Mere Christianity by {author}: summary and why it matters

What it argues

The book began as BBC radio talks between 1941 and 1944 and was published in its book form in 1952. Lewis starts with an observation: people everywhere appeal to a standard of right behavior that they expect others to follow and that they themselves fail to keep. That moral law, he says, points to something beyond nature.

From there he argues for belief in God, considers what the alternatives to Christianity would require, and presents the claim that Jesus must be either liar, lunatic or Lord, a trilemma that later critics have contested. In the later books he describes the Christian virtues, the idea of the Trinity and the doctrine of the new man, in plain language and with homely analogies.

Lewis avoids the points on which denominations differ and aims to describe what he calls the common core.

Why it matters

It is one of the most widely read Christian books of the century, and has brought many readers to faith. For conservatives it also illustrates the argument that moral order depends on something beyond human preference.

About the author

The talks on which the book is based were broadcast by the BBC during the Second World War, the first in 1941 under the title Right and Wrong, and were collected in three small volumes, The Case for Christianity, Christian Behaviour and Beyond Personality. The combined edition appeared in 1952, with a new preface in which Lewis explained the term mere Christianity.

Who should read it

Believers and skeptics alike, and families looking for a conversation starter.