One of the things I have been looking into lately has been C.S. Lewis’s spiritual formation. While those familiar with his biography will know about his conversion, his growth as a Christian is largely ignored. Part of the reason for this is that Lewis himself doesn’t talk much about it. Being a Christian for Lewis was a something that you didn’t contemplate, you enjoyed—or, to use the language of his Meditation in a Toolshed, you didn’t look at it, you looked along it.

Spiritual Direction

Still, there are things we do know about it. Aside from his extensive reading and his conversations with Christians like Owen Barfield, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Charles Williams, we know that in 1940 (9 years after his conversion), Lewis felt the need to seek out a spiritual director. As a result, he began meeting with Father Walter Adams of the Society of St. John the Evangelist in the nearby village of Cowley. Lewis met with him weekly for twelve years until Father Adams’ death for confession and absolution, along with discussion and instructions for practices and readings to help Lewis’s spiritual growth.

A Note about Confession and Absolution

For most evangelicals and for many Protestants, confession and absolution is a foreign concept. We confess our sins privately to God or at most do a general confession of sin at the beginning of church services (though many churches don’t even do that). Yet Anglicans and some Lutherans maintain provisions for optional confession and absolution by a priest or pastor. What is going on?

Scripture tells us in 1 John 1:9 that if we confess our sins, God will forgive them. The text doesn’t mention anyone other than God, so it seems that confessing to God is sufficient. On the other hand, James 5:6 tells us to confess our sins to one another and pray for one another and we will be healed. So confession to God brings forgiveness, but confession to another person brings healing.

There’s a lot of psychological truth in this. When we confess sins to another person, especially those that are habitual and hidden, they lose much of their power over us. Their secrecy gives them strength, and once that is gone, the process of healing is much easier.

Of course, confession in James is to “one another,” not necessarily to a priest or a member of the clergy. But there is an element of security in knowing that what is confessed will be kept secret. And though Protestants do not believe that the words of absolution are necessary for forgiveness or that a priest has any special authority to forgive sins by virtue of his office, hearing the proclamation of forgiveness of sins on the basis of Jesus’ work and his promise can be a great comfort for those struggling with guilt. So there can be value in the practice. Lewis certainly thought there was or he wouldn’t have done it.

Father Adams’ Advice

Lewis’s meetings with Father Adams helped shape his character and had a tremendous impact on his life and ministry, yet because they were private, not much is known about them. We can glean some things from Lewis’s personal practices and from the notes he made in the books he read. Lyle Dorsett’s Seeking the Secret Place: The Spiritual Formation of C.S. Lewis is probably the best source on this aspect of Lewis’s life, though Lewis’ Letters to Malcolm, Chiefly on Prayer discusses some of the important lessons he learned from Adams’ direction and his own experience.

Adams had Lewis follow the Anglican Daily Office (i.e. the liturgy for morning and evening prayer) and to pray through the entire book of Psalms monthly. Along with this, he would have a regular time of personal prayer, usually in the evenings. Lewis wasn’t initially very interested in the Lord’s Supper, but Adams insisted he receive it weekly, and over time it became very important to him.

Along with prayer, Scripture, corporate worship, and the Supper, Lewis believed it important to obey everything the Lord instructed him to do, even if only through an internal nudge. One example of this is that he believed God told him to answer every letter he received. This proved quite a burden, but he faithfully carried it out—and as a result, through the publication of these letters, we see a side of Lewis that would otherwise be unknown and have the benefit of a tremendous amount of practical wisdom that he shared with his correspondents.

C.S. Lewis’s Pastoral Advice

His letters were anything but formulaic. He crafted personal responses to each correspondent, addressing the specific questions raised and offering advice where asked. In general, Lewis’s basic recommendations for spiritual growth were similar to what he himself received, minus the Daily Office: learn to pray, read Scripture, attend church and receive the Sacrament, and obey whatever God tells you to do.

In our world, where prayer is often brief and perfunctory, where Bibles are bought but not read, where church attendance is in decline, where the Lord’s Supper is frequently downplayed, and where obedience is seen as optional (“did God really say X is wrong?”), this remains essential advice, and perhaps more essential than ever.