11 Things You Might Not Know About C.S. Lewis

1. He never learned to drive.

2. He failed his Oxford entrance exam, twice. He took the Responsions at least two times and failed the math section. He was allowed entrance into Oxford in 1917 because he served in the military.

3. J.R.R. Tolkien did not like the Narnia stories. Tolkien did not like the Christian allegory, nor did he like the mixing of myths. It appeared he was fond of Aslan though.

4. Aslan is Turkish for “lion.”

5. He often addressed Jesus as Aslan in prayer.

6. He did not affirm the inerrency of Scripture. To be clear, he highly regarded the Bible and its authority. He read the Bible constantly (Authorized Version). But he would not have used the same language about the Bible as evangelicals do today.

7. He wasn’t a fan of the Reformation. He thought the issues involved could have been handled more appropriately. He referred to it as “farcical.”

8. The Screwtape Letters was his least favorite to write.He said he never wrote with less enjoyment. Having to “switch sides” was difficult for him.

9. He wrote to Kathy Keller. Kathy Keller is Tim Keller’s wife. She wrote to Lewis when she was 12. There are four letters from him to her in Letters To Children and volume three of Letters of C.S. Lewis.

10. He shared a boat ride to Ireland with Martyn Lloyd-Jones in 1953. The two met before this when Lloyd-Jones attended a lecture by Lewis and afterward had lunch with him.

11. He was not a Calvinist. He said in a letter (3:866) “I’m no Calvinist.”

These 11 things come from a much more detailed post titled 30 Things You Might Not Know About C.S. Lewis.