Mere Christianity and Screwtape Letters

Just a quick review of the two books.

I recently bought Signature Classics of Lewis and finished the first two, Mere, and Screwtape. (Well, almost done with ST)

Note that I did not read them with the intent of writing any comprehensive review. This review is simply my after-thoughts, my impression, as it were.

To be Frank, I think Mere is overrated. I did not walk away from it with some awe-inspiring new love for Christ or my faith, I did not get some new, deep, theological truth.
The book has its place, to be sure. Lewis is an excellent and very clever writer, his philosophy and analogies are top notch. However, I find a problem with the book when I finish reading and it seems to me I could count the number of scripture verses he quoted on one hand. Perhaps he used more, I wasn't counting, but that is the impression I was left with. I'm sitting here thinking, did I ever here him say anything like "Matthew 5 says..." Not really, but I know he said things like "the Bible says" or "scripture says". But with no direct quotes that I remember off hand.

The book is mostly philosophical, building the case for Christianity from THAT perspective, instead of directly from the bible.
And I've got nothing wrong with that, save this: If you are going to write a book that is supposed to teach the basic, or "mere" simplicity, foundation of what Christianity is all about, I would think it needs to be rooted in scripture, in Christ, since those are the foundation for the faith. And not rooted in strange comparisons of evolution, and clever analogies. You do not teach a faith on analogies, you just expound on scripture.
Now I grant that Lewis IS expounding on scripture, but without telling us. I'm left with the question, "hey that was a great analogy or thought process, but what scripture was it based on? Where did the idea come from directly?"

Regardless, Lewis is highly quotable, and leaves us with many excellent analogies and quotes and trinkets to reuse. I think the book is recommended reading not even because it supposes to teach the basic tenants of the faith, the "mere" of Christianity, but because it is so popular and clever and from a philosophical point of view, makes you go "ahhhhh" when certain truths are brought home and made real through his cleverness of thought.

Lewis is a humble writer, often saying when he doesn't fully understand things himself, but tries. He tells people to skip whole chapters IF the question he is raising is NOT currently a question on the readers mind. He makes you feel like he is learning this stuff WITH you as you go along.
At the same time, he can sometimes start running down a rabbit hole with some of his analogies that just go on and on, and you start to wonder, this is "basic"? In other words, THIS is what people need to know, to know the "basics" of Christianity? No, I think the basics are even more basic then Lewis tries to explain. Christianity can be explained in a sentence: "We sin against God and deserve punishment, but Christ lived a sinless life and died as a sacrifice to take our punishment for us, and if we accept His gift and turn to him in faith and obedience, we can share in eternal life with God in heaven." There is "Mere Christianity". There are verses which say just that, such as John 3:16.
I give Lewis props though :)


Next I read Lewis' Screwtape Letters. Nothing special here as far as learning anything about the Bible, about God, theology, Christianity, etc... This book is just a clever sort of allegory from the point of view of demons. Basically, each human has a demon "assigned" to them, to try to get them away from God and holiness. The book takes the form of a demon named "Screwtape" who is writting letters back and forth with a pupil named "Wormwood". We don't read Wormwood's letters, but only Screwtape's letters in response. Where this book really shines is that it gives you a perspective that Satan really is trying his best to distract you from holiness and Godliness. I find a lot of it clever, but boring, up until the point where Screwtape is explaining some strategy to Wormwood, in which I have found myself falling victim in my own life. And it brings a kind of shock to think that demons, or "the enemy" could be at the very root of this stumbling. To hear Screwtape tell Wormwood, try this, so your client goes this way or that. And then I think about a time in my life when that exact sort of thing happened. It makes the wiles of the Devil more real to me. To remember that spiritual warfare IS taking place right now for our souls, in that, if Satan can't have us, at least he'll try to make us the worst Christians we can be. It makes you more aware that he really DOES have "tactics" to try and tear you away from Christ, to mess up your relationships, your study, your meditation, your prayers, your perspective, your knowledge, your ideologies, and so forth.

What Screwtape does is make you aware of what the enemy's strategies might be. And if you know the enemy's strategies, you can be better prepared to fight them. I also recommend this book, if not just for its clever perspective on spiritual warfare.

I'll be giving my thoughts on each book I finish reading, but not with a mind on a super-concise review, but just my after-thoughts.


In Christ,

Vig