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C. S. Lewis
1893 - 1963
Clive Staples or "Jack" Lewis was born and raised in
Belfast and educated at Oxford where he became a
tutor. He later became the chair of Medieval and
Renaissance English Literature at Cambridge
University. Brought up as a Christian, as a young man
Lewis slipped into atheism, and then eventually
converted back to Christianity. He was a prolific
writer of apologetics, science fiction, fantasy for
children as well as adults and much more. During his
lifetime his writings as well as the radio talks he
did were so popular that Time Magazine
called him "the apostle to the skeptics". His life
story has drawn attention in recent years due to the
movie The Shadowlands, which was based
on his love affair with American poet Joy Davidman
which ended with her death of cancer. His
imagination, the clarity of his writing and the force
of his apologetics have influenced untold numbers of
people. In fact, he is, in all probability, one of
the most widely read Christian intellectuals of the
twentieth century. If you aren't already one of that
untold number, you can become one right here, right
now.
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The Abolition Of
Man: Or Reflections On Education With Special
Reference To The Teaching Of English In The Upper
Forms Of Schools Don't let the title scare
you off. This is not only about public education but
also political, religious and philosophical concerns.
Lewis explores how education develops one's sense of
morality, why society needs objective values and
attacks the subjective relativism he saw in his day.
He felt that if moral relativism is allowed to run
rampant it could eventually be the downfall of
mankind. Thus the title. The subject matter here is
directly relevant to the current debates over
morality, the state of public education and our
culture in America. An important work, imo. A Must Read!
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The Chronicles Of
Narnia are masterpieces of fantasy. The
boxed set includes all seven, The Magician's
Nephew, The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, The
Horse and His Boy, Prince Caspian, Voyage Of The Dawn
Treader, The Silver Chair and The Last
Battle. These are the adventures of four
children who travel to the land of Narnia, which is
ruled by Aslan, a mighty lion, symbolic of Christ.
Here they meet up with a variety of creatures,
lovable characters as well as evil villains. The
villains try to destroy Narnia but the children team
up with Aslan to fight them. The children's
relationship with Aslan corresponds with a
Christian's relationship with God. For Ages 8 and Up.
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The Great Divorce
is a fantasy - kind of in the spirit of Dante's
Divine Comedy. Board a bus on a rainy
afternoon and travel with Lewis to Heaven and Hell. A
round trip for some, but not for others. You'll
encounter some interesting supernatural beings and
perhaps come to some new conclusions about good and
evil. "There are only two kinds of people in the end:
those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those
to whom God says, in the end, 'Thy will be done.'".
Which kind are you? For Young Adults and Older.
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Mere Christianity
Provides people of all denominations with a basic
understanding of essential Christian theology.
Derived from a series of 15 minute radio talks Lewis
gave in England during World War II. Preview Chapter
one here.
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God In The Dock
is an apologetics sampler. A collection of essays and
letters on various theological and ethical topics
such as the logic of theism, good and evil, politics,
women in church polity. A good place to start if you
are new to Lewisiana.
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Miracles: A Preliminary
Study Lewis is a thinking man's (or
woman's) apologist. That's why I recommend him. Here
he lays out a rational, logical, philosophical
argument for the Supernatural God intervening in the
natural world. One of my all time favorites! Give a
copy to a skeptic.
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Surprised By Joy: The Shape
Of My Early Life In his classic spiritual
autobiography, Lewis describes his spiritual
journey as a search for joy which took him from a
youthful Christianity through a bout of atheism and
back to a mature Christianity.
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The Screwtape
Letters Letters between a senior demon,
Screwtape, and his young nephew, Wormwood, assigned
to tempt a man and lead him astray from God.
Screwtape advises on how best to get the job done.
Imaginative, funny, thought provoking.
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Grief Have you
suffered a recent loss? Are you grieving? Feeling
hopeless? This book has helped me in the past to work
through the sorrow associated with loss and to find
renewed hope. Perhaps it might do the same for you.
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The Problem Of
Pain Why does a good, loving God allow so
much human pain and suffering? Men may learn from it,
but what about animals? C. S. Lewis tackles these
thorny theological problems and comes up with sound,
reasonable answers.
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The Four Loves
Four Greek words translate as Love in English:
Storge, Philia, Eros and Agape - Affection,
Friendship, Erotic love and Charity or the love of
God. Lewis reflects on the virtues and pitfalls of
each and on the nature of faith.
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A Grief Observed After his wife, Joy Gresham's, tragic death, Lewis experienced a crushing doubt about God for the first time. A Grief Observed contains his reflections on this period of his life. This is the book that inspired the film, Shadowlands, but it is much more heart wrenching, much more revelatory and much more real than the movie. A beautiful, honest record of how even a strong believer can lose all sense of meaning and how he can gradually regain his bearings.
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Other Notable Works By Lewis
There are not alot of excerpts of C. S. Lewis' work
online. We would have liked to provide some selected
excerpts for you ourselves but it is our
understanding that the estate of C. S. Lewis, the
copyright holder on most of his works, does not grant
permission for electronic citations. :( We have tried
to provide the next best thing by assembling links to
the best of the C. S. Lewis related sites on the net.
The first one below has links to all Lewis' works
that are in the public domain. Hope you enjoy them.
Other Authors
| MacArthur
| Pink
| Luther
| Spurgeon
| Packer
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| Bullinger
| Stott
| Edersheim
| Sproul
| Bunyan
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