A little over a week ago, my random question of the day was “If you could have someone who is dead as a professor, who would you choose?” After I cleared up the fact that I wasn’t asking people who they would choose to murder, but who they would resurrect, I had some intriguing results.

For one thing, a surprisingly high proportion of people said they would bring Jesus back. As a Biola answer, that both makes a lot of sense, and very little- seeing as Jesus is alive. Following Jesus was C.S. Lewis, who came up over 20 times. C.S. Lewis was also my own answer. So, in an exercise of sheer extrapolation and musing meme-ry, let’s look at what it is that makes C.S. Lewis so popular with Biola students.

1. He comes up in almost every class discussion.

Maybe this should say "Jack, Jack, Jack." (Clive Staples chose to go by Jack, in honor of the family dog that died during his childhood.")

2. For Narnia!

Here at Biola, "The Chronicles of Narnia" is one of the series that you'll get a funny look for not reading, like the look you'll get if you haven't seen "Lord of the Rings" (though we're more lenient about not reading them. BTW, only two people wanted Tolkien for their dead professor.)

3. Two words — "Mere Christianity."

And "Abolition of Man," and "The Great Divorce," and "A Grief Observed, "and any of his other theological works.

4. He's very quotable.

I'm a little surprised that this hasn't shown up on a bumper sticker yet.

5. What an imagination!

This, for me, is one of the best things about C.S. Lewis. His stories bring God to light in a seemingly effortless way. And they're sneaky enough that people don't always realize that they're about God — but they make them want Him.

Lewis opened the wardrobe decades ago,but his writing continues to inspire today. So go grab a "Chronicle" and enjoy. Unless you're an atheist.

No... especially if you are one.