Humanity And Morality In Mere Christianity By C. S. Lewis

The content of Mere Christianity, written by C.S. Lewis, found its beginnings as a radio series in 1942 through 1944. During this time Britain was at the start of another war and the frontlines pushed into their own streets. The situation at hand prompted Lewis to share his thoughts in several wartime broadcasts about the problem with pain, suffering, and evil. These talks were gathered and revised to address a reader audience into the book Mere Christianity. Though there is nothing mere about Christianity when one dives deep into the wonders of God and his work, C.S. Lewis eloquently and clearly presents an apologetic examination of the Christian faith and man’s connection to it.

Mere Christianity is divided into four books or sections that build and expand off of the prior. The first book is entitled “Right and wrong as a clue to the meaning of the universe” and he examines the common understanding among all men of a universal moral law hardwired in the minds of men. He begins this examination with a presentation of man’s concept of right and wrong. The simplest understanding among all men is the concept of fairness. This fair play points to a law and can be seen in the reactions of mankind to justice and injustice. He contrasts this moral law, the Law of Human Nature, with the law of nature found in the world. The mind of the moral relativist denies such standards yet fail to recognize their call for fairness as a fatal flaw in their reasoning.

While maintaining a open look of this moral law, Lewis presents two objections one would present to the moral law: “The moral law is just herd instinct” and “Morality is just social convention. The moral law is not a herd instinct due to man’s choice to suppress stronger instincts in fa...

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...k is that Christianity is not a blind faith but a reasoned faith. He presents a faith that can stand inspection and critics. The weakness of this book is found in its brevity. Lewis as some points doesn’t expand enough on crucial key points. Though at some points he acknowledges that it is unnecessary to argue different doctrinal stances. Most disappointing is the lack of biblical support in the book. Not to say that his material is unbiblical but that he does not reference biblical passages that coincide with his subject at hand.

This book is a great starter apologetic for Christians and non-Christians alike. It does not go as deep as other well known apologetics but skims the surface while occasional diving deep to pick up deep theological truth. The book tends to seem more helpful to nonbelievers or new Christians due to his writing style and laymen approach.