The poetry in Spirits in Bondage, A Cycle of Lyrics, by C. S. Lewis reveals the worldview, thoughts, and especially feelings of the author written during that period when he struggled with God over his initial decision to become a Christian. Surprised, by Joy, written much later retrospectively, has a more measured, rational narrative of this period. Forty poems in three sections convey the intensity of this struggle.
Part I, the Prison House, shows the torment of a man who recognizes spiritual reality, reacting to the horrors of the battlefield of World War I and more broadly the battlefield of life on earth. He wrestles with the problem of pain writ large - if God is good, why does evil flourish and why do the innocent suffer? He recognizes Satan but sees a distant God, not yet having grasped the power of the Incarnation and the Atonement, of the price God paid to rescue fallen man. He writhes in emotional pain that the universe is so.
Part Two, Hesitation, briefly chronicles the invitation the author perceived, both from God to join Him at table, and from the multitude of those who have gone before him to faith. He hears their call to join them, and sees their blessedness. But he also sees the awesomeness of God, which he dreads. It is reminiscent of The Hound of Heaven, in which Francis Thompson recognized God’s love but fled from it, knowing that choosing Him would require the loss of all worldly values.
Part 3, The Escape, reads as though Lewis had a visit to heaven almost on a par with that which Paul described in 2 Cor. 12:2-4. Almost is a caveat because Lewis uses verse to convey the essence of that heavenly experience, which St. Paul was forbidden. There is no attempt to explain the process, of reason or explanation, by which he became a Christian. The inference is that it was experience, direct revelation of the rapture of heaven, of God’s nature and character, that overcame his objections. Lewis worked out his theology over the next forty years and wrote it down plainly for the rest of us. He included hints of his experience at the end of Till We Have Faces and The Last Battle. Curiously, although experience played a significant role in Lewis’ decision, in fiction he included them only at the end, after the hero or heroine had fought through through the obstacles.
We live in a world of desperation, yet unbelievers resist or reject outright Christianity. Whether this rejection is due to misunderstanding, akin to Lewis’, or outright rebellion against authority or any externally defined standards of good is the key difference for each individual. Rebellion akin to Satan’s will be broken by God in the end (Rev. 6:15-17), but mistaking God’s nature and character can be remedied by the gospel. Jesus came to set the captives free. We cannot arrange heavenly visits of divine rapture, but we can promise that God will respond to those who earnestly and honestly seek Him.
