Reading Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis - Some Highlights

I am a big fan of the Narnia Chronicles by C.S. Lewis (as you can tell with what I wrote at this link). I read them all at least twice as a child, and I also enjoy the radio drama adaptations by Focus on the Family and the films to some extent. I have previously had the chance to read some of Lewis’ essays about faith and the church. But it wasn’t until this week that I ordered Mere Christianity and began to read it.

Something that surprised me is that Lewis’ writing is still easy to read, 64 years after it was published (and 74 years since the original radio broadcasts were aired). As I read, I can easily follow his train of thought – and his arguments flow naturally onto the page. If someone had asked me last month of books to introduce to a seeker of Christianity, I wold have recommended Strobel’s The Case for Faith and The Case for Christ, or something like the Alpha Course. However, having read seven chapters of Mere Christianity, I would now recommend it to someone wanting to know what the Christian believes.

What I find personally convenient, is that each chapter was originally one episode of Lewis’ broadcasts on the BBC in the 1940s. This means that they are each a similar length. In the edition I am reading, each chapter is about six pages long. This is handy for me, because I can read one chapter in one sitting, then go and get a drink or do some random housework, and then come back to read the next chapter. This is my preferable reading style. It is similar to TV with ad breaks!

Another thing that surprised me is the number of apparent typos within the text I am studying. I am planning on contacting the publisher when I have finished the book to inform them of the location of each typo, which hopefully can be edited out for the next edition.

I enjoy C.S. Lewis’ writing style in both the Narnia books and also in his Christian work for adults. I am enjoying reading Mere Christianity, and would happily recommend it to anyone. I enjoy reading easily digestable chapters, and I am looking forward to read the rest, and maybe move on to Lewis’ other writings for grown ups.

Henry - A Narnia Story

Fiction relating to The Chronicles of Narnia. Written by a lifelong Narnian.

Maria looked up at the large house. She thought that it looked very interesting. Her mum hurried her in, as the tour was already inside.

Maria lagged behind at the end of the tour. There were about 15 other people, all trying to seem interested in a painting of a horse. When they went upstairs, Maria saw a sign pointing to the library. She liked books, so she went in.



It was a large room with books on shelves lining the room. She went over to a shelf and noticed a book that interested her. It was blue with no title, and rather thick. It was stuck in the shelf, so Maria pulled harder.

Maria landed on the floor with a loud noise. She looked towards the doorway. Had anyone heard? But then the bookcase started to move out from the wall. Startled, Maria jumped up. When the case stopped, Maria stepped through the gap.

Inside the doorway was a room with a four-poster bed in it. “Oh no,” thought Maria. “I've stumbled into the Professor's bedroom!” But she then saw that there was a thick layer of dust on the floor, with no footprints in it.

She turned around to leave, but on the way she saw a plaque on the bookshelf. It read:

TO FIND OUT ABOUT A WONDERFUL CREATURE CALLED HENRY, 

LOOK UNDER THE PILLOW.

Maria was curious about this creature, whatever it was. So she carefully walked over to the bed and looked under the pillow. Under it was a plain notebook with the simple title “Henry”.

In it was a story about a dog with arthritis. He had belonged to the Professor when he was a boy. He chased cats that were trying to eat birds, but he in turn did not hurt the birds. Henry was in great pain at nights because of his arthritis.

Maria started crying in the middle of reading the story because it was so sad. But at the end, she felt heartbroken.

Henry died by falling down a sewer. He was chasing a big cat who was about to kill 5 sparrows. The boy was not watching Henry because he was thinking about his mother who was extremely sick.

Maria put the book back and walked out of the room. She was able to push back the bookcase and leave the room for the next lucky visitor to Henry's memorial.

Is It True That Disney Never Makes Original Films?

I recently heard a comment that made sense, at first. The comment was along the lines of, “Walt Disney never made an original story.” I thought, “Yes, that’s right, he made movies from existing stories such as the fairy tales of Snow White, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty, and from books like Pinocchio and The Jungle Book.” Fast forward to our lifetime, and the films were very similar to this – think the tales of Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and ancient legends of Hercules and Mulan.




On the surface, this comment sounded true. But I now realize, it wasn’t!

The same person said once that Walt Disney’s films were controversial at the time of release, because he had made his own unique version of the traditional stories. Prior to his films, there were multiple versions that circulated around. Snow White might have had a different ending, or Cinderella might have had an extra subplot or an additional detail. People were quite comfortable with these varying versions of the tales.

And here came along Walt Disney saying, “Here’s my version, and that’s what the story is now!”

So now I see, this person who said both these things contradicted himself somewhat.

My argument is that, in creating unique, standout stories - loosely based on existing stories, Walt Disney was indeed being original and creative. Aren’t all artists inspired by something in the first place?


I will leave you with this quote:

Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it.

~C. S. Lewis

The Top Ten Christian Genre Films: My Response

In this article I will be giving my thoughts on this list of the top-grossing Christian genre films of all time:

"Christian Movies at the Box Office"

Let me introduce you to the most popular Christian themed movies of all time: The top four on this list are 

1. The Passion of the Christ

2. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

3. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

4. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

These movies' place on this list are no surprise. Aside from The Passion, which was funded by Mel Gibson as I understand, the other three are multi-million-dollar-budget movies funded by Disney, Walden Media, Fox and Dune Entertainment. So with marketing budgets 10 times as large as most independent film budgets in their entirety, it is no surprise they can take in over $1.6 billion as a series, worldwide. The Narnia movies are also based on a successful book series known worldwide - and not only known in church circles, but to most people.

Next :

5. Heaven is For Real

6. God's Not Dead

7. Son of God

These three films were all released in 2014. Together they brought in $210 million for their studios - including Fox and Sony. These movies represent the maturity in the current Christian independent film industry. PureFlix, producers of God's Not Dead, has already released dozens of small budget movies for the Christian market. And this year they were somehow able to draw the crowds (and $60 million).

The marketers of Heaven is For Real initially thought the ceiling for a film like this could be $50 million, after the release of Courageous in 2011 only brought in $34 million. I am sure they are pleased that their expectation was exceeded by almost double.

Number 8 - Soul Surfer - is in the same category as these 3 mentioned above, and released by the same company as Heaven is for Real (number 5) and Courageous (number 10). This made a healthy $43 million.

The odd one out here is the Christmas-themed The Nativity Story, produced by New Line Cinema in the wake of The Passion of the Christ to cash in on this new-found Christian audience. Perhaps missing the mark in a few places (the films mood and pace are two issues), this film was most likely a loss for the studio, despite it's place in the Top 10.

A few notes - it's not usually all about the money for me, however in the entertainment industry, if a product doesn't sell, there will not be further opportunities for similar products to be produced. And a well told story deserves to be seen by many (hence why many Christian produced films should not be popular).

I am encouraged to see where this movement will go. Here's hoping we see lives and hearts changed by the stories that are told.