Mere Christianity : a revised and amplified edition, with a new introduction, of the three books, Broadcast talks, Christian behaviour, and Beyond personality

by C. S. Lewis

Paperback, 2001

Status

Available

Publication

San Francisco : HarperSanFrancisco, 2001.

Description

In the classic Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis, the most important writer of the 20th century, explores the common ground upon which all of those of Christian faith stand together. Bringing together Lewis' legendary broadcast talks during World War Two from his three previous books The Case for Christianity, Christian Behavior, and Beyond Personality, Mere Christianity provides an unequaled opportunity for believers and nonbelievers alike to hear this powerful apologetic for the Christian faith.

Media reviews

Mere Christianity is full of memorable and powerful revelations that elucidate the foundations of Christian theology, our relationship to God, and the meaning of life. Only C.S. Lewis could summarize such broad concepts so eloquently without coming across as overly-religious or preachy. His
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extraordinary ability to focus on the core tenets of Christianity and explain them with remarkable ease reinforces the wide appeal of his writings. Regarding man's relationship with and need for God: God designed the human machine to run on Himself. He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed to feed on. There is no other. That is why it is just not good asking God to make us happy in our own way without bothering about religion. God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing. Regarding true happiness and freedom: The happiness which God designs for His higher creatures is the happiness of being freely, voluntarily united to Him and each other in an ecstasy of love and delight compared with which the most rapturous love between a man and a woman on this earth is mere milk and water. And for that they must be free. On pursuing truth and finding comfort in our lives: In religion, as in war and everything else, comfort is one thing you cannot get by looking for it. If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end: if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth -- only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin with and, in the end, despair. In a world that is often hostile to religion, particularly the Christian faith, Mere Christianity stands as a testament to truth, love, faith, and the value of human life; its enduring and inspiring message shines like a beacon, guiding and helping all those who have eyes to see and ears to listen.
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Mere Christianity is a long walk, through which Lewis holds your hand the entire time. It isn’t so much long in size (my copy is 191 pages) as it is in attention to detail. Lewis begins with human nature, the law, the ability to discern between right and wrong, and step-by-step, slowly but
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surely, comes to understand Christianity and God manifested all the way down to, by the end of the book, our daily lives and our every moments...Lewis does more than just “prove” Christianity, if you will. In establishing the Christian God as the only reasonable solution to, you know, everything going on in the universe ever, Lewis provides and expounds upon a context through which things like forgiveness, sexual morality, charity, hope, and faith can all be understood more fully in their role in the church.
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I am well aware of Lewis' writing talent and he is clearly an intelligent individual, so I feel unqualified to "critique" Mr. Lewis. However, I would like to comment on why, at least for me, Lewis' arguments for the existence of God are uncompelling.
Cotton candy apologetics - engaging and conversational but shallow.

User reviews

LibraryThing member nperrin
As a nonbeliever, I began reading Mere Christianity with the expectation that C.S. Lewis would give me a good argument to wrestle with mentally for a while. I had heard so much about this book, especially from people who got much closer to Christianity because of it, that I assumed it was not only
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well written but also persuasive and well thought out.

About a third of the way through, I was wondering when the persuasion and thoughtfulness would kick in. I had heard of the lunatic, liar, or lord trilemma but was disappointed in its simplistic and completely unsatisfying resolution. Most of the arguments seemed empty and the leaps of logic too glaring. Lewis's characteristic discomfort with women and sexuality was also evident throughout, though that was less of a surprise.

On the positive side, the overall tone of the book was very appropriate for a work of intellectual apologetics directed at the reading masses. Lewis's prose is very readable and this is a quick read, not dry or dull.
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LibraryThing member Terpsichoreus
It is no wonder that Christians should revere a miracle-working carpenter. I think one must be the son of a god to build an attic before the rest of the house.

There is no fundamental basis for Lewis' arguments. I was hoping to find something more thought-provoking and convincing, but it just felt
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like the same old ideas Aquinas and Descartes bandied around. These are no longer sufficient in a world of thermodynamics and evolution.

The skill and intellect of Lewis are without question, but the way he meanders about duality, truth, social darwinism, pathetic fallacy, comparative anthropology, and scientific process tends more towards self-justification than any profundity.

Lewis clearly wants to believe, and wants to bolster and justify those beliefs, but he never overcomes a reasonable burden of proof. Since belief seems so important to him, Occam's Razor suggests that he doesn't have a 'secret vault' of excellent religious proofs which he failed to elucidate here. He's put together the best indications he could find, but they don't add up to much.

Every time Lewis embarked on a thought, it would grow and blossom in intriguing ways until he would simply bunch together the whole bundle, tie it with a bow, label it 'god's handiwork' with a reverent bow, and move on before reaching an insight. It made me think the allegory in Onan has been widely misread.

The righteousness of his belief contrasts hypocritically with the way he blithely writes off any other faith or reason. To believe everyone else is so faulty but still think yourself infallible is not only insulting, but a black mark on any otherwise reasonable mind.

I like Lewis, both his tone and his mind. In many ways, I found I wanted to find something compelling in him. I wanted to find something that made sense. I sense Lewis also wanted to find something that made sense, something he could attach himself to. After being alone and afraid in a grand world ripped by World Wars, he wanted meaning.

He found it. He found a meaning he could cling to, but in reading this book, I found his grasp was too tentative. I cannot share it with him, because it does not find its tenacity in reason, but in romanticism, in idealism, in fear, and in self-blindness.
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LibraryThing member LisaMaria_C
Published in 1952, the book is based on a series of wartime radio broadcasts on Christianity. By "mere" Christianity Lewis means "common or central" Christianity. He says in his preface he made an effort to discuss those ideas that are without denomination, and he sent the second part, "What
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Christians Believe" to Anglican, Methodist, Presbyterian and Roman Catholic clergy asking for criticism to make sure he was right on the mark. He says he finds this particularly important in addressing his "unbelieving neighbors" and the book is an apologia, or argument for and defense of what he considers the Christian core beliefs--and as such particularly addressed as much or more to atheists as to believers. As an atheist myself who was raised as a Catholic, I can't say I find him convincing--or even enlightening about Christian belief.

The work is divided into four books. The first, "Right and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning of the Universe" is an argument for Natural Law ethics and for it as a proof of God's existence. Anyone who has taken an introduction to philosophy course knows there are three basic arguments for the existence of God: ontological (that by definition God must exist), cosmological (some great being must have created a universe) and teleological (a watch means there must be a watchmaker, a universe shows complexity and purpose that requires a designer). Lewis' argument is a variety of the teleological argument. All human beings have a common core morality. Such universality means a God must have designed it so. Moreover, it must be God's design, because we have no selfish interest in being moral. Lewis' argument from intelligent design is subject to all the refutations you can find in any philosophy text.

As for morality being something inconvenient and not selfishly "good" for us--I'd dispute that. One commonplace of market and bargaining theory is this. If you're only going to deal with a person once, it's in your best interest to cheat them. But that's not how markets work. We all have to deal with the same people again and again, and it's in our best interest therefore to treat people fairly and honestly. And on a personal level, well think of Scrooge. Who was happier? The miserly Scrooge eating thin gruel and going "Bah, Humbug?" Or the reformed, generous and benevolent Scrooge who became a much loved family member and friend? Virtues aren't something inflicted upon us by authority. That doesn't mean they're easy to practice or don't call for discipline and short-term denial in exchange for long-term payoffs, any more than it's easy to follow a diet even though it might be best for our health. Arguably virtues are the habits of mind and action that best helps human beings to flourish. And that doesn't need a God. As Lewis admits, they're fairly universal and accessible to all.

Even if you believe in God though, there's a huge gap between that belief and belief in the specific doctrines of Christianity. The second part "What Christians Believe" tries to jump that gap and can be summed up this way. Jesus claimed he could forgive the sins of others. Anyone claiming to do so if not God must be a "lunatic or fiend." The Jesus of the Gospels is neither lunatic or fiend, and therefore must be God. This begs the question. I actually don't think there's anything in the picture of Jesus in the Bible that proves that he wasn't delusional or (less likely in my opinion) claiming a connection with God he didn't have for personal ends. History is filled with would-be messiahs from Mohammed to Joseph Smith. There's no reason to believe Jesus or Mohammed or Joseph Smith has a special connection with God except the believer wills it so. And there's a third alternative. That Jesus was neither lunatic nor fiend but was misunderstood and misrepresented by the fallible men that wrote the works in the New Testament.

And speaking of the New Testament, one problem I have with Mere Christianity is if you're going to lay out what it is Christians believe, I think you should carefully parse your sources. I can't recall Lewis ever quoting the Bible, and he definitely mixes things the are core Christianity with elaborations infused with Greek and Roman philosophy. I defy anyone to show me anywhere in the Bible that discusses the "cardinal virtues." These come from the Pagan Greek philosopher Plato's Republic and were adopted into the Christian tradition though theologians such as Augustine and Thomas Aquinas familiar with classical philosophy. I would have liked to know what came from what Jesus reportedly said, what came from other New Testament sources and what is simply received Christian tradition. I get Lewis' purpose in trying to argue from the ground up for Christianity for the ordinary person, and not wanting to load it up with a history lesson. But if the book doesn't work for me as a good argument for Christianity, it's also not in my opinion necessarily the best place to explore just what is Christianity.

The third part "Christian Behavior" is where Lewis discusses those cardinal virtues, and the theological virtues (which come from Paul in the New Testament) and such issues as "Sexual Morality." I actually found that particular chapter fairly insightful and full of common sense. But as with the other talk of morality, where it makes sense, I don't think you need to bring in Christianity to argue for it, and when it doesn't make sense (such as Lewis' argument for the man being the head of the household in a marriage) it just focuses attention on a facet of Christianity which I don't think holds it up in an attractive light. For me, the last part, "Beyond Personality" about theology is about as meaningful as an argument about how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. For a Christian, Lewis' argument for the truth of the trinity may be profound. For me it was just... well nonsense. And non-sense.

C.S. Lewis is a very lucid writer and his arguments thought-out and presented well if you accept certain assumptions. I can imagine for many readers he has a lot to offer, but I can't say this did much for my understanding of Christianity, and despite Lewis claiming he aimed it at least partly at nonbelievers, I think this might be more for those Christians who want to think about the fundamentals of their faith and what it demands from them.
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LibraryThing member BritnaeP
I first picked up this book because I was intrigued by the title. Mere Christianity? I had never heard Christianity referred to as ‘mere’ before. Silly, perhaps, or all-powerful. But never such a tiny, harmless, powerful word such as ‘mere.’ I guess at first I expected this book to explain
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to me why I shouldn’t believe in Christianity; but it ended up being the most powerful argument I’ve ever read for why I should believe in Christianity.
C.S. Lewis makes a smart move in starting out his book without any mention of Christianity. He begins instead by explaining the basic common morals of mankind, regardless of any religion. He points out that all people are guided by a similar set of internal morals. He argues that the very existence of these morals is proof that a higher power exists.
From there, he slowly moves towards talking about Christianity by laying out the common beliefs of religions and compares them. When Lewis does talk about Christianity, it is no single sect of the religion. He clearly points this out in the foreword to the book, and this is where the word ‘mere’ comes from – it is the basic principles of Christianity he is talking about, not differences between, say, Catholics and Baptists. The rest of the book is Lewis stating what he believes to be these common beliefs, explaining them to those who may not be familiar, and then giving strong arguments to those who may not belief.
Though this is a book seeped with religion, the parts I loved most about this book were the parts where no specific religion was mentioned. In fact, the only reason I gave the book 4 ½ stars instead of 5 was because of the instances when he did mention religious specifics such as marriage or homosexuality, and I disliked his thoughts out of personal reasons. Most of the book, however, seems less like a guide to Christianity and more like a guide to being a good human being, which is the fundamental point of all religions. Lewis explains things in a straight-forward, relatable and easy to understand matter; I think there are few authors who could handle the complex thought patterns he deals with in such an eloquent way. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who believes in following the morally right way, regardless of their religion or lack thereof.
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LibraryThing member thereader
This brilliant work of Christian apologetics really hit home my own beliefs and questions. Mr. Lewis is an unabashed philosopher and mystic when it comes to Christian interpretations, and as a result I have a much better understanding of Christianity. Some of his comments may appear dated,
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especially in light of feminism, but please don't let this hold you back from reading it, or condemning the whole. A truly beautiful, important work.
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LibraryThing member martinrebas
C.S. Lewis comes across as a pretty nice guy with a gift for metaphors, so it's sad that his reasoning is so riddled with errors, from the false lord/liar/lunatic trilemma to his baffling inability to understand that secular morality doesn't have to be arbitrary.
LibraryThing member ggodfrey
Falderdash and bowlderall! C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity is widely regarded as the great rational defense of traditional Christianity against modernist materialism, but while his prose is exquisitely honed and his case is nicely constructed, his entire enterprise rests on a dubious sand foundation.
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Mr. Lewis starts out with some absurd propositions regarding conscience as evidence for God's existence, and uses this faulty soil to plant more and more ludicrous seeds which whither and die under scrutiny. Along the way he makes offensive arguments about the necessity for women to defer to men in a Christian marriage (um, sorry C.S.--Jesus didn't spout that nonsense, but rather St. Paul did after Your Savior kicked off (or achieved apotheosis)), and says that Christians are responsible for "nearly all the great poetry of Love." I think Hafiz or Sufi and a few hundred Japanese, Indian, and Chinese poets might object...not to mention some atheists. He also makes no strong case that Christianity is better than or more correct than any other faith.

But Mr. Lewis argues for a very palatable and tolerant Christianity, and says any truly Christian society must adopt a 'leftist' government. I'll take that over what we have here in the US any time. He's also a gifted writer, with an elegant facility for useful analogy that entertained me throughout, and he is certainly less concerned with judging others than many who profess his faith. I enjoyed the book, and liked working out counter-arguments along the way.
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LibraryThing member the.ken.petersen
What an incredible book.
Britain is suffering a monumental decline in religious belief: if this book were to be compulsive reading for each secondary pupil, that trend would be reversed in an instant. Lewis does not push Christianity: how often do these type of books contain phrases such as, "you
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would therefore be stupid to doubt the existence of..."? Not here.
The book is a carefully thought out argument in favour of a deity. He makes it very clear, at the beginning of the work, that he is not going to force the correctness of his Anglican beliefs but merely point out the inevitability of a creative entity.
One of the surprising side issues of this book is that it contains the clearest explanation of the concept of time that I have come across. The idea that time is not a linear progression is one that is prevalent in all scientific talk currently and, each time that it is explained, it becomes more confusing. Lewis gives this a perspective which is both believable, and understandable.
The only book which could be perfect (for me) is one written by myself, so, inevitably, there was one issue upon which I would have to disagree with the great man: the subject of women, where Lewis affirms the Old Testament concept that women should obey their man. This is a paragraph, or so, in a book of 200 pages and, I would like to believe that this is a view that he would have amended with more serious thought.
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LibraryThing member homeschoolmimzi
I've read C. S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia, Till We Have Faces, A Grief Observed and several other of his books, some fiction, fantasy and some essays, but this book was different- it read more like a conversation between Lewis and the reader. Mere Christianity is a compilation of three books
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which were originally radio broadcasts. I very much appreciated the informal tone throughout, and his quick wit and his explanations of key Christian doctrines. He wisely avoided going into specific denominational stances so to appeal to the larger Christian audience.

Lewis was gifted in how he explained concepts using analogies. There were many analogies that helped me, but one of my favorites was how he tried to explain the idea of God being outside of time:

If you picture time as a straight line along which we have to travel, then you must picture God as the whole page on which the line is drawn. We come to the parts of the line one by one; we have to leave A behind before we get to B, and cannot reach C until we leave B behind. God, from above or outside or all around, contains the whole line, and sees it all.

This book took me awhile to read; I found myself underlining so many paragraphs, and so I think this will be added to my books to re-read shelf. I'd like to read his other works now; The Abolition of Man, Miracles, and The Weight of Glory are but a few on my list!
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LibraryThing member paradoxosalpha
Mere crap.

A copy of this book was loaned to me by an Evangelical Free Church member who had come to visit my parents when the latter were shopping for a new congregation. The fellow was a Biblical inerrantist conspicuously lacking in social perception. Lewis' book shows him to be a comical
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bigot--certainly more intelligent, but not a whit wiser than the man who loaned it to me. I returned the book to its owner along with a long written critique, which I'd be happy to reproduce here, but I didn't keep a copy. All this transpired many years ago.

If you're an intellectually underfed Christian looking for some blithe arguments to justify your existing biases, then this book is for you. Others may read it for a sad demonstration of the sort of rationales such people adopt.
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LibraryThing member StMaryEugeneLibrary
The 20th century's greatest apologist, C.S. Lewis explains why Christianity is reasonable and introduces the basics of the faith in Mere Christianity, his greatest apologetic work. Despite Lewis' deep learning, the narrative has a friendly and occasionally chatty tone since these chapters were
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originally delivered live over the radio to the people of Great Britain during World War Two. Lewis presumes very little familiarity with Christian doctrine and avoids all sectarian and denominational questions; he begins with arguments from common sense rather than history or theology, making this the perfect book for someone who doesn't yet know much about Christianity. This work is the classic of the "introduction to Christianity" genre, the standard by which all others are measured. ~~ Ryan Hammill, SMCC Parishione
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LibraryThing member tangentrider
Such a good thinker and writer. His description of the core beliefs of Christianity is clear and elegant.
LibraryThing member kakkerman
A very detailed and thorough view of Christianity. Packed full!
LibraryThing member maryh10000
Not a bad intro to basic Christianity, especially if you want logic rather than personal testimony and bible quotes.
LibraryThing member hermit
The contents of this book were first given on the air, and then published in three separate parts as The Case for Christianity (1943), Christian Behaviour (1943), and Beyond Personality (1945) with edits he made only to make his broadcast have the same emphasis in the written form. The author has
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gone to great effort to write in the spirit of common Christianity and not delve into specific doctrine. More of what units us to Christianity and in his way the author has. Though I felt he was light on some areas of theology this was not what the author was writing about so I read it with an open heart. The author is humble and I believe honest in his writings and this is a good introductory book on Christian apologetics.
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LibraryThing member StilesIsMyBatman
CS Lewis is a brilliant man who is far more logical than I am myself. Because of that, I must admit, I didn't fully understand the entirety of the book. I had a hard time reading it because this type of book (but really any book that doesn't have a fictional plot line) is hard for me to get into
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and hold an interest in. But that is really on me and not on Lewis. He's a fantastic writer and makes some excellent points on Christianity in this book. There wasn't anything that I disagreed with, either. However, the reason I picked the book up was for a class I'm taking and otherwise, probably wouldn't have read it all. Still, I do recommend it for Christians and non-Christians alike, especially if one is curious about what Christianity is. The only reason I didn't give a full five star review was simply because this is not my kind of book.
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LibraryThing member allenkeith
This is about explaining the fundamentals of Christianity in a simple and profound way. It is what I call a 'fly-over' of Christianity – a survey of its essence. In this classic, C.S. Lewis demonstrates conviction in ardently holding to the pillar beliefs of The Faith. The author provides great
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examples and symbols that make more keen our senses for dealing with the ironies and the obscurities that make elusive our ability to gasp ultimate truth.
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LibraryThing member bke
Just another tedious christian apologisits book. Mere Christianity is logically weak, filled with antiquated views, and ignorant of some basic social science. Give it a miss.
LibraryThing member xuebi
With this introduction to Christianity, Lewis proves he is one of the greatest Christian writers, and Mere Christianity rightly takes its place as one of the most accessible works both by Lewis and on Christianity. Though not by any means an apologia for Christianity, it reminds its readers of the
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truly important matters of faith and makes often complex theology attractive and exciting. An essential book for any Christian on any stage of their journey in faith, and for those too who are sincerely inquisitive about the claims of Christianity.
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LibraryThing member xaglen
Mere Christianity, originally given as a series of radio lectures, is an intelligent, popular-level overview of basic Christian teachings. If you're looking for academic philosophy, look elsewhere. If you're looking for what you'd get from a conversation with an articulate friend, dig in.

Lewis is
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particularly good at helping unearth the assumptions that underlie and the implications that flow from our everyday beliefs about life, particularly about morality.

The book is from another generation and is dated in places, but it nonetheless resonates with many readers today. Highly recommended.
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LibraryThing member jimocracy
I just finished reading this book for the second time and I actually changed my rating from two stars to one. I've never seen someone use so many words to spout such utter nonsense and wild speculation. I have no idea why apologist hold Lewis up as the inspiration behind their need to defend
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Christianity. He provided no evidence but only made bold assertions. It was particularly disheartening to read all the parts where the author either asserted that he knew what God was like or that he knew how God thought. This book (and the fact that so many modern Christians hold it in such high esteem) is absolutely horrifying.
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LibraryThing member zangasta
Mostly waffle. Most of the waffle misrepresents, less or more severely, reality as I have slowly come to know it. As eloquently written as this waffle is, I'm glad I only have read it after I have acquired a more thorough understanding and insight into how the real world is put together.

Lewis
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thinks the world works a certain way and uses his excellent imagination to 'put across' his beliefs, but what helps that when his basic assumptions are false?

I have just read one more chapter, and have come to realise that this is not mere waffle. It is in fact dangerous waffle.

I would actually recommend it to any atheists who wish to understand the Christian mindset. They might just find it very enlightening and useful.
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LibraryThing member LTW
Mere Christianity is very simply that: a straitforward explanation of what Christianity really is. In an age when philosophical and theological modernism seeks to alter and even destroy the essence of Christ's teaching, Lewis makes plain what are the essential and unchangeable tenets of the
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Christian faith. To those who argue in favor of updated modernist versions of Christian beliefs, Lewis is telling them by inference, that their versions are not true Christian views. His way of explaining Christian doctrine is so logical as to seem irrefragable. But whether or not one accepts these views as truth, Lewis is declaring that this is what Christianity really is. Each one of us is free to take it or leave it.
This treatise of C.S. Lewis is an enormously important book for anyone seeking to understand basic Christianity. It is written in a style that gets to the heart of an idea he is expressing, almost instantly. You don't need to have any sophisticated understanding of theology to grasp the explanations he offers.
His treatment of the three Theological Virtues (Faith, Hope and Charity) and the four Cardinal Virtues (Prudence, Temperance, Justice and Fortitude) is very good. And everyone should know what he has to say about the Great Sin (Pride), which is so destructive to the self. The chapter entitled "Let's Pretend" explains how and why we should seek spiritual self-improvement, and I'll bet that there are ideas in this section that you never thought about.
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LibraryThing member rickynicholes
C.S. Lewis leads the reader along with him as he constructs Mere Christianity; reminding me of Jesus' parable in Matthew 7:24–27 in which a wise builder first constructs a solid foundation so that the rest of the structure may be safely laid upon it. Similarly, Lewis works as though he were
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constructing a house. The foundation is first laid of human nature and our relationship to the law. He builds on top that our relationship to our creator and then to each other. All the while, Lewis draws comparisons between our other options: if we are to think of ourselves as the judge of “good” or if we choose not to accept our creator as God etc., and brings about logic and reason. Having come from an atheist view and later choosing to follow Christ, Lewis brings about some hard truths which may come off as offensive, but for good reason.

As Lewis prefaces Mere Christianity, he explains that the work started out as radio broadcasts he later wrote down – scribing them as though he were speaking them out loud. This is a valuable piece to Lewis' structure of the book and an insight to the flow of his work. I had read the book once before finding it difficult to follow and needing to re-read the bulk of it. More recently, I listened to the audio book while following along in the printed copy. I have found this to be tremendously clearer and recommend the method.

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.' That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic- on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg- or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”

He speaks out of the lies we are told regarding sex, the worth-while risk God has taken on us for the sake of free will, and his opposition to imposing Christian morals on the rest of mankind. He finishes it up in the last section by talking about doctrine and reinforcing the “how”s and “why”s of Christianity. Within this book I have found some very meaty bits and amazing quotes which I had to refrain from plastering all over this post. You can most definitely google them or just read the work. Okay, there is one more that I feel is foundational and much on the contrary to the popular misconception of why Christians tend to resemble their Christ:

“That is why the Christian is in a different position from other people who are trying to be good. They hope, by being good, to please God if there is one; or- if they think there is not- at least they hope to deserve approval from good men. But the Christian thinks any good he does comes from the Christ-life inside him. He does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us; just as the roof of a greenhouse does not attract the sun because it is bright, but becomes bright because the sun shines on it.”

I enjoyed this book a great deal and recommend it to anyone trying to figure out what following Christ is all about – whether from a following perspective or a more inquisitive perspective looking in.
To see this review and others like it please visit the Booked and Convicted blog.
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LibraryThing member TheMadTurtle
It almost seems silly to write a review of such a wonderful piece of literature. This is, of course, a fantastic book. Whether you're a Christian or not, the book appeals on an intellectual level. Highly recommended.

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