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Biography & Autobiography. Religion & Spirituality. Nonfiction. HTML:C. S. Lewis, the great British novelist and Christian apologist, has been credited by many - including the author - for aiding their journey to the Catholic Church. For this reason, it is often perplexing that Lewis himself never became Catholic. In C. S. Lewis and the Catholic Church, Joseph Pearce delves into Lewis's life, writings, and spiritual influences to shed light on the matter. Although C. S. Lewis's conversion to Christianity was greatly influenced by J. R. R. Tolkien, a Catholic, and although Lewis embraced many distinctively Catholic teachings, such as purgatory and the sacrament of Confession, he never formally entered the Church. Meticulously researched and beautifully written, this book digs deep to present the facts of Lewis's life, to illuminate key points in his writings, and to ask the question: Was C. S. Lewis on the path to Rome? This revised and updated edition - with a new introduction by Father Dwight Longenecker - is a fascinating historical, biographical, theological, and literary account of a man whose writings have led scores to the Catholic Church, despite never having become a Catholic himself.… (more)
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The basic problem is empathy.
In discussing Mere Christianity he can't accept the basic premise—a minimal statement that both Catholics and Protestants (and others) could agree on. No, Lewis, whose Great Divorce wins high marks for taking place in a sort of Purgatory—hardly proof that Lewis believed in Purgatory any more than Tolkien believed in elves—gets the sharp end of the stick for leaving out Mary, the "second Eve." I feel fairly certain Lewis had reasons for his resistance to ideas like this, and to words like this. I suspect that Lewis, like many Protestants—and some Catholics—see in "Mary the second Eve" an uncomfortable counterpart and reference to the far more ancient and universal idea of Jesus as the "second Adam." When Jesus is Adam and Mary is Eve, they're equals and something uncomfortable is suggested.