Clive Staples Lewis is an author celebrated and beloved the world over, remembered not only for his meaningful fiction, but for the strength of his written work in Christian apologetics.
His work wells up from the deep roots of his faith, and flows forth from an imagination that took that faith and transformed it into stories and wisdom.
But from where did the distinctly Christian imagination of C.S. Lewis come? There lies a clue in a line Lewis’s book, “Surprised by Joy”.
“A young man who wishes to remain a sound Atheist cannot be too careful of his reading.”
When he wrote this sentence, Lewis was thinking of one man—George Macdonald.
Born 1824, MacDonald was a Scottish minister, author, and poet. He was also a pioneer of fantasy literature, and a major influence on such writers as J.R.R. Tolkien, Walter de la Mare, and Madeleine L’Engle.
But he influenced none, perhaps, as much as he did Lewis, who came to consider MacDonald his literary and spiritual mentor. Complete article, here
