C.S. Lewis died 57 years ago today. His work has acted as a gateway for countless Christians to form a more intellectual, imaginative, and even sacramental view of the world. I admire the way he used his academic skill and privilege to build up the church and the common man.

In some corners of the world its become unfashionable to like Lewis, or to think he's overused. If he is overused, it is because no one has quite matched his level of clarity, depth, and delightfulness. He made big ideas understandable and palatable. We need more of that.

Part of what makes Lewis great is that he's accessible to your average reader, but if you're a close reader, you'll also be motivated to think harder, read the people he read... Which is why many people "grow out of" Lewis. His work is deep enough to invite you to do that.

But then, eventually, you come back around and see new depths in his actual writing. As a (baby) academic I appreciate that he was humble enough to write stuff that his colleagues thought was "too popular" because he actually cared about using his knowledge to help other people..

He's not perfect. He's not a theologian. Christians should read other books in addition to C.S. Lewis (which sometimes they neglect to do). But my goodness, I'm thankful for the influence of his work, and see much to emulate in how he went about scholarship/popular writing.

Also, this is petty, but ... I feel like sometimes headier academics resent him because he had such a popular audience (which they both distain and desire). But it's because he was a really good, clear communicator. I feel that is a virtue which should be more eagerly desired...

Finally, fun fact: I did my masters dissertation on "Great Divorce." Augustine, Blake, Dante, will+desire, medieval notions of refrigerium, George MacDonald, universalism... it was a great time!