It was a long journey of 15 years for C.S. Lewis to turn from atheism to Christianity. It was very much so an intellectual journey more so than spiritual. But he made it there eventually. He found God. And once C.S. Lewis found God, he stayed there in His glory.

There are a lot of technical religious terms used in this book. I was glad to already have a faint understanding of Lewis's life and conversion before I read the book, as that foundation helped me understand the book better. This work contains a lot of information pulled from many sources to create a deep look into Lewis's thoughts, life, friends and family, etc. Recommended for anyone who wishes to know how Lewis turned from atheism and accepted Christ into his life for good.

I remember reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe when I was in elementary school.  Such a fascinating tale with a world that was bigger than my adolescent imagination.  Who could not fall in love with Narnia and that magical world?  

Over the years I've read excerpts from Mere Christianity and have heard the name C.S. Lewis repeatedly but I never realized that before he was one of the most famous Christians that he was actually a professing atheist.  From Atheism to Christianity is the journey of Clive Staples Lewis and his 15-year journey from materialistic atheism to Christianity

Author Joel D. Heck did a wonderful job of writing Lewis's story.  This book is incredibly well researched and leaves no stone unturned.  Heck did the majority of his research from Lewis's books themselves as well as other sources about the beloved author.  It is fascinating to see the progression as well as the motivation for C.S. Lewis's choices, not only on his spiritual journey, but his life in general.  You see where his inspirations stemmed from, what his focus was on as an adolescent, and each piece of his 15-year journey to Christianity.  You are introduced to the books Lewis was reading during that time as well as authors that helped mold his thinking.

The impact of the death of his mother when he was ten years old was pivotal.  Lewis was raised in a religious home but after her death Lewis was done with religion.  As his story progresses, you begin to see his thinking slowly change and develop over time, eventually evolving to Christianity.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has ever questioned their faith, who are themselves an atheist, or anyone who would like to read about an incredible man on a wonderful journey of faith.

C.S. Lewis was a favourite in our family for many years, having been gifted with the Chronicles of Narnia series as a child. Even as an adult I have not had a lot of knowledge about who he actually is except that he was a christian. So when I saw this book I had a curiosity to find out more about his journey from Atheist to Christian.

The book at times was a difficult read for me, I did more flicking through than reading. I am disappointed that I didn't get into the book more easily than I did.

On a good note I think this will be a well loved read in the christian community and a good resource for those that are considering living a life with God.

The points that struck a chord with me were that Lewis argued for atheism initially because of all the pain and suffering in the world - this is the way a lot of people feel but once he turned to God (and amen to that!) partly because of historical events having moral character. This shows just how intellectual he was and how his deep thinking was paramount to his shift in belief.

Joel Heck has been thorough in his research and the footnotes are a great addition to follow up further for those that want to get more deeply into the book.

I'm not a christian yet I've always been interested in how people covert to religion from atheism or vice versa. What I'm interested in mainly is the psychological process, the most personal aspects of this matter. This book promised that exactly, that's why I decided to request it.

And in a sense I really got what I signed up for, a story about C.S. Lewis's road to christianity from atheism from early childhood describing the events that played a big role in both his atheism and christianity. I appreciate the process, his desires and motives to go towards the more spiritual readings which in turn slowly helped him change his mind, and the many other personal factors that played part in it for him. I found it interesting, despite not having my atheistic point of view affected. I've come to know Lewis through this book as an intellectual man, who was highly curious and accepting of other people's point of view while being able to defend his own which is quite appealing.

For me the proofs of God's existence (e.g evolution is too random to create reason, there cannot be any standard of good or bad if god doesn't exists) weren't all that convincing and was telling me about the general misunderstanding of evolutional theory and natural selection than being a proof for anything,but that's just my personal standpoint. The the point reading this book wasn't to change my mind ,but to see how a well known person thought about religion, and I had that explained in a perfectly satisfactory way.

So why 1.5 stars?

Frankly because of the author. A lot of times Heck was more 'visible' in the book than Lewis, his opinions were all over the book, poking through the writing style in a very dominant way instead of being a neutral narrating voice. Quite often when atheism was mentioned he was referring to it as if it was some kind of disease that some people get, as a completely negative thing which pessimistic, sad people adopt and not something to be approved,only something that people can overcome and know better in time. The writing style was like that even when he was writing about the atheistic years of Lewis so clearly it was Heck's opinion. On the other hand when Lewis was getting closer to converting to Christianity he suggested that it was the right way, basically that he has come to his senses.

Of course when a book is 'defending' the christian point of view or is written for a specifically religious audience it is very acceptable to write like that, I'm not denying that atheist authors do that as well. But this book is a biography in which a lot of times Heck's worldview comes through very oppressively while talking about a man who (whether religious or not ) was very accepting of ideas different from his own, something he didn't manage.

I would like to thank for Netgalley for providing a free copy of this book in exchange of a honest review.

From Atheism to Christianity: The Story of C.S. Lewis by Joel Heck is not a light read. This is not a bad thing though. The book takes readers through C.S. Lewis' life explaining what made him an atheist as well as how he returned to Christianity. I found the book to be very emotional at times. The author did a wonderful job at conveying Lewis' feelings throughout his life. The book gives insight into Lewis' thoughts on being an atheist and how Christians can communicate with and witness to atheists. While it is a deep and thought provoking book, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I now want to read more about Lewis as well as his books and writings.

From Atheism To Christianity: The Story of C.S. Lewis
by Joel Heck

Concordia Publishing HouseMacr. T

By


Biographies & Memoirs, Christian

Pub Date 17 Jan 2017

I am voluntarily reviewing a copy of From Atheism to Christianity through the publisher and Netgalley:
From Atheism to Christianity is the remarkable story of C.S Lewis's conversionfro! Atheism to Christianity. It tells of how he went from believing in no religion at all to giving his heart and surrendering it to Christ.
We learn that in part the cause of C.S Lewis Atheism was his relationship with his Father, and the loss of his Mother. We learn that from ages six to twelve C.S Lewis was sad and lonely.
In 1921 halfway through his undergraduate program C.S Lewis met Dr. Frederick Macran an atheist priest. Macran insisted that Jesus was a great teacher and nothing more.
Lewis read William Morris, George MacDonald (whose Christianity Lewis ignored for a long time. He read G.K Chesterton, Samuel Johnston, Edmund Spenser and John Milton. He studied the writings of Sir Thomas Malory and W.B Yeats.
On June.11, 1922 C.S Lewis went for a bike ride into Oxford and walked into Christ Church.
C.S Lewis was facing bouts of depression at the time.
Late in 1929 C.S Lewis lost his Father Albert. A loss that profoundly affected him and his brother.
In 1930 C.S Lewis came back to his Christian faith.
I give Atheism to Christianity five out of five stars.
Happy Reading

C.S. Lewis has been one of my top favorite authors. From Narnia, to Pilgrim's Regress, Mere Christianity and more, Lewis has always been to the point, even painfully so at times. One question I'd always had, while reading his stories: how did he go from a child raised in a Christian home, to an atheist, and later to Christianity?

Joel Heck does an excellent job of following the life of Lewis starting from an early age. The death of his mother was merely one factor that challenged his perspective on life and God. The reader is taken on a journey, as Lewis argues his atheistic views. But there is a turning point. Throughout From Atheism to Christianity: The Story of C.S. Lewis, Heck provides support for his evidence through references of letters from Lewis himself to other individuals. If there was ever a question as to the support of this book, the reader has the means through to research it.

Not to spoil the journey, the reader will have to grab a copy and discover what Lewis discovered. What convinced him there was a God? What turned him from an atheist to a Christian?