\u2018Mere Christianity\u2019 Still Gets a Global Amen. Since 2001, C.S. Lewis\u2019s book has sold 3.5 million copies in English alone.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n During March Madness several years ago, the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship\u2019s Emerging Scholars Network ran \u201cThe Best Christian Book of All Time Tournament.\u201d Beginning with 64 entries, participants voted on a series of paired competitors through elimination rounds. C.S. Lewis\u2019s \u201cMere Christianity,\u201d a first seed, easily made the Elite Eight, where it handily defeated St. Augustine\u2019s \u201cCity of God.\u201d In the Final Four it beat Dietrich Bonhoeffer\u2019s \u201cCost of Discipleship,\u201d but in the finals it was edged out by Augustine\u2019s \u201cConfessions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not bad. Who else could have gone up against Augustine? And Lewis hadn\u2019t even planned for \u201cMere Christianity\u201d to be a book. During the dark days of World War II, the writer presented four sets of BBC radio talks on basic Christianity. He had these published in several paperbacks. Not until 1952 did he collect them together under the new title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The book always sold well, but in an unusual trend, its popularity has grown with time. Since 2001, \u201cMere Christianity\u201d has sold more than 3.5 million copies in English. It has been translated into at least 36 languages and is said to be the book that, next to the Bible, educated Chinese Christians are most likely to have read. Its greatest popularity is in the U.S., where it is still read by thoughtful evangelicals, along with thousands of Catholics, Orthodox and mainline Protestants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What accounts for its lasting popularity? Lewis was determined to present only the timeless truths of Christianity rather than the latest theological or cultural fashions. In the book\u2019s preface, he describes it as an attempt to explain and defend \u201cthe belief that has been common to nearly all Christians at all times.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n ******<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lewis\u2019s determination to present only timeless views also helped him avoid political temptation. He believed it divisive to emphasize \u201cChristianity and . . . \u201d as in \u201cChristianity and the New Order.\u201d In \u201cThe Screwtape Letters,\u201d Lewis has the senior devil tell his prot\u00e9g\u00e9 to encourage a man to intertwine his political and religious beliefs. This eventually leads the \u201cpatient\u201d to believe politics is paramount and that Christianity\u2019s value derives chiefly from its support for his party\u2019s positions. Accordingly, Lewis carefully avoided tying his presentation of Christianity to partisan politics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ******<\/p>\n\n\n\n A final strength of Lewis\u2019s book is in his ability to stand aside and point toward his subject\u2014rather than himself. Lewis once wrote that a poet should not be saying \u201clook at me,\u201d but rather \u201clook at that.\u201d Lewis acts like a guide on the journey from unbelief to faith. He points people to see, as he has, the time-tested beauty of God\u2019s love in Jesus Christ. Not everyone will see the beauty or be persuaded. But those who get a true glimpse will be drawn in by its power.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Here’s an op ed piece from the Wall Street Journal, by Professor (Emeritus) at Notre Dame, George Marsden. Mere Christianity (link to wiki article) is a great book – I read it decades ago. \u2018Mere Christianity\u2019 Still Gets a Global Amen. Since 2001, C.S. Lewis\u2019s book has sold 3.5 million copies in English alone. During […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2036","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2036"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2036\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13499,"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2036\/revisions\/13499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n