Mere Christianity
by C. S. Lewis
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Book Summary Information
Author: C. S. LewisBrand: Harper Collins Publishers
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Format: Deckle Edge
Published: 2001-02
ISBN: 0060652926
Number of pages: 227
Publisher: HarperSanFrancisco
Book Reviews of Mere Christianity
Book Review: Delude yourselves if it makes you feel good...
Summary: 1 Stars
I am a former Christian who no longer believes in the concept of souls, god, hell, etc., and I readily revel in the wonders science uncovers everyday. Yet, I've had quite a few people recommend this book to me (to sway me, I suppose)--so I finally read it. (Although religious folks never read the stuff I suggest for them: do a websearch for Richard Dawkins'Good and Bad Reasons for Believing; it's a much shorter and easier read than C.S. Lewis' pedantic tome. Besides, C.S. Lewis was a Science Fiction writer, like Scientology's founder, L. Ron Hubbard. I suggest you get your science from scientists not science fiction writers--but I digress.) This work of self aggrandizing philosophizing might possibly be a good book if your goal is to convince yourself (or others) that Christianity is the truth--but it's a really crappy book if you are actually interested in truth--the good kind...the kind with evidence that can be explained to anyone with just a wee bit of scientific knowledge--. Scientific truths are sort of like math--it's useful stuff to know--a great tool...but truth doesn't care if you believe it or not. You can believe that the value of pi is indeterminable and that the moon is made of cheese if you desire.
Anyhow, let me sum of some of C.S. Lewis' nuggets of wisdom so you can assess whether this book is for you. C.S. Lewis has carfully studied the bible and Christian literature to discover what the worst sin of all is-- Just guess what the worst sin of all is, folks? It's not pedophilia, it's not starting wars by lying, it's not cruelty, it's not killing people because you've labled them evil, it's not child abuse--it's (drumroll please)--PRIDE. That's right--pride is the worse sin of all according to C.S. Lewis based upon his diligent study of Christian Doctrine. Now, to me, a person living many years after Lewis' death--I find this stuff inane. Granted, my I.Q. and education level is higher than most, but I once lapped up this stuff because, by golly, it never occurred to me that authority figures could be full of crap. At this wiser point in my life, I think that C.S Lewis was not only full of crap--but he exhibits pride to the point of arrogance in pretending to have reasoned his way to Christian truth. Do you notice, that like many cult leaders, he claims to understand mysteries of the universe without showing any evidence in support of his claims? Sort of like Hitler (another Christian, mind you), Osama, Marshall Applewhite,Charles Manson, Reverend Moon, and David Koresh (note: how telling that all gods, prophets, demons, devils, etc. are men--could this be a testosterone inspired delusion?).
Let me share some other nuggets from C.S. Lewis--ah yes... here's a Christian favorite--"sinning in your thoughts is as bad as sinning in actuality." Try selling that to a jury. I would prefer that someone imagine raping me than actually doing it...I suspect most would agree. Go ahead and imagine me in hell, just don't inflict it upon me (leave the smiting to your Almighty, please.) Actual rape causes pain, suffering, and possibly pregnancy and/or AIDS.If it's the same to god, he/she/it is insane. Here on planet earth, controlling ones actions takes precedence over controlling ones thoughts (which doesn't seem to be particularly effective-- especially when it comes to more primal thinking where evolution has ensured some particularly compelling thoughts. Check out Jimmy Swaggert...or homosexuals trying to think themselves "straight".)
C.S. Lewis also tells us that soldiers should serve with gaiety in a war even though they are killing people. That's right, C.S. Lewis is a warmonger. Although Osama's followers served their god happily, I suspect most soldiers have to be pretty brainwashed to ignore the suffering they cause in the fight for some "ideal" or against some "poorly defined evil." Killing people devastates the lives of loved ones no matter which god you pray to, and I can't imagine anyone finding gaiety in inflicting such suffering. (I bet non-atheist soldiers think god is on their side--no matter whose army they fight in. By the way, evidence confirms there are lots of atheist in foxholes. Also, there are lots of people praying for god to save them in many doomed situations (the Virginia miners). I suspect all doomed hijacked flights have plenty of passengers pleading for a safe landing--of course the hijackers are praying to their god for a successful mission and heavenly rewards. This god of C.S. Lewis' seems to pick and choose when it comes to prayer answering, no?
Most of C.S. Lewis' advice seems aimed at men--sort of like the bible's rules about coveting wives and it's treatment of women as chattle. And not unlike the islamic view that tells guys that virgins await them in heaven--what woman wants that heaven? Religion is also a great way to control people without having to answer to anyone about the results (because they all occur in some nebulous afterlife). It doesn't seem to occur to most religious dudes that women are as intelligent (though often more trusting and gullible) than them. Who can blame them, of course, if their religion tells them that women are responsible for the fall of mankind and that god was created in man's image (testosterone proneness to wrath and revenge included)? Heck, the Mormon religion tells guys they get to be gods on their own planets--of course women are secondary and can only get to heaven via marriage and submission to their husbands. Bummer. And women seem to sin so much less then men; they hardly ever covet or kill, and they seldom rape or commit child molestation. And, most aren't particular prideful (the biggest sin of all, according to C.S. Lewis. The woman I know tend to be humble as a group and more placating and empathic then their Y-chromosomed counterparts. Heck, women never start wars, so why do men get all the goodies in the afterlife? Sounds like a scam to me! Women also seem to be the biggest consumers of religion, so if you get heaven bonus points for believing,women win there too.
Maybe, Mere Christianity was wise for the time it was written. But the problem with all religious texts is that they expect you to squeeze truth out of ideals. All supernatural beliefs involve putting faith in something without being able to question it...test it...explore it...challenge it. It's all based on the same namby pamby evidence that we wouldn't even accept in a court of law--hearsay, testimony, feelings, inner knowingness, claims of miracles, revelations, guys who claim to be Gods, prophets, gurus, and bearers of secret knowledge. But if you try to test these claims--for example, say I ask a catholic to take the communion out of your mouth so we can analyze it for Human DNA...or ask a Mormon to test their holy undergarments in a double blind taser test, I am accused of arrogance. Could it be that the emperor is wearing no clothes and that's why he wants you to "pay no attention to the man behind the curtain?" Could it be that the zealots are trying to convince you in an effort to convince themselves? (If anyone has a supernatural claim such as the above or anything else that they can demonstrate scientifically, I encourage you google "JREF--million dollar prize." Just state what supernatural thing you can do and prove it.
All religions promise you goodies if you believe; they tell you you'll be punished eternally for being not believing the right untestable claim or a false prophet. They tell you that you are arrogant to ask questions...yet I think those who ask questions aren't arrogant; they're intelligent and often eager to share the information they've gained. Most scientists seem eager to share information with those who can comprehend it and test it. Most religious people hide behind "god's mysterious ways." I think there are obvious reasons why belief in the supernatural (god, souls, hell, alien abductions, etc.) decreases as intelligence and education increase. But I also think that religious people have more kids passing on whatever genes influence religiosity (especially religous people who think god doesn't want them to use birth control.) I think relion makes people stupid and makes them focus on an afterlife at the expense of the only verifiable life they have. Scientists indulge them in these fantasies, mainly because religious people can be scary. I know I seldom speak out, but I'm not the kind to tell a kid there is no Santa either.
But why do religious people imagine they'll feel something in an afterlife when they won't have a working brain to do so? Neurologists have well documented that consciousness occurs within the brain; no one has given evidence of consciousness outside of a body. Neurologists have pretty much shown that all consciousness, feelings, experiences, etc., are brain dependent. We can duplicate most every religious type experience with drugs and brain stimulation in various area. Brain damage can make people believe all sorts of really crazy things, like Capgras delusion, where one's mother and other close associates are seen as imposters (the sight and emotion part of the brain lose their connection). Or many of those experiencing dementia claim that the image in the mirror isn't them. Religion causes delusions too.
Science, like knowledge and technology, evolves. Antiquated religious notions can't. I am just amazed that people who understand that the earth is spherical and orbiting despite our perceptions still invest so much in supernatural claims. And the problem with supernatural claims is that they tend to contradict each other and without evidence. The only way to determine one's superiority to the other is confirmation bias, it seems. If I want something to be true I am readily drawn to evidence which supports these desires. Humans are very great at fooling themselves--think of optical illusions.
How can people who readily accept paternity tests, and fly in planes, and think test tube babies and cloned sheep are no big deal--people who use the internet--how can they still believe that "evil" and "good" exist outside the mind of human beings? Our technology and science would make us indistiguishable from gods to generations past (my dog thinks I'm god as far as I can tell) but still we make up our own gods, even as his/her role seems to diminish further with each new scientific discovery.
Science is built from the bottom up--on that which works--it's honed, refined, and added to --no designer needed. Today's internet had no overlord planner--it evolved from the technology that came before. C.S. Lewis offers something that is untestable, and that you can only build more untestable, nebulous, knowledge on top of. It's a waste of time, I think, unless you're hoping to bolster your own tentative beliefs.
Why do Christians always want people to read this book, but they never seem to read the imminently more readable scientists of our times like Dawkins, Shermer, Blackmore, and, for beginners, Carl Sagan's Demon Haunted World? Truth is gathered from the evidence--you can't assume what it is and then try to make the evidence fit those facts. Atheists seem to be more widely read in both the religious arena and the science arena from what I can tell--I certainly am; whereas religious folks stick to the stuff that encourages their particular belief--just like the Amish stay away from the modern world and things that might tempt them away from their heavenly path. It seems a waste of brainpower which could advance knowledge. Moreover, it causes the part of the brain responsible for logical thinking to whither.
If you are going to explore beliefs without evidence, you might also try try homeopathy, out-of-body transcendence, levitation, astrology, and satanism; check out the Koran; the bhagvad gita; fairies are fun too. Try out Zeus as your god for a week. Try fearing Hades and praying to Allah. See if you get better results than you get from your current beliefs. They are all equally likely from a scientific perspective. Yes, a lot of this stuff is old and discredited--but many people claim these beliefs to be true. How about alien made crop circles? If you base your beliefs on feelings, depth of belief indicated by believers, or fear of hell (by the way...everyone is going to hell in someone else's religion), what makes you and C.S. Lewis believe you've stumbled upon the undefinable, untestable, but actual "truth?" Pride? Arrogance? Stupidity? Youth? Brainwashing? Death of logic neurons in the brain? Were you suckered in by the promise of heaven and afraid to question due to a fear of hell?
Consider this: no wise writer of religious texts thought to offer up some cool things that science later discovered on its own--no supreme being thought to include information about DNA, microbes, atoms, and solar systems in any of their religious texts. Kind of incompetent for an almighty. Sure you can bend vague prophesies and use formulas to find secret codes in the bible. Sure you can play your records backwards and hear demons supposedly. But that's not stuff smart people give credence to. We don't burn people because they are witches anymore and we don't perform exorcisms on people with Tourette Syndrome.
And here's a final piece of wisdom from C.S. Lewis: Humans are unlovable -- "creatures like us who actually find hatred such a pleasure that to give it up is like giving up beer or tobacco ..." I don't know about you, but I find pleasure in none of these.
Summary of Mere Christianity
A forceful and accessible discussion of Christian belief that has become one of the most popular introductions to Christianity and one of the most popular of Lewis's books. Uncovers common ground upon which all Christians can stand together.
In 1943 Great Britain, when hope and the moral fabric of society were threatened by the relentless inhumanity of global war, an Oxford don was invited to give a series of radio lectures addressing the central issues of Christianity. Over half a century after the original lectures, the topic retains it urgency. Expanded into book form, Mere Christianity never flinches as it sets out a rational basis for Christianity and builds an edifice of compassionate morality atop this foundation. As Mr. Lewis clearly demonstrates, Christianity is not a religion of flitting angels and blind faith, but of free will, an innate sense of justice and the grace of God.
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