However, letting him in promises to be both exciting and dangerous because doing so will change us. Lewis began to describe Christ with vivid imagery as someone who wants to come into your house and not to be left outside at a safe distance. There were insights into the action of Christ in us that I had never had so clearly explained before.

In the lead-up to the chapter “Let’s Pretend,” there were hints of what was to come. The last of the four sections deals with the doctrine of the Trinity and contains the chapter that changed my life. I read the contents page with interest at how Lewis ordered his chapters-not beginning with the God question but with the moral intuition of right and wrong as a clue to the meaning of the universe. So many seem to be rejecting Christianity without ever really knowing it. It went on to explain how Lewis believed that England, which had come to consider itself as post-Christian, had never in fact been told in basic terms what the religion is about.Īgain, this struck a chord in me as being relevant to our modern age and in my own culture.

The first words of the foreword had me hooked: “This is a book that begs to be seen in its historical context as a bold act of storytelling and healing in a world gone mad.” “Sounds familiar,” I thought to myself. It was recommended to me by a friend, and when I saw it in a bookstore shortly afterward, I bought it. Lewis, addressing the people of England during the Second World War. I had heard about Mere Christianity in my seminary days and learned about how it came about following a series of radio inputs by C.S. I was not prepared for how much the “Let’s Pretend” chapter in Lewis’ classic Mere Christianity would do just that-stretch me, help me to grasp what was real and true about God and who I understood myself in relation to him. In this sense, “Let’s pretend” is not an invitation to make believe but a door to enter a bigger world that awaits us. Rather it has the opposite effect-stretching our muscles of invention expands the mind and the heart to better grasp what is real and what is true.

Lewis often appealed to his readers to use their imagination, and the power of his own imagination was key to his coming to the faith.įor Lewis, the full use of the imagination does not divert us from the real or the true. Lewis would write a book with a chapter entitled “Let’s Pretend” should surprise no one.

Best cs lewis books on christianity