C. S. Lewis Superstar - Christianity Today Magazine:

"Clive Staples Lewis was anything but a classic evangelical, socially or theologically. He smoked cigarettes and a pipe, and he regularly visited pubs to drink beer with friends. Though he shared basic Christian beliefs with evangelicals, he didn't subscribe to biblical inerrancy or penal substitution. He believed in purgatory and baptismal regeneration. How did someone with such a checkered pedigree come to be a theological Elvis Presley, adored by evangelicals?"

I've always wondered about this. The article in Christianity Today attempts to provide an answer and they do a pretty good job. However, I suspect an additional answer is that many evangelicals have no clue what C.S. Lewis believed and some would be disturbed if they knew he did not share all of their beliefs. Biblical inerrancy, for example. That seems like a huge one.

But I think what the author of this article, Bob Smietana, says is true. The perception is that there are not that many "brainy" or intellectual Christians around who can so eloquently defend the faith in a way that makes sense to the common man or woman. Lewis might fall out of fashion with some, but he'll remain a staple for most of us thanks to his intelligence and his imagination.