C. S. Lewis

See Updates Below

For more than two years I have intended to publish some photos of sites in and around Oxford, England, associated with the life of C. S. Lewis. Since this is the opening day for the new movie, The Chronicle of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, I thought this would be a good time to post the photos.

Lewis is known as a writer of literature for children. My main interest through the years has been in his works devoted to Christian apologetics. Having taught Introduction to Christian Evidences for many years at Florida College, I introduced many students to the apologetic writings of C. S. Lewis. One such student was Bruce Edwards, who has since become a Lewis scholar and author. Even today he was featured in an article in The Tampa Tribune and on one of the local TV stations. Take a look at his website, C. S. Lewis & The Inklings Resource Site. He has already published a review of the movie. He has links to many other good resources. I have other links to sites devoted to C. S. Lewis at the Biblical Studies Info Page under Scholarly/Apologetics.

Books of special interest for apologetics include Miracles: A Preliminary Study, God in the Dock (Edited by Walter Hooper), The Problem of Pain. You might also enjoy The Screwtape Letters, Surprised by Joy, and The Four Loves.

Elizabeth and I took a private tour of the Lewis sites with Ron Brind, operator of C. S. Lewis Tours. We greatly enjoyed the tour. As a child, Ron lived a short distance from the Lewis house and was a friend with the Gresham boys. If you plan to be in Oxford we suggest you allow a few hours to take this tour. Details are available at C. S. Lewis Tours. While you are in Oxford be sure to visit the Ashmolean Museum.

Hopefully within a few days I will give you a few of my favorite and most useful quotations from the apologetic works of C. S. Lewis. Meanwhile, enjoy the photos. (Ferrell Jenkins, Dec. 9, 2005).

 

Update - 2007

The Return of the Lion.

The Return of the Lion.
Prince Caspian movie

Some Updates

The response to this page has been interesting. I have received several requests from around the world for permission to use some of the C. S. Lewis photos, indicating a great interest in his life and writing. One request came from a Trustee of Friends of Holy Trinity Church inquiring about one of the photos.

Recently Dr. Bruce Edwards sent me an Email in which he called attention to a blog by Will Vaus. He said, "It happens to contain a photo of you and Elizabeth in C S Lewis's parish, if I am not mistaken! That was a serendipity i did not expect!"

When I took a look at the blog I noticed that at least three of the photographs on the site were taken from here without any notice of their source. I left a comment for Will and he quickly, and kindly, credited my page. Along with the photo of Elizabeth and I, Will said:

While visiting Holy Trinity you won't want to miss seeing the Narnia window: [photo] Or the place where Lewis sat behind the pillar (so that the vicar could not see the expression on his face during the sermon!): Unfortunately this couple, and many others, have sat in this pew thinking it was where Lewis sat. Actually he sat BEHIND the pillar! How do I know? I was told so by Douglas Gresham, Lewis's step-son, who sat next to him in church. And I just had this fact confirmed for me in an e-mail from Doug. He provided a simple exercise to follow in order for future visitors to the church to determine where C. S. Lewis sat:

"Simple, sit in the pew, with the pillar directly between yourself and the pulpit so that the priest preaching would be unable to see you and you would be unable to see that priest, and then you would be in the place where Jack sat. These folks are not only in the wrong place, but are also in the wrong pew."

People in the United States used to joke about the many signs up and down the original thirteen colonies claiming: "George Washington slept here." Maybe this is the beginning of a similar joke: "C. S. Lewis sat here."

It matters little to me whether I sat in the exact seat where C. S. Lewis sat, but Elizabeth and I were sitting where the plaque in the church indicates he sat (photo below). This has an amusing touch for me. When I was teaching at Florida College it became a joke, especially among the students, that guest speakers would say, "I once sat where you sit" (with apologies to Ezekiel 3:15).

Last Monday (Aug. 27, 2007) a surprise Email came from Ron Brind who runs the C. S. Lewis Tours Oxford that we took. Ron said,

Hello Ferrell

Having just seen this, I wanted to assure you that you were sat in the pew that Jack and Warnie most frequented whilst worshipping at Holy Trinity Church. The little brass plaque confirming same, being absolutely in the correct pew!

It is also a fact that Jack and Warnie sat in several other areas within the Church if 'their seat' was already taken. Therefore, I can only assume that this was the case on the occasion that Douglas attended. I also attended the Church with my family as a ten year old, before Douglas had arrived at the Kilns in 1957. Believe me, the locals who met the Lewis brothers are very well informed indeed.

I can imagine that from a distance it might be hard to remember what the seating arrangements are actually like, so Douglas has not been very helpful on this occasion.

I suspect this is just an attempt to bring attention to a particular website, that perhaps isn't doing quite as well as some others.

Regards to you both
Ron Brind
C S Lewis Tours Oxford

It doesn't matter much, but I was pleased to hear from these old friends, Bruce Edwards and Ron Brind. If you visit Oxford please make time for the tour with Ron. Here is the link to C. S. Lewis Tours Oxford.

Dr. Edwards has a new blog called Further Up and Further In, named after one of his books. He is a capable scholar and one of the most prolific writers on C.S. Lewis.

I was saddened to learn of the untimely passing of Dr. Edwards on Wednesday, October 28, 2015.

Dr. Bruce Edwards with his recent books on C. S. Lewis.

Dr. Bruce L. Edwards, Jr. - September 5, 1952 - October 28, 2015


 Mere Theology: A Guide to the Thought of C.S. Lewis

The Kilns, home of C. S. Lewis. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins. BiblicalStudies.info.
The Kilns. This is the house in a still-quiet area a short distance from Oxford where C. S. Lewis lived with his brother Warnie. According to Brind the area formerly had been used as a kiln, thus the name.
The Study of C. S. Lewis. This view shows the windows of the study of Lewis.
Windows of C. S. Lewis's study at the Kilns. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins. BiblicalStudies.info
The Reserve near the Kilns. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins. Biblicalstudies.info. The C. S. Lewis Nature Reserve. This pond is a few meters from the Lewis house. The pond, and the area around it have been designated as a reserve by The Wildlife Trust. The lake appeared to be neglected.
Magdalen College, Oxford. This photo gives us one view of the college where Lewis taught English Language and Literature from 1925 to 1954. He held the chair of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Cambridge from 1954 to 1963. Magdalen College, Oxford. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins. BiblicalStudies.info.

The Eagle and Child were "The Inklings" met. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins. BiblicalStudies.info.

"The Inklings" Met at The Eagle and Child. This pub, also dubbed "The Bird and Babe" by some, is where Lewis met in a back room with his literary friends such as J. R. R. Tolkein

Holy Trinity Church Headington Quarry, Oxford. This is the church Lewis attended. He is buried in the church graveyard.
Holy Trinity Church at Headington Quarry, Oxford. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins. BiblicalStudies.info.at
Photo of C. S. Lewis in Holy Trinity Church. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins. Biblicalstudies.info. Photo of C. S. Lewis. A framed photograph of C. S. Lewis, now stained by time, sits in one of the windows in the back of the church.

 

The Pew of Jack and Warnie. A small plaque marks the place where C. S. Lewis and Warnie Lewis sat at each service.

Here Sat and Worshipped Clive Staples Lewis. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins. Biblicalstudies.info.

Ferrell and Elizabeth sitting in the pew of Jack and Warnie Lewis. Biblicalstudies.info.

The grave stone. C. S. Lewis died Nov. 22, 1963. This is the day British author Aldous Huxley died, and the day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Those of us who were mature at the time know that all of our TV stations (the three or four that we had) covered only the Kennedy death.

The epitaph, "Men must endure their going hence," is said to have come from a calendar or plaque Lewis's mother had on her kitchen wall.

Elizabeth Jenkins reads the epitaph  of C. S. Lewis. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins. BiblicalStudies.info.
Ron Brind helps Elizabeth Jenkins select an ivy leaf from a tree near the grave of C. S. Lewis. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins. BiblicalStudies.info.

Picking an ivy leaf. Ron Brind helps Elizabeth select an ivy leaf from the tree by the Lewis grave.

The Epitaph

Epitaph on the grave of C. S. Lewis and Warren Lewis. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins. Biblicalstudies.info.

Memorial Plaque at the Headington Crematorium. The ashes of Joy Davidman (Gresham), Lewis's wife from 1957 till her death in 1960, were scattered on the grounds near this marker. I assume that Lewis wrote the sentiment.

Joy Davidman died of cancer at the age of 45. The book, A Grief Observed, was written out of this experience.

Remember Joy Davidman, loved wife of C.S. Lewis, at the crematorium in Oxford. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins. BiblicalStudies.info.
House where J. R. R. Tolkien lived. 76 Sandfield Road. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins. Biblicalstudies.info.

76 Sandfield Road. J. R. R. Tolkien, friend of C. S. Lewis and author of The Lord of the Rings, lived in the house here from 1953 to 1968.

Lewis on the Cover of Time. Lewis was featured on the cover of Time, Sept. 8, 1947. The article was titled, "His heresy: Christianity."

Time Magazine cover featuring C. S. Lewis. Sept. 8, 1947.
 C. S. Lewis - MiraclesOrder Miracles, a C. S. Lewis classic.
Read "Interesting and Unusual Facts About C.S. Lewis" from Christian History & Biography.


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