"Mere Christianity" by C. S. Lewis

[svosen]

I've recently been listening to an audio presentation of Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis. I was surprised to learn that it is actually a collection of three separate books:

* The Case for Christianity, 1943
* Christian Behavior, 1943
* Beyond Personality, 1945

Despite its title, the first book is an argument for the existence of an intelligent creator based solely on logic. Lewis does not involve any quotes from Jewish or Christian scripture (or any religious texts, for that matter).

If any of you have already read, or are interested in reading, the first book (or the collection: Mere Christianity), I would be interested in reading your opinions of it. From my perspective, he has done a nice job of removing his faith from the argument for intelligent creation. I wonder how non-Christians perceive his arguments.
~~~~~~~~~

The last two books are decidedly more "Christian" than the first. I doubt very much you would like them if you weren't actively seeking to learn more about Christianity, but I could be wrong. I personally have found them very mentally stimulating and enjoyable. Here is a quote I've transcribed from the audio of the second book (sorry, I don't know what page number it would be):

“I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God.” That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic, on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg, or else he would be the devil of hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was and is the son of God, or else a mad man, or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon, or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a “great human teacher.” He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.

-- C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

If any of you are seeking to learn more about Christianity, be it for spiritual or intellectual reasons, my experience is that this book comes closely behind the Bible as a worthwhile resource.

The definition of what it means to be "Christian" in my mind seems to be the same as it was for Lewis.

For what that's worth. :P