Course Title: Literature 325, C. S. Lewis 

Prerequisite:  None

Credits:3

C.S. Lewis was an author who, while not widely known to many of todays readers, created ripples in the current of literature and christianity that are still gently rocking the world we live in. From JK Rowling's Harry Potter stories to Christian sermons around the world.

Diverse in his both his writings and lifes experiences, much can be learned from a study his fiction and non-fiction works. Here are some of the subjects written on by Mr. Lewis: christianity, fantasy, science fiction, non-fiction, poetry, Irish traditional mythology. He was an Irish man, a British Soldier, Oxford scholar, an atheist, and finally a christian.

His writings on religion are what made the biggest mark in the world. One contemplative contribution to support the truth of Christianity is his Trilemma concerning the nature of Jesus Christ. The essential position of the Trilemma is as follows: Jesus was a teacher of morality, the bible points to his own claims of divinity. People generally accept he was a moral man. Was he truly divine?
Points to consider:

     1. Jesus was telling falsehoods and knew it, and so he was a liar.
     2. Jesus was telling falsehoods but believed he was telling the truth, and so he was insane.
     3. Jesus was telling the truth, and so he was divine.

Lewis argues that he couldn't be a great moral teacher if he was a liar or insane, while on the otherhand, if he was divine, he was more than a moral teacher.
 
If the date of Lewis' death strikes a familiar chord, it could be because he died on the same day as the assination of John F. Kennedy and the death of British writer/modernist/spiritualist/mystic Aldous Huxley.  In fact Peter Kreeft wrote Between Heaven and Hell: A Dialog Somewhere Beyond Death with John F. Kennedy, C. S. Lewis & Aldous Huxley to in some way commemorate this simple twist of fate.

C.S. Lewis wrote many books in his life and naturally he would place one book above them all as his personal favorite.  For Lewis, Till We Have Faces:  A Myth Retold was the one he'd choose.  Coincidentally,  it was also his last book.  Interestingly, decades after his Christian transformation,  C.S. Lews would write as his last book a retelling and furthering of an old myth, that of Cupid and Istra, or Psyche.
 
Many people, with varying degrees of taste and interests, will inevitably list some book as their all time favorite.  For many people,  this is the book.  For them,  this is the book that not only do they recommend as the best, but also they suggest that it needs to be read over and over again to fully comprehend all the subtle self-reflective primers.
 
The story is about Psyche's sister, Orual, personal reflections on life and her relationship with Psyche.  As the myth lays out,  Orual is quite jealous of Psyche including her marriage to Cupid.  Understand that Orual is the oldest, and ugliest of three sisters, while Psyche is the youngest, and naturally, the prettiest.
 
Orual, in many respects, embodies the "everyone" who is full of pride and predjudices, of excuses and negativity.  But now in old age, with the reflection of her life-long secret antagonism toward Psyche and her husband, she begans to understand her own faults and fralities.  The story climaxes in a scene where the title of the book becomes appearant, one which mirrors the apostle Paul when he writes, "Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known" in I Corinthians 13.
 
Many readers profess that they've learned much about themselves in this story, and the willingness to reread it time and again speaks of the depth in writing by C.S. Lewis.  What will this story do for you?

One of the great strengths of C.S. Lewis is his ability to write of human nature in such a way as to induce self-reflection in the reader. In The Great Divorce, Lewis is at his best.  Although a small book,  only 160 pages,  it is chalk full of allegory, imagery, symbolism and christian teachings.
 
This is a book about Good and Evil, and it takes on the book by William Blake entitled The Marriage of Heaven and Hell. In Lewis' book,  Heaven is just a bus ride from Hell and salvation can be had as easily as giving up that which keeps you in Hell.  So, salvation is all about choices.  Which is a classic Christian teaching.
 
Writes Lewis, souls in Hell are shadow like but can become solid by gaining entry to Heaven.
  
To be sure, this isn't a book that exactly follows the bible, there is no easy path from Hell to Heaven in the bible, as there is in this book.  But this book instigates in the reader some of the ideas that Christianity puts forth.  That we all make choices, that vanity and pride keep us from Heaven, that God is very forgiven and salvation is within reach --  in the story, the only character to leave Hell for Heaven is one who committed the grave sin of lust.
 
George MacDonald is one of the main characters, a character who in real life inspired C.S. Lewis' transformation from atheism to christianity. 
 
The Great Divorce is another great book by C.S. Lewis,  one which many of his readers admit to reading a second, third, and fourth time.  Indeed,  this story is so full of imagery, messages, and for lack of better word, advice, that students of RSU will undoubtedly read this short book more than once as well!

The Lion, The Witch, & the Wardrope; was the first novel written by C.S. Lewis in his classic Narnia series.  Later a prequel was written entitled The Magician's Nephew which had the character Digory Kirke, who was the model for JK Rowling's Digory Kirke.
 
Disney's major motion picture based on the novel The Lion, The Witch, & The Wardrope was released on December 9, 2005. 
 
This is an epic story with biblical tones,  it deals with 4 young children who find another world in a wardrope, of all places.  This world, Narnia, is caught in a never ending winter brought upon by the White Witch.  Other characters include Mr. Tumnus and Mr. Beaver.  Through twist and turns the children set out to free the world of Narnia from this never ending winter and the White Witch.
 
The Chronicles of Narnia are made up of seven novels written by C.S. Lewis.  Although they were not written in chronicilogical order, they do form a well structure series and a favorite among both children and adults.