Lewis and Tolkein: 'Inklings' of Christianity

Lewis and Tolkien: 'Inklings' of Christianity
By Duncan Rize

C. S 'Jack' Lewis was born in Belfast and after the death of his mother in 1908, Lewis found his religion to be an increasing burden as he struggled to bring together what he had been taught about faith and prayer with his own knowledge that his prayers had failed to save her. Frustrated by conflicting thoughts, he turned to Celtic, Norse and Germanic mythology, and romantic poetry, outlets which appealed to both his passion and his intellect yet made no religious demands or assertions of truth.

Mythology provided him with tales of old gods and religions, each adding to his own confusion over what was the 'true' religion. Finally, Lewis abandoned all religion, including Christianity, naming it a kind of 'nonsense' that humanity tended to invent; no more true than the old religions of myth.

While his spiritual beliefs withered, his imagination flourished, and Lewis's love of myth and romanticism led him to study Classics and English at Magdalen College, Oxford, where he later returned as a lecturer.

It was there, at a faculty meeting in 1926, that he met J. R. R Tolkien; the man who was to challenge him both spiritually and intellectually, and who would play a central role in Lewis's return to Christianity.

Tolkien, a devout Catholic who taught both Anglo-Saxon literature and Norse mythology at Oxford, was a kindred spirit. A fellow lover of Norse and Icelandic literature, Tolkien invited Lewis to join the group 'The Coalbiters' – a society that read, loved and discussed Northern mythology. Though the group dwindled in early 1930, it was reborn as the more well-known group 'The Inklings'. The discussions of this group provided the perfect mix of myth, religion and romanticism for Tolkien and Lewis's friendship, and creativity, to grow.

In a time when the reality of the post-war England was grim and dark, they immersed themselves in heroic saga and myth, finding honor, truth and spirituality in the words of legend. At this time, myth was all but ignored in literary circles as being 'children's tales'. Lewis and Tolkien decided to make it their task to bring the 'faery tale' back into modern readership. Without one another, Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia and Tolkien's epic Lord of the Rings, might never have come into being.

However, Tolkien's influence on Lewis is perhaps most noticeable in his religious beliefs. In September 1931, an increasingly questioning Lewis - along with Tolkien, and fellow 'Inklings' member and Anglican Hugo Dyson - spent a whole night pacing Addison's Walk on the Magdalen Campus, debating the truth of religion.

Tolkien, a strict Catholic, argued that mythology and the Gospels provided the same satisfaction of imagination and intellect; using the 'myth' to convey truth. It was a concept that Lewis both loved and accepted readily from mythology, but had rejected in religion from an early age. Dyson and Tolkien argued that Lewis was holding the scripture to a higher standard of truth than he did for any other form of expression. Finally, Lewis had no choice but to admit that they were right, and it was to mark the turning point in his spiritual, and literary, career.

Duncan Rize loves the writings of C.S. Lewis and works with the marketing group at www.LearningByGrace.org. Learning by Grace manages of a number of internationally known online K-12 academies including www.TheGraceAcademy.org, www.TheJubileeAcademy.org, www.TheMorningStarAcademy.org and www.TheNarniaAcademy.org . This article is © 2005 ELRN, Inc. and may be quoted in whole or part as long as the author (Duncan Rize) and source (www.TheNarniaAcademy.org) are credited.

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