Book Review | Mere Christianity
One of the most popular introductions to the concept of faith
Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis is a book where he explores the basic faith of Christianity – the common ground that the major branches share. There you are; that’s the summary. Now let’s get into the review.
When you open this book and begin to read it, it is very conversational. Turns out that Lewis was on the BBC doing radio talks on Christianity from 1941 – 1944. It was first published in separate volumes but I think it was smart to compile it into this one book because it is easy to absorb. He touches on things like Free Will, Jesus’ death and what that means for us, moralities and the difference between making and begetting.
Now, I did say that this book its easy to digest; which is where a reader can get caught. He starts with simple, building blocks to prep the reader for the later chapters. The building blocks are the belief, his opinions on them and practical real word examples. Then he sharply ramps it up in the last book to where in the last chapter you find yourself on level 3000; it just slaps you in the face! Remember this is a review not a reading of the book Mere Christianity. In the last chapter, it’s undeniable of his belief in God and that to him, the Christian faith is the only one to follow for a good spiritual and mortal life.
For me, this book is preaching to the choir – I am what’s considered a ‘cradle Catholic’1 so a lot of what he wrote reaffirmed my beliefs. C.S. Lewis was raised in a Christian country so he was exposed to it’s ideologies and teachings. But, as a teenager he rejected the faith and became an atheist; until 1931. It wasn’t a sudden choice he made either. In 1929, he became a theist2; the idea of a great power, a God or creator of the universe. From this theist standpoint and conversations with Christian friends, this helped him convert to The Church of England, the Anglican branch of Christianity.
The reason I mention this is, because he was an atheist for long while, he’s got real insight into the arguments against believing in a big being in the sky looking over humanity. I think that’s why the radio talks and this book are easy to take in; he’s meant for his message to be understood by anyone and everyone.
It also gave me different insights into how I could defend my choice to be a Christian to anyone who is curious or has rebuttals to my faith. For example, when I was younger and out at a bar, I got talking to a friend about religion; a social faux pas. She asked me the God rock question: “What if God created a rock that was so heavy, that even God couldn’t pick it up; what is the deal with that?” I honestly had never heard of this question being posed before and my answer to this was: “Well, if God made the rock that is too heavy for Him to lift, there must be a reasoning behind it. I am not privy to that reasoning3 but it’s God creation, so it’s a part of His plan.” I thought that was a good response. But my friend was dissatisfied with that answer and thought it was a cop-out. From reading Mere Christianity, I feel that I can better speak to the non-Christian, atheist or curious person language to better communicate my beliefs.
He's also got 2 chapters called Faith – it threw me off because they are right after each other. Two chapters with the same chapter heading? But, those two are probably my favorite chapters coming in right after the final chapter of Mere Christianity.
The Spirit is the first power we practically experience, but the last power we come to understand - Oswald Chambers4
Now, I’m going into one of the ideas that C.S. Lewis explores in here; the Moral Law5. Lewis states that there is a moral law that all humans follow because it’s ‘built into us’ and ‘it just works’. A simple example I can think about is if you’re playing a game and you cheat to win; opening your eyes in Marco Polo to find the other players. Yes you win but there is this feeling underneath that isn’t as satisfying as winning fairly. What is that feeling? Lewis says it’s the Moral Law affecting you.
When he discusses that I couldn’t help but think; isn’t that the Holy Spirit? As a Catholic we believe in the Holy Trinity; Father, Son and Holy Spirit or Ghost6. Three separate entities yes, but all part of the one God. I think it’s one of those amazing mysteries that we cannot fully understand on this pane of existence. C.S. Lewis has plenty of connections to God and Jesus but only really mentions the Holy Spirit in the last book in the chapter Good Infection. Even in normal Christian teachings seemingly glaze over the Holy Spirit in favor of focusing on God and Jesus. But, there is real importance of the Holy Spirit within each one of us. To me it seemed that C.S. Lewis missed an opportunity to really share the mystery of the Holy Spirit to any unfamiliar reader.
I did read other reviews (whoopsies) and I felt that with other reviews there is a of focus on the faith; which is what the whole book is about. But what I saw in this book is that we’re also reading a piece of history. You’re reading the ideals held by a Oxford and Cambridge literary scholar as WW2 was raging on. C.S Lewis couldn’t fight in WW2; he was too old7. If he couldn’t fight, what could he do? He got on the airwaves to speak, to give hope to his countrymen when there was so much death and destruction around them8. We’re seeing the ideals of a man working as he wants to support as much as he can in a war, we’re seeing how english was spoken and used in the 1940’s and, more in relation to this book, we are seeing a man’s faith in action.
I think it’s wonderful read because it’s a simple, easy to digest look at the basics of the Christian faith. He doesn’t shy away from the hardships of being a Christian nor the challenges of how someone unfamiliar with it, this whole faith seems strange. Reading this not only is a book on faith but because it’s from a literary scholar, you’ll also learn about communicating your ideas to others who might be unfamiliar to your worldview. This book also serves as as a time capsule of someone’s reaction to war, the hardships associated with it and how in his own way, he helped the fight.
This book is not just about faith, and to see what I saw, go on, have a read of Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
https://georgiabulletin.org/commentary/2018/03/the-senior-side-the-challenge-for-cradle-catholics/
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/theist
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah%2055%3A8-9&version=NIV
https://www.stgeorgesonline.com/2016/05/10/8-quotes-holy-spirit/
https://www.joeledmundanderson.com/c-s-lewis-and-mere-christianity-the-moral-law/
https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15047a.htm
https://www.cslewis.com/c-s-lewis-three-wars-1941-pt-2/
https://spu.edu/depts/uc/response/new/2012-winter/arts-culture/cs-lewis-in-wartime.asp