Rating: 4 out of 5
I’ve been (more) interested in the writings of CS Lewis since reading the book on his friendship with JRR Tolkien. For some reason – I guess an interest in the Christian view of the world – I decided to start my exploration of Lewis with this title. There was plenty to like here and I could see how this is considered one of the foremost Christian apologia.
The reasoned tone and the structured nuance immerse the reader in a slow case that the only worldview that really holds true under scrutiny is that of Christianity. Thinking back to the societies that I visited in university where many professed to be Christians but could not explain what any of it meant, I could only surmise that they had not read Lewis because there is no way they could have been so bad at expressing their religion if they had read such an explanation.
What is the beauty of this work? I think Lewis sets up the tone rather nicely from the point of view of what Jesus said in the context of his time and how unnatural anything like that would have been for a right-minded person of the times to say. It’s an interesting argument and one I’ve not heard before (not having investigated the matter either). From there, Lewis sets up the scene to the teachings of Jesus and the tenets of Christianity as well as the threefold embodiment of God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit. I admit that the explanation of the Holy Spirit still went past me, but most of the rest I was able to follow.
Overall, I think this is a really good title and I can see myself coming back to it some years hence. I’m not converted and there are things I disagree with Lewis on – for example, the importance of the specific creed to be followed – but I’m rather tempted to read the medieval Christian scholars soon.
