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

Join me in reading "Mere Christianity"!

I have something exciting to tell y'all! I am reading a brilliant book called "Mere Christianity" or "The Case for Christianity" by C.S. Lewis. So far, I have only read five chapters, but I am simply enthralled. Even though it is not on the book list, I am going to post on it after the Artful Dodger posts on his book. (Unless someone else wants to post. Everyone seems really busy, but let me know when you guys want to post on something; I just keep posting cause no one else is.)
Since I am finding this book to be superior, I have a challenge for you all: read it too! That way, when I post on it, we can have a discussion. If not enough people get it read before my post, perhaps we can have a discussion on it just as we did on Romeo and Juliet. Let me know what you guys want to do!
This book is so good! I hope you all will read it. I'm not suggesting it to get any non-Christian peeps to convert, if there are any on the site. In fact, so far this book is not at all about the Bible, or preachy stuff like that. It is simply analyzing people's beliefs on God or whatever life force they believe in and other things. Lewis is analyzing people's views and arguing for both sides. It's really interesting; that's why I recommend it.
Some tips on how to read this: #1. Do NOT read fast. Read it slowly. Perhaps just take one chapter a day. #2. Re-read. I just re-read chapter two slower than before, and I got a ton out of it. #3. I usually don't agree with how teachers make students read stuff like Shakespeare for the first time and make them analyze and dissect the details so that they student can't enjoy it. But for this book, do analyze it! It's that kind of book. Think about what you read and maybe see if you can apply it to people in your life. I sure can. This way, if you ever get in a conversation with those people, you can defend your faith and beliefs!
Ok, well, I will email Dodge and see when he's planning on posting. Thanks for reading.

~Arwen

Out of the Silent Planet

Greetings, my lords and my ladies, aka fellow book-wormy geeks!

Out of the Silent Planet is by C.S. Lewis. He wrote it because Tolkien challenged him to write a book about outer space. (They had somewhat of a dare exchange. Tolkien agreed he would write a book about time travel if Lewis wrote one about space travel.) I believe it is considered a children's book, though it has a much higher reading level than the Chronicles of Narnia, a series also written by C.S. Lewis.
This book is about a man who gets kidnapped and taken into outer space, the things he discovers and meets there, and how he eventually finds his way back to earth.
I began reading this book thinking I would really enjoy it. I've read every one of the books in the Chronicles of Narnia and loved almost every one. So I was almost sure I'd love this book too. Well, to be frank, I was wrong. My attention was never conquered at any part of the book, and therefore most of the time I kind of had to force myself to sit down and read it. It contained nothing very intriguing in my opinion. It was considerably dull at some parts, and as for the others, I simply was not amused at what was happening. I'm not that interested in outer space. If I was, perhaps I would find it more compelling. I'm just not. So I just didn't.
It's not that I hate this book; indeed there is nothing wrong with it. But nothing in or about it interested me other than the fact it was written by C.S. Lewis, of whom I am an avid fan.

Rated 2/5

I apologize if I have offended those who are a fan of this book :) but this is my honest opinion. Thanks.
~Lady Arwen

P.S. Regarding my last post on The Tempest: if I may, I'd just like to let you know that after giving it much thought I have changed my rating for The Tempest. I've changed it to 3/5 instead of 2/5. Thank you.