C.S. Lewis

Much of the actor's adult life has involved learning more about Lewis’ life. "One of the things that really separates him is his word pictures. You know, he can take a complex idea and really make it clear," McLean said.

The director of a new C.S. Lewis stage play at the Museum of the Bible says the American church is experiencing what she calls a "great awakening" in arts, yet more needs to be done so that Christian actors and actresses nationwide have opportunities in their field.

The Museum of the Bible will soon be presenting a production of C.S. Lewis' The Horse and His Boy, a story that takes place in the realm of Narnia, the fictional kingdom Lewis created in his book, The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.

This week marks the anniversary of both the birth (Nov. 29) and the death (Nov. 22) of C.S. Lewis, one of the most remarkable Christians of the last century. Even today, nearly 60 years after his passing, Christians of all denominations, depth, and discernment continue to learn from Lewis about the nature and substance of faith. The value of the wit and wisdom of this unexpected champion of the faith only becomes more obvious as the central message of Christianity, that “Jesus is Lord!” sounds more and more strange to late-modern ears.

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While C.S. Lewis died comparatively young a week before his 65th birthday, he left behind enough words to fill two lifetimes. He published over 40 books, including classics like Mere Christianity and the Chronicles of Narnia. After his death, between 20 and 30 books of new material (letters, poems, essays) were published, including God in the Dock and Letters to Malcolm.

With the recent C.S. Lewis biopic The Most Reluctant Convert out on DVD and streaming platforms and plans for two more movies about Lewis, it’s a good time to revisit Lewis’ work. Here are some of his many thought-provoking words about faith, some things you probably didn’t know about his life, and a few things other people have said about him.

Further Reading: 10 C.S. Lewis Books You Haven’t Read Yet

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J.R.R. Tolkien is easily the best-known fantasy author of the last 100 years. If you haven’t read The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings or seen the various films based on those stories, you almost certainly know at least one person familiar with them.

You may not know that Tolkien wrote many more fantasy works than just his famous ones. As he built his stories about Middle-earth into full-fledged mythology, he wrote numerous other stories about its history leading up to the fight over the One Ring. As a scholar of languages, Tolkien studied and translated famous medieval texts like Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. He also wrote shorter fairy-tale works for his children, some connected in interesting ways with his more famous works.

With Amazon’s The Rings of Power coming out soon, it’s a good time to look at some of his other work. The following is a list of his great shorter works and some of his more accessible Middle-earth writings. Many of these shorter stories have been published separately, but you can also find them collected in anthologies like The Tolkien Reader or Tales from the Perilous Realm.

Further Reading: Does the Lord of the Rings Have Christian Themes?

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Jordan Feliz says influential Christian theologian C.S. Lewis inspired Another World, a reflective song on his latest album that discusses the desire for eternity.

Thanks to sold-out shows nationwide, The Most Reluctant Convert: The Untold Story of C.S. Lewis, a new biopic film about Christian apologist C.S. Lewis, will enjoy an extended release.

That story, the story of C.S. Lewis’s struggle leading to reliance in Jesus, is now in theatres across America. It releases today.

One line from C.S. Lewis’s autobiography Surprised by Joy is both simple and profound: “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.”

My friend Max McLean is bringing the story behind this line to life in his new film The Most Reluctant Convert. It premieres in select theaters across the country this Wednesday, November 3.