C. S. Lewis' Life

 

This is a timeline of Lewis' life.  I wanted to understand how and why he decided to become an atheist and, from there, what led to his return to Christian belief.  

This is very definitely a work in progress.  I shall update it as I continue to study.  








C. S. Lewis Timeline

Early Years (1898–1917)

  • 1898 (Nov 29): Born in Belfast, Ireland, to Albert James Lewis and Florence (Flora) Augusta Lewis.

    • Father was a solicitor (legal professional who works directly with clients as opposed to a Barister who works with the courts.)

    • Maternal grandfather was a Church of Ireland priest.  Maternal Great Grandfathers were Bishops.  

    • Flora Lewis was the first female mathematics graduate to study at Queen’s College, Belfast.

    • Older brother Warren Hamilton Lewis - known as Warnie.

    • Baptized in the Church of Ireland (Anglican)

  • 1902:  Jacksie killed by a horse-drawn carriage.  After that Lewis wanted to be called Jacksie which became Jacks and finally Jack.

  • 1905: Family moved to Little Lea, their Belfast home.  Educated by private tutors.

  • 1908 (Aug 23): Mother died of cancer when Lewis was 9. Deeply affected by the loss.

  • 1908–1917: Educated at various schools in England (often unhappily). Developed a deep love for mythology, literature, and imagination.

    • Wynyard School in Watford, Hertfordshire:  Sep 1908 - 1910

    • Campbell College.  Left a few months due to respiratory problems  (Fall 1910)

    • Wyvern Prep at Malvern Worcestershire, England - Spring term 1911 (12 yrs old) - Summer term 1913

      • Abandoned Christianity.  

      • Fascination with European mythology and the occult.

      • School Matron - Miss C. - Anglo-American Occultist Tradition

    • Wyvern College for less than a year

    • Private tutoring with his father’s old tutor, Mr. William T. Kirkpatrick in Great Bookham, Surrey.  Known to the family as “The Great Knock” or “Kirk”.  Ancient Lit of Scandinavia preserved in the Icelandic Sagas.  Kirk to Lewis’s father in a letter “You may make a writer or a scholar of him, but you will not make anything else.”

  • 1916: Won a scholarship to University College, Oxford. (17 yrs old)

World War I and Education (1917–1925)

  • 1917 (Apr): 2nd Lt in the British Army; served in the Somerset Light Infantry.  Trench Warfare.  Winter of 1917 spent 3 weeks in a hospital with Trench Fever.

  • 1918 (Apr): Wounded at the Battle of Arras. Discharged after recovering.

  • 1919–1923: Returned to Oxford. Excelled in studies, earning Firsts in:

    • Classics (1920),

    • Philosophy (1922),

    • English (1923).

  • 1919:  Published Spirits in Bondage under the pseudonym, Clive Hamilton. 

  • 1925: Elected Fellow and Tutor in English Literature at Magdalen College, Oxford, a position he held for nearly 30 years.

  • 1926:  Published Dymer again under the pseudonym, Clive Hamilton.



Atheism to Christianity (1926–1931)

  • 1926: Met J. R. R. Tolkien. Began friendships that would shape his faith and writings.

  • 1929: Abandoned atheism, believing in God (theism). (30 yrs old)

  • 1931 (Sept): After a long nighttime walk with Tolkien and Hugo Dyson, converted to Christianity. (32 yrs old)

Early Works and Scholarship (1930s)

  • 1933: The Pilgrim’s Regress (first Christian book).

  • 1936: The Allegory of Love (scholarly work, established him as a medievalist).

  • 1938–1945: Published The Space Trilogy:

    • Out of the Silent Planet (1938),

    • Perelandra (1943),

    • That Hideous Strength (1945).

WWII and Christian Apologetics (1940s)

  • 1940: The Problem of Pain.

  • 1941–1942: BBC radio broadcasts defending Christianity, later compiled as Mere Christianity (1952).

  • 1942: The Screwtape Letters (satirical letters from a senior demon). Instant success.

  • 1943: The Abolition of Man (philosophy of education & morality).

  • 1945: The Great Divorce (allegory of heaven & hell).

  • 1947: Featured on Time magazine cover as a major voice for Christianity.

The Narnia Years (1950–1956)

  • 1950–1956: Published The Chronicles of Narnia (7 books):

    1. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950)

    2. Prince Caspian (1951)

    3. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952)

    4. The Silver Chair (1953)

    5. The Horse and His Boy (1954)

    6. The Magician’s Nephew (1955)

    7. The Last Battle (1956) (won the Carnegie Medal).

  • 1954: Appointed Chair of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Cambridge University (Magdalene College). (55 yrs old)

  • 1955: Published Surprised by Joy (spiritual autobiography).  (56 yrs old)

Marriage and Later Works (1956–1960)

  • 1956: Married Joy Davidman Gresham, an American writer. Initially a civil marriage for legal reasons, later a Christian marriage when she was ill.

  • 1956: Published Till We Have Faces (retelling of the Cupid and Psyche myth).

  • 1960 (July): Joy Davidman died of cancer. Lewis’s grief was profound.

  • 1961: A Grief Observed (reflection on grief and faith, originally published under pseudonym N. W. Clerk).


Final Years (1961–1963)

  • Continued teaching and writing, though health declined.

  • 1963 (Nov 22): Died at home (The Kilns, near Oxford) at age 64.

    • Same day as President John F. Kennedy and Aldous Huxley.

  • Buried at Holy Trinity Church, Headington Quarry, Oxford.

Posthumous Publications

  • Many essays, letters, and unfinished works were collected and published after his death, including:

    • Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer (1964)

    • The Discarded Image (1964)

    • God in the Dock (1970)

The Collected Letters of C. S. Lewis (3 volumes, 2000–2006).