Right off the top, I am going to admit that Mere Christianity was a difficult read for me. Besides the war imagery to which I am (thankfully) not able to relate and the extensive use of "men" when discussing the entire human race, some of the discussions were ones I find hard to hear. Christianity has changed in the 53 years since C. S. Lewis wrote the book.
Lewis has some valuable things to say-ideas that can still be applied. I enjoyed the chapter on the countless ways through which Christ works-through nature, through books, through difficult experiences, through our friends, through us. I could relate to the section on the difficulty of living as a Christian. It is a challenge to wake up every morning with renewed energy to follow God in everything you do. I also liked Lewis's identification of the simple reason for being of the church-to draw 'men' to God continually.
There are other sections of the book, however, which I would not want someone to think are my beliefs. The chapter on marriage is explicit that the man is the head of the household. Yikes. Yes, I guess it applied in biblical times and it probably even applied in 1952, but it does not apply in all marriages today. I cringe at Lewis's claim that, "the relations of the family to the outer world must depend, in the last resort, upon the man, because he always ought to be, and usually is, much more just to the outsiders."
Some topics that are central to Christian life in 2005 are omitted, like environmental stewardship, for example. I see taking care of God's earth and the resources he has given us as important in my living out my life as a Christian. There is no mention of it in the book, nor of any other kind of stewardship we see as being so important today. There are other key issues as well: inter-faith relations and dialogue, economic justice and global inequality. These are all issues which confront me daily, and to which I respond based on my Christian beliefs.
This is not a book I would recommend to friends who wanted to learn about Christianity today. Lewis set out to write a book on the common Christianity. But the common Christianity of 1952 is not the common Christianity of 2005. Mind you, it is not God that is changing, rather, our perceptions of God are changing. God is not a static thing, and we need to look to the one true leader of our faith for direction and guidance. Mere Christianity, as far as I'm concerned, is looking to God constantly for guidance.
