I love his views on the potential of individuals

books:


	• Mere Christianity C. S. Lewis HarperOne, 2001 - 227 pages average customer review:based on 443 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Mere Christianity

An excellent book on apologetics. Very deep but it deals with the complex subjects of Christianity.

I love his views on the potential of individuals

I first read CS Lewis as a child by reading his imaginative letters on how to tempt man, `The Screwtape Letters', and then later by reading his wonderful `Chronicles of Narnia' and then the account of his conversion to Christianity, `Surprised by Joy'. I loved his writing style and was impressed with his intellect and decided to read `Mere Christianity' based on the recommendations of several friends from various Christian religions. I found it to be a very wonderful and thought provoking book.

I was most impressed with CS Lewis' views on what man/woman may become. In the last paragraph of Chapter 9 he says, "The command Be ye perfect is not idealistic gas. Nor is it a command to do the impossible. He is going to make us into creatures that can obey that command. He said (in the Bible) that we were `gods' and He is going to make good His words. If we let Him--for we can prevent Him, if we choose--He will make the feeblest and filthiest of us into a god or goddess, dazzling, radiant, immortal creature, pulsating all through with such energy and joy and wisdom and love as we cannot now imagine, a bright stainless mirror which reflects back to God perfectly (though, of course, on a smaller scale) His own boundless power and delight and goodness. The process will be long and in parts very painful; but that is what we are in for. Nothing less. He meant what He said."

I also liked the way he put the personal attention and healing Christ gives to us by saying, "[God] has infinite attention to spare for each one of us. He does not have to deal with us in the mass. You are as much alone with Him as if you were the only being He had ever created. When Christ died, He died for you individually just as much as if you had been the only man in the world".

I do not agree with everything CS Lewis says, but what he says, he states very well, in clear, powerful language. I highly recommend this book for anyone wanting to understand this beautiful vision of Christianity.

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Generic Christianity

"Generic Christianity" may have been the title if Lewis had written this in our day, because that is apparently what he was aiming at. He does an outstanding job of explaining why this thing we call Christianity is so essential to understand, and so explanatory of what human beings experience. Though his explanation of the nature of God is apparently motivated by his understanding of the religious creeds popular in his day (which were, as his explanation is, unreasonable, unscriptural, and unhelpful), his understanding and explanation of human behaviors and interactions are remarkable in their truthfulness. Especially appropriate for our day is the chapter on sexual morality, the problems of which have obviously not changed since his day. Outstanding book... I shall re-read and refer to it often!

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Timeless and Profound

C.S. Lewis provides a non-denominational view that penetrates the heart of the issues which make Christianity what it is. A must for anyone interested in understanding the tenets of Christianity.

Enduring Evangelism Tool for Skeptics

Along with some of his other works, and despite a few flaws, C.S. Lewis' "Mere Christianity" remains one of the more effective apologetics and evangelism tools available to use with those of a Western mindset grounded in science and logic.

Besides one of his more famous quotes about what everyone must make of Jesus Christ--Son of God, fool, demon, or a great human teacher, there is another quote in the chapter on "What Christians Believe" that stands out as well. It has been well noted that the extreme doctrines held by some evangelicals actually encourage atheism--Lewis sets both the skeptics and extremists straight.

"God created things which had free well. That means creatures which can go either wrong or right. Some people think they can imagine a creature which was free but had no possibility of going wrong; I cannot. If a thing is free to be good it is also free to be bad. And free will is what has made evil possible. Why, then, did God give them free will? Because free will, through it makes evil possible, is also the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having. A world of automata--of creatures that worked like machines--would hardly be worth creating. The happiness which God designs for His higher creatures is the happiness of being freely, voluntarily united to Him and to each other in an ecstasy of love and delight compared with which the most rapturous love between a man and woman on this earth is mere milk and water. And for that they must be free."

"Of course God knew what would happen if they used their freedom the wrong way: apparently He thought it worth the risk. Perhaps we feel inclined to disagree with Him. But there is a difficulty about disagreeing with God...If God thinks this state of war in the universe a price worth paying for fee will--that is, for making a live world in which creatures can do real good or harm and something of real importance can happen, instead of a toy world which only moves when He pulls the strings--then we may take it it is worth paying."

Some areas where I disagree with Lewis are:
1) That there may be life in other "worlds"
2) His position as a theistic evolutionist
3) "There are people in other religions who are being led by God's secret influence to concentrate on those parts of their religion which are in agreement with Christianity, and who thus belong to Christ without knowing it."

Besides these criticisms, Lewis' writings have been used quite successfully as a bridge to help bring many to a skeptic to a saving knowledge of Christ. Lewis remains a timeless and unique legacy to our Christian heritage. Go beyond Narnia and try Lewis' The Screwtape Letters as well!

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