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The Most Reluctant Convert: C.S. Lewis's Journey to Faith, by David C. Downing
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An ECPA 2003 Gold Medallion Finalist!Listed in Booklist's Best Adult Religion Books of the Year in 2002!His books have sold millions, including classics like Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Yet C. S. Lewis was not always a literary giant of Christian faith. How did he leave behind a staunch atheism to become one of the most beloved and renowned Christian authors of our time?Other biographies of Lewis explore his childhood or his dramatic conversion to Christianity. But as David Downing reveals in this fascinating book, the rarely discussed period from Lewis's childhood to his early thirties took him on a tumultuous journey of spiritual and intellectual exploration before he became a "most reluctant convert." It was not despite this journey but precisely because of it that Lewis understood the search for life's ultimate meaning so well and went on to become one of the most compelling authors of the twentieth century. Weaving the people, places and events of Lewis's life together with excerpts from Lewis's own writing, Downing shows how Lewis's spiritual quest can also light the path for other seekers.
- Sales Rank: #272354 in Books
- Brand: Brand: InterVarsity Press
- Published on: 2002-04
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: .78" h x 5.79" w x 8.59" l,
- Binding: Hardcover
- 180 pages
Features
- Used Book in Good Condition
From Publishers Weekly
Since C.S. Lewis himself wrote two accounts of his conversion to Christianity (one being allegorical), is there any need for another? Downing, an English professor and noted Lewis researcher, answers this question well in the course of this very thorough work. While covering the same ground as Lewis's own Surprised by Joy, Downing focuses on the interior developments in Lewis's thought rather than retelling his conversion story. This difference in intent makes for a drier tone, but it also allows for a much deeper analysis. Downing's careful research uncovers many relevant passages for Lewis's various stages of thought, particularly from unpublished letters. He convincingly shows how reflective themes from Lewis's earliest days imagination and analysis, progress and tradition, flesh and spirit were developed, challenged, held in tension and resolved. In exploring the impact of Lewis's mother's early death and his strained relationship with his father, Downing keeps closely to the primary sources. This spiritual biography will function as a series of excellent explanatory notes alongside Lewis's narrative account, giving the sort of detail that true fans delight in. A pleasant surprise awaits readers at the end of the book, as Downing abandons his unadorned tone in favor of an imaginative exploration of Lewis's actual "final" conversion. Although he admits to its speculative nature, the narrative's firm foundation in Lewis's thoughts makes it a plausible and joyful creative journey.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Over the years, a number of good biographies of Lewis, the perennially popular Christian apologist, have been published. George Sayer's Jack: A Life of C.S. Lewis is probably the least controversial of them, while A.N. Wilson's C.S. Lewis: A Biography is likely the most. This portrait by Downing (English, Elizabethtown Coll.; Planets in Peril) is unique in that it treats one aspect of Lewis's life: his conversion from atheism to Christianity. Focusing on his subject's inner journey, Downing considers the effect on Lewis of his mother's death; his estrangement from his father; the influence of a rationalist, atheistic, but well-loved mentor; his early interest in the occult and paranormal; and the trench warfare he experienced in World War I. Making use of both published and unpublished writings, Downing shows a deep understanding of Lewis and writes in a flowing style. For more than 25 years, Nicholi (psychiatry, Harvard Medical Sch.) has offered a course in which he compares the thought and life of the atheist Freud with that of Lewis as a way to consider questions about the existence of God, love, sex, and the meaning of life. Nicholi generally maintains a balanced view, letting Freud's and Lewis's words and actions speak for themselves. He examines why Freud remained an unbeliever (though not an unthinking one) and why Lewis accepted Christianity. While his sympathies obviously lie on the side of faith, Nicholi nevertheless offers a balanced view of Freud. Both books are well written and worthy additions to the rapidly growing literature on Lewis, although Nicholi's will probably appeal to a broader audience. Augustine J. Curley, Newark Abbey, NJ
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
*Starred Review* Like many other ardent Christians, C. S. Lewis--the most important and popular Christian apologist of the twentieth century--fell away from the church into which he was born and rejoined it through conversion as an adult. Since he never wrote systematically of the period between those poles of faith, Downing, matching him in clarity and congeniality, does the job. He traces Lewis' early life chronologically, discriminating its periods according to the state of Lewis' belief in God. Initially Lewis enjoyed the "ill-secured happiness" (Lewis' own characterization) of childhood, which was swept away by his mother's death and his "exile" to boarding schools in England, where he passed the by-his-lights dismal condition of boyhood, in which he learned the snobbery and atheism of his adolescence. World War I service dented his nonbeliever's armor, and he vacillated between atheism and occultism. During postwar study and early teaching, he adopted in turn philosophical idealism and pantheism, which mirrored his continued snobbery and detachment. But having adopted the family of a buddy slain in the war, he wasn't truly detached. At last he acknowledged God, "and knelt and prayed: perhaps, that night, the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England." Drawing cogently upon Lewis' and his associates' writings and other recollections, Downing creates an intellectual biography that seizes and sustains interest as though it were a spellbinding suspense thriller. Ray Olson
Copyright � American Library Association. All rights reserved
Most helpful customer reviews
35 of 35 people found the following review helpful.
Intellectual Biography of The Highest Order
By Burpo The Mad Clown
David Downing has achieved something quite remarkable with this book: He has succeeded in making a thoroughly researched, philosophically-heavy, intellectual biography an engrossing read.
This is by no means a CS Lewis biography. It is, rather, a biography of Lewis' mind before, during and immediately after his conversion to a belief in Christ. Downing explores several avenues of Lewis' philosophical quest, none more so than his unceasing pursuit of "Joy." This pursuit leads Lewis, and the reader, through all stages of Lewis' intellectual and religious development--from atheistic materialism to the occult to philosophical Idealism to pantheism and finally to Christ. Along the way, the reader is introduced to many of Lewis' spiritual, philosophical and intellectual mentors.
This could have easily (almost predictably) become a dry, excruciatingly dull narrative with all the readability of a poorly-written freshman philosophy text. Instead, it is a true page-turner as Downing relates Lewis' intellectual pursuit of the aforementioned concepts. One-by-one the philosophical challengers to Christianity are discovered, honestly scrutinized, shown be intellectually wanting, and ultimately rejected.
Don't be put off by the centrality of philosophical discussion in this book. It is an easy read and it is actually quite fun to see how Lewis used his monumental intellect to punch irreparable holes in philosophical concepts considered sacrosanct by preening, self-important atheistic egotists. Though an atheist during his teens and twenties, Lewis never stopped pursuing iron-clad intellectual arguments which would quench his thirst for "Joy." His intellectual honesty never allowed him to be satisfied with answers which rested on shaky philosophical ground. And part of his restless pursuit of "Joy" was his search for a firm and unassailable theoretical foundation on which he could build a consistent belief system.
Bravo to Mr. Downing for writing this marvelous book. Perhaps no other work allows us to peer more deeply into the mind of this magnificent intellect.
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful.
Downing Delivers!
By Dustin R Feddon
Downing does well in his concise and colorful account of C.S. Lewis' progression to faith -- thus leading to a joyful life. Primarily Downing is helpful in allowing the reader a glimpse into the patient ascension of Lewis to discovering an intimate and substantial faith in Christianity. The reader is not simply walking blindly in this telling of Lewis' conversion, but is led by Downing with a careful examination of Lewis' own thoughts through this spiritual and thoughtful pilgrimage. Thus, Downing allows Lewis to speak for himself on many accounts through highlighting his own letters; and the writings of others close to Lewis, including his brother. The reader will also recieve a luminous lesson on 19th and 20th century thought; they will be intoduced to Rationalism, Romanticism, Idealism, Modernity and a host of other worldviews and religious expressions Lewis engaged in his early adulthood.
This book affirms the reason why so many find solace and stimulation from this Christian literary giant. Lewis' genuine and ardent quest for faith should not be overlooked and can only command respect and admiration.
12 of 15 people found the following review helpful.
There and back again--CS Lewis's spiritual journey
By bixodoido
I'm not quite sure how to classify this book. It's not exactly a biography, because it does not attempt a thorough inspection of CS Lewis's life. It's not literary criticism, because it mentions most of Lewis's works only in passing. I suppose this book is rather an examination of the various steps of CS Lewis's departure from, avoidance of, and eventual return to Christianity. In this book, Downing explores and evaluates all the stages of Lewis's philosophical and religious thought-from materialism to idealism to pantheism to Christianity, with brief stops along the way to consider spiritualism and theosophy.
Lewis's time away from Christianity was a very interesting time in his life. He toyed with many systems of belief, and struggled to come to grips with reality as he found system after system of philosophy to be flawed. Downing does a good job of exploring the influences that aided Lewis's development-his teachers, mentors, and books he read all played an important part in this. For that, at least, there is merit in this book, and Downing also uncovers a few (but they are few) details which Lewis himself leaves out in his autobiography, `Surprised by Joy.'
Anyone who has read `Surprised by Joy,' however, will find that this book is basically just a rewording of what Lewis himself said in that work. There is little in this book which cannot be gleaned from Lewis's own sketch of his early life, and Lewis's work has the added advantage of being both better written and written from his own point of view. This book provides a decent summary of Lewis's autobiography, but little more.
For the most part, Downing's insights are helpful, if not unique. The narrative is sometimes confused, with Downing jumping (for example) from a period of doubt in Lewis's life to a scene from The Chronicles of Narnia or other of Lewis's fiction which illustrates what he later came to believe on the subject. And the greatest flaw of this book comes in the last two pages of chapter 8, when Downing attempts to describe Lewis's spiritual experience while riding to a zoo with his brother. Lewis describes that something happened (though he admits he doesn't know what) on that ride, and that he believed in Christ as the son of God when he arrived at the zoo, but hadn't when he had set out for the zoo. Downing, in analyzing this experience, waxes psychological and attempts to get inside Lewis's head. The result is a flowery blurb of supposed thoughts which Lewis had, told mostly in the first person (as if Downing had access to a level of Lewis's conscious which even he, Lewis, did not have) and reeking of an attempt at literary prowess rather than narrative fidelity. Those two pages alone ruined the entire book for me.
Despite these flaws, however, this book deserves three stars for its interesting look at Lewis's Journey to Faith (as the subtitle implies). As I said, there is nothing new or groundbreaking here, and longtime fans of Lewis will find little which is unique, but this book is nevertheless merits a quick perusal.
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