The Deaths of ‘63
Posted by Joshua Claybourn on 22 November 2004 | 15 responses
As many people will likely remember, today is the anniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination. But another giant of the 20th century died that day on 1963 – C.S. Lewis. Last year Jared at Thinklings summed it up nicely:
C.S. Lewis’s influence on modern Christianity is unmatched to this day. No other Christian has come close to rivaling his place at the summit of Christian literature. No other Christian has come close to influencing Christian thought in the 20th and 21st centuries more than he. That is why I believe Lewis has been the single most influential Christian of the 20th century. No one — not even Billy Graham — has left such a indelible mark on Christian culture. Graham may win the souls, but Lewis builds them up. You might not be able to get an atheist to read Graham’s How to be Born Again, but I bet you could get him to read Lewis’s The Abolition of Man. And he’d be better off for it.
15 Responses to “The Deaths of ‘63”
Another famous figure who died on that day was Aldous Huxley. The coincidence of these three men’s deaths inspired the book Between Heaven & Hell, which is written as a dialogue between the three men as they meet after death and before heading to their eternal destination.
Unfortunately the above play is pretty bad by anybody’s definition- a great premise that he does nothing with.
Eric,
In my opinion, author Kreeft unfairly casts John F. Kennedy as a secular humanist.
I don’t think Kreeft was going for a Tony award, nor was he offering a real biography of any of his subjects. I found the book/play interesting and enjoyable, but it’s written from a decidedly Christian perspective, so that obviously has an affect on how it’s received.
Better stuff than you’ll find here…
Just read these: Josh at ITA reminds me about this tribute on Thinklings to a “Jack” who died on this…
“No other Christian has come close to rivaling his place at the summit of Christian literature.”
I would argue that the Apostle Paul and Moses both have him beat.
OK Moses is a Jew not a Christian, but Paul still has him beat. Frankly there are a whole lot of other serious thinkers, like Augustine of Hippo that are up there too.
I mentioned to one of your profs that your blog was interesting because of frequent mentions of C.S.Lewis. However, we need not go overboard in the praise of an author writing without the helpful character of being infallible. Pope John Paul’s writings will be those of John Paul the Great-even in our lifetimes.
Jeff, that was a horrible misuse of a quote. The complete sentence reads, “No other Christian has come close to influencing Christian thought in the 20th and 21st centuries more than he.” Obviously Paul and Moses were not alive in the 20th and 21st century.
I thought Paul was alive and well in Ireland?
One of the reasons I like C.S. Lewis so much is that he provides numerous opportunities for dialogue between conservative evangelicals and liberal evangelicals and to an extent, between Protestants and Catholics, respected as Lewis is among so many from both groups.
I thought about him this morning, when I radio DJ’s were talking about JFK’s death. He is, and will forever be, overshadowed, but I don’t think he would have it any other way. After all he said pride was the “spiritual cancer.”
I agree with what Joel said. Mere Christianity and the faith it presents bridges the gap between many Christian sub-groups. It allows Christians to step back from the denominational bickering and realize that we have a lot in common.
I would argue that his writing has been the most influential on Christian thought since the time of the New Testament. He may not have been the most influential person, but his theological writing certainly has been read more widely than any other Christian writer since the New Testament.
He, more so than anyone other human, helped me to move my faith from a thing of my childhood to a serious head and heart faith during my college years. I will forever be grateful to him for showing the world that Christianity is rational and for showing Christians that the faith must and can be defended.
My relationship with Jesus is dramatically stronger for having read and studied Clive Staples Lewis. During this Thanksgiving season, I thank God for him.
“I don’t think Kreeft was going for a Tony award, nor was he offering a real biography of any of his subjects”
He succeeded admirably*. Kreeft also wrote a dialogue between Jesus & Socrates that is bashed by some theologians and philosophy scholars and championed by others.
*In fairness one of my favorite plays, AMADEUS, also has little to do with the historicity of its characters (the real Salieri was not a dour mediocrity obsessed with Mozart but was a fat happy father of 16 whose main love was teaching).
“I thought Paul was alive and well in Ireland?”
Heh.
While on the subject of the Abolition of Man do recall its opening remarks concerning the baleful effects of elementary textbooks. The decline in textbook quality rapidly increased.