The Shortest Way Home: C.S. Lewis and Mere Christianity

This intellectually challenging documentary centers on a collection of writings by theologian and author C.S. Lewis about concepts that unite all Christians. During World War II, Lewis was invited to present a series of talks on BBC Radio about faith. He took the assignment as an opportunity to unite Christians of all denominations in a common understanding of such essential principles as forgiveness and repentance. One of Lewis's most popular books, Mere Christianity, was born from these lectures, a series of essays that reflect Lewis's own transition from atheist to believer. Certainly Lewis's most persuasive observation—as described and clarified by a number of experts interviewed here—was that Nazi aggression was universally condemned by people of all religious or humanist beliefs. This suggested to Lewis—who also penned the popular Chronicles of Narnia series—the strong possibility of an absolute and ubiquitous moral law that was as firm as any law of nature, which pointed towards a guiding power instilling everyone with a sense of right and wrong. That power was God, Lewis said, and from there Mere Christianity went on to make logical arguments for Christ's status as the Son of God, the existence of the Holy Trinity, and Jesus' death providing salvation for humanity. A solid overview of Lewis's epiphany regarding moral law, and his argument that God gives humans free will so they can choose to find their way to goodness, this is recommended. Aud: C, P. (T. Keogh)