Book Title: Mere ChristianityAuthor: C.S. Lewis
Publisher: Harper Collins Edition 2001
Book Type: Religion/Spirituality
Pages: 227
Date: 10/17/2012
Summary: (from back cover of book) 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. It is a collection of scintillating brilliance that remains strikingly fresh for the modern reader and at the same time confirms C.S. Lewis's reputation as one of the leading writers and thinkers of our age.
Opinion: I'm just going to start off saying that I love C.S. Lewis and everything he has written. I was first introduced to him when I read "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe." I loved that book and I grew up with an animated version of the film and it was one of my favorites. I didn't really know much else about C.S. Lewis until someone mentioned "Mere Christianity" to me. I read it and immediately went out and bought a bunch of C.S. Lewis books. I love his writing and I feel like he speaks right to my heart. "Mere Christianity" is my favorite of his books and I think it really describes and defends the Christian faith. C.S. Lewis describes how he came to know Christ and it reminds me of my own experience of truly coming to know the Savior of the world. I have used quotes from this book for different papers and speeches I've written. Honestly, if you want to understand Christianity, read this book. I have one quote from this book that I printed off years ago and have kept it inside my scriptures ever since. I have read it countless times. It's pretty long but so powerful! Here it is:
"Christ says 'Give me All. I don't want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work: I want You. I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it. No half-measures are any good. I don't want to cut off a branch here and a branch there, I want the whole tree down. I don't want to drill the tooth, or crown it, or stop it, but to have it out. Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires which you think innocent as well as the ones you think wicked - the whole outfit. I will give you a new self instead. In fact, I will give you Myself: my own will shall become yours...
The terrible things, the almost impossible thing, is to hand over your whole self - all your wishes and precautions - to Christ. But it is far easier than what we are all trying to do instead. For what we are trying to do is to remain what we call 'ourselves,' to keep personal happiness as our great aim in life, and yet at the same time be 'good'. We are all trying to let our mind and heart go their own way - centered on money or pleasure or ambition - and hoping, in spite of this, to behave honestly and chastely and humbly. And this is exactly what Christ warned us we could not do. As He said,a thistle cannot produce figs. If I am a field that contains nothing but grass-seed, I cannot produce wheat. Cutting the grass may keep it short: but I shall still produce grass and no wheat. If I want to produce wheat, the change must go deeper than the surface. I must be ploughed and re-sown...
It is the difference between paint, which is merely laid on the surface, and a dye or stain which soaks right through. He never talked vague, idealistic gas. When He said, "Be perfect," He meant it. He meant that we must go in for the full treatment. It is hard; but the sort of compromise we are all hankering after is harder - in fact, it is impossible. It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad." -p. 196-199
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