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5.08.2012

Lewis's Appealing Christianity

by Will Vaus
How appealing is Lewis’s conception of Christianity as he presents it here? Has it clarified any theological confusions you may have had, or changed your own beliefs about how to live as a Christian? Do you think Lewis’s ideas about virtue and morality can be valuable for non-Christians?


The first time I read Mere Christianity, I was nineteen years old and was traveling around the British Isles with the specific intent of visiting the places where C. S. Lewis lived and worked. I had been a fan of the Narnia books since the time my fourth grade public school teacher read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe to our class. Then, in 1982, I decided to make a serious attempt to read all the Lewis books I had not yet read. I especially remember reading Mere Christianity while visiting Donegal in the Republic of Ireland. It was a day of heavy rain and I was in bed with a head cold and my book. At that time, I had many intellectual questions about the Christian faith in which I had been raised. However, by the time I reached Lewis’ chapter “The Shocking Alternative,” my main question, about the identity of Jesus, was answered.


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