Voice 1
Hello. I’m Elizabeth Lickiss.
Voice 2
And I’m Marina Santee. Welcome to Spotlight. This programme uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
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‘Then he turned to them and said, ”...you are - as you used to say in the Shadow-Lands - dead. The term is over: the holidays have started. The dream has ended: this is the morning.” ... Now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.’
Voice 1
Clive Staples Lewis or CS Lewis wrote these words. They are the final words from his book ‘The Last Battle’. This book is the last in a series. The series is about the land of Narnia. Narnia is a fantasy land, because the books are fantasies. Fantasies are stories that cannot be real because they contain unreal things - such as talking animals. And yet the stories are fun to read. The Narnia stories tell of a group of children in this fantasy land. They are popular books. They have been translated into many languages. Film producers have made them into award winning films.
CS Lewis expressed his Christian faith through his writings. At the end of the ‘The Last Battle’ the children in the story die. But it is not a sad ending. As a Christian, Lewis did not see death as something to be feared. He believed that it was the beginning of a new life - a life in Heaven. Today we tell how Lewis’s faith was tested.
Voice 2
Lewis did not always find it easy to believe in God. There were many times when he found life difficult. He struggled to understand the meaning of life. But, in the end, he came back to his faith. Lewis was not frightened to express these struggles through his writings. As a result many people today find his books a great help in difficult times.
Voice 1
Lewis grew up in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He had a wonderful early childhood. As a child Lewis believed in God. He trusted God. But when he was still young his wonderful family life came to an end. His mother died of cancer. Lewis’ father struggled to deal with her death. He felt unable to look after Lewis and his brother. So he sent the boys away to school. The school became their new home. It was not a happy time. Bigger children bullied Lewis. They hurt him. The young Lewis suffered greatly. He felt that God had betrayed him. He wrote,
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‘These attacks continue. They are becoming more severe. All the older children hate me. There cannot be a loving God who cares. You know, I think I believe in no religion. There is no evidence for any of them. All religions are just man’s invention’.
Voice 2
After a few years, the school closed. Lewis’ father decided to pay for a private teacher. This worked well. Lewis developed a great skill with writing and language. He worked hard and Oxford University accepted him as a student. He then became a teacher of English literature there. Everyone respected his work and communication skills.
At Oxford many of his friends questioned him about his beliefs. Lewis still claimed that God did not exist. But many disagreed with him. They were people that he respected. They had written papers on important matters. Among them was JRR Tolkien. Tolkien wrote the famous fantasy books, ‘Lord of the Rings’ and ‘The Hobbit’. These people’s ideas influenced Lewis. So he decided to think again about God. He read books. And he talked to people and he examined the evidence. All the evidence pointed him in one direction. Christianity made sense. Lewis remembered the day he decided to become a Christian. It was surprisingly easy. He said,
Voice 3
‘I was on a trip to the zoo when it happened. On the way to the zoo I did not believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God. But by the time I got to the zoo I did. I had spent years thinking and debating about God’s existence. But in the end it was so easy. It was just like I had been sleeping, but now I was awake. Everything made sense’.
Voice 1
Almost immediately Lewis started writing about his faith. He wrote about his struggles. He wrote about how he had spent so many years trying to prove God’s existence.
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In 1950, Lewis published the first of the Narnia books. From this time onwards he continued to write beautiful, fantasy books. Children loved them. And, adults enjoyed the deeper, spiritual meaning in the books. Lewis also gave a series of talks about Christianity on BBC radio.
Voice 1
Life was going well for Lewis. But then his faith was tested again. In 1952, Lewis married Joy Gresham. She was the love of his life. But shortly after they married doctors told Joy that she had cancer. Doctors treated the cancer. But after a long battle she died in 1960.
Lewis found her death hard to deal with. She had made him so happy. But they had experienced only a short time together. He was angry with God. Why had God chosen to take Joy away? Lewis had asked God to help Joy. Why did God not heal her? At the time Lewis wrote,
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‘There is no answer from God, only a locked door. People that ask, it seems, do not get. I was a fool to ask’.
Voice 1
Friends tried to help him. But Lewis rejected their efforts. However his connection with God remained. Lewis may have been angry. He may have blamed God - but he still accepted that God existed. In time, through prayer, Lewis came to believe that God did care. Lewis also accepted a very hard fact. He accepted that he would not have all the answers in this life. Lewis learned to trust God with those things he did not understand. By the time of his death he had made his peace with God once again. Lewis talks of faith in terms of a long trip. The road of faith has hills to climb and difficulties along the way. But each difficulty and struggle can teach you more about God. As a Christian, Lewis believed that the trip would continue even after death. It would continue in Heaven. Lewis died in November 1963. But his books remain a powerful resource for many people. For some of these people his writings have proved to be a starting point for their own way of faith.
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