Discipleship Journal named C. S. Lewis one of the most important Christian authors of the 1900s. Some credit him as being the single most popular Christian author of that century.

My first exposure to Lewis was reading his Chronicles of Narnia series when I was around age 11 or 12. I read every book of the series except A Horse and His Boy, and enjoyed them. I was very captivated by fantasy literature, and it was an intriguing, well-written collection. The stories uphold moral values (self-sacrifice, honor, integrity, courage, etc.), and there is a clear line drawn between good and evil. Of course, they also contain many magical and mythological elements.

Because of Lewis’ connection to this set of popular fiction, many conservative Christians shy away from reading his works. In my opinion, this is unfortunate.

Lewis’ other books include Mere Christianity (reviewed here), The Abolition of Man (why schools need to teach objective truth), The Problem of Pain (why pain exists in a universe created by a God of love), The Four Loves (examines four types of love: storge — affection, philia — friendship, eros — sexual or romantic love, and agape — selfless love), and many more.

Of these, so far I have read only Mere Christianity. Over the years I had read so many inspiring and challenging statements penned or spoken by Lewis’ that I really wanted to explore his writings. However, I initially had reservations about where the book might lead. I thought he might go off into wild philosophical speculations or branch into humanism or New Age-type beliefs — not because I had known him to do that elsewhere, but just because of the subject matter and what I know of his fictitious works. But in the end I fell in love with this book as a very practical and beautifully worded treatise on Christian faith.

Overview

This book is written in four sections, which Lewis calls “books.” These sections are as follows: “Right and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning of the Universe,” five chapters; “What Christians Believe,” five chapters; “Christian Behaviour,” twelve chapters; and “Beyond Personality: or First Steps in the Doctrine of the Trinity,” eleven chapters.

The first two sections are written to introduce atheists, agnostics, and people of other religions to Christianity (a class of writing known as apologetics). These chapters are intended to show that, even apart from belief in the Bible, Christianity is rational and in harmony with reality as we know it. If you do not care much about the reasons why Christianity makes sense at this level, you may want to skip these two sections. However, the last chapter of the second section, “The Practical Conclusion,” is well worth your time.

The last two sections were unquestionably my favorites. The chapters “The Great Sin” (pride), “Charity” (Christian love), the second of two chapters called “Faith” (dealing with the old faith-and-works issue), and all of the chapters in the last section are profound, beautiful, and very practical. Lewis handles many important topics with clarity and grace, including perfection, humility, what it means to be in Christ, Christian marriage, forgiveness, free will, being born again, and much more.

Content

There are a few things some Christians will dislike within this book: the author’s belief that moderate drinking is acceptable, that Christians need not be noncombatants, that full character perfection is merely an aim in this life (although a very important aim), the theory of evolution that is assumed true in the last chapter, and perhaps a few other odd items here and there. However, none of these are major points of the book, only side issues that can be easily “winked at” when one can see through to the valid points being made. Ironically, the chapter that began with talk of evolution actually proved to be one of the most inspiring and profound for me, once he got past that part.

Except for the character perfection issue mentioned above, Lewis comes out very strongly in defense of character perfection as something God wants from us. Christian morality is a very important theme in this book, and Lewis goes to great lengths to show it is not mere “niceness” or relative goodness that God is expecting from us, but the complete Christ-life in us, and death to self.

Those who are looking for theological or doctrinal support material will find some good stuff here: Lewis shows how free will is compatible with God’s omniscience, why evil exists, why God gave us free choice, what practical conclusions we can draw about the Three-Personal Godhead, and more.

Conclusion

One thing you will like about this book is that the chapters are short and easy to read. You could easily slip one chapter in right next to your regular devotional or other book reading with little effort. The thoughts are profound, though, and you may want to devote more time just to reflect on the vastness of what the author is saying.

All in all, I highly recommend this book. I give it five stars.

[Note: This review was written on January 27, 2001.]