C.S. Lewis became a Christian in 1931 after a period of renewed religious belief and intellectual debate. His conversion followed years in which he had moved from childhood Christianity to atheism and then back toward belief in God.
Lewis’s return to Christianity developed through reading, conversation, and reflection. His friendship with J.R.R. Tolkien and Hugo Dyson was especially important in the final stage of his conversion. Lewis later described becoming a Christian in 1931, though he distinguished between his earlier acceptance of theism and his subsequent acceptance of Christianity.
His conversion profoundly shaped his later work. Books such as The Problem of Pain, Mere Christianity, and The Screwtape Letters address Christian theology and moral life, while the Narnia novels use religious themes within fantasy narratives.
Some accounts simplify the process by presenting conversion as a single moment. Lewis’s own recollections describe a gradual intellectual and spiritual movement, with different stages leading to the Christian commitment he identified in 1931.