User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
I had to stop reading this, it was making me ill. It may be that every single sentence in this book is either wrong or offensive or inane or all three. Here's a passage from page 45 - CS is talking about what he calls Dualism (i.e. Manichaeism) whereby the existence of evil is explained by there being two equal forces in the Universe which are in perpetual contention, the Good one and the Bad one. CS says:
"If Dualism is true then the Bad Power must be a being who likes badness for its own sake. But in reality we have no experience of anyone liking badness just because it is bad. The nearest we can get to it is in cruelty. But in real life people are cruel for one of two reasons - either because they are sadists, that is, because they have a sexual perversion which makes cruelty a cause of sensual pleasure to them, or else for the sake of something they are going to get out of it - money, or power, or safety. But pleasure, money, power and safety are all, as far as they go, good things. The badness consists in pursuing them by the wrong method, or in the wrong way, or too much. i do not mean, of course, that the people who do this are not desperately wicked. I do mean that wickedness, when you examine it, turns out to be the pursuit of some good in the wrong way. You can be good for the mere sake of goodness : you cannot be bad for the mere sake of badness."
I was never that well versed in the subtleties of philosophical debate, and it is true that my brain has been progressively enfeebled by a constant dripfeed of Old Peculiar, chicken tikka masala and Italian exploitation movies, yet even I can see that this adds up to a pile of shit of Brobdingnagian proportions. Dualism is wrong because it is impossible to “like” badness for its own sake, huh? Because when you do bad things you’re really trying to achieve ends which are really good, but you’re going about it the wrong way, huh? Well now, let’s take our old devilish no-friend-of-mine Adolf Hitler. He was quite convinced that he was doing a GOOD THING by ridding Germany of all Jews. The idea was to eradicate every last one of them. The ultimate idea (though he recognised this was something for later generations and he would not live to see the glad day) was to murder every single Jew throughout the world, because in the very depths of his racist insanity he thought the Jews were Evil. So getting rid of them was Doing the World a Favour. As in – eventually, they will thank me for this gruelling but essential task. Okay, C S Lewis – ANALYSE THAT! How in whatever grotesque rhetorical contortion could that be construed as pursuing a GOOD thing in the wrong way?? There was a classic multiple murderer in 1972 in California called Herbert Mullin – he was a schizophrenic who was obsessed with the impending Big Earthquake and went around randomly beating 13 people to death because his brain told him THAT WAS THE WAY TO STOP THE EARTHQUAKE! I get it, CS, he was trying to do a GOOD thing in a BAD way. So he’s your example. But uh-oh, what about Josef Fritzl and the family in the basement? He knew what he was doing was Very Bad and it gave him a big thrill. He would go to friends' barbecues and fry steaks and chuckle to himself "if only they knew about my incest family in the basement!" Or anyway, take the case of any common or garden wife beater – what GOOD are they trying to achieve in the “wrong way”? Oh, wait – CS says that “power” is as far as it goes a good thing. So it must be that the violent man’s partner is preventing him feeling adequately powerful and so he wishes to restore his power over her – which CS thinks is good – but “in the wrong way”. My brain is reeling from the Grand Canyon of wrongness of all of this. I’m a little shocked.
This was written in 1952 and CS comes across as a wise old buffer in a cardigan speaking to an earnest younger man. Both their wives are rustling up something to eat in the kitchen and talking about whatever mysterious things women find so interesting. Meanwhile the men thrash out the deep questions. Here’s a pearl I think we all ought to cherish:
“there are situations in which it is the duty of a married man to encourage his sexual impulse” (p.25)
Here’s another:
“the reason we do not execute witches is that we do not believe there are such things. If we did… surely we would all agree that if anyone deserved the death penalty, then these filthy quislings did?” (p.24)
Surely we would, us avuncular old shitbags in cardigans puffing on our pipes and living in the real world as we do.
I think a copy of Mere Christianity should be provided free to every impressionable schoolchild in the country. It’d put them off for life.
******
WHY I THOUGHT OF READING THIS IN THE FIRST PLACE
Originally Pink Floyd was Syd Barrett's band - he was the lead guitarist, lead singer and only songwriter. Then he drank 5000 gallons of LSD and fried his brains. The other boys in the band were disturbed by his weird behaviour but he was still the golden goose for them. They would go round his house and he would teach them his new songs. One day, just before they decided he was too crazy and chucked him out, they went round and he taught them a new song with lots and lots of chords in it. Syd told them it was called "Have You Got It Yet?". He played it again and gleefully sang the chorus (have you got it yet, have you got it yet). They were baffled. he played it again. They still couldn't figure it out. Then they realised that every time he played it he was changing the chords around completely. "Have you got it yet?" - good one, Syd. Very funny.
For me, Christians are Syd barrett and I am one of the the duller Pink Floyd members. Every time the Christians play me their song they change the chords. So I still can't figure out what they mean when they speak these simple phrases with those little big words - "God", "saved", "life", "sin" - that kind of thing. Are the Christians deliberately vague and terminally woolly or are they subtle and insightful? Are they serious or do they just want to be in a big club? So I thought I would go back to C S Lewis and try to figure it out again.
Rating: really liked it
I finished listening to this book early this morning, a little before seven. I could not sleep, and as I lay in the darkness in need of some comfort and company, I thought that I should go ahead and finish it. I am glad I did.
I am perhaps a bit biased. I have always liked Lewis, ever since I read The Chronicles of Narnia in high school. My liking deepened for him when I saw the movie Shadowlands. Something about his life called to me. I have since done research on him and his journey from atheism to fervent Christian belief. I cannot deny how inspiring I find his life.
I started this book years ago, and put it down, not out of disinterest, but because of other priorities at the time. As far as I got, which was not far, I appreciated his methodical, clear approach. I always intended to finish it. I actually own two copies, one on my Kindle, and one paperback copy. When I saw this at the library on audiobook, I decided to listen to it. That was a good decision.
Mere Christianity is a book on the fundamentals of Christian belief. Its audience is not just Christians, but also non-believers, folks who would like to investigate the faith of Christianity, what it entails, and what it doesn’t. Although the Bible is the foundation of our beliefs, I think this book does an exceptional job of condensing, or explaining, if you will what Christians espouse.
I respect Mr. Lewis that he does not pretend to have all the answers. That he does not deny that there are some things he had not figured out. Nor does he deny that he struggled with some aspects of being a Christian at times. That is a strong testament to the life of a Christian. We admit that we are flawed folks in need of saving. We admit that we strive to know God and to have God work in us to make us more like him. That takes a fundamental humility, one that is rewarded time and time again. By breaking down and admitting our brokenness, we become whole by our acceptance of him who made all things.
There were parts of this book that spoke so intimately to my spirit, that I lifted my hand to praise God. For Mr. Lewis had indeed through the power of the Holy Spirit, put on paper that feeling that I believe all people who are born again in Christ feel and experience. For that alone, I could easily give this book five stars. However, it has yet more to offer.
I appreciate just as much, how logical Mr. Lewis is in his discussion of Christianity. While many feel that Christians are fools who believe in fairy tales, he shows just how much sense Christianity makes to those who choose to follow it. While atheism might have appeal for some, there is more appeal to those who choose to follow Christ than deciding to reject God in any form. He takes it a bit further to explain why some point in between atheism and Christianity (including other belief systems) won’t work for those who choose to follow Christ. We freely admit we have nothing to lose, looking at the facts, and yes, there are inescapable facts about Jesus Christ, not just found in the Bible, in human history recorded by those who have absolutely no stake in affirming or confirming that miracle of God begotten man who came and died and rose again for the sins of humanity. He also speaks into the facts about the nature of humanity and what makes us uniquely created to love and to interact with a Creator who became man so that we could have an intimate and real relationship with him. If we are fools to seek Christ, then why do the laws of human morality and that essential need inside ourselves point to the need for a savior, for fellowship with God?
I won’t say I didn’t struggle with some aspects. And Lewis does not in any way excuse the fact that he is saying things that are hard to face. I like that brutal honesty. Brutal honesty is as much a part of the Christian faith as the comfort is in knowing that while the walk in following Christ is a tough road, we do it not alone, but through the power of the Lord Jesus Christ, who lives in us and empowers us to follow him.
This book comes highly recommended by this reader. It’s not overly long, certainly not bogged down in theological doctrines that won’t make any sense to a person who does not belong to a specific Christian denomination or who isn’t even a Christian. In fact, Mr. Lewis works very hard to use concrete examples that illustrate his points. His analytical approach makes this profound spiritual message that much more powerful, because he does not seek to play on the reader’s emotional heartstrings or sentimentalities. As a lover of Christ, he does not seek to turn his message into another one of manipulation (as many view Christianity and the followers of this faith), for it’s far too important for that. I know that I will read this book again, probably more than once. I would like to come back to it and explore some of the thoughts here. They speak to me, and perhaps will speak to others, regardless of how they currently feel about Christianity.
Rating: really liked it
Read it, even for the last chapter alone!Most people have no idea about what Christianity is. That is the reason that CS Lewis' book exists.
If you are looking for a book that will convince you to take the leap of faith and become a Christian (like so many 1-star reviewers who said they were unconvinced) then don't waste your time. No book will convince you. However, if you are looking for the facts about real Christianity (not as a religion, but as a relationship) then you can't do much better than Lewis. Although his voice is rather formal (read: evidently British), seekers will give him some latitude on this. If you want the egg, get past the shell.
As an aside, I personally did not become a Christian because of the 'scientific facts,' although I did assure myself that I wasn't committing intellectual suicide by doing so. I used to be very fond of evolution. If you want this same validation, you can either talk to a Christian who knows the facts (as I did), or read something like what Lewis has presented. Simple.
If everybody read this book, I can imagine at least a few of the following would happen:
1. Most people in Western culture would stop calling themselves Christians, and would either become one or become a real athiest. They would at least be standing for something instead of falling for anything.
2. Other cultures would stop saying ignorant things like "America (or wherever) is a Christian nation." The facts in Lewis' work speak against this. They would stop saying that they have a holy war against these so-called Christians (who are in fact not Christians at all.)
3. Heaven forbid, some people might realize the inheritance and gift they could receive and actually choose to find out about God by taking an Alpha course or reading that "Bible" thing ;)
If you like reading novels, you'll probably find the book dry until the last chapter. But don't miss this book on that account. Even if you read only the last chapter (about the next evolution of humanity), you'll have captured a significant (and inspiring) picture of real (er, Mere) Christianity. When you do, you might just be tempted to go back and read the book and see what all the fuss is about (and how he could possibly make such an outrageous statement.)
Well , that was long and rant-ish. But I love you all and I hope you read this book.
Look at my Listmania for some ideas about other crucial books like Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas.
Feel free to contact me.
Cheers,
Danny
Rating: really liked it
Lewis is brilliant! Here's a quote from the book that's never left my head:
"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 the 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 patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to." (C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, The MacMillan Company, 1960, pp. 40-41.)
Rating: really liked it
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 thought-provoking and convincing, but it just felt like the same old ideas Aquinas and Descartes bandied around. These are no longer sufficient in a world of thermodynamics and evolution.
Lewis has some skill and intellect, 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. He puts together the best indications he can 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 nod, and move on, never 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 belief. To portray everyone else as 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. I wanted to find something compelling in him. I wanted to find something that tied his observations together. I sense Lewis also wanted to find something he could attach himself to. After being alone and afraid in a grand world ripped by World Wars, who wouldn't feel a desperate need for meaning?
And he found one. He found a meaning he could cling to, but only with a tentative grasp. Since it is not a meaning he can communicate, it is not one I can share. He does not find tenacity in reason, but in romanticism, in idealism, in fear, and in a blindness to his own faults, even as he seeks out those of others.
Rating: really liked it
I've been into spirituality and meditation for a long time now--I've been practicing a meditation technique called Deep Meditation daily for a year and a half now--but recently a good friend of mine (my best friend), who is one of the strongest believers I know, has introduced me to Christianity as a faith and the teachings of Jesus, the Word, the Bible, and church. At first I was very confused about some things, there was a clash in my beliefs--what is sin, confusion surrounding sex, and what God exactly is. I really wanted to delve into Christianity, but I didn't want to "identify" myself with a religion. I didn't want the baggage and the conditioning that could come with Christianity. Mere Christianity has helped me in so many ways. CS Lewis is very logical, and he was once an atheist, so it's easier to listen to his arguments. He talks about a moral standard that we all feel inside, and how Christianity is about living an ideal without taking personal pride in our performance. I'm half way through the book, but so far I'm further convinced that Jesus is my savior and that Christianity is right for me. I feel God's presence in my life. I feel that my future on this path is fulfilling, and I hope that anybody who is confused about their spiritual beliefs, or anyone who wants to take a peak at Christianity and see if it is right for them, should check this book out.
Rating: really liked it
People either love this book or hate it. Without passing judgment I don't see how people can actually hate it. Seriously. C.S. Lewis simply breaks down the fundamental truths of Christianity. Personally I love how he goes beyond all the denominations, beyond who's more right, beyond who's more wrong and finds that common thread they all seem to follow. From there it's a real eye opener.
However, I do have to say the book is so rich with philosophy I found myself reading sentences several times over. His examples also became somewhat tedious because he'd give one example, then he'd give another one (just incase you didn't get the first one), then he'd give yet another one. By the third one sometimes I found myself somewhat confused and had to read them all over again, and again, and again.
Some of my favorite chapters were "Christian Marriage", where he describes what true love really is and "Is Christianity Hard or Easy?", where he puts laziness in a whole new perspective. By the end of the book I caught myself viewing things from a completely different angle.
Rating: really liked it
I read this for the first time a long while ago, and then again in December of 2007. Each time I read it I find something new. It's fairly amazing to be able to point to a page and say, "That was me a year ago, a month ago, a day ago!"
This is not a new set of instructions on how to be a Christian—it's a very straightforward explanation of the roots of the Christian faith, a naked package of easy to understand information which builds logically from the very beginning. It starts off with an appeal to every man's human nature, then goes about covering every base as to why man's nature is the way it is. Lewis is careful to present each alternative path of question and then refute it using logic and reason which should appease the skeptic and the doubtful.
The book is full of good humor and amiable narrative, but Lewis doesn't compromise or sugar-coat the cornerstones of the Christian faith. It is what it is, and by the time one is through with the book, whether he decides it is something he wants to make the central part of his life or not, there is no question as to what is actually is. The lines of choice are quite cleanly cut, and there's no room left to meander in the middle without a good deal of trying to convince oneself that he/she didn't just read what he thinks he did.
It's a fairly short and easy read, considering the subject matter, though not for those who are looking for an easy way out. I'd recommend it to anyone, really. Christianity is so often misunderstood, mostly due to media coverage and misconceptions about the people in the Church themselves. I think that a lot of people, Christian and non-Christian, have the idea that when someone becomes a follower of Christ the whole of their behavior and attitude changes overnight; then when they foul up, it seems like everyone enjoys talking about it and seeing it. This book talks about matters of the heart like this business of being happy to find others in the wrong, or becoming proud with one's own "successes" in Christianity. Lewis talks about Christianity being a process of producing a particular kind of new man, instead of a group of people who follow a set of rules. Interestingly enough, it is also these actions created in us by God's Spirit, saying "yes" to His prompting and the way He wants us to live, which miraculously turn us into these new sons and daughters of God. Lewis also talks about how this process is worked through us, so that we have no room to be proud or think that it's of our own doing. His illustrations are useful and easy to understand, but he warns us not to substitute them for the Real Thing. Likewise, his book is not the Bible itself—it is merely here to help and to give a defense of what he calls "Mere Christianity", the beliefs which are common to all Christians, the things on which we do not differ. Where one is confused about what it means to be a Christian, how one is saved and changed, and what it demands of the individual, Lewis explains what it means to become a son or daughter of God.
I think that this book is useful for anyone who is a Christian, who is deliberating on whether or not to become one, or who has a Christian friend. Or, if one is interested in studying Christianity for personal enrichment, he's most likely to gain more understanding from this book than any humanities or civilization textbook. It's one of my favorites, because the misrepresentation of Christianity in the media and by people who hardly understand it has been a source of frustration for me throughout the majority of my life.
Rating: really liked it
C. S. Lewis wove doctrines and lessons regarding the Christian faith throughout his other works, notably the Chronicles of Narnia. Ergo, I was surprised when reading this novel that to learn that
he used to be an atheist.
A religious book, written by an ex-atheist? I was alight with curiosity.
What caused the switch? By studying the faith (as an effort to become better at atheism) he found religion. A strange, roundabout way to go by things but nonetheless thoroughly interesting.
Lewis slowly, but surely explains the hows and whys he found himself converted. He starts with a long (and slightly difficult to follow) discussion regarding the reasoning behind there being a God (opposed to many or none).
From there he narrows slightly, circling closer and closer until he reaches Christian doctrine (i.e. the holy trinity). However, he never pinpoints on the differences between Catholics or Lutherans (etc). He does not
preach only one denomination rather he expounds on
core truths and beliefs of Christianity as a whole.
His explanations put to rest several questions I had and answered ones that I hadn't known to ask.
Everyone thinks forgiveness is a lovely idea until he has something to forgive.
When you argue against Him you are arguing against the very power that makes you able to argue at all: it is like cutting off the branch you are sitting on.
As admirable as this novel is, he does preach a few beliefs and interpretations were common back then but are not shared with as many nowadays.
For example, there are a few anti-gay statements and a few about women belonging in their places. A clear example of that, is when he touches on the subject of men being the heads of households:
why the man? Well, firstly, is there any very serious wish that it should be the woman?
There must be something unnatural about the rule of wives over husbands, because the wives themselves are half ashamed of it and despise the husbands whom they rule.
So, taken with a grain of salt - this book does provide an fascinating look into the core beliefs of the Christian religion.
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Rating: really liked it
What an astounding, impressive, fulfilling read. I am not normally a non-fiction reader unless it is a good historical piece or biography ... those I will lap up. But a book on religion? As a pretty dedicated church goer myself, I must candidly say that unless the book is actual scripture itself, it might as well be one of those desperately snobbish self-help books full of zippy motivation quotes and the same principles you find in all other books of the same genre, just worded slightly differently. Yet in Mere Christianity, I found none of the superficiality I've previously experienced with other books that delve into philosophic explorations of religion. This is a real study, a deep probe. There is nothing artificial about it. Thank goodness my wife is a huge C.S. Lewis fan or I might not have picked it up at all. But she recommended it to me, and I had it on a trip, and for hours and hours I read, mesmerized in a way that few thrillers can even achieve. What did I find? I found that in this work C.S. Lewis single-handedly legitimizes religion as a belief, lifestyle, and philosophy. And what makes Lewis most credible is that Mere Christianity is not designed to make any reader comfortable, from agnostic to new age believer to hard core Christian. His ideas and reasoning are solid and unavoidable. His ability to address concerns is acute and thorough. He is not pompous, but he is confident. Where he is unsure of something, he admits it, though I'd be careful to deviate from such a sound philosopher. Probably his greatest talent is his use of applicable examples and parallel images. Where a concept is vague, he has the ability to nail it down, to apply it to the known. C.S. Lewis rings of truth throughout. And probably the most important thing in his book, or in any book for that matter, is that when I put it down, I was determined to be a better person, to fix up deficiencies in my life. Mere Christianity is not "merely" another book on religion or Sunday School manual; it is a call to arms for every person who picks it up, regardless of their faith. Go to it with an open mind, and be prepared to act afterwards.
Rating: really liked it
Wow! What does one say when reading pure genius? Whether one chooses to agree or disagree with C.S. Lewis, his incredible mind, reasoning skills, and power of deduction are absolutely astounding.
In this book, he chronicles his journey from devout atheist to committed Christian, recounting each step with his original assumption, then recording his intellectual journey through each idea to it's end result. With each conclusion he includes understandable and often masterful examples. For instance: After starting the journey from his original question of where the ideas of "right" and "wrong" actually come from (He began this during the upheaval of WWII amid the question afforded the Allied Forces as opposed to the Nazis, which adds a unique understanding of his purpose) Lewis comes to accept that there must be an overall "good" force and "bad" force fighting for supremacy. He then equates the human struggle with "living behind enemy lines" or in the enemy camp - after aiding and abeding that enemy if one realizes he/she is on the wrong side what does one have to do? They must surrender to the other side. Not just walk across the line to be accepted but literally lay down his weapons, beg asylum and put oneself at the mercy of the opposing force. A better example of accepting God, I have not found. Of course, this simplified paraphrase does not come close to the overall thought process that Lewis employs. This same thought process carries through with every single point encountered defining Christian teachings.
A word of warning, however. This book really can't be read quickly. It is one that must be digested slowly. Each point must be presented, pondered, then either ingested or thrown out. It takes time and thought or it's a waste of the money and time invested in obtaining the book in the first place.
Rating: really liked it
I was aware of this book in my childhood but never read it until now, because I'm working with two C.S. Lewis classes and wanted to get a better sense of his theology. I know some people still use this book as a way to explain the tenets of the Christian faith, but I think that is unwise for several reasons:
-Most of the book is based on church (not Biblical) teachings, which are only really emphasized inside certain denominations. The virtue/vice lists and the trinity concept - these are frameworks that have been placed on the practice of religion, more of a way of talking about morality than anything else. While they have a longstanding tradition within one end of the spectrum, they are absent in others. Lewis claims to defend the main concepts, but I'm not sure what he picked is what I would have picked, having come from a different background within the same religion.
-The narrow view of Christianity continues in his pronouncement that "anyone who professes to teach Christian doctrine" will tell you to use all three - baptism, belief, and "Holy Communion." In practice only belief seems to be central to all denominations.
-Lewis is a product of his time. He claims refusing to fight in war is a sin, calls homosexuality a perversion, and jokes about why anyone would ever want a woman as a decision maker.
-Lewis has a meandering way towards most of his conclusions. One minute he's talking about letters in envelopes and then he's saying, "See, this proves God exists." Some of the time I followed him and others I felt he was being deliberately obtuse.
-Several times Lewis says "you might think x but let me explain to you why you are incorrect." I should have just stopped there. The great irony is that he will go on to show why he thinks pride is the worst sin. :)
Rating: really liked it
Mere Christianity is such a classic work, and having been read by millions over the past sixty years plus years, it is difficult to say anything new about it. As the years have rolled on though, a different society, with different needs and expectations has arisen that sees the world a little different than the British society, in the midst of all the moral and spiritual challenges that happened in the World War II years.
Lewis' is more of a classic apologetic. He speaks of universal laws, the differences between longstanding morality and modern psychology, and the logic of why the Christian Gospel, of the invasion of humanity by the God/man Jesus and how theology is constantly practical in every area of the individual, personal lives of moder people. Mere Christianity answers quite well the challenges of its, and still to a large extent, our age.
What the reader is struck with again, upon reading the Oxford professor and Christian lay leader, is just how understanding he is of the typical struggles that the believer faces. The strains of applying mere Christianity to sex, marriage, the life of real faith and social morality remain real and if anything the tensions have increased since the 1940's.
This remains a valuable book, and one that large numbers of people have used to understand just how practical an adult and real a faith in Christ is. For many today, there is doubt about the effectiveness of family, real social interaction, the reality of history and the possibility of real power being humble. Yet to some degree, these strains have always existed, even back to the time of the first Christians. For this, Lewis as a very practical laymen, has done a wonderful job of showing that mere Christianity is a lot more than a whole mass of systems and ideologies, and that in comparison, they are worldly and ultimately worthless next to the Saviour/ carpenter from Nazareth.
Rating: really liked it
“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 the 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.”
I am somewhat confused about some of the reasoning behind those giving this work one or two stars. From what I have seen it appears to be that C.S. Lewis does not justify his explanations well enough - that there is not enough of a burden of proof that he has fulfilled. Or that his writing, his work, is far too offensive.
For the first, I believe that those who read this work expecting to see some kind of justification for belief will be disappointed. Lewis himself explains that what
Mere Christianity is about is more of an explanation of what all Christian denominations hold to be truth - it is not so much an argument for why these are held to be true. As for Lewis being offensive - yes, yes he is. For that matter, so is Christianity. Christianity should be so offensive to modern thinking so as to be near inconceivable - but that does not make it any less truthful. Nor does it mean that Christians need to be offensive.
Lewis is of course far more readable (and likeable) than Friedrich Nietzsche, yet I feel they are two sides of the one coin. Both view the issues in their modern societies and reflect critically upon them. However, where Nietzsche always asserts his views in first person as if they are fact (where they are opinion), Lewis works his way through his reasoning in the third person - questioning rather than asserting. They are both equally aggressive (and depending on your values as I said, offensive) but one sees Christianity as all that is wrong in this world and the other sees the world as all that is wrong in this world.
I was talking to my father the other day when I said that "I think the funny thing to me about most academics at University, is that they so completely misunderstand Christianity. They think it's about becoming 'good enough' to get into Heaven." To which my Dad turned around and agreed saying, "That is because most churches don't understand Christianity well enough and keep preaching works-based repentance."
For anyone not understanding what I mean by 'works-based repentance', it should be the assertion of every believe that is is by faith that you are saved. However, far too often Churches end up preaching a confused gospel that states something like 'it's a little bit of faith and the rest is you doing stuff to make you good enough'. No. It's all meant to be faith - with anything else stemming from faith.
As Lewis says here in
Mere Christianity: "For mere improvement is not redemption, though redemption always improves people even here and now and will, in the end, improve them to a degree we cannot yet imagine. God became man to turn creatures into sons: not simply to produce better men of the old kind but to produce a new kind of man."
Lewis is full of these kinds of quotable statements throughout the book as he explains not why he believes, but what he believes. G.K. Chesterton is a much better source (in
Heretics and
Orthodoxy for looking into 'why' someone believes - but at the core of it all is of course pure faith - based upon the rational but appearing irrational).
"The Christian way is different: harder and easier. Christ says 'Give me all. I don't want so much of your money and so much of your work: I want You. I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it...'"
It is statements like these that show the confronting nature of Christianity. As Lewis says elsewhere in the book, Christianity is a fighting religion. And in a world that tries to destroy its held truths, it needs to be. As Lewis explains, merely because something is offensive does not make it any less true - and relegating it down to the 'nice moral principles' is no way to go either.
Lewis begins his book by first addressing the concept of 'fairness' and 'foul-play'. He explains that we all have within us, a notion of good and evil, a notion that he calls the Law of Human Nature. He combines this with other ideas to explain the concept that humanity is essentially flawed - that something is not right. By stating this he therefore continues to explain that there is a need within all of humanity for spiritual help. A need that he continues to expand upon throughout the rest of the work, explaining that Christianity serves to address and answer that need.
There is even an address about morality and Christianity, whereby Lewis explains that Christianity is not merely a moral religion, but that there are morals that are connected to being a Christian. He discusses things like: prudence, temperance, justice and fortitude - the 'Cardinal Virtues' and the great sin of pride (establishing yourself above others). He explains that prudence means common sense - the idea that Christians should not be unintelligent by any means (though so many appear to be - judging by all the 'you will burn in hell for this' comments you can find on Facebook or instagram) and that temperance is not about complete abstinence. After all, alcohol and sex were created by God. The issues come when, as Lewis so clearly explains, you depend upon such things as a crutch to get you through life, where you have an unhealthy interest in them - that is temperance. Justice and fortitude mean respectively fairness and courage.
Essentially this is a book of complexity and simplicity - much like Christianity itself. Anyone looking for a resource to affirm faith and to help you consider the questions which Christianity attempts to address should think about reading this work. It's one of the better works I have read by any Christian author and definitely a classic of faith. Lewis makes Christianity open and easier to understand - he truly shows mere Christianity as it should be, most denominational and individual beliefs aside.
Rating: really liked it
My second non-fiction book by C.S.Lewis (1898-1963) and, although I liked A Grief Observed more, I also liked this one.
This book
Mere Christianity (published in 1953) was based on the transcript of the BBC radio broadcast that Lewis gave at Oxford during World War II (1941-1944). It was a hit because at that point, Lewis had already published a number of fiction and non-fiction books including
Out of the Silent Planet (1938),
The Problem of Pain (1940) and
The Screwtape Letter (1942). What added to the appeal was that Lewis was an agnostic professor and was only converted back to Christianity (Anglican) at the age of 32 through the influence of the literary group called the "Inklings" where he and fellow Oxford professor and friend, J.R.R.Tolkien were members of.
I found Lewis' narration here a bit wordy and he tended to repeat himself and he used big, vague, inexact words and phrases. Maybe this was because of the fact that this was based on the radio broadcast's transcripts. Being a popular moralist, I also detected some arrogance in his pronouncements as if he knew everything about Christian Faith. An example of this was when he quoted phrases in his book and claimed that those are said by Jesus Christ. I am not a Bible scholar or something but recently I've finished the Holy Bible (Revised Standard Edition) from cover to cover. However, I did not encounter some of the passages that he enclosed in quotation marks ("___") in this book. Those were in quotes so Lewis gave me an impression that those were uttered by Jesus Christ himself. To give you an example, go to Book IV, Chapter 8, Paragraph 3 and this was what he wrote:
The Christian way is different: harder, and easier. Christ says "Give me All. I don't want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work: I want You. I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it. No half-measures are any good. I don't want to cut off a tree down. I don't want to drill the tooth, or crown it, or stop it, but to have it out. Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires which you think innocent as well as the ones you think is wicked - the whole outfit. I will give you a new self instead. In fact, I will give you Myself: my own will shall become yours."
Although Lewis meant well, quoting Jesus as if his thoughts were His, was like blasphemy to me. This is one problem I have with evangelists who are so popular that fame has already gone up to their blown-up heads. I am not saying that Lewis was swell-headed. All I am saying is that I see those evangelists around (including those in television) who speak like they are the kings of the world or they have special personal covenant with God.
The other two minor points that I also saw (and I am sorry if these appear as nitpicking) were the instance when Lewis referred to homosexuals as perverts and at one point he used the "n" word. I know that these could be acceptable during his time but I just got a bit annoyed when I was reading the book.
However, it is hard to dislike this book or to discount its significance. Lewis made a lot of good points in this essays. For example, he was on-the-dot when he said that most Christians do not need to be taught how to tell whether a thing is right or wrong because they already know. What most Christians need is to be reminded. This book's main purpose seems to be that and in my opinion, it achieved that objective. He also admitted that since he was a bachelor, he felt not in the right position to advice about marriage. So, for me, there were still humility and sincerity in him.
He also gave beautiful examples to illustrate his main points and there were many quotable quotes that you can collect from this book. In fact, as I am fond of dogearing pages with beautiful passages, I think a quarter of the pages are now dogeared and there were those pages that I could not decide whether the dogear should be to the left or to the right because both sides have beautiful passages so I just marked those with a pen. I normally don't mark my books with pen because writing on the book is a discourteous act for me.
My only advice for those who are considering on reading this? Read the Bible first because you might be misled when Lewis talks as if he gets his words directly from the scriptures. A small friendly suggestion.
Thank you to Cary, Kwesi, J.L., Tina and Dante for being my book buddies!
