Abstract

Findings and Conclusions. Lewis' major metaphysical model of the universe is that it is a single reality with a two level expression. There is the material reality that is called nature and there is the spiritual reality that is supernature in relation to the world of our five senses. The two expressions of reality are not mutually exclusive but interact with each other always through the initiative of the supernature, for it is in that area where we find Ultimate Reality which is God. The existence of God is not proven but indicated by the objective existence of ideas, the impulse that feeds real events into the laws of nature and the presence in man everywhere of a moral law that at times causes him to go counter to his natural drives. God as Ultimate Reality is the originator or creator of the natural expression of reality. God's most prominent natural revelation of Himself is in man's rationality which includes the moral law which He has put into our minds. The predominant characteristic of God's dealing with His creation is a purposive love which shares omnipotence with man for the purpose of guaranteeing man's freedom and also uses evil, which is the result of that freedom, to benefit man in the end. Man is God's highest creation. He has the potential to live on a wholly natural animal level which is the bios level of life or he can be elevated to the zoe level of life which ushers him into the spiritual expression of reality and is his true destiny. Epistemologically man is a dualist, he engages and knows the two expressions of reality with his rational and imaginative abilities. Man is made to submit to God and have God's life expressed through him. The other choice is a debilitating and eventually self defeating egocentrism that will eventually isolate him even from the rest of nature. Man is elevated to the higher level of reality by the good infection of God's special revelation in Jesus Christ, the God-man. Christianity is the myth that became fact and is also the culmination of all other religions and the fulfillment of man's drive to be religious. ;The weaknesses of Lewis' thought from the perspective of philosophy of religion are in his unexamined presuppositions, his failure to construct a consistent epistemological formula and some conclusions that seem to be poorly reasoned. Great strengths are seen in his commitment to central issues of concern, his unique ability and facility for explanation and expression, and the many insights that he affords into meaning and value in the universe. ;Scope of Study. For the past several years the religious works of C. S. Lewis have been in great demand by a large segment of the reading public. That circumstance is noteworthy because Lewis' works have been viewed by some as combining popular appeal with philosophical and intellectual stature. Because many of his works are defensive in nature there has been no systematization of the elements of his work that when brought together could be classified as a world view. This study undertakes such a task as well as a further task of analyzing some elements of his thought from the perspective of current philosophy of religion. The entire corpus of Lewis' religious writings was examined and central themes were identified, analyzed, and gathered into a systematic form. An exposition of those central themes was written for the purpose of investigating, reporting, and classifying both the overall features of the world view and likewise the constituent elements. The nature of the study is in that sense primarily critical