Mere Christianity / Screwtape Letters Box Set
by C S Lewis
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Book Summary Information
Author: C S LewisEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Format: Box set
Published: 2001-11-01
ISBN: 0007131852
Number of pages: 192
Publisher: HarperCollins
Book Reviews of Mere Christianity / Screwtape Letters Box Set
Book Review: Nice writing but just another one for the choir.
Summary: 3 Stars
Capitalizing "Fact" in reference to the body of Christian faith just does not make it so.
I have often encountered the "Lewis Trilemma", that Jesus must be a crook, a kook or God. There can be no middle ground, Jesus as merely "a great moral teacher" etc. It's all or nothing. This claim must be made on the basis of the scriptures as a true and accurate account of the life and works of Jesus of Nazareth. The claim thus has no value as the scriptures are not good history nor even especially factual (e.g. the extensive and literary tailoring of the tale in Matthew to be consistent with Jewish prophecy). The trilemma can be thus dismissed as no more than a device that relies on the inertia of cultural history to lean the unsuspecting into the way of the priests and preachers with a verisimilitude of logic.
He starts with what seems to promise a nearly axiomatic development of faith beginning with the observation (in effect a postulate) that a general sort of moral sense that is nearly universal in humankind must be the expression of a supreme being through individuals and cannot be anything else, in particular the end result of an biological evolutionary process. But that is the end of it. Without further ado he jumps to that capitalized "Fact" that his axiom not only requires a God but that this God is, ipso facto, (presto change-o?) the Father, Son and Holy Ghost by way of Jehovah. After that it is just faith all the way. Not convincing. The discussion of the trinity just spirals up into the ether when it gets to the holy spirit. So not only do are we expected to accept on shoddy evidence without question the remarkable life and works of Jesus but also a pile of doctrine such as the holy trinity concocted decades or centuries after the events (and not even original with Christianity at that).
But his axiom is worthless as well. That universal sense of justice, goodness and fair play is well and better explained as evolved behavior (as Dawkins does in The God Delusion). I know that is a terrible affront to our collective hubris that we are the special and unique creation of God and the purpose for which the entire vastness of the universe was created. But it makes more sense than what religions teach.
Lewis is also disingenuous about his spiritual roots when he describes himself as a vile and evil atheist at school who found his way to Christ on a fateful excursion (the one where he went out an apostate and came back a Christian). First of all, is there any evidence of any serious sin in his life prior to religion? I have not encountered any accounts of a wanton rascally roisterer at Oxford. It turns out that as a child he prayed fervently to God (the conventional one) to let his ailing mother live. As so often happens, God decided to answer his prayer with an unequivocal "No". It is shortly after that his so-called atheism begins. It is not atheism to have a long standing snit at God (even for such a solid and understandable reason) then forgive Him. He did not come to Christ. He came BACK to Christ, after a lengthy cooling off period and much encouragement from his believing close associates in the academy. By his own words he admits to being angry with God for not existing during his "atheist" phase. One cannot truly not believe in God and be emotionally involved with him in way that requires his existence at the same time.
Given the terms of belief Lewis professes, I find it remarkable that he could be comfortable in the Anglican church (as he says he is in the book) in the state of liberalism it had reached by his time. He took a shot at this elsewhere via a plainly lost cleric character in the Great Divorce.
I give it 3 for the quality of writing. It is a better than average defense of the indefensible. His repeated disclaimers on theological expertise grow tiresome considering his erudite background.
If you find any of Lewis's ideas here hard to swallow, try out his ideas on animal pain in "The Problem of Pain".
Summary of Mere Christianity / Screwtape Letters Box Set
This hugely popular international bestseller is being repackaged and rebranded as the leading title in the C.S. Lewis Signature Classics range. One of the most popular and beloved introductions to the concept of faith ever written, Mere Christianity has sold millions of copies worldwide. The timeless questions of spirituality which Lewis raises will have resonance with a new generation of readers. Mere Christianity brings together Lewis's legendary broadcast talks of the war years, talks in which he set out simply to 'explain and defend the belief that has been common to nearly all Christians at all times.' Rejecting the boundaries that divide Christianity's many denominations, C.S. Lewis provides an unequaled opportunity for believers and nonbelievers alike to hear a powerful, rational case for the Christian faith. This scintiallating collection confirms C.S. Lewis's reputation as one of the leading writers and thinkers of our age.Theology Books
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