Question For Atheist?

Question

What was it in the life of the Renown atheist C. S Lewis, that caused him to convert from Atheism to Christianity?

http://www.ex-atheist.com/6.html

Answer 1

Lewis' conversion occurred in stages. First he converted from an atheist to a pantheist, then from pantheist to theist, from theist to Christian, and finally he joined the Church of England, to the great disappointment of his friend, J. R. R. Tolkien, who was a Roman Catholic.

As for what happened to cause him to convert, there are vague clues in Lewis' memoir, _Surprised by Joy_. It seems obvious to me that he had a desire to be a person of faith and was searching for a rational justification for this desired belief.

"You must picture me alone in that room in Magdalen, night after night, feeling, whenever my mind lifted even for a second from my work, the steady, unrelenting approach of Him whom I so earnestly desired not to meet. That which I greatly feared had at last come upon me. In the Trinity Term of 1929 I gave in, and admitted that God was God, and knelt and prayed: perhaps, that night, the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England."

And a letter from him to Arthur Greeves dated Oct. 1, 1931:

"I have just passed on from believing in God to definitely believing in Christ — in Christianity.... My long night talk with Dyson and Tolkien had a good deal to do with it."

Answer 2

Even though C.S. Lewis was a self-declared atheist, even he will admit that during this time he was bored by church, angry at the state of the world he lived in, and obsessed with the idea of the occult. Basically -- he was a rebellious teenager and young adult. He didn't really give up the idea of god or the supernatural, he just moved away from the traditionalist ideas of his parents. Eventually, he considered himself a theist ... and then coverted back to christianity due to the influence of his friends, including JRR Tolkien.

Answer 3

What that link describes as "rational thought" - I would describe as clinical depression. Thinking people are worth no more than termites (which the author then kills) is a bad sign.

Answer 4

It's laid out pretty thoroughly here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C.s._lewis#Conversion_to_Christianity

Though reading that, it almost seems like he was more annoyed at the rituals of religion than actually disbelieving in the diety behind them.

I hated going to church long before I considered myself atheist.

Answer 5

When everything is laid bare - the truth wins out!

If only people would take the time to seek, then they would find the truth.
Great...for this man did, and how wonderfully blessed he is.

Answer 6

Drugs and alcohol. The brain damage that boozing and doping does results in many people suddenly finding Christianity making sense to them.

Answer 7

I don't know.

Btw, I read your link.

Sounds like the author (you?) is a coward.

Couldn't deal with reality, needed to feel "special", needed someone else to give them a purpose to see purpose, couldn't comprehend that love, compassion, tolerance etc., are wonder full enough without needing a magical sky fairy.

As is typically with someone suffering from depression, you (?) had to find a crutch, a security blanket, because you couldn't find your own path, purpose, and happiness without someone holding your hand.

Pathetic.

Answer 8

What about all the people who convert to Islam or Mormon? According to you, what they believe is not true. Some people are just more susceptible to believing in things they can't perceive. Creativity and intelligence doesn't come into the reason.

Answer 9

Many alcoholics turn christian as a way to get out of the guilt they feel. They no longer have to feel responsible for their actions "The devil made me do it"

Answer 10

Be cause he wasn't an atheist:

"very angry with God for not existing"

Therefore he never truely didn't believe.