Mere Christianity
by C. S. Lewis
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Book Reviews of Mere Christianity
Book Review: Flawed logic
Summary: 2 Stars
I read this book after having a theological discussion with a friend of mine. He had said that his views were best expounded by this book, and so I picked it up to be fair. Unfortunately, Mr. Lewis hits the brick wall of logic pretty early on.
The version I had was an older, used paperback that I have since given away, so my quotes are not exact. However, my memory of the errors is pretty sharp, and the issues I raise are actually in the book.
Problem #1: In the introduction, Mr. Lewis essentially says "We must never let a potential convert know of the problems and contradictions in our religion until after he has been successfully brought into the fold. If we did let him know, he would never take Christianity seriously, and therefore would not convert." A very astute observation on Lewis' part. He admits that his religion does not make any sense, and so the illusion of sense must be erected in order to convert anyone.
Problem #2: Later on we get the infamous "Lewis Trilemma:" Jesus is either A) who he says he is (that is, God), B) Lying about who he is or C) insane, and therefore dangerous. Lewis seems to have forgotten that the Bible is a collection of various documents, many written decades after the events they purport to describe, and has been edited hundreds of times by people with very obvious political agendas (side note: contradictions in the Bible are very well known, and a quick Google search will yield fruitful results for those who are curious). So the trilemma is a false one to begin with, as it is feasible (in fact, more feasible than the alternative) to doubt the most incredible story of Jesus as it is presented to us. In order to take the Bible literally, one must already assume its inerrancy, which means assuming the existence of God, leading to a circular argument. So, we don't even have to accept the trilemma as it is given to us, much less consider the laughable solution Mr. Lewis proposes, which has been addressed in other reviews.
Problem #3: This is (I think) less of a logical problem itself, but a reflection the lack of logic throughout the book. The problem is this: Lewis peppers his entire book with thinly veiled threats of hell for the unbeliever. One sentence I recall goes something like "The unbeliever make enjoy the devil more than the Lord, but he won't when he actually meets him." This patronizing Holier-than-thou attitude is exactly the sort of thing that turns many people off from Christianity. It does not take a great deal of imagination to see early Christianity's P.R. department thinking "you know, just in case none of the arguments in favor of Christianity work, lets throw in the worst threat we can find. That outta get us SOME converts." This goes back to the first problem, as Lewis has admitted that his arguments for the unbeliever are deceptive at best, as they attempt to hide the inconsistencies of his religion.
Problem #4: For some of the vaguer problems. Lewis makes the typical moral argument ("there are no morals without god"), assuming that we would all go on killing sprees if we didn't have a supervising agent. He seems to take the 3 year old's approach to morality: don't do something wrong cause you might get caught. He also argues "We all desire the supernatural, and we cannot desire something that does not exist." As we for "we all desire" part, my answer would be "speak for yourself." Additionally, Lewis seems to have never heard of the imagination. You know, that faculty of our brain that allows us to construct images of things that don't necessarily exist?
I am sure there are other problems, but once I located these, I stopped reading the book. I know, poor form. However, when the Lewis trilemma is your foundation, and you admit in the introduction that your entire attempt at rational defense is inherently dishonest, you can only go downhill from there.
Book Review: Disingenuous
Summary: 1 Stars
It is impossible to support a subjective, mystical experience through logical reasoning, as Lewis claims. He begins by attempting to prove God's existence as an explanation of observed moral behavior. He blithely dismisses the "herd instinct," however, much of human cooperative behavior is explained by natural selection. As social animals, humans are expected to relinquish part of their autonomy in return for membership in the group. The desire to cooperate with others, i.e. behave morally, and the feeling of guilt for failure to do so, evolved to promote this cooperation. Thus, the argument that morality originates with a benevolent diety falls apart, leading to the question as to where God gets his own morality. If we say that one of God's properties is that he is moral, that doesn't answer anything - it's a circular argument of "God is moral because he is moral." You could just as correctly state, "morality exists because it exists," without the need for God.
Lewis claims to have arrived at his religious faith reluctantly, through inescapable deductive reasoning. I suspect he is being disingenuous here. The remarkably flawed "proof" suggests that he arrived at it through an emotional conversion, then, to paraphrase B.F. Skinner, like a child who thinks he sees the outline of an animal in the pattern of pebbles on the beach, he rearranges a few here and there until there is no doubt. The entire work smacks of someone who came to a conclusion in advance, later producing observations and analysis to support it. Lewis is careful not to offer the Bible as "proof" of his conclusions. Are we to believe that he came to them independently of the Bible?
The specific gravity of aluminum is 2.8. We do not believe this because "it is written" in a mechanical engineering textbook; the book merely records the result of experimental observation. We consult the book because it is easier than performing a time-consuming analysis of our own every time we need this information. But we could verify this figure anytime we wanted. No one would claim that the "facts" in the Bible could be verified the same way. But we are to believe that Lewis came all the way from atheism to the Church of England (to the consternation of his friend, J.R.R. Tolkien, who had hoped Lewis would embrace Catholicism), purely through deductive logic. This is preposterous. He had a private (albeit popular) mystical experience, then built up an elaborate philosophy (again, a shared one) to explain it. His explanation contradicting this is entirely inauthentic and dishonest. If he had instead admitted that he had undergone an ineffable, mystical experience of the living God, then explored the various evidence supporting this being a valid sensation and not a convincing illusion, I would at least have respected his experience while disagreeing with his conclusions. As it is, I can neither credit the former any more than I can accept the latter.
Book Review: The novel that changed my life
Summary: 5 Stars
This novel changed the way I acted, spoke, thought, and carried myself every single day. I was turned on to this book by my Younglife leader and I was a little hesitant to read it because of the old English style of writing. I was thoroughly surprised to find that every single sentence had meaningful content to my life. From Christians who are trying to find an amazing read about their religion to the person that is not too sure that there is a God out there, this book will give you knowledge and will provoke your thoughts in a way that you could never have imagined.
The first Book in this novel revolves around such an amazing topic. The first book helps us understand why there is a God. C.S. does an exceptional job in describing God without using the words 'Lord', 'Savior', or 'Father'.C.S. describes God in a way that makes you truly believe in a greater force then the ones we see on Earth. I read this book to find answers to my questions about God and why He does the things He does. I definitely found the answers in this book. It is imperative to take these words from 'Mere Christianity' to heart because knowledge is only useful and meaningful if you put this knowledge into practice. C.S. takes such an unknown and occasionally uncomfortable topic and creates a well organized piece that helps you understand who God is and why you need Him in your life.
This novel makes you think. It creates these thought provoking questions and ideas that you truly have to think about for a couple days. I heard ideas from this book that I had never thought were relevant in my life but I soon found out that they were the centerfolds. C.S. also address the fact that we are human, which we rarely think about. We are all the same and we need God in all the same ways when it comes down to it. C.S. writes with such passion and connects with aspects of our lives, which many books can never do.
This book will make you dive into the parts of your brain that you have never explored before. This book will make you look at the world in a new way. This book will raise your consciousness about Our Creator. This book will help you understand the aspects about God that you question or aspects that you have never heard before. This book will blow your mind but also calm it. This book is an exceptional read strictly because C.S. takes a very controversial, and occasionally awkward topic and creates a novel that puts it in perspective. I strongly recommend this book if you have ever questioned your life or the Lord that created you. C.S. creates another epic classic in Mere Christianity.
Book Review: Maestro Lewis
Summary: 3 Stars
Mere Christianity is, if not the most successful apologetic book for Christianity, certainly one of the most discussed. Christians proudly point to it as an irrefutable argument for their faith. Atheists proudly point to their facile rebuttals as an example of how the 'best' logic that Christianity can muster is really no logic at all. Actually, that's not what C.S. Lewis had in mind when he wrote it. In Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis leads all the Christian religions to common ground. This book is in fact an initial foundation of the beliefs common to all Christians at all times.
Prior to 1943, these words were only heard as informal radio broadcasts. This is why you will see colloquialisms used and the conversational style of the writing. His prose is a pleasure to read, warm, personal and measured, while sparkling with wit and just a hint of irony. When you read Lewis' work, you can hear his voice. You can almost see him smoking his pipe, rocking in his chair, exclaiming "who would have thought!" when he presents his case. He then leads us up a ladder of logical thinking. He starts on the lowest step and gives us confidence to climb the next step. This is a man whose faith went through enormous testing, and in fact Lewis never reached the certainty and ease of mind that he was looking for. He suffered doubts all his life, especially when his wife died.
What makes this book so powerful is that Lewis strips away all the silly religious accretions that obscure the true message of this historic person known as Jesus of Nazareth. All of these notions keep many away from the faith. Lewis was an atheist who later became a Christian. He is perhaps one of the most qualified individuals to discuss a universe at war, for the idea of atheism and Christianity could not be more diametrically opposed. In the meantime, those of us who have not yet crossed over that river can learn much from Lewis' wisdom. I am a lawyer who knows what evidence will stand up in a court room. Lewis has it. I have been "convicted" by that evidence, by the grace of God.
Please visit my website at, Delight In Him, for more.
Book Review: Good Read, But Has Some Problems
Summary: 3 Stars
This is a very easy read, and it gives much insight into how Lewis saw religion and Christianity. It is very dated; I wonder how many people here would agree that it is a woman's duty to obey her husband.I was kind of surprised at the number of very weak arguments and ridiculous assumptions in this book. One example is the circular logic of using scripture to try to convince us of Jesus' divinity. We believe he is the son of God because the New Testement shows that to be the case, and we believe the New Testement is correct because we believe that Jesus is the son of God. In fact, I think this is the only time Lewis tries to make a case for Christianity in Mere Christianity; he does try many times to make a case for theism.
I find Lewis' strategy to discredit those who disagree with him very similar to the strategy creationists use to try to discredit Evolution. They take certain unproven theories of evolution, and use the fact that they are not proven to assert that the FACT of evolution (that life forms tends to change over time) is false, even though they understand it as fact themselves. Lewis will attack weak claims made by some of the opposition, and then assert that the entire opposition has been discredited, even though the entire opposition doesn't make those weak claims. It's disconcerting to witness someone fool so many people using these kinds of dishonest tactics.
Well, this has mostly been very negative, but I am glad I read Mere Christianity. It is well-written, and it is extremely insightful in a number of ways.
On the issue of critics of this book getting few "helpful" votes... That some of the critics are not backing up what they say is merely an excuse. Many reviews that praise the book without backing the praise up AT ALL are getting all or almost all yes votes. I have provided examples in my review and it is going to be infested with many hypocritical no votes, not because I didn't support my assertions enough, but because people merely disagree with me about C.S. Lewis and religion.