"All Find What They Truly Seek" : C. S. Lewis, Latter-day Saints, and the Virtuous Unbeliever
Dialogue : A Journal of Mormon Thought
Fall 2010
43
2010
21-61
"My approach to Lewis and Latter-day Saints differs from previous approaches. Rather than selecting context-less proof-texts which resonate with Latter-day Saints, I will explore how Lewis's personal transition from atheism to Christianity led him to understand conversion as a process of coming home to God by embracing good and rejecting evil. For Lewis and Latter-day Saints alike, beliefs from an array of religions or philosophical traditions can be seen as signpost pointing to higher truths on the road home. Thus, part of Lewis's broad appeal results from an ecumenical view of other religions that is similar to (though looser than) that of many Latter-day Saints. First, I discuss a few aspects of Lewis's journey to Christianity and argue that his personal experiences along that path contributed significantly to his sympathetic understanding of other religious traditions and philosophies. The next section documents Lewis's views that conversion was a process, followed by the specific problem of the 'virtuous unbeliever.' The article concludes with the paradoxical problem that Lewis, in Mormon terms, is himself a 'virtuous unbeliever.' I explore the potential eternal status of inspired non-LDS post-Restoration voices." [From author's introduction]