The Bible and C. S. Lewis
A Study of the Christian World View
His Conversion to Theism and Christianity
Jack: A Life of C. S. Lewis by George Sayer
But it was difficult for Jack to see the point of becoming a full, communicating
member of a church. Although he accepted God, the historicity of the Gospels,
and probably Jesus as the Son of God, he felt uneasy about other Christian
concepts. He had no understanding of the sacramental system and could not
see the relevance of concepts similar to those found in pagan mythologies--for
instance, the ideas of sacrifice, propitiation, the shedding of blood, communion,
and redemption.
What changed his thinking more then anything else was conversation he had
on September 19, 1931, with J. R. R. Tolkien and Hugo Dyson, his guests at
dinner that evening at Magdalen College. After the port had been drunk,
they strolled around Addison's Walk and talked about myths. Jack said that
he loved reading and thinking about myths, but that he could not regard them
as being at all true. Tolkien's view was radically different. He said that
myths originate in God, that they preserve something of God's truth, although
often in a distorted form. Furthermore, he said that, in presenting a myth,
in writing stories full of mythical creatures, one may be doing God's work.
As Tolkien talked, a mysterious rush of wind came through the trees that
Jack felt to be a message from the deity, although his reason told him not
to be carried away. Tolkien went on to explain that the Christian story
was a myth invented by a God who was real, a God whose dying could transform
those who believed in him. If Jack wanted to find the relevance of His story
to his own life, he must plunge in. He must appreciate the myth in the same
spirit of imaginative understanding that he would bring to, say, a Wagnerian
opera. It was not until three o'clock in the morning that Tolkien went
home to his wife. Dyson continued talking with Jack, striding up and down
the arcades of New buildings. His main point was that Christianity works
for the believer. The believer is put at peace and freed from his sins.
He receives help in overcoming his faults and can become a new person. (pp.
225)
Surprised by Joy.
That which I greatly feared had at last come upon me. In the Trinity Term
of 1929 I gave in, and admitted that God was God, and knelt and prayed:
perhaps, that night, the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England.
I did not then see what is now the most shining and obvious thing; the Divine
humility which will accept a convert even on such terms. The Prodigal Son
at least walked home on his own feet. But who can duly adore that Love which
will open the high gates to prodigal who is brought in kicking, struggling,
resentful, and darting his eyes in every direction for a chance of escape?
