One of my favorite Christian writers is Clive Staples (Jack) Lewis, an Irish author who taught English literature and language at Oxford’s Magdalen College and was a Professor of Medieval and Renaissance English at Cambridge University. The first time I read one of his works was in high school when I came across a book in his space trilogy works, That Hideous Strength. Admittedly, my first encounter with one of Lewis’ writings wasn’t a good one as I struggled mightily to finish the book. I never quite understood what it was about!
In my twenties I was introduced to Mere Christianity, an excellent work in defense of Christian beliefs. I was a young believer then and a friend correctly thought that this book would help build my faith.
Later, I read the Screwtape Letters a funny, but chilling look at spiritual warfare. Clearly, Lewis was blessed with a certain amount of spiritual insight not normally shared by God. I understand that Lewis experienced some unusual battles as he wrote this book.
More recently I had the opportunity to watch the movie, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, based on one part of a seven-part fantasy series written for children. The movie and the series also stirred the interest of my wife and children who are waiting for the second movie, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, to be released next summer.
Finally, I enjoyed the BBC production of Shadowlands, a movie that examined the personal life of Lewis, including his eventual marriage to Joy Davidman and her death from cancer. I did see the Hollywood version later, but the original movie I found to be more accurate (both of Davidman’s sons were portrayed, while in the second movie she had only one son) and interesting.
Now to my point: I recently discovered The Joyful Christian, a book that was compiled in 1984, some 21 years after Lewis’ death. Containing 127 readings from a wide range of Lewis’ writings, the book covers many different topics including morality, prayer, praise, sex, perfection and more. In some cases excerpts from his other writings are shared, meaning you may need to get that book for his full opinion on a particular subject. Still, for Lewis fans The Joyful Christian offers a good taste of what he is all about.
Lewis is not a theologian, rather he is an atheist turned Christian who came to faith at the age of 31. By that time he was already well established on a scholarly level with the bulk of his writings still to come. Lewis’ writings were heavily influenced by his knowledge of the medieval and renaissance eras and he was part of an informal literary group known as the Inklings (with J.R.R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, Owen Barfield and others) who met on a regular basis to discuss various books and encourage the writing of fantasy novels.
I came across The Joyful Christian at a second hand bookstore, but I know that it is still available through notable online distributors including Amazon. If you aren’t familiar with Lewis’ writings, this book is a good place to start and it should encourage you to seek out his other works.
