Writer · Contemporary
C. S. Lewis
1898–1963 · Christian apologetics; Christian Platonism
A convert from atheism to “mere Christianity” in the Church of England; practiced confession, believed in purgatory and the Real Presence, but declined Rome.
Lewis, Oxford and Cambridge literary scholar, became the twentieth century's most read Christian apologist with Mere Christianity, The Problem of Pain, Miracles and The Screwtape Letters, and its best-loved Christian storyteller in Narnia and the Space Trilogy. The Abolition of Man defends the objective moral law (the “Tao”) against subjectivism; his argument from desire and his “chronological snobbery” are standing weapons of Catholic apologetics.
Why he matters: More converts to the Catholic Church cite Lewis than any Catholic author; his natural-law argument, his doctrine of becoming “little Christs,” his defense of miracles and the supernatural, and his honored place in Catholic schools make him the Church's most valued Anglican ally.
Where to be careful
He remained outside Catholic communion: he rejected the papal claims (Pastor Aeternus), gave no place to Mary's privileges, accepted contraception, and married a divorced woman; “mere Christianity” as a minimum is not the fullness the Church teaches (Mortalium Animos; Dominus Iesus 16–17), though he never intended it as a church.
Documented positions
Where this thinker stands on each dispute the test covers.