Day 7 - Mere Christianity

In Mere Christianity, C.S Lewis attempts to bring the reader to the very core (or the foundation) of Christianity. Unlike most articles you read nowadays, he does not attempt to convince one into one denomination over another. I believed this to be important, because C.S Lewis emphasizes a "Natural Law" which governs all people. He gives several specific reasons for no supporting such denominations, which also helps supports his natural law. So I would like to go over each reason he gives and give some insight into such reasoning.

The first reason for such according to C.S Lewis is when Christians of different denominations quarrel, they sometimes forget that it involve points of "high Theology or even of ecclesiastical history, which ought never to be treated except by real experts". I find this reason to be very profound, because generally, most denominations share many, many similarities despite some differences that separate each other. This focus on the differences may spur common Christians of each denomination to lose focus on the major similarities that bind them under CHRISTIANITY. So personally I can picture C.S Lewis exclaiming that high theology should be treated by experts only with a sarcastic tone.

The second reason he gives is that "we must admit that the discussion of these disputed points has no tendency at all to bring an outsider into the Christian fold". This too, was a important fact that most quarrelers overlook. Christianity isn't about simply converting people so that they could all go to heaven - it was about bringing them into the love of Christ so that they too, would spread this divine, irresistible love to others as well.

The third as final reason he gives is that "far more talent authors were already engaged in such controversial matters than in the defense of what Baxter calls 'mere' Christianity". This statement speaks for itself. Mere Christianity. According to what C.S Lewis says, it is more like a "hall out of which doors open into several rooms". We must focus on the rules which govern all aspects of Christianity and the very values which make who we are. While looking at each door, we must ask: "Are these doctrines true?" "Is holiness here?" "Does my conscience move me towards this?"

With these three reasons held dearly to one's heart, one's focus on mere Christianity may grow and develop into a more elaborate form of it, like a house built upon rock.