Was CS Lewis a Calvinist?

Was CS Lewis a Calvinist?


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[ScottyVOR]

If C.S Lewis was a Calvinist, then he's the type of Calvinist we need far more of. ;)

In any case, Lewis himself disregarded such labelling either way. His comments in "Yours, Jack" seem to sum up his views on the subject more than adequately - if the man wasn't comfortable in calling himself a Calvinist in life, I don't think we should ascribe that position to him in death. It wasn't, after all, for any lack of study or reflection on the subject on Lewis' part.

[brendos444]

In "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe", his dipiction of the atonement was decidely in favor of the Christus Victor motif. No hint whatsoever of penal substitution. Lewis was an Anglican. Much of his views converge with Eastern Orthodoxy - such as the atonement. He can in no way be identified as a Calvinist. Even as a Protestant. Strictly speaking Anglicans are not reformed protestants. His intellect would have prevented him with being identified with fundamentalist Calvinists.

[RacerUnderTheSon]

CS Lewis was not a Calvinist. He holds too much to the principles of free will. In his book "The Problem of Pain" he states that he does not subscribe to the doctrine of Total Depravity, the first and most important doctrine in Calvinism. If one does not subscribe to this fundamental doctrine, one cannot be a Calvinist.

[pkidtim1]

Wilson simply wants Lewis to be a Calvinist. Lewis clearly believed in "free will." If there is any doubt about that...just read "Mere Christianity" in the "Shocking Alternative" chapter (pg. 47).

[bayreuth79]

@Baptistnomore We seem to agree then.

[Baptistnomore]

@Baptistnomore Many of Lewis's friends were catholic. Tolkien was disappointed that Lewis didnt go to Rome. Lewis was close to Catholicism, but balked at jumping over. He thought the saints could hear prayers but thought it more efficient to go direct to the almighty. It has been so long and with my three surgeries part of my memory is gone......

[Baptistnomore]

@bayreuth79 I own about 30 C.S.Lewis books.a little over half that he wrote and I read the others. I am not a literary expert on him although in the 1970s and 1980s I was a C.S.Lewis buff.When I read him I never thought of throwing him in with the Calvinists...although perhaps he had stronger views on election than I thought. I cant ever remember him talking about limited atonement for example. He was not as much of a systemtizer as the Calvinists either. Sacramental,liturgical,rationa­l.

[bayreuth79]

@Baptistnomore John Calvin described the doctrine of Purgatory as a "heresy", so I suppose he may have thought C S Lewis a heretic. Draw your own conclusion.

Walter Hooper, who is perhaps the expert on C S Lewis, has argued that C S Lewis was very close to Roman Catholicism, something that John Calvin certainly wasn't. I am NOT a Roman Catholic, so I have no bias in this respect. I just find it irritating that Doug Wilson is using Lewis for his own ends.

[Baptistnomore]

@bayreuth79 Does believing in Purgatory have anything to do with being a Calvinist? Calvin did not argue against perpetual virginity of Mary and most modern Reformed person are not...does that make him not a calvinist?

[TheOrthodoxSteven]

Calvinism (with its substitutionary atonement, its total depravity, and its predeterminism) is one of the most damnable and blasphemous doctrines ever to afflict mankind. It bears no more resemblance to the Holy Gospel than does the Qur'an or the Bhagavad-Gita. Calvinism turns God the Father into humanity's greatest antagonist--a moral monster who demands the blood of a perfect innocent in order to forgive his creatures. How wicked! How vile!

[TheOrthodoxSteven]

Like every other offering from Wilson, this is patently absurd and demonstrates how little Wilson knows about the subject in question. Lewis was much closer in theology to traditional and Apostolic Christianity than to that wretched blasphemy called Calvinism. Had he lived longer, I think he may have joined either the Roman Catholic or perhaps even the Eastern Orthodox Church. He had several close friends who were Orthodox, and repeatedly expressed his fondness for Orthodox faith and worship.

[logicpractitioner]

Lewis stated himself he was not a Calvinist. He was totally a free-will person. Read "Mere Christianity" for a more indepth explanation.