Dr. Don King's Lecture

On January 4, Dr. Don King, professor of English at Montreat College, came to give our class an overview of the life of C. S. Lewis. I thoroughly enjoyed his talk; I felt as if I could listen to his knowledge of Lewis all day. Also, I came away from Friday’s class with a much larger base of ideas about Lewis and a heightened excitement about the rest of the month.

Our discussion of Lewis’s spiritual journey was of particular interest to me. The death of his mother before he reached the age of 10 was an event that shattered all sense of security in his life. After this happened, Lewis began to see himself as an atheist. In 1929, Lewis became a theist, where he acknowledged the existence of God, though he was not a believer at this point. Two years later, after a conversation he had with J.R.R. Tolkien that lasted late into the night, Lewis “reasoned” his way into faith in God. The next day, as Lewis relates in his autobiography Surprised by Joy: "When we [Warnie and Jack] set out [by motorcycle to the Whipsnade Zoo] I did not believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, and when we reached the zoo I did." It was not a hugely emotional experience for him. He simply believed that Jesus Christ was the Son of God and accepted that through His death Christ was able to redeem his sin, and this belief changed his life from then on. According to Dr. King, “Before he became a Christian, joy came to him through his experiences in nature, literature (especially poetry), and music; after he became a Christian, he says that the earlier experiences were not the thing itself but merely pointers God used to bring him to Jesus Christ. In Christ, Lewis found real joy, lasting beauty.”

Lewis was influenced by some quite interesting people, and one of these that I would like to learn more about was his tutor W. T. Kirkpatrick, or the “Great Knock.” Dr. King shared that this man who was a major influence on Lewis’s intellectual growth was something like a “purely logical entity.” He felt very strongly that no one should open his mouth unless they spoke truth—and had evidence to back it up. The account from Surprised by Joy of Lewis’s first meeting with the “Great Knock” was intriguing. I don’t remember all of the details, but I will say that he was very critical of everything Lewis said, and Lewis responding to this method. It made him the great intellectual mind that he was. It forced him to develop the sort of logical thought pattern that he uses in his books on Christian apologetics. This is, of course, was not a use that Kirkpatrick would have intended, as he was an atheist and greatly influenced Lewis’s faith (or lack thereof) at a young age. But, the impact that he had on shaping Lewis cannot be overlooked, and I find it fascinating.

I was also very intrigued by the formation of Lewis’s imagination from the time he was a young boy creating imaginary worlds in the attic with his brother Warren, the relationship he had with Mrs. Moore after he served in the war until 1951, and his later relationship with Joy Davidman and the way that relationship eventually evolved into a loving marriage. I could go on and on about things I learned from Dr. King’s lecture, but will end here. I hope this has given you an idea of the introduction our class received, and that it will encourage you to seek more information. I would love to discuss Lewis with you, and I look forward to what lies ahead during this month.