{"id":12950,"date":"2012-11-12T11:12:16","date_gmt":"2012-11-12T19:12:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/?p=12950"},"modified":"2013-05-31T17:42:59","modified_gmt":"2013-06-01T01:42:59","slug":"did-c-s-lewis-visit-narnia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/did-c-s-lewis-visit-narnia\/","title":{"rendered":"Did C. S. Lewis Ever Visit Narnia?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

This is Part 1 of a 4-Part series by Tyson Phillips on C.S. Lewis and Narnia. Tyson and his sister Tammy grew up in the Midwest. Tyson and his family now live discreetly on the West Coast, very near a large orchid tree.<\/p>\n

If you would like to write a guest post for this blog,\u00a0check out the guidelines here.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"hummingbird\"<\/p>\n

Humming Birds and Star Ships<\/h2>\n

As I settled into my lounge chair just below a wall of blooming passion vines on that sunny late autumn afternoon, I felt something alight on my arm. It was my friendly backyard hummingbird, or “Harry” as I usually referred to him.<\/p>\n

“Harry, are you planning to spend this winter living in my back yard, like you did last winter? Why don\u2019t you fly south with the other hummingbirds?”<\/p>\n

When I sat in my lounge chair in my back yard to read, as I did almost every day, Harry would appear and sit nearby, or occasionally would sit on my arm for a few minutes.<\/p>\n

When I casually mentioned this to an acquaintance, I immediately knew that she did not believe me. I had “crossed the line,” mentioning something she had never experienced and had never heard of this happening to someone else. She did not believe it was possible to have a hummingbird sit on one\u2019s arm.<\/p>\n

On another occasion, a good friend told me about regularly seeing unusual objects in the sky of the remote area where he lived. He sometimes saw them in the late afternoon, but most often after dark. One evening just after sunset, as he drove down a winding, abandoned country road, one of the objects came down from the sky and landed in an open space near him. He drove even closer.<\/p>\n

“You\u2019re the only person I\u2019ll ever tell what I saw and what happened after I drove up by it. I\u2019ll never tell anyone else, because they\u2019ll think I\u2019m crazy.”<\/p>\n

True to his word, he has never told anyone else and I doubt he ever will. He is certain no one will believe him, which would affect his credibility in the community in which he lives and works.<\/p>\n

\u201cNevertheless, it happened.\u201d He adds. \u201cI\u2019ve decided there\u2019s really no reason to tell my story to anyone. I guess I\u2019m telling it to you because I know you don\u2019t think I\u2019m crazy and I know you\u2019ll keep your mouth shut.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fiction Is More Believable<\/h2>\n

\"cslewis\"What if?<\/p>\n

What if I were a prestigious Oxford don, a professor of English literature, a well-known author, and an authority on religion who repeatedly had some most unusual, unbelievable experiences? Would I tell anyone? If I decided to tell someone, might I consider changing some of the details and telling my stories as \u201cfiction\u201d?<\/p>\n

In the midst of my tale, the real story would be hidden. I must be careful not to tell too much, lest anyone find what I stumbled across. Could they find it also? That was unlikely. But I must not take that chance. So I would write my stories as fantasy, children\u2019s literature, not intended to be taken as factual.<\/p>\n

Is there any possibility that Lewis\u2019 tales had any basis other than his imagination? Lewis himself has said that his stories did not come from his imagination. He said that he “saw pictures” and wrote what he saw (Of Other Worlds<\/em><\/a>,\"\"32, 42). Exactly what did he mean when he said that his stories were based on the things he saw in his head? Did that mean he only imagined them, or did it mean more?<\/p>\n

Could one \u201cprove\u201d my friend\u2019s story about the object he saw come down from the sky? Probably not. Similarly, even if Lewis\u2019 stories were more than pure fiction, could anyone prove it, or disprove it?<\/p>\n

Anyone Want to Ride in a Star ship?<\/h2>\n

Suppose I have a vehicle that is capable of traveling vast distances in short periods of time, a \u201cstar ship\u201d of sorts. Suppose that I show up at your house late tonight, and invite you to take a ride with me in my star ship. You would probably be convinced that I indeed have such a vehicle. But would your experience convince anyone else who themselves had not seen the star ship up close and who had not taken a ride in it to a distant galaxy?<\/p>\n

Since neither I, nor my friend nor C. S. Lewis will be showing up in person at your house tonight to give you a ride in our star ships, perhaps you might be interested in indulging us to tell you our stories. You will decide what you think we might mean when we say that we are writing \u201cwhat we have seen in our head\u201d.<\/p>\n

Before I tell my stories, however, perhaps we should think a bit about those of Clive Staples Lewis, the pre-eminent English author of the twentieth century. Where indeed did Lewis get those stories? \u2013 From an overactive imagination, from an overactive dream life or from the land of Narnia itself? Might there be more to his stories than first meets the eye?<\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Did C. S. Lewis ever visit Narnia? If he did, would he actually tell anyone? Probably not. Instead, he would tell people by writing fictional stories.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12953,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[14],"class_list":{"0":"post-12950","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"tag-books-by-jeremy-myers","8":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nDid C. S. Lewis Ever Visit Narnia?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Did C. S. Lewis ever visit Narnia? If he did, would he actually tell anyone? Probably not. Instead, he would tell people by writing fictional stories.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/did-c-s-lewis-visit-narnia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Did C. S. Lewis Ever Visit Narnia?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Did C. S. Lewis ever visit Narnia? If he did, would he actually tell anyone? Probably not. Instead, he would tell people by writing fictional stories.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/did-c-s-lewis-visit-narnia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Redeeming God\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-11-12T19:12:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-06-01T01:42:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/cslewis.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"414\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jeremy Myers\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@redeeminggod\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@redeeminggod\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jeremy Myers\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/did-c-s-lewis-visit-narnia\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/did-c-s-lewis-visit-narnia\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jeremy Myers\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c\"},\"headline\":\"Did C. S. Lewis Ever Visit Narnia?\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-11-12T19:12:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-06-01T01:42:59+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/did-c-s-lewis-visit-narnia\/\"},\"wordCount\":872,\"commentCount\":6,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/did-c-s-lewis-visit-narnia\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/cslewis.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Books by Jeremy Myers\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/did-c-s-lewis-visit-narnia\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/did-c-s-lewis-visit-narnia\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/did-c-s-lewis-visit-narnia\/\",\"name\":\"Did C. S. Lewis Ever Visit Narnia?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/did-c-s-lewis-visit-narnia\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/did-c-s-lewis-visit-narnia\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/cslewis.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-11-12T19:12:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-06-01T01:42:59+00:00\",\"description\":\"Did C. S. Lewis ever visit Narnia? If he did, would he actually tell anyone? Probably not. Instead, he would tell people by writing fictional stories.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/did-c-s-lewis-visit-narnia\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/did-c-s-lewis-visit-narnia\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/did-c-s-lewis-visit-narnia\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/cslewis.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/cslewis.jpg\",\"width\":\"300\",\"height\":\"414\",\"caption\":\"cslewis\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/did-c-s-lewis-visit-narnia\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Did C. S. Lewis Ever Visit Narnia?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/\",\"name\":\"Redeeming God\",\"description\":\"Liberating you from bad ideas about God\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c\",\"name\":\"Jeremy Myers\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eddb31e43c2836234b746787cbef8f12?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eddb31e43c2836234b746787cbef8f12?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jeremy Myers\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\"},\"description\":\"Jeremy Myers writes about Scripture and theology in a way that redeems God and people from the prison of religion. He is a popular author and blogger and often gives away free eBooks to his blog subscribers.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\",\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/redeeminggod\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Did C. S. Lewis Ever Visit Narnia?","description":"Did C. S. Lewis ever visit Narnia? If he did, would he actually tell anyone? Probably not. Instead, he would tell people by writing fictional stories.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/did-c-s-lewis-visit-narnia\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Did C. S. Lewis Ever Visit Narnia?","og_description":"Did C. S. Lewis ever visit Narnia? If he did, would he actually tell anyone? Probably not. Instead, he would tell people by writing fictional stories.","og_url":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/did-c-s-lewis-visit-narnia\/","og_site_name":"Redeeming God","article_publisher":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804","article_author":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804","article_published_time":"2012-11-12T19:12:16+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-06-01T01:42:59+00:00","og_image":[{"width":300,"height":414,"url":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/cslewis.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Jeremy Myers","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@redeeminggod","twitter_site":"@redeeminggod","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jeremy Myers","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/did-c-s-lewis-visit-narnia\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/did-c-s-lewis-visit-narnia\/"},"author":{"name":"Jeremy Myers","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c"},"headline":"Did C. S. Lewis Ever Visit Narnia?","datePublished":"2012-11-12T19:12:16+00:00","dateModified":"2013-06-01T01:42:59+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/did-c-s-lewis-visit-narnia\/"},"wordCount":872,"commentCount":6,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/did-c-s-lewis-visit-narnia\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/cslewis.jpg","keywords":["Books by Jeremy Myers"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/did-c-s-lewis-visit-narnia\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/did-c-s-lewis-visit-narnia\/","url":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/did-c-s-lewis-visit-narnia\/","name":"Did C. S. Lewis Ever Visit Narnia?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/did-c-s-lewis-visit-narnia\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/did-c-s-lewis-visit-narnia\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/cslewis.jpg","datePublished":"2012-11-12T19:12:16+00:00","dateModified":"2013-06-01T01:42:59+00:00","description":"Did C. S. Lewis ever visit Narnia? If he did, would he actually tell anyone? Probably not. Instead, he would tell people by writing fictional stories.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/did-c-s-lewis-visit-narnia\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/did-c-s-lewis-visit-narnia\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/did-c-s-lewis-visit-narnia\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/cslewis.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/cslewis.jpg","width":"300","height":"414","caption":"cslewis"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/did-c-s-lewis-visit-narnia\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Did C. S. Lewis Ever Visit Narnia?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/","name":"Redeeming God","description":"Liberating you from bad ideas about God","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c","name":"Jeremy Myers","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eddb31e43c2836234b746787cbef8f12?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eddb31e43c2836234b746787cbef8f12?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Jeremy Myers"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/"},"description":"Jeremy Myers writes about Scripture and theology in a way that redeems God and people from the prison of religion. He is a popular author and blogger and often gives away free eBooks to his blog subscribers.","sameAs":["https:\/\/redeeminggod.com","http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804","https:\/\/x.com\/redeeminggod"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12950"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12950"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12950\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}