Mere Christianity Chapter 1 Summary

As a project we were told to study a religion from an outsider’s perspective. We, as students, would attend that specific religion’s place of worship to observe their rituals and routines. Then after service we would conduct an interview with the participants to answer our personal questions such as “Why do they do the things they do?” or “How often do they do this?” I chose to study Christianity even though I am a Christian. I thought it would be interesting to see if most Christian churches practice Christianity the same way. However, prior to attending services I researched the history of Christianity.

“Only in a world where faith is difficult can faith exist.” -Lee Strobel in The Case for Christ. This to me is a very interesting and profound quote. To the best of my ability I try to thinking logically. For in a world filled with people who are driven not because of reason, logic, or coming to a conclusion, more people need to be more intentional rather than the focus on just being louder. This 46 letter quote has challenged me more than most of the book.

Mere Christianity, if you are looking to read a christian book and trying to get closer in your walk with the Lord, is a great book to do so. It helps people go through life and see how they should react and live accordingly to Him. Mere Christianity laid a foundation with me and how I should walk with Christ. I am a Christian, but this book made me not only grow in my beliefs, but in my view of life and how we should all live it. If you are looking for an answer, C.S. Lewis is one of the best authors to write a book like this.

Christianity has been a part of society for many generations and has always been interpreted, dissected, and taken apart and put back together again in many ways to understand the true meaning of Christianity, but in this awakening the Bible has been misinterpreted, and abused by both sides to gain more favor and power for themselves. This trend had happened for hundreds of years, from the early church, the Catholic Church and the reformation, to many empires and kingdoms, and some governments today. The question is though what can be Christianity be defined as? Liberal or Conservative?

I became a Christian in May 2005. I was blessed to grow up in a family that is highly involved in church. Prior to my conversion, I had noticed how I could not partake of communion; this led me to begin asking questions about salvation and the Gospel. I was blessed at a young age that God revealed enough basics to draw me to him. In May 2005 I realized that I was a sinner, and I could not make a pathway to God on my own; I knew that truly believing Jesus dying on the cross to take my place and rising on the third day and confessing he is Lord and that I needed to repent of my sins was the only chance to have a relationship with him. After this realization, my parents and I got in touch with our Pastor at the time – Rev. Junior Corn to schedule

In Simply Christian chapters 1-4 there are many high points to view in these few chapters. Chapter one, putting the world to rights, covers by talking justice in the chapter and shows examples by Adolf Hitler involved with the Holocaust. It covers three ideas of ‘’ We can say if we like…Only a dream, dream of a different world all together, and reason we have these dreams.

According to the Book of Acts, “Christianity began at a single place, at a single moment in time, 50 days after death of Jesus now known as Pentecost, a miraculous event took place ...” (Pierrebrd 2), but in reality there are different disciples of Jesus who experienced different things. Although many believe it to be a single coherent movement, “ when in fact the more we find the out about Christianity, the more widely variegated phenomena it appears to be. Beginnings began in different places, by different people” (Pierrebrd 2). The heart of the movement was formed by Jesus's disciples as an attempt to keep his image alive; it is believed that the Jews form of Judaism is the basis for Christianity.

The world is no longer the place it once was when Jesus was living his ministry and preparing the world for what was to come. Almost every thing is different. The people, the countries, the cultures have all changed vastly. Even Christianity has been molded and changed along with the times. Even with the enormous amount of changes that have taken place in the last two thousand years the Bible and the Gospel still remain true and relevant. Sharing the Gospel is still a call that God has given Christians and one that needs to be lived out. There are different ways to share the Gospel including lifestyle evangelism and sharing the Gospel verbally and there are different methods used that are modern or postmodern. Technology has made a vast difference

Moreover, he also acknowledges that his lectures on mythology and revelation is but one way to tell the history of the relationship between thought and the Absolute. Since what we can understand of the Absolute is just what our conditioned situation allows us to catch, in principle different narratives its relationship to our thought are possible just as different situations are.13 Consequently, the stance in favour of Christianity's superiority is true as Christianity is a particular and unique view of the divine dimension. In this respect, Christianity possesses its own distinctive features which no other tradition can express, as each one of them is grounded on a different understanding of God.14 Furthermore, the same stance is true as an

Mere Christianity was written by C.S. Lewis (Clive Staples Lewis). C.S. Lewis was born in Belfast, Ireland on November 29, 1898. He was arguably one of the intellectual giants and influential writers of the twentieth century. Until nineteen fifty-four he was a Fellow and Tutor in English Literature at Oxford University. After that he was unanimously elected to the Chair of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Cambridge University, a position he held until his retirement. Clive wrote more than thirty books, allowing him to reach vast audiences, and his books still attract readers more every year.

In On Christian Doctrine, St Augustine discusses at length the subjects he believes a Christian should study; namely, anything which will help him to advance in charity and grow closer to God in love. Chief among these things is the Bible; as God’s own divine word, the Sacred Scriptures are the most reliable source of information when it comes to growing in virtue. In order to effectively study the Scriptures, however, other information is necessary. Therefore, a Christian should study those things which, within reason, will help clarify and advance his knowledge of Scripture; such as history, or languages such as Hebrew and Greek. Finally, in addition to the Bible, Christians should study that which will help them to fulfill their God-given

Based on the foundational theological themes discussed during the first half of the course, it may be inferred that the essence of Christianity broadly lies within deciphering God’s will, and further transferring his will into action particularly by adapting simplicity in our lifestyle and serving those in need to bring about justice and to help humanity prevail. We can note the acknowledgement of the importance of service in various different Tradition’s that fall under the Christian Tradition such as the Orthodox Tradition, the Catholic Tradition, the Pentecostal Tradition, the Protestant Tradition as well as the Jesuit Tradition. Simplicity is also an adhered to trait in Christianity that is highly encouraged in the form of being self-effacing in nature and austere in living. However, although simplicity and service play an important role in the essence of Christianity there has been tension about it’s role which can be rebutted. As stated by Dr Eileen Burke-Sullivan in her lecture on Institutional Structures and Religious Identities during an annual seminar I attended, service questions, “if the apostolic work really is christ-activity or just humanistic do-gooding.” Further the idea of the degree of simplicity tends to clash with the desire for more. The answer to these begin with deciphering the will of God.

The prominent theme in this course centered around the idea of becoming a Christian man. Jesus Christ is the perfect example of the logos, and he demonstrates to us how to love and serve others. The assignments focused on different aspects of manhood and how to live a life similar to Christ. Each of these works focuses on a different aspect of Christian manhood, and together they intricately describe the importance of becoming a Christian man.

Everybody believes in something. Whether it is in God like Christians or in nothing like atheists, everyone in the world believes something. However, these beliefs do not always match each other. People argue about different opinions and religion becomes a popular punching bag for the world to ridicule and mock others for what they believe. Although there are different opinions, C.S. Lewis says “If you are a Christian, you are free to think that all those religions, even the queerest ones, contain at least some hint of truth” (p.35). Despite this fact, Lewis says as a Christian you also have to realize that “Where Christianity differs from other religions, Christianity is right and they are wrong” (p.35). This probably explains why the majority of believers in the world are Christians (Chappell, 2015). In Book 2 of Lewis’ Mere Christianity, he writes about what Christians believe and how Christian philosophy is correct. C.S. Lewis helps the readers of Mere Christianity understand and believe Christian fundamentals through his explanation and argument of the rival conceptions of God, the Good and Evil powers in the world, and basic Christian philosophy.

The Mind of the Maker sets forth an analogical study of the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, comparing the various aspects of the Godhead to the human person. Sayers demonstrates this by shedding a new perspective on a set of statements made in the Christian creeds. The word “Creed” is derived from the Latin word credo, translating to the meaning of “I believe”. Moreover, The Creeds are a summary of beliefs in Christianity. In the early years after the death of Christ, churches encountered the problem of opposing views over matters of whether he was truly God, or if he had both a human or divine nature. This notion was established not because the early Fathers were eager to finalize the language of what they believed