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He went quietly. It was very British. While the world’s attention turned to Dallas and the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, one Clive Staples Lewis breathed his last in Oxford just a week shy of his 65th birthday. Strangely enough, science-fictionist Aldous Huxley passed the same day. In one calendar square, three of the 20th century’s most influential figures were gone. It was Nov. 22, 1963. C.S. Lewis is known best for his series of seven short fiction books, the “Chronicles of Narnia,” which have sold more than 100 million copies in 40 languages. With three of the stories...

Clive Staples Lewis November 29, 1898 – November 22, 1963

Sixty years ago, London publisher Geoffrey Bles first released a revision of three sets of radio talks by an Oxford literature don. The book was called Mere Christianity, and there was nothing "mere" about it. A somewhat disjointed set of C. S. Lewis's views on a wide range of theological, philosophical, and ethical matters, the book became the most important and effective defense of the Christian faith in its century. As Mere Christianity (henceforth "MC") goes into its seventh decade of publishing success, rivaled still by no other apologetic, it's worth taking a look at its unlikely success. Why It...

What with James Dobson threatening to support a third party candidate and others questioning Mitt Romney's faith, I thought it might be relevant to post some thoughts about who or what a Christian is and who gets to determine this definition by a man who was one of the greatest apologists for Christianity ever: C.S. Lewis. What follows is an excerpt from just the Preface of the book "Mere Christianity".

Clive Staples Lewis has lately become a rock star within the Christian community. A new movie based on his books, The Chronicles of Narnia, is a blockbuster hit. His books are among the best selling in Christian literature. This is quite a feat for a reserved British intellectual who has been dead for more than forty years. As a young man, Lewis was a skeptic who dismissed Christianity as a myth. At age 33, with the help of J.R.R. Tolkien and others, he experienced a spiritual awakening. Afterwards, his creativity helped make him a celebrated champion of Christian belief. The...

God sent the human race what I call good dreams: I mean those queer stories scattered all through the heathen religions about a god who dies and comes to life again and, by his death, has somehow given new life to men. He also selected one particular people and spent several centuries hammering into their heads the sort of God He was — that there was only one of Him and that He cared about right conduct. Those people were the Jews, and the Old Testament gives an account of the hammering process. Then comes the real shock. Among these...

I said in a previous chapter that chastity was the most unpopular of the Christian virtues. But I am not sure I was right. I believe there is one even more unpopular. It is laid down in the Christian rule, 'Thou shaft love thy neighbour as thyself.' Because in Christian morals 'thy neighbour' includes 'thy enemy,' and so we come up against this terrible duty of forgiving our enemies. Every one says forgiveness is a lovely idea, until they have something to forgive, as we had during the war. And then, to mention the subject at all is to be...

The last chapter was mainly negative. I discussed what was wrong with the sexual impulse in man, but said very little about its right working - in other words, about Christian marriage. There are two reasons why I do not particularly want to deal with marriage. The first is that the Christian doctrines on this subject are extremely unpopular. The second is that I have never been married myself, and, therefore, can speak only at second hand. But in spite of that, I feel I can hardly leave the subject out in an account of Christian morals. The Christian idea...

Natural Law in Our Lives, in Our Courts (Part 1) J. Budziszewski on the 4 Ways of Knowing It AUSTIN, Texas, APRIL 1, 2004 (Zenit) - Legal scholars and theologians debate over the details of natural law, but an expert in the field believes that the fundamentals are something that we can't not know. J. Budziszewski is professor of government and philosophy at the University of Texas and author of several books, including most recently, "What We Can't Not Know: A Guide" (Spence Publishing). Budziszewski shared the four God-given witnesses of natural law: deep conscience, the designedness of things in...

Thirty years ago today, I visited Tom Phillips, president of the Raytheon Company, at his home outside of Boston. I had represented Raytheon before going to the White House, and I was about to start again. But I visited him for another reason as well. I knew Tom had become a Christian, and he seemed so different. I wanted to ask him what had happened. That night he read to me from MERE CHRISTIANITY by C. S. Lewis, particularly a chapter about the great sin that is pride. A proud man is always walking through life looking down on other...

One Night in a Driveway Chuck Colson (archive) August 12, 2003 Thirty years ago today, I visited Tom Phillips, president of the Raytheon Company, at his home outside of Boston. I had represented Raytheon before going to the White House, and I was about to start again. But I visited him for another reason as well. I knew Tom had become a Christian, and he seemed so different. I wanted to ask him what had happened. That night he read to me from Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis, particularly a chapter about the great sin that is pride. A...