You may not be familiar with C.S. Lewis but you will know his works. Disney’s The Chronicles of Narnia are based on the most famous Christian author’s works. ‘Mere Christianity’ and ‘Screwtape Letters’ remain top sellers for Christian readers. The astonishing fact is that at one point of his life, C. S. Lewis did not even believe God existed.
Born in 1898 C.S. Lewis grew up in a house full of books. “There were books in the study, books in the dining room, books in the cloakroom, books (two deep) in the great bookcase on the landing, books in a bedroom, books piled as high as my shoulder in the cistern attic, books of all kinds,” Lewis remembered. Even as a young boy, he would not just immerse himself in the imaginary worlds but also wrote and illustrated his own stories.
Just three months before C.S. Lewis turned ten, his mother died of cancer. His father never really recovered from the grief. Lewis begin to see the God he had read about in the Bible given to him as cruel or abstract. Eventually he became an atheist.
Still passionate about reading, an older Lewis came across Christian author George MacDonald, who challenged his atheism. Lewis wrote that the writing baptized his imagination. He later realized more and more that some of his favourite authors were Christian.
At the same time, God sent friends around him who would share about their Christian faith. One such friend was J. R. R. Tolkien, the creator behind The Lord of the Rings.
In 1929, Lewis finally relented that “God was God, and knelt and prayed.” From his faith birthed 25 Christian books, which have sold millions worldwide.
Here are 20 of his quotes:
“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”
“A man can no more diminish God’s glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word ‘darkness’ on the walls of his cell. (from his book, ‘The Problem of Pain’)
“If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.”
“Miracles are a retelling in small letters of the very same story which is written across the whole world in letters too large for some of us to see.”
God can’t give us peace and happiness apart from Himself because there is no such thing.
“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.” All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. Those who knock it is opened.” (from his book, ‘The Great Divorce’)
“Because free will, though it makes evil possible, is also the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having.”
“There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal.”
“Look for yourself, and you will find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin, and decay. But look for Christ and you will find Him, and with Him everything else thrown in.”
If a man thinks he is not conceited, he is very conceited indeed.
“As long as you are proud you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on thing and people: and, of course, as long as you are looking down you cannot see something that is above you.” (from his book, ‘Mere Christianity’)
“True humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less.”
“Your are never too old to set another goal or dream a new dream.”
“Failures are finger posts on the road to achievement.”
“It is when we notice the dirt that God is most present in us; it is the very sign of His presence.”
“To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.”
“I think that if God forgives us we must forgive ourselves. Otherwise, it is almost like setting up ourselves as a higher tribunal than Him.”
“Relying on God has to begin all over again every day as if nothing had yet been done.”
“The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us.”
“We may ignore, but we can nowhere evade the presence of God. The world is crowded with Him. He walks everywhere incognito.”
“He died not for men, but for each man. If each man had been the only man made, He would have done no less.”
“There is but one good; that is God. Everything else is good when it looks to Him and bad when it turns from Him.” (from his book, ‘The Great Divorce’)
Reflect & Respond:
- How have you been encouraged, inspired or challenged by these messages?
- Who does God bring to mind for you to share these truths about God and Christianity with?
- Do you want to know more about God and Christianity? Would you also like to have this peace of Jesus? Find out more here.
Photo from Marion E. Wade Center, Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois
About the author: Kristine Lee a.k.a. Jin Pyn Lee is an author, writer, aspiring filmmaker, dreamer, motorcycle rider and fulltime Christian. That just means she shares the love of her life Jesus wherever and whenever. In her eulogy, she would simply like to be known as someone God loves. Connect with Kristine on www.jinpynlee.com
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