Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life [Unabridged] [Audible Audio Edition] Author: | Language: English | ISBN:
B0009P4250 | Format: PDF, EPUB
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In this book, C.S. Lewis tells of his search for joy, a spiritual journey that led him from the Christianity of his early youth into atheism and then back to Christianity.
Books with free ebook downloads available Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life [Unabridged] [Audible Audio Edition] Free PDF
- Audible Audio Edition
- Listening Length: 6 hours and 37 minutes
- Program Type: Audiobook
- Version: Unabridged
- Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.
- Audible.com Release Date: May 13, 2005
- Whispersync for Voice: Ready
- Language: English
- ASIN: B0009P4250
This is not a novel and not really an autobiography, but rather a first-hand account of one man's journey from atheism to belief in God (Christianity came much later and is not covered in this book--for that, read his many religious works). I discovered this little gem while living in Scotland, at a time when I was neck-deep in the pit of atheism and feeling almost totally lost. I don't know why I was moved to take it off the shelf and buy it, but it was to be only the first of Lewis's books that I read. It's still my favorite because its theme is so close to me.
What makes Lewis's book so remarkable is his unashamed honesty and willingness to shed all masks in the face of reality, no matter how unpleasant or frightening that reality may first seem. Lewis did not want to find God, and we feel with him that burning desire to run away once God has been discovered. The wonderful lightness and love that characterize many of Lewis's later works are not found here. Instead we see his defenses against God shattered one by one as he follows an intellectual path to belief. He tries his best to argue his way out of it, fighting every step of the way and using all the trivial excuses that human beings use, but we feel God's presence bearing down on him step by step like a great weight until he realizes that there is no escape. Lewis sees that it is indeed a burden at first if one has come to it honestly, because with it comes the realization that we are required to abandon ourselves and submit to God's will in order to find eternal peace. This is not an easy road for a human being to follow -- indeed, it is the most difficult thing in the world, and Lewis knew that very well.
"Surprised by Joy" is C.S. Lewis' auto-biographical book about the early, formational years of his life, which began with a vaguely religious upbringing, led into devout Atheism, and ended in Christ's drawing Lewis home. This book is excellent as auto-biographies (Christian or non-Christian) go as C.S. Lewis was one of the 20th Century's best story-tellers and an amazingly well-read professor at Oxford as well. Whether the reader is a Christian or not, C.S. Lewis makes this story entertaining and thought-provoking.
For those readers who have come to believe in Jesus Christ as Man's only possible salvation, this book will leave them marvelling repeatedly at how Christ works in the lives of those he calls. Any Christian reader of "Surprised by Joy" will find numerous similarities in the path C.S. Lewis' salvation took him down, and a Christian reader can't help but want to join him in praising Christ for his awesome goodness in the lives of human beings he touches.
One fascinating element in C.S. Lewis' life, which is so encouraging for Christians in a post-Christian era, is that Lewis was raised by brilliant men to be constantly curious but always logical... always seeking the truth. One of the men Christ used the most in saving C.S. Lewis was a staunch Atheist; a dry, pensive, professor who demanded a rigid adherence to logic in any belief or action. This man, the "Great Knock", as Lewis, his brother, and their father called him, was so influential in Lewis' mental development that Lewis devotes a whole chapter ("The Great Knock") to discussion of him.
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