C lewis biography new year

He had been told that it was not enough to say your prayers but also to think about what you were saying. As soon as he had finished his prayers each night, he would ask himself, "Are you sure you were really thinking about what you c lewis biography new year saying? This led to insomnia and nightly torment and, Lewis says, "Had I pursued the same road much further, I think I should have gone mad.

At a later boarding school, Chartres, encounters with a teacher who introduced him to the occult, as well as his doubts drawn from the problem of evil, concern over the similarities between Christianity and paganism, and sexual temptation were factors that led to a loss of faith. He lost his faith, virtue, and simplicity. Later he rid himself of unchastity, atheism, and the occult, but not another acquired habit: smoking.

When he was sixteen, Lewis was sent to be tutored by W. At their first meeting at the train station, young Jack as he chose to call himself made a comment to Kirk about not expecting the "wildness" of the scenery of Surrey. Never was he more mistaken. Kirk proceeded to inquire about the basis of Jack's expectations about the flora and geology of Surrey.

It had never occurred to Jack that his thoughts needed to be based on anything. Kirk concluded, "Do you not see, then, that you had no right to have any opinion whatever on the subject? In fact, much of the clarity of his writing, his careful choice of words, his considered arguments for the faith, and his later tutorial style were shaped during this period.

Lewis says: "My debt to him is very great, my reverence to this day undiminished. Many factors combined to lead him away from his atheism and to the robust faith of his later years. Once in a bookstore he bought a copy of George MacDonald's Phantastes. As he read it, a "new quality" touched Lewis' life, what he described at first as a "bright shadow," but later came to realize was "holiness.

Another factor contributing to his later conversion was the destruction of his "chronological snobbery. In fact, Lewis later argued that, "it is a good rule, after reading a new book, never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between. If that is too much for you, you should read one old one to every three new ones.

One by one arguments against the faith were answered until already having his imagination "baptised" and his reason satisfied, he felt the "steady, unrelenting approach of Him whom I so earnestly desired not to meet. His conversion to Christ was similarly unspectacular. He describes a trip in the sidecar of a motorcycle on the way to the Whipsnade Zoo.

When he left for the zoo he did not believe that Christ was the Son of God; when he arrived at the zoo, he did believe that Christ was the Son of God, yet nothing extraordinary had happened along the way. Publishes An Experiment in Criticism. Posthumously publishes Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer. Posthumously publishes The Discarded Image.

Posthumously publishes Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Literature. The C. You may unsubscribe from these email communications at any time. If you have any questions, please review our privacy policy or email us at [email protected]. About C. September Enrolls as boarding student at Campbell College, Belfast, Ireland; leaves in December due to respiratory problems.

April Meets Arthur Greeves, who becomes a lifelong friend. Elton John.

C lewis biography new year

Ralph Fiennes. Daniel Day-Lewis. Maggie Smith. Alan Cumming. Olivia Colman. Teaching Career at Oxford and Wartime Broadcasts Lewis graduated from Oxford University with a focus on literature and classic philosophy, and in he was awarded a fellowship teaching position at Magdalen College, which was part of the university. Books and Film Legacy Lewis was a prolific author of fiction and nonfiction who wrote dozens of books over the course of his career.

Marriage InLewis joined the faculty of Cambridge University as a literature professor, and in he married an American English teacher, Joy Gresham, with whom he had been in correspondence. Death InLewis resigned from his Cambridge position after experiencing heart trouble. Lewis was a prolific Irish writer and scholar best known for his 'Chronicles of Narnia' fantasy series and his pro-Christian texts.

Lewis Biography Author: Biography. Watch Next. At a young age Lewis fell in love with the world created by Beatrix Potter and her stories about c lewises biography new year talking and acting as humans. He and his brother, Warnie, would spend hours together creating their own world inhabited and run by animals. They called this world Boxen. Lewis loved to dress up the family pet, Jacksie, from whom he took his nickname.

When Lewis was four, his dog was hit by a car and died. After this, Lewis declared to all that his name was now Jacksie and he kept firm to this resolution, not answering to anything else. This name eventually became Jacks, and then finally, Jack. When he was six and Warnie was nine, the family moved to Leeborough or Little Lea, a new house located in Strandtown.

Lewis' happy childhood was unexpectedly disrupted when Jack was just nine years old. His mother passed away from cancer. It was the aftermath of his mother's death that eventually led Lewis to ask questions about the meaning and purpose of life, and led to his rejection of religion. Albert dealt with his loss by sending Lewis to the same boarding school his brother was attending, the Wynyard School in Watford, Hertfordshire.

Lewis, who before this time had been educated by his mother and various tutors, left a few months after his mother's death. The pain of her death was accentuated by the cruelty of the school headmaster. Robert "Oldie" Capron, was a man so cruel, so abusive, and so unpredictable that many who knew him believed him to be insane. The school closed in It was during this difficult time that he found solace and comfort in writing.

He wrote about fantasy lands and kind characters, thus escaping from the school through his imagination. Lewis would refer to his time at this school in his autobiographical novel, Surprised By Joyin which he renamed the school "Belsen" after the World War II concentration camp. Lewis went on to attend several other scholastic institutions before finally taking charge of his own education.

He attended the nearby Campbell College for a few months, until illness made it impossible for him to stay. The educators and doctors felt that Lewis would benefit from time spent in the health-resort town of Malvern, Worcestershire. He enrolled in the prep-school Cherbourg House which Lewis knew as "Chartres". It was during this time that Lewis officially denounced his Christian faith.

Lewis went on to spend the school year at Malvern College, until eventually returning home to Belfast and remaining there until Along with being tutored by William T. Kirkpatrick, the former headmaster of Lurgan College, Lewis attributes his education to the family library. In Surprised by Joy Lewis says, "I am the product of long corridors, empty sunlit rooms, upstairs indoor silences, attics explored in solitude, distant noises of gurgling cisterns and pipes, and the noise of wind under the tiles.

Also of endless books. There were books in the study, books in the drawing-room, books in the cloakroom, books 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 reflecting every transient stage of my parents' interests, books readable and unreadable, books suitable for a child and books most empathetically not.

Nothing was forbidden me. In the seemingly endless rainy afternoons I took volume after volume from the shelves. During these teenage years, Lewis not only read, but became fascinated with the songs of Richard Wagner and the legends of the North that Wagner described in his operas. The music of Wagner along with the beauties of nature around him gave him an intense longing for what he would later call "joy", and this became a main focal point of study for him.

This solitary time at home enabled him to continue writing. He began to explore different mediums, writing epic poetry and trying his hand at writing an opera. Both of these endeavors centered around his love of Norse mythology. He also developed a great love for the Greek literature and mythology while studying with Kirkpatrick or as Lewis referred to him, "The Great Knock".

With Kirkpatrick's sharp skills, Lewis became adept in debate and clear, focused reasoning. With all of these many facets of education under his belt, Lewis was the recipient of a scholarship from University College, Oxford in Lewis did not immediately begin college, but instead enlisted with the British Army inwhere he was commissioned as an officer in the Third Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry.

During his training, Lewis made an acquaintance that would change his life. Paddy introduced Lewis to his mother, Jane King Moore, who took him under her wing and treated him like a son. At nineteen, Lewis was sent to the front line of the Somme Valley in Franceand on April 15,he suffered an injury during the Battle of Arras. In addition to his physical injury, Lewis found himself battling depression and a severe case of homesickness.

While in the hospital he found himself visited by Paddy Moore's mother, Jane. A lasting friendship formed and Lewis took to her kindness immediately, which is not surprising given that his father refused to visit him in the hospital.