Book: Mere Christianity
Author: C.S. Lewis
I read this book on high alert because I was acutely aware that C.S. Lewis is not a confessional, orthodox, conservative Lutheran. Reading theology books by unreliable sources can be more dangerous than reading secular authors' writing, so I attempted to constantly evaluate what I read. I wish I could discuss this with a reliable person...I should work on that. I can truly understand why this book would be perfect for a discussion group to read together. Overall, though, I agreed with most of the things he said. In Walther's Law and Gospel, I'm on Lecture 20, and some of the points he makes give me a little deja vu, flashbacks to the C.S. Lewis ideas that redesigned my thought process.
There were parts of this book that really hit hard. Several of the sections were painful to read because they were just way too true in my life. A lot of the chapters challenged false perceptions that I didn't know I had. In some sections, he explained things I already knew, but I'd never quite thought of them in the same way. The different perspective gave them power, and they made an impact. For example, C.S. Lewis reminds us that God cares about our hearts, what kind of people we are becoming, not just our outward actions. In more theological terms, God looks at the heart. In another chapter, Lewis focuses on the idea that much of the "goodness" that we see in ourselves is a result of things God gave us, such as our temperament or our environments, past and present. We can't see the difference between goodness produced by the Holy Spirit and this influenced goodness, but God can. I may not get angry with a family member because God gave me a calm temperament, but if a person who is naturally explosive keeps his cool, it is more significant. I'm not exactly sure about the theological reliability of this second idea, so I'll investigate the Bible, hopefully have a conversation, and compose an update.Before I close this post, I'd like to mention that the first section of this book reminds me of many of the themes of Lee Strobel's books. It is another logical approach to something that ultimately defies human comprehension, but that doesn't mean it isn't valuable or useful.
In general summary, this book is beneficial for anyone to read. It may have resulted from radio broadcasts designed to introduce people to Christianity, but it also has more than enough material for Christians of all maturites to chew on.
