Mere Christianity: Timely Truth for a Hurting World

Lewis concludes Book 4 with a polemic on the difference between "being nice" and being redeemed, as well as the necessity of losing oneself in order to find real Life in Christ: Give up your self, and you will find your real self. Lose your life and you will save it. Submit to death, death of your ambitions and favourite wishes every day and death of your whole body in the end: submit with every fibre of your being, and you will find eternal life. Keep back nothing. Nothing that you have not given away will ever be really yours. Nothing in you that has not died will ever be raised from the dead. Look for yourself, and you will find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin, and decay. But look for Christ and you will find Him, and with Him everything else thrown in.

Lewis continues his reflections on what it means to the believer to have Christ's life within and transforming priorities and understandings, and these chapters contain some of his most memorable analogies for understanding that we are being remade into the image of God. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OM2yUH3E4JA&list=RDOM2yUH3E4JA&start_radio=1&rv=OM2yUH3E4JA&t=107

These chapters of Book 4 focus on how the begotten spiritual life of God is given to us through the wondrous miracle of the Incarnation, and how that new life can be lived into by beginning to practice those qualities and habits that are commanded in the Scriptures regardless of whether we "feel" them at the moment. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KvrbYZB2vY Latin text O magnum mysterium, et admirabile sacramentum, ut animalia viderent Dominum natum, iacentem in praesepio! Beata Virgo, cujus viscera meruerunt portare Dominum Iesum Christum. Alleluia! English translation O great mystery, and wonderful sacrament, that animals should see the newborn Lord, lying in a manger! Blessed is the virgin whose womb was worthy to bear the Lord, Jesus Christ. Alleluia! https://www.amazon.com/Surprised-Hope-Rethinking-Resurrection-Mission/dp/0061551821 https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/12892/the-magi

With his remarkable gift for analogy, Lewis in these chapters first explores what it means that God exists in multiple dimensions and is outside of Time in an eternal Now, and then moves to discussing the joyous and loving union of the Three Persons of the Trinity. Music link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiNktUBcvNs

Book 4 of Mere Christianity, entitled "Beyond Personality: or First Steps in the Doctrine of the Trinity" delves into some great theological doctrines. Lewis is intent on explaining that is all about a new kind of life. "If Christianity only means one more bit of good advice, then Christianity is of no importance. There has been no lack of good advice for the last four thousand years. A bit more makes no difference. But as soon as you look at any real Christian writings, you find that they are talking about something quite different from this popular religion. ...Now the point in Christianity which gives us the greatest shock is the statement that by attaching ourselves to Christ, we can "become Sons of God." Music link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5Hin4swdKg

Lewis closes out Book 3 on Christian Behavior with a robust discussion of the dual meanings of Faith: Faith, the theological virtue, as well as Faith, the fruit of the Spirit. Music link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7BfP_zcvvc

Moving from the topic of Pride, the great sin, to a discussion of the theological virtues of Charity (Love) and Hope, Lewis's trenchant analysis of why we need to reclaim these virtues is an important word for the church today. "Good and evil both increase at compound interest. That is why the little decisions you and I make every day are of such infinite importance

In his famous teaching on the sin of Pride in this chapter, Lewis builds a strong argument on why this particular sin is the most insidious and deadly for Christians: "According to Christian teachers, the essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride. Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere flea bites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind."

In the quest to determine the most unpopular virtue, Lewis says Forgiveness may even eclipse Chastity in terms of most people's reluctance to practice the virtue. Yet, Jesus taught about how hugely important forgiveness is in the life of the Kingdom of God, not only in parables but also in the central part of the Lord's Prayer. Lewis examines why this virtue is so important in the life of the Christian.

‬Lewis's important chapter on Christian Marriage, like so many things in Mere Christianity, seems even more relevant today than when it was written. Here he addresses a Scriptural theology of marriage and problems with our cultural understanding of Love. Suffice to say that Lewis would not be a fan of the old hit song "You've Lost That Loving Feeling"!

In one of the more celebrated chapters of this book, Lewis takes on what he says is the most unpopular virtue: Chastity. Lewis's words here undermine the old show title "No Sex Please--We're British!" In his inimitable way, Lewis elucidates the Biblical standard and why it matters so profoundly for human flourishing.

In this chapter, Lewis explores the nature of psychoanalysis, rejects Freudian worldview assumptions, and reflects on the true nature of moral choice.

Lewis's discourse on Christian Behavior continues with this chapter on justice and society. His reflections and conclusions are fascinating and relevant: "...The real snag in all this drawing up of blueprints for a Christian society [is that] most of us are not really approaching the subject in order to find out what Christianity says: we are approaching it in the hope of finding support from Christianity for the views of our own party. We are looking for an ally where we are offered either a Master or a judge.

Lewis continues his discourse on Christian Behavior with this episode's chapter on the important topic of Virtue, focusing in on the "Cardinal" virtues of Prudence, Temperance, Justice, and Fortitude. It is a sad commentary on our times that those words seem so "old-fashioned" to our ears today.

This episode launches into Book 3 of Mere Christianity, which is entitled Christian Behavior. "The Three Parts of Morality" is a marvelous explication of moral theology, complete with some of Lewis's best analogies, and helps explain much of the confusion about morality that we see in our culture today.

Lewis describes what he calls "the Christ-life" within us and how we enter fully into that life. "The Christian... thinks any good he does comes from the Christ-life inside him. He does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us; just as the roof of a greenhouse does not attract the sun because it is bright, but becomes bright because the sun shines on it."

Lewis weaves together the problem of man's need for redemption, the love of God expressed in the Incarnation, and the power of Christ's sacrifice on the Cross to change everything, reminding us that "...fallen man is not simply an imperfect creature who needs improvement: he is a rebel who must lay down his arms."

Lewis takes on the topics of God's goodness and free will, the search for happiness outside of God, the radical things that Jesus said about His identity, the forgiveness of sins, and concludes with his famous trilemma apologia.

As Lewis unpacks the ideas behind what Christians believe, this chapter, "The Invasion," looks at why atheism is too simple and why an "inoculation" idea of Christianity is inadequate, and points towards the good news that the rightful king has landed, albeit in enemy-occupied territory.

Following the great success of the first series of five broadcast talks, "Right and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning of the Universe," the BBC asked Lewis to continue with a new series entitled "What Christians Believe." Lewis opens this series with his thoughts on "The Rival Conceptions of God," looking at ways that the religious impulse has animated mankind from ancient times.

In this chapter, Lewis explores the implications about what we have been able to deduce about the nature of Reality and the Law of Human Nature in the first four chapters. In this episode, we will also reflect on Book I as a whole, and why its arguments and the power of Story are critically important for Christian witness in this cultural moment where Gospel humility seems to be in short supply.

"Ever since men were able to think, they have been wondering what this universe really is and how it came to be there. In this chapter, Lewis discusses the materialist view, the religious view, and the role of science, concluding that there "... is a Something which is directing the universe, and which appears in me as a law urging me to do right and making me feel responsible and uncomfortable when I do wrong."

"Men ought to be unselfish, ought to be fair. Not that men are unselfish, nor that they like being unselfish, but that they ought to be. The Moral Law, or Law of Human Nature, is not simply a fact about human behaviour in the same way as the Law of Gravitation is...a fact about how heavy objects behave." Lewis shows us in this chapter how the Law of Human Nature is a fact , a reality, about humanity that must be considered."

Following Lewis's opening foray about the Law of Human Nature in his initial talk, he received many letters raising questions and some objections. He then addressed these points in his fifth talk. In the book, he changed the order and addressed the objections head on, using a remarkable series of analogies.

Lewis starts his book with a wonderful title for Book 1--"Right and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning of the Universe." Rather than beginning with evidence about Jesus or comparative analysis of different religions, he starts with perhaps the most ancient and consistent question of the human heart--why are we here and what is the purpose and meaning of life?

It was not until 1952 that the book we now know as Mere Christianity was published, including Lewis's broadcast talks with some important edits and additions. The apt analogy, one of the great joys of this book, makes a strong start in the Preface with Lewis's brilliant discussion of the meaning of words and the hall and doors image for the Christian faith. Join us as we explore this fascinating work.

“It's not because I'm anybody in particular that I've been asked to tell you what Christians believe. In fact it's just the opposite.” Lewis's opening words here reflect his conviction that connecting with his audience right away was key to earning the right to be heard. Much like Jesus's “Come and see” approach early in John's Gospel, Lewis deliberately establishes a tone and approach and connection which is quite disarming. Join us as we explore why this opening matters so deeply.

Join us as we explore the pivotal role of the Rev. James "Jimmy" Welch of the BBC in birthing the broadcast talks that led to the book we know today as "Mere Christianity." Welch's example is an inspirational one for us today and shows the difference one person can make.

The book we now know as Mere Christianity grew out of the darkest days of World War II and the talks C.S. Lewis gave to inspire hope and faith among an anxious nation. Join us as we explore this important context and its relevance for us today.