Mere Christianity

1st US edition

Author(s) C. S. Lewis

Language English

Subject(s) Christianity

Publisher Geoffrey Bles (UK)

Macmillan Publishers (US)[1]

Publication

date

1952

OCLC

Number

23033258 (http://worldcat.org

/oclc/23033258)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mere Christianity[2] is a theological book by C. S. Lewis,adapted from a series of BBC radio talks made between1942 and 1944, while Lewis was at Oxford during WorldWar II. Considered a classic of Christian apologetics, thetranscripts of the broadcasts originally appeared in printas three separate pamphlets: The Case for Christianity(1942), Christian Behaviour (1943), and Beyond

Personality (1944).[3] Lewis was invited to give the talksby Rev. James Welch, the BBC Director of ReligiousBroadcasting, who had read his 1940 book, The Problem

of Pain.[4]

1 Thesis1.1 The Case for Christianity1.2 Christian Behaviour

2 Symbolism3 Cultural impact4 References5 External links

Lewis, an Anglican, intended to describe the Christiancommon ground. In Mere Christianity, he aims atavoiding controversies to explain fundamental teachingsof Christianity, for the sake of those basically educated as well as the intellectuals of his generation, forwhom the jargon of formal Christian theology did not retain its original meaning.

The Case for Christianity

Lewis spends most of his defense of the Christian faith on an argument from morality, a point whichpersuaded him from atheism to Christianity. He bases his case on a moral law, a "rule about right and wrong"commonly known to all human beings, citing the example of Nazism; both Christians and atheists believedthat Hitler's actions were morally wrong. On a more mundane level, it is generally accepted that stealing isviolating the moral law. Lewis argues that the moral law is like the law of nature in that it was not contrivedby humans. However, it is unlike natural laws in that it can be broken or ignored, and it is known intuitively,rather than through observation. After introducing the moral law, Lewis argues that thirst reflects the factthat people naturally need water, and there is no other substance which satisfies that need. Lewis points outthat earthly experience does not satisfy the human craving for "joy" and that only God could fit the bill;

humans cannot know to yearn for something if it does not exist.[5]

After providing reasons for his conversion to theism, Lewis goes over rival conceptions of God toChristianity. Pantheism, he argues, is incoherent, and atheism too simple. Eventually he arrives at Jesus

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Christ, and invokes a well-known argument now known as the "Lewis trilemma". Lewis, arguing that Jesuswas claiming to be God, uses logic to advance three possibilities: either he really was God, was deliberatelylying, or was not God but thought himself to be (which would make him delusional and likely insane). Thebook goes on to say that the latter two possibilities are not consistent with Jesus' character and it was most

likely that he was being truthful.[5]

Lewis claims that to understand Christianity, one must understand the moral law, which is the underlyingstructure of the universe and is "hard as nails." Unless one grasps the dismay which comes from humanity'sfailure to keep the moral law, one cannot understand the coming of Christ and his work. The eternal Godwho is the law's source takes primacy over the created Satan whose rebellion undergirds all evil. The deathand resurrection of Christ is introduced as the only way in which our inadequate human attempts to redeemhumanity's sins could be made adequate in God's eyes.

God "became a man" in Christ, Lewis says, so that mankind could be "amalgamated with God's nature" andmake full atonement possible. Lewis offers several analogies to explain this abstract concept: that of Jesus"paying the penalty" for a crime, "paying a debt," or helping humanity out of a hole. His main point,however, is that redemption is so incomprehensible that it cannot be fully appreciated, and he attempts toexplain that the method by which God atones for the sins of humanity is not nearly as important as the factthat he does so.

Christian Behaviour

The next third of the book explores the ethics resulting from Christian belief. He cites the four cardinalvirtues: prudence, justice, temperance, and fortitude. After touching on these, he goes into the threetheological virtues: hope, faith, and charity. Lewis also explains morality as being composed of three layers:relationships between man and man, the motivations and attitudes of the man himself, and contrastingworldviews.

Lewis also covers such topics as social relations and forgiveness, sexual ethics and the tenets of Christianmarriage, and the relationship between morality and psychoanalysis. He also writes about the great sin:pride, which he argues to be the root cause of all evil and rebellion.

His most important point is that Christianity mandates that one "love your neighbor as yourself." He pointsout that all persons unconditionally love themselves. Even if one does not like oneself, one would still loveoneself. Christians, he writes, must also apply this attitude to others, even if they do not like them. Lewiscalls this one of the great secrets: when one acts as if he loves others, he will presently come to love them.

The structure of the book is symbolic of Lewis' own transition in faith. By first only talking about the law orright and wrong and not adding a Christian standpoint on his behalf he shows that he is a non-believer. As heprogresses into the second part of the book he begins to show some Christian thought and his belief in Jesus,but not necessarily everything in the Bible. In the third part, Lewis takes a Christian standpoint and showsthat his transformation has been completed. This symbolism also shows that faith grows over time and is notsomething that stops progressing. Faith comes in stages, as Lewis' did, and continuing to grow in your faith ispart of understanding your faith. It is also a symbolic way to show that there is always room forimprovement. Lewis sees that his faith is improving, and he strives to keep improving in his life.

In 2006, Mere Christianity was placed third in Christianity Today's list of the most influential books

amongst evangelicals since 1945.[6] The title has influenced Touchstone Magazine: A Journal of Mere

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Christianity and William Dembski's book Mere Creation. Charles Colson's conversion to Christianityresulted from his reading this book, as did the conversions of Francis Collins, Josh Caterer and thephilosopher C. E. M. Joad.

A passage in the book also influenced the name of contemporary Christian Texan Grammy-nominatedpop/rock group Sixpence None the Richer. The phrase, "the hammering process" was used by Christianmetal band Living Sacrifice for the name of their album The Hammering Process. Metalcore band, NormaJean, derived the title of their song "No Passenger: No Parasite" from the section in the book in which Lewisdescribes a fully Christian society as having "No passengers or parasites". Singer Brooke Fraser wrote the"C.S. Lewis Song" from the album Albertine, which is heavily indebted to Lewis's works, including the lyric"If I find in myself desires nothing in this world can satisfy / I can only conclude that I was not made forhere."

^ Lewis CS. "Mere Christianity" (http://worldcat.org/oclc/23033258&tab=editions) . WorldCat.http://worldcat.org/oclc/23033258&tab=editions. Retrieved 2007-07-16.

1.

^ Lewis, C. S. (2001). Mere Christianity: a revised and amplified edition, with a new introduction, of thethree books, Broadcast talks, Christian behaviour, and Beyond personality. [San Francisco]:HarperSanFrancisco. ISBN 0-06-065292-6.

2.

^ Douglas R. Gilbert, Clyde S. Kilby, C. S. Lewis, (Eerdmans, 2005), page 143.3.^ Justin Philips, C. S. Lewis in A Time of War, HarperCollins 2002, page 61.4.^ a b The Life and Writing of C.S. Lewis, Lecture 3; The Great Courses, Course Guidebook; Professor LouisMarkos, Houston Baptist University; The Teaching Company; 2000

5.

^ The Top 50 Books That Have Shaped Evangelicals (http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2006/october/23.51.html) , Christianity Today, October 6, 2006

6.

Audio of the last remaining broadcast talk (http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/people/cslewis_16.shtml) from bbc.co.ukBook description (http://web.archive.org/web/20071224144240/http://www.cslewisclassics.com/books/mere_christianity-desc.html) , originally from [CSLewisClassics.com]Origin of the phrase "Mere Christianity" (http://www.lewisiana.nl/baxter)

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