Mere Christianity
By C.S. Lewis
The late CS Lewis, Oxford professor, scholar, author, and Christian apologist, presents a beautiful case for Christianity. Lewis employs logical arguments but not at the sacrifice of interesting and evocative writing. He describes those doctrines that most would have in common, e.g., original sin, the transcendent Creator God, and the divinity of Jesus as well as his atonement and bodily resurrection.
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Reviews
Why we believe what we believe
In October 2008, the Eylander young adult fusion group (aka Saturday Night Fever), began studying this book. Mere Christianity is broken down into 4 smaller books. We have found that reading one of the sub-books between fusion group meetings works great, and provides the right amount of material to discuss each time.
I chose this book because I wanted to challenge the young adults to think deeper, and try to understand the ’ why ’ we believe what we believe. Mere Christianity has done just that. We always have plenty of discussion topics, and usually run out of time before covering the entire assigned reading. Through book two, we have grappled with intriguing topics such as free will, the origin and battle between good and evil, natural law of absolutes, and many more. C.S. Lewis methodically explains what Christians believe with imagery and imagination you would expect from the same author of “The Chronicles of Narnia”.
Here is an excerpt about free will that caught our attention and gives insight into Lewis’ work: “Some people think they can imagine a creature which was free but had no possibility of going wrong; I cannot. If a thing is free to be good it is also free to be bad. And free will is what has made evil possible. Why, then, did God give them free will? Because free will, though it makes evil possible, is also the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having. A world of automata - of creatures that worked like machines- would hardly be worth creating…”
Mere Christianity is a great read, and I would highly recommend it for the fusion group looking to go deeper.
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About the Author
C.S. Lewis
Clive Staples Lewis (1898–1963), known as Jack to his friends, was one of the intellectual giants of the twentieth century and arguably the most influential Christian writer of his day. He was a Fellow and Tutor in English literature at Oxford University until 1954, when he was unanimously elected to the Chair of Medieval and Renaissance English at Cambridge University, a position he held until his retirement. His major contributions in literary criticism, children’s literature, fantasy literature, and popular theology brought him international renown and acclaim. Lewis and his good friend J. R. R. Tolkien, the author of the The Lord of the Rings, were part of the Inklings, an informal writers’ club that met at a local pub to discuss story ideas. Lewis’s fascination with fairy tales, myths, and ancient legends, coupled with inspiration drawn from his childhood, led him to write The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, one of the best-loved books of all time. Six further books followed to become the immensely popular The Chronicles of Narnia. The final title in the series, The Last Battle, won the Carnegie Medal, one of the highest marks of excellence in children’s literature. His other distinguished and popular accomplishments include Out of the Silent Planet, The Four Loves, The Screwtape Letters, and Mere Christianity.