of life and God that got overwhelmed and gradually changed by a heart made right through Christ. Thank God for that rescue!! Yancey's writings remind me it's all about that rescue.

Mary	Posted: July 23, 2008 4:36 AM

I feel exhilarated as if I have just inhaled deeply on fresh air, as I remember how I have, in the past, found C.S. Lewis and Phillip Yancey so soul achingingly inspiring. However, I do not feel like that when I read my Bible. In fact, returning to a cover-to-cover reading of the scriptures has made me wonder if I am a believer in Lewisism and Yanceyanity, rather than in the God who is revealed in the Bible, especially in the Old Testament. Maybe they inspire because they are Adjectives that go beyond what is actually to be found there, and, in the 'translated' words of William James, they are giving our 'intuitive sense of reality' something it wants, but is not there in the first place. I indeed used to be in the place of 'accepting a logical argument because it fitted my intuitive sense of reality' but now I am trying to do it the other way around, which is surely better. It stops us tinkering with the facts to fit our feelings!! Sorry to be so sceptical.

Regifter

Posted: July 23, 2008 1:09 AM

I docked a star because I wanted this article to go on for at least another full page--I felt he was only just beginning. C.S. Lewis always speaks to me whether through his storytelling or his prose. He had the rare talent of being able to use both sides of his brain equally well--gifted both in logic and creativity. I love the space trilogy which I think gets progessively better, culminating in the masterpiece that is That Hideous Strength. That wins my favorite novel, tied with The Great Divorce. I enjoyed Till We Have Faces but it didn't grip me the way those others did. I think Lewis and Francis Schaeffer were the greatest Christian philosophers of the 20th century. A.W. Tozer is up there as well, but more of a theologian. I can see Lewis' influence on Yancey, yet their styles are distinct, and I'm sure they would have disagreed about plenty, but probably gotten on quite well :)

Deana O.

Posted: July 22, 2008 5:07 PM

I like this piece a lot. I can especially relate to Yancy's referral to Lewis as a "Shadow mentor." I have several of those in my own life, both living and dead. What Lewis was to Yancy, Yancy has been to me. He very intelligent articulates my own thoughts, struggles, fears, joys, and concerns and in reading his work I find peace in knowing that I am not alone - nor will I be the last to wrestle with God.

Greg Chase

Posted: July 22, 2008 4:19 PM

In reading Phil and Lewis I see myself and experience a range of emotions in the reading of their books like I have not received from others. I lost a wonderful wife some years ago so I relate to Lewis but I relate to Phil because of being raised in a loveless fundamentalism that seemed to thrive on mean-spiritedness. I find the pathos of their books to be invigorating to my spirit. I have come to realize that having faith in a good God settles my most nagging questions.

T.	Posted: July 22, 2008 4:16 PM


any writing that encourages us to revere God and his unseen world must be congratulated. We need encouragement to tread carefully God's holy terrain because too often we trespass there, wanting to grab for ourselves earthly pleasures only to blame God when he takes us on the path of the Cross.

David L

Posted: July 22, 2008 2:41 PM

My faith was also shaped largely in part by the great Anglo-Catholic C.S. Lewis. I took his advice when he said for every modern book we should read an ancient book. I read St. Athanasius' "On The Incarnation". When I was through I stopped and looked at the faith of C.S. Lewis, and the great Bishop Athanasius and I found that their faith looked much different than my contemporary evangelical faith. That put me on a quest to learn about not just contemporary Christianity but Christianity throughout the history of the last 200o years. Now I am home, no longer do I worry about all the fads and changing theology of contemporary Christianity. I only wish I would have discovered C.S. Lewis years earlier. He was a true ecumenical giant loved by his fellow Anglicans, Roman Catholics, Coptic Christians, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestants alike. Philip Yancey is perhaps my favorite contemporary protestant writer.

Rob Gill

Posted: July 22, 2008 12:52 PM


Thoroughly enjoyable piece. C S Lewis truly wrestled with God and in the end his life so mirrored the last page of his "The Screwtape Letters"..."But when he saw them, he knew that he had always known them"......" So it was you all the time"....... He saw not only them; he saw Him. ! Thank you.

Kim	Posted: July 22, 2008 12:39 PM

I read the series in the mid 80's during my own sabattical from belief. I had read "Surprised by Joy" first. I can't agree more that Mr. Lewis, having known disbelief, spoke to me personally in his writing. Mr. Yancey never fails to speak to me too. Thank God for these men, their talents and gifts, their serice and their ears to hear the words to write. The language of God is in their writing and it calls well beyond the scope of mere words strung together cleverly.

Stan Brown

Posted: July 22, 2008 12:23 PM

At almost 85 years of age, coming to Christ in my early teens, walking away for 44 years and returning, IN SPADES, 20 years ago after the death of my beloved wife, I echo Mr Yancey's statements of C.S Lewis' influence on his faith and writing, but would add that Philip Yancey has done much of the same for me. Of course there are similarities of background with Lewis' atheism, and Yancey's early problems with the Christian Church, just as I too have experienced. God sure sends the right teachers for us and always at the right times.

Lawrence Downs

Posted: July 22, 2008 12:08 PM

I too have been drawn into the company of those who have been deeply blessed by the writings of C.S. Lewis. The last two chapters of Lewis' "Surprised by Joy" are among the most powerful descriptions anywhere in print of how God works to bring us to Himself. I have Christian friends who refuse to read Lewis because he is "British" (and therefore unlike American authors). I grieve for their short-sightedness. I find that his "british-isms" only assist in opening my mind to the authentic nature of his tug-of-war with God.

elly	Posted: July 22, 2008 11:54 AM

no other writer has given me such excitement and comfort over the prospect of eternity as lewis; i refer in particular to the last 60 or so pages of "perelandra". even merely remembering ransom's journey out of the darkness and arrival at the valley of the firstborn as dawn breaks for the first time, i'm overwhelmed with tears - not a common experience for myself, but in this i can never refrain from it. nowhere else have i seen eternity presented as both so imposingly vast and so unbelievably accessible. for many years i have, though saved, struggled with a bizarre fear of eternity. "perelandra" is, i believe, my God-given remedy in those times.

Susan K Smith

Posted: July 22, 2008 11:46 AM


I loved this piece. I find that my faith, too, is continually tweaked as I struggle with "the unanswerables." When I was younger, I couldn't appreciate Lewis. Now, I resonate with his writings and yes, he does influence what I write as well. Thank you, Philip, for this piece.

Dean Hill

Posted: July 22, 2008 11:41 AM


Enjoyed the piece. Was dismayed that Mr. Yancey failed to mention the titles in the space trilogy. For the record, the they are: Out of the Silent Planet. Perelandra and That Hideous Strength. Wonderful books, indeed. I too, discovered them in college in the '60s. Thanks, Philip, for reminding folks about them. And now my appetite is whetted for the book this piece is adapted from. Thanks.

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