KNOWING . OING &DC S L EWI S I N S TITUTE Spring 2017 A Teaching Quarterly for Discipleship of Heart and Mind A Biography of Mere Christianity By George Marsden Professor of History Emeritus at University of Notre Dame IN THIS ISSUE biography of a book may sound like Lewis’s presentations were successful enough an unusual concept, but books do have for the BBC to invite him back for some addi- 1 A Biography of Mere their own lives, and some books have tional broadcasts. Eventually he offered four Christianity A shaped the world profoundly. That is especially such series. He collected and edited the first by George Marsden true of religious books. Recognizing this, the re- two series into a little paperback, titled simply 2 Notes from the ligion editor of Princeton University Press insti- Broadcast Talks. These were soon published also President: Looking for tuted a series called the Lives of Great Religious in the States with the catchier title The Case for Adventure? by Joel S. Books. So far, the volumes include The Book of Christianity. Lewis had suddenly become well Woodruff Genesis, The Book of Job, The Book of Mormon, The known for The Screwtape Letters, first published 3 The Emergence Tibetan Book of the Dead, Augustine’s Confessions, in book form in 1942. During the next couple of of Evangelical Thomas Aquinas’s Summa Theologica, John Cal- years, he published the third and fourth sets of Discipleship by Tom vin’s Institutes, among others published or forth- BBC talks, adding a few extra chapters. These he Schwanda coming. When I was asked to contribute to this titled Christian Behaviour and Beyond Personality. project, I saw C.S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity as an It is not even clear whose idea it was to bring 4 Growing in Prayer: Part 2 by Bill Kynes appropriate addition to the series. Even though the three small paperbacks together as a single it is relatively new and is not, like many of the book. But in 1952 Lewis issued them together, 6 The Wisdom of Jane works, an official authoritative text of a religious lightly edited, and with an important new pref- Eyre by Joe Kohm movement, it has a claim to being one of the ace that explained the meaning of his new title: most important religious works of the twentieth Mere Christianity. 8 Does a Red-Faced God Sing the Blues? century. The story of the life of Mere Christianity has a Emotions, Divine One of the remarkable features of the life number of fascinating dimensions. First, there Suffering, and Biblical of Mere Christianity is that, unlike most other is the story of its origins. The setting during the Interpretation by books of its time, it is even more popular to- trying days of World War II is particularly dra- Kevin Vanhoozer day than when it first came out. During the first matic, and there is a good bit to say about Lew- 10 First Steps to Loving fifteen years of the twenty-first century, it sold is’s view of his “war service” as an apologist and Understanding more than 3.5 million copies in English alone. for traditional Christianity. In addition to the Our Jewish Neighbors It has been translated into more than thirty lan- broadcasts, he was traveling on many weekends by Randy Newman guages. I have been told that, next to the Bible, to RAF camps to talk about Christianity to men it is the book most likely to have been read by whose life expectancies were appallingly short 12 The Priority of Prayer by Thomas A. educated Chinese Christians. as they faced bombing raids over Germany. Tarrants, III That is all the more remarkable because what These experiences helped furnish Lewis with became Mere Christianity was not originally a good sense of how to communicate with the planned as a book. Rather, it began as a brief se- less educated, a skill that was essential for an ries of broadcasts on the BBC during England’s Oxford don who wished to reach a wide audi- dark days in the early part of World War II. ence with his broadcasts. (continued on page 14) NOTES FROM THE PRESIDENT by Joel S. Woodruff, Ed.D., President, C.S. Lewis Institute Looking for Adventure? e all long for adventure whether it wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever is in real life or in our dreams! Why loses their life for me will save it.” (Luke 9:23-24) Welse would millions around the globe Often when we read these verses we speak flock to theaters to see the latest sequel of Star of the cost of discipleship, the denial of self, the Wars or the Jason Bourne series? And how taking up of our cross and the hardships that many enjoy spending countless hours reading are entailed in living our lives for Jesus in this quest novels like Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings fallen world. Yet that is all part of the adventure or even C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia? of discipleship in which a sure promise of great We seem to be wired for adventure and the reward is given to all who commit – their very same basic storyline hooks us every time. As lives or souls are saved! There is no greater re- a writer friend shared with me, all good story ward than that, and the alternative is far worse telling follows this basic formula: A story be- – the death of our souls. Yes, the Christian life gins with a character who wants something, may be hard at times, but this is part of the ad- struggles to overcome barriers that stand in the venture and Jesus also tells us, “I came that they way of achieving it and moves through a series (his disciples) may have life and have it abun- of actions to overcome them. dantly.” There is no greater joy and fulfillment Yet even greater than living vicariously than accepting Jesus’ call and even the hard- through a story or movie adventure is the joy, ships can be viewed as part of the adventure of challenge and thrill of being part of a real life discipleship! adventure yourself. The great British explorer, C.S. Lewis puts it this way in Mere Christian- Ernest Shackleton, who managed to save his ity: entire expeditionary team in Antarctica in an amazing adventure, was said to have recruited What we have been told is how we men can his crew with the following legendary adver- be drawn into Christ – can become part of the tisement: wonderful present which the young Prince “Men wanted for hazardous journey. Low of the universe wants to offer to His Father – wages, bitter cold, long hours of complete dark- that present which is Himself and therefore ness. Safe return doubtful. Honour and recogni- us in Him. It is the only thing we were made tion in event of success.” for. And there are strange, exciting hints in Some of you, even today, would love to be the Bible that when we are drawn in, a great part of Shackleton’s expeditionary team, while many other things in Nature will begin to others would shiver at the thought and prefer to come right. The bad dream will be over: it remain in the comfort of your own home. Yet, will be morning.1 either way, whether you and I are aware of it or not, Jesus has offered us a real, not a virtual Are you ready to be drawn into Christ andv or vicarious, life of adventure in which we can answer His adventurous call to discipleship? experience the challenge, thrill and joy of be- ing part of a purpose greater than ourselves and actually play a vital role. Jesus calls you and me with these words, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take 1 Lewis, C.S. Mere Christianity. New York: Touchstone, up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever 1980, p. 172. Page 2 • KNOWING & DOING | Spring 2017 The Emergence of Evangelical Discipleship: Learning to Walk with Jesus by Tom Schwanda, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Christian Formation and Ministry at Wheaton College n every age the followers of Jesus have been Edwards cautioned his listeners that the called disciples. Sometimes we in the con- world was not conducive to the gospel of Jesus Itemporary church act as if we were the first Christ and that believers of Jesus must deny serious believers of Jesus. In reality, we can those earthly pleasures that hinder their growth learn a great deal from earlier Christians in how in Christ. He declared, they sought to walk with Jesus. I have a par- ticular interest in the early evangelicals of the I know of nothing that is more abundantly in- eighteenth century; many of these key leaders sisted on as a requisite and necessary work of a sincere disciple in the Scriptures than this have influenced us today. This article is based is. It is a great thing to part with the world. on my recent book, The Emergence of Evangeli- The world is a natural man’s god, and it is Tom Schwanda is Associ- ate Professor of Christian cal Spirituality: The Age of Edwards, Newton, his all. It is a great thing for a man to be cut and Whitefield.1 Formation and Ministry down in this affair, and to be willing to cut at Wheaton College, and himself off from the world for Christ’s sake, teaches a doctor of ministry and so to give up all and reserve nothing.4 course each summer.