Sunday, May 16, 2010

Mere Christianity aka The Case for Christianity

by C.S. Lewis

Well, helloooo, fellow geeks! How have you all been? I'm glad we've had posts from Dewhurst and Dodge of late, so there is some variety. We should probably get organized again as to who posts when and all that...I'll talk to the DC peeps, and we'll see.

Anyway! This is a great book. Basically, Lewis lays down the chief points of Christianity. I love the style in which he wrote this book. He lays down a principle, then he gives examples of things we can easily understand so we can get it. He repeats himself in different ways so one can grasp the point. I like the way he wrote this far better than the way he wrote the Chronicles of Narnia.

My favorite part of the this book was definitely the first book, specifically chapters 4 and 5. I LOVE the way he spoke of agnosticism. What he said about it is precisely my opinion of it, but he wrote it in such a clear and perfect fashion.
Here's probably my favorite quote in the whole book:

"One reason why many people find Creative Evolution so attractive is that it gives on much of the emotional comfort of believing in a God and none of the less pleasant consequences...All the thrills of religion and none of the cost. Is the Life-Force the greatest achievement of wishful thinking the world has yet seen?"

Those words made me tremendously excited, because I have always thought about it exactly like that! It was thrilling to read words that I so fully agree with and am passionate about. Here are some more quotes I loved:

"God is the only comfort, He is also the supreme terror: the thing we most need and the thing we most want to hide from. He is our only possible ally, and we have made ourselves his enemies."

"In religion as in war and everything else, comfort is the one thing you cannot get by looking for it. If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end: if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth...in the end, despair. Most of us have got over the pre-war wishful thinking about international politics. It is time we did the same about religion."

So I liked when he talked about the meaning of the universe and about whether there is or is not a God in the first place. As the book moved on, I did not get as much of a thrill, but it was still very good.

I actually disagreed with a bit of what he said. (I don't remember what chapter it was.) He acted as if this one point was a fact, but I disagreed. I won't go into the problems I had with it now, but if you want to talk, I definitely will.

Rated #5 - Watch out for the ninjas.

Thanks for reading. I hope you'll read the book.

Always,
Lady Arwen

12 comments:

  1. Great book- and I think I know what you are talking about as for the disagreeing thing.

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  2. I've never even heard of this book.

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  3. If you're not Christian, I am guessing there isn't much spoken of this book.

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  4. I am in the middle of it right now. I love it so far. I would like to hear your disagreements though Lady Arwen. Please, do tell them.
    ~Rosie Cotton

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  5. I do not agree with all he said when he was speaking of the death penalty

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  6. What did he say about the death penalty? You have to remember that times were different when he wrote the book. If he was a proponent for the death penalty, it could have been because the prison system wasn't adequate enough to hold some very dangerous criminals and so the death penalty was the best way to take care of them at the time. That is no excuse now, but it could have been at the time. Just my two cents. :)

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  7. That is true. That's why I didn't want to make a big deal out of it, because I am giving him a benefit of the doubt. Thanks, Lady Edith!

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  8. I have not got to the death penalty part yet. I have just finished reading the chapter on christian marriage and I have to say it was amazing. It was basicly my thoughts put into words, although I could have never have put them into words myself. I find articulating my thoughts rather difficult so reading that chapter brought a lot of joy to my heart. I was going to post a quote from that chapter but it was all so good and fit together so it was hard to take a short part of it out. But perhaps I will try once more to find one.
    I would also like to mention that I love the simile's C.S. Lewis uses throughout the book.
    ~Rosie Cotton

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  9. My brother told me that I should read Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton. Have any of you read it? What did you think? Well anyway hopefully I can start reading it soon! Maybe once I finish school. So yeah let me know! :)

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  10. Oh, I think we have that one, though I have not read it. My parents have. That looks good as well.

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