Though he died almost 50 years ago, C.S. Lewis continues to loom large over western Christian culture. John Piper cites him as a major influence (along with my hero, Jonathan Edwards). Pastors quote him in sermons. Christians use his arguments in evangelistic conversations. He has certainly been influential in the development my thoughts. I can still remember laying in a trundle bed I shared with my little brother and listening to my mom read the Chronicles of Narnia to us. Reading Mere Christianity as a young Christian gave me confidence in my faith as well as in talking with others about Christianity. Screwtape Letters opened my eyes to spiritual warfare, A Grief Observed opened my heart to understand true mourning. Till We Have Faces still haunts me, demanding to be re-read each year.
These are just a handful of Lewis’ works that have influenced me in some way. Over the next couple of weeks I will be running down my top C.S. Lewis books: top 5 non-fiction works and top 5 fiction works. Each post will include a short review or synopsis of the work. I am not attempting to rank them in order of excellence, just in order of their influence on me and my enjoyment of them.
It has already been extremely hard for me to order them, and as I’m looking back over them for this series I’m sure my rankings will change. I would love to hear your rankings…comment away!
My Top 5 are:
1. Mere Christianity. Timeless and brilliant. Read it 3x in one year to let my brain marinade in it.
2. The Last Battle. I admit it… the ending made me cry to imagine heaven this way, getting better and better as time goes on.
3. The Great Divorce. The busride to hell was just a creative ride.
4. A Grief Observed. I liked how raw it was.
5. The Weight of Glory. A few timeless quotations are in there.
Good choices! All of these make my top 10 (5 non-fiction, 5 fiction), though in a different order.