C. S. Lewis's last interview
In May 1963, six months before his death, C. S. Lewis was interviewed by Sherwood E. Wirt at Magdalen College, Oxford. The first part of that interview is now online. In it, Lewis answers questions about the craft of writing, and contemporary authors that he found helpful. Lewis makes an interesting comment on Chesterton's statement that he joined the Church to get rid of his sins. Asked about his conversion, and whether he felt he had made a decision, he replied:
I would not put it that way. What I wrote in Surprised by Joy was that ‘before God closed in on me, I was offered what now appears a moment of wholly free choice.' But I feel my decision was not so important. I was the object rather than the subject in this affair. I was decided upon. I was glad afterward at the way it came out, but at the moment what I heard was God saying, ‘Put down your gun and we'll talk.'
Pastors.com promises to post part 2 of the interview next week.
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Another reason to love Lewis.
His works do not, imho, evidence clearly grasping and declaring the staggering implications, yea, the wonders, of sovereign grace. (I've long grieved that Susan did not join her siblings in 'The Last Battle'.)Yet when asked about salvation, Lewis does what every Christian does: gives God the glory. Only he does so not bluntly, clumsily, inelegantly as I might, but with profound clarity.