As someone who started out as a reader, not a writer, there are so many incredible books and series, in addition to my own, that I would highly recommend. C.S Lewis might be the most famous intellectual atheist turned Christian, Paul wasn't an atheist so he doesn't count. He is known mostly for his children's books series, The Chronicles of Narnia, but he has written so many other incredible books, Whether its his non-fiction essays and books, or his allegorical stories, C.S. Lewis is someone I aspire to be like for his powerful ability to inject deep truths through stories.
So here are my top 5 I would recommend for anyone who wants to check out the powerfully deep books by C.S. Lewis.
1. The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
The Screwtape Letters is a powerful allegorical work. This story is a collection of letters between two demons, a master and his apprentice. The letters chronicle the story of a novice demon named Wormwood trying to deceive a man and lure him into temptation. While not your usual story, this format reveals the plans of the enemy in profound ways. Lucifer and his henchmen are at work in the world around us, and this book gives a format for h0w we are often tempted. C.S. Lewis struggled writing this book, getting into the mind of a demon was draining. But by seeing the enemy's playbook, we are better equipped to face temptation and can rejoice in knowing that the Lord will prevail.
2. The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis
Another allegory, The Great Divorce makes us come face to face with the evil inside us. The story is set around a group of citizens from hell who get an opportunity to go on a journey to heaven. But facing heaven's perfection and holiness, they all turn away and choose to go back to hell. The theme is all about the things we cling to, our intellect, our bitterness, our laziness, our shame, and more that we cannot take into heaven with us. We all must choose to lay down everything for God. Each person in the story is given a choice, and the book shows their conversation and reasoning, reasoning that is incredibly relatable. And don't worry, this is all an allegory and not meant to be seen as a literal representation of heaven or hell.
3. The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
The story of a little girl walking through a wardrobe changed the world. C.S. Lewis wrote this children's series to show the profound truths of the Bible through a fantasy world that helped set the standard for fantasy worlds. While The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe is the most famous of the series, the other books are fantastic as well. For an intellectual such as C.S. Lewis, this was quite a unique series, but he excels in pointing towards Christ through a lion named Aslan, talking animals, and a delightful group of children.
4. The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis
Moving from fiction to non-fiction, The Four Loves is a book where C.S. Lewis struggles to answer the question of what is love. What I love about C.S. Lewis is how he takes one concept and explores every facet of it, explaining and addressing every aspect with language that would make the intellectual applaud and with metaphors that make sense even to the simple-minded. He divides love into four categories, affection, friendship, eros, (romantic) and charity, and gives insight into how all of them can be used to glorify God or be twisted.
5. The Abolition of Man by C.S. Lewis
Lastly we have a fascinating non-fiction book addressing subjective morality. C.S. Lewis wrote this book in defense of universal truths and objective, unchanging morality. At the time, subjective truth was a fairly novel idea, but has quickly taken root in western culture. In a culture where everyone is living their own truths based on their own emotions and experience, this book might be more needed than ever.
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