The Inklings CCA detailed the work of the greatest Christian apologist of modern times—a man who is an obvious candidate for the next statue on the Liberty Walk: C.S. Lewis.
In its mission statement, Hillsdale College describes itself as being dedicated to the “immemorial teachings and practices of the Christian faith.” Since 2019; however, Christ Chapel has faced the outside world as the lone physical testament to the college’s Christian values. There is no statue among those on the Liberty Walk who is first and foremost known as a theological figure.
Principally recognized as an author and theologian, C.S. Lewis played many roles within his lifetime. He was a scholar, soldier, and professor before he found his faith at the age of 31. Once he embraced the teachings of the Anglican church, he began a life of spreading nonsectarian Christian theology to the world through literature.
Since its publication in 1950, Lewis’ “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” has sold more than 100 million copies. In this, his most popular book, Lewis presents themes of fortitude, devotion, and the battle between good and evil. In the seven volumes of “The Chronicles of Narnia,” readers are encouraged to support the efforts of the good, led by Aslan, Narnia’s own Christ-like champion. Lewis describes Aslan as “the King of Beasts,” “the son of the Emperor-Over-the-Sea,” and “the King above all High Kings in Narnia,” all of which parallel the names for Jesus in the Bible. Jesus Christ undeniably represents the good in Lewis’ eyes, which makes it difficult for anyone enchanted by Narnia to deny the compelling arguments and plot lines of the Christian narrative.
Although his fame comes as a result of his “The Chronicles of Narnia,” Lewis also wrote apologetics. Because he converted from atheism to theism, Lewis gained a special ability to sway his skeptics; he understood their objections because they were once his own. In his book “Surprised by Joy,” Lewis describes his conversion.
“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,” Lewis writes. “I did not then see what is now the most shining and obvious thing; the Divine humility which will accept a convert even on such terms. The Prodigal Son at least walked home on his own feet.”
The conversions caused by Lewis’ apologetic and fictional works are numerous, a fact which Hillsdale has already commemorated in more ways than one.
The college has, in fact, acknowledged his work time and time again. The recent CCA was not the college’s first time exploring the works of Lewis. There are currently online and undergraduate courses detailing his impact on the world through literature.
Any person who has walked through the buildings of this campus can attest to the fact that the student body has much to say about religion. In this day and age, it is rare to find an example of a college’s founding principle being so upheld by modern students. A statue such as this would not only remind its onlookers that God is good, but would also revitalize the spirit of every student who has ever believed in that message. In the same vein in which Fredrick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln’s statues look toward the Civil War memorial, a bronze C. S. Lewis should gaze upon the chapel, which so often brings together people of all denominations.
