Mere Theology: A Guide to the Thought of C. S. Lewis - Softcover

Vaus, Will; Gresham, Douglas

Softcover

ISBN 10: 083082782X ISBN 13: 9780830827824

Publisher: IVP Academic, 2004

Synopsis

<p>What did C. S. Lewis believe about God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, heaven, hell, creation, the Fall, the forgiveness of sins, marriage and divorce, war and peace, the church and sacraments, masculinity and femininity?Lewis was not a professional theologian, but anyone who has read his writings--whether fiction or nonfiction, essays or correspondence--knows that profoundly Christian convictions permeate them all. The more one reads, the more it becomes clear that Lewis could write with charity and simplicity while preserving theological accuracy because he was well informed and thoroughly grounded in the Christian faith.Will Vaus has masterfully brought together Lewis's thought from throughout his voluminous writings to provide us a full-orbed look into his beliefs on twenty-five Christian themes. This book gives us not only a comprehensive view of Lewis's theological convictions but also guidance and encouragement for our own spiritual journeys toward the God whom Lewis found soreal, personal and present.</p>

About this title

About the Authors

<p>Vaus (M.Div., Princeton Theological Seminary) has served as a pastor in Pennsylvania, the Carolinas and California. He is the president of Will Vaus Ministries, an international creative communications outreach.</p>

Douglas Gresham is the son of Joy Gresham and stepson of C.S. Lewis. His books include Lenten Lands (1988) and Jack's Life: The Story of C.S. Lewis (2005). He is co-producer of the movie The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005), a film adaptation of his stepfather's Narnia stories.

Reviews

"Over the years I have met many Lewis enthusiasts who have wondered, 'What did Lewis believe about _____?' (You fill in the blank)," writes Vaus. "This book is written to answer those many questions about what Lewis believed." Arranged topically, Vaus's book takes readers through Lewis's published thoughts on subjects such as creation, the Fall, Scripture, the Trinity, prayer, war, God's sovereignty, human free will and Satan. (There are also chapters on Venus, by which Lewis means sexual morality, and "the Tao," a term that he—oddly enough—uses to refer to the Jewish understanding of the law.) Vaus's chapters are remarkably concise and even-handed. In the mind of Douglas Gresham, Lewis's stepson and the author of the foreword to this book, that accessibility may actually be a vice: Gresham fears that this guide "may make the study of Jack's Lewis's theology almost too easy" and drive students away from Lewis's corpus of theological writing. Despite such trepidations, most readers will agree with Gresham that Vaus has given us an exemplary introductory guide to Lewis's thought.
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In this exposition of Lewis' theology, Vaus remarks in passing that during World War II Lewis' voice was the second most recognizable in Britain (after Winston Churchill's) because of his broadcast theological talks. If his physical voice has been forgotten since, his Christian apologetics in such books as The Problem of Pain and miracles have grown in popularity, helped by the even greater continuing success of his Christological fantasies for children (of all ages), the Chronicles of Narnia. Lewis advocated what he called "mere Christianity," by which he meant a commonly comprehensible understanding of the faith, unadulterated by admixtures with secular ideologies and other religions (e.g., Christian Socialism, Buddhist Christianity), by which Catholics, Protestants, and Orthodox alike could live. In graceful, common language that mirrors Lewis' writing, Vaus distills Lewis on Christianity in 25 chapters on such topics as defending the faith, the Trinity, marriage and divorce, war and peace, prayer, the sacraments, and aspects of the afterlife. An ideal introduction to Lewis' warm, humane religious thought. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: IVP Academic
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 083082782X
• ISBN 13: 9780830827824
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 266