C.S. Lewis and 'Mere Christianity' - Part 1: Introduction

I've recently been reading a book by author C.S. Lewis, best known for his work on the "Chronicles of Narnia" stories, called Mere Christianity, in which he sets out to explain and defend the Christian faith in a way that would impact and make sense to everyone – including those who do not believe in or agree with Christianity.  I'm actually only about half way done, but I thought I'd begin sharing some of what I've read, as I think some people might find it interesting. But before I do that, here's a little introduction to C.S. Lewis and the origins of Mere Christianity.

C.S. Lewis: A Brief Bio

Born in 1898 in Belfast Ireland, Clive Staples (C.S.) Lewis began writing Mere Christianity in 1942 when he was 44 years old. But what made this book even more intruiging to me is that Lewis didn't become a Christian until 1931 at age 33. In fact, prior to that, he was an atheist for nearly 20 years who at one time even developed an interest in the occult.

So why write a book on Christianity only 11 years after becoming a Christian?  Lewis answers that question himself:

"It’s not because I’m anybody in particular that I’ve been asked to tell you what Christians believe. In fact it’s just the opposite. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) have asked me, first of all because I’m a layman and not a parson, and consequently they thought I might understand the ordinary person’s point of view a bit better. Secondly, I think they asked me because it was known that I’d been an atheist for many years and only became a Christian fairly recently. They thought that would mean I’d be able to see the difficulties – able to remember what Christianity looks like from the outside. So you see the long and the short of it is that I’ve been selected for this job just because I’m an amateur and not a professional, and a beginner not an old hand. Of course this means that you may well ask what right I have to talk on the subject at all."

The Origins of Mere Christianity

Mere Christianity was adapted from a series of BBC radio talks Lewis made between 1942 and 1944. After the talks were concluded, Lewis decided to publish the summaries of each lecture into three pamphlets:

• The Case for Christianity
• Christian Behavior
• Beyond Personality

Not long after that, Lewis decided to publish the work as one book, and in 1945 Mere Christianity was born.

In his book, Lewis attempts to point out that Christianity is the only thing that makes sense. He uses the very basics of the sense of wrong and right to prove his point, first by pointing out that many atheists (including him when he was one) say they do not believe in God because the world is so bad.

But how, asks Lewis, can one know the world is bad? What gives one a sense of justice, morality or decency? Lewis says the answer is God, and that if people would give their lives to the God of Christianity that they would be able to find peace and contentment because a life of walking with God is how humans were created to live.

Accolades

Several decades after the book was first published, it is still considered one of the premiere works on the subject. In 2006, Mere Christianity was placed third in Christianity Today's list of the most influential books amongst evangelicals since 1945.

In addition, evangelist Charles Colson's conversion to Christianity reportedly resulted from his reading Mere Christianity, as did the conversions of physician-geneticist Francis Collins (current Director of the National Institute of Health), musician/song writer Josh Caterer, and philosopher C. E. M. Joad.

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Next blog:  Free Will - "God created things which had free will. That means creatures which can go either wrong or right. If a thing is free to be good it is also free to be bad. And free will is what has made evil possible."