Clive Staples Lewis

C.S. Lewis was a prolific writer, scholar, and lay theologian who is best known for his works of fantasy, science fiction, and Christian apologetics. He was born in Belfast, Ireland, in 1898 and grew up in a bookish family. He was educated at various boarding schools and at Oxford University, where he excelled in English literature. He served in the British Army during World War I and was wounded in the Battle of Arras. He returned to Oxford and became a Fellow and Tutor at Magdalen College, where he formed a close friendship with J.R.R. Tolkien and other members of the literary group known as the Inklings. He also converted from atheism to Christianity, influenced by the writings of G.K. Chesterton and the conversations with Tolkien and other friends. He wrote many books on Christian apologetics, such as Mere Christianity, The Problem of Pain, and The Screwtape Letters, which aimed to explain and defend the Christian faith to a wide audience. He also wrote popular works of fiction, such as The Space Trilogy, a science fiction series that explored the implications of Christian theology for other worlds, and The Chronicles of Narnia, a series of seven children's books that combined elements of fairy tales, mythology, and allegory. The most famous of these books, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, introduced the magical land of Narnia, where the lion Aslan represents Christ and the children who enter the world through a wardrobe are his chosen ones. Lewis also wrote other works of literature, such as The Allegory of Love, a study of medieval romance, and Till We Have Faces, a retelling of the myth of Cupid and Psyche. In 1956, he married Joy Davidman, an American writer and former communist who had converted to Christianity after reading Lewis's books. Their relationship was portrayed in the play and film Shadowlands. She died of cancer in 1960, and Lewis wrote a memoir of his grief, A Grief Observed, under a pseudonym. He died of renal failure in 1963, on the same day as the assassination of John F. Kennedy. He was buried at Holy Trinity Church, Headington Quarry, near Oxford. His books have sold millions of copies and have been translated into many languages. They have also been adapted into various media, such as radio, television, stage, and film. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential writers of the 20th century and one of the most eloquent spokesmen for Christianity in the modern world.