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Christian Reunion and Other Essays
A compilation of a number of C.S.Lewis' essays illustrating the extent of the author's range and constituting essential reading for established devotees and at the same time a worthwhile introduction to his breadth of mind for new readers.
- GenresChristian
120 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 1990
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About the author
C.S. Lewis
1,060 books48.5k followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Clive Staples Lewis was one of the intellectual giants of the twentieth century and arguably one of the most influential writers of his day. He was a Fellow and Tutor in English Literature at Oxford University until 1954. He was unanimously elected to the Chair of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Cambridge University, a position he held until his retirement. He wrote more than thirty books, allowing him to reach a vast audience, and his works continue to attract thousands of new readers every year. His most distinguished and popular accomplishments include Mere Christianity, Out of the Silent Planet, The Great Divorce, The Screwtape Letters, and the universally acknowledged classics The Chronicles of Narnia. To date, the Narnia books have sold over 100 million copies and been transformed into three major motion pictures.
Lewis was married to poet Joy Davidman.
W.H. Lewis was his elder brother]
Clive Staples Lewis was one of the intellectual giants of the twentieth century and arguably one of the most influential writers of his day. He was a Fellow and Tutor in English Literature at Oxford University until 1954. He was unanimously elected to the Chair of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Cambridge University, a position he held until his retirement. He wrote more than thirty books, allowing him to reach a vast audience, and his works continue to attract thousands of new readers every year. His most distinguished and popular accomplishments include Mere Christianity, Out of the Silent Planet, The Great Divorce, The Screwtape Letters, and the universally acknowledged classics The Chronicles of Narnia. To date, the Narnia books have sold over 100 million copies and been transformed into three major motion pictures.
Lewis was married to poet Joy Davidman.
W.H. Lewis was his elder brother]
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 11, 2025
In this volume Lewis predicts the rise of Christian fascists, the rise of democratic socialist Christianity, the ineptitude of Christian centrists, the reversion to the mean of apostolic and liturgical movements, the attempts through those movements at reconciliation and reunion via honesty, the reinvigorating of the classical terms in common prayer books, the idiotic language around some body building cults, and on and on. It is an odd set of essays to be sure and it’s rare that his work so often prognosticates.
March 23, 2020
Maybe it's just me, but when I read the writings of C. S. Lewis, so often I find myself struggling to grasp what he's saying, and also frustrated at the long, tortuous way he reasons and writes, wishing he would just get to the point. The great preacher Dr. D. M. Lloyd-Jones said (in one of his published sermons, I think) that he could not understand why C. S. Lewis was almost regarded as the patron Saint of evangelicalism. Certainly his theology was far from orthodox, referring even in one of these essays to "whatever" may be in the afterlife. Although to be fair, his greatest contribution was as an apologist for what he saw as the main issues in orthodox Christian theology. Maybe one day I'll read one of Lewis's books and say "Ah, so that's why he is so highly esteemed by many Christians". But THIS book is clearly not That book. I thought "Delinquents In the Snow" was the most helpful essay for me.
August 2, 2024
Some interesting and thought provoking essays, some of which I had actually read before elsewhere. A number of the essays were actually non-religious in focus, which I think makes the character of Lewis show through beyond being a theologian.
The actual essay of "Christian Reunion" makes the argument that when one takes away the extremes of various denominations then there are more similarities within Christianity than differences. I think this is broadly true (and would have been especially when he was writing), but we seem to be slowly growing apart.
The actual essay of "Christian Reunion" makes the argument that when one takes away the extremes of various denominations then there are more similarities within Christianity than differences. I think this is broadly true (and would have been especially when he was writing), but we seem to be slowly growing apart.
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February 4, 2013This little book of short, random essays covers a variety of topics--a worthy read. Notable quotes below:
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I'm not myself convinced that any good Roman ever did hold the doctrine of Works in that form of which Protestants accused him, or that any good Protestant ever did hold the doctrine of Faith in that form of which Romans accused him.
And the real reason why I cannot be in communion with you is not my disagreement with this or that Roman doctrine, but that to accept your Church means, not to accept a given body of doctrine, but to accept in advance any doctrine your Church hereafter produces. It is like being asked to agree not only to what a man has said but to what he's going to say.
Those attitudes and practices to which we give the collective name of "religion" are themselves concerned with religion hardly at all.
Theocracy is the worst of all possible governments. All political power is at best a necessary evil: but it is least evil went sanctions are most modest and commonplace, when it claims no more than to be useful or convenient and sets itself strictly limited objectives.
All Christians know that they must forgive their enemies. But "my enemy" primarily means the man whom I am really tempted to hate and traduce.
There is on each of us a load which, if nothing is done about it, will in fact break us; will send us from this world to whatever happens afterwards, not as souls but as broken souls.
A serious attempt to repent and really to know one's own sins is in the long run a lightening and relieving process. Of course, there's bound to be at first dismay and often terror and later great pain, yet that is much less in the long run than the anguish of the mass of unrepented and unexamined sins, lurking in the background of our minds. It is the difference between the pain of the tooth about what you should go to the dentist, and the simple straightforward pain which you know is getting less and less every moment when you have had the tooth out.
"Go to all the world and tell the world that is quite right." The Gospel is something completely different. In fact, it is directly opposed to the world.
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I'm not myself convinced that any good Roman ever did hold the doctrine of Works in that form of which Protestants accused him, or that any good Protestant ever did hold the doctrine of Faith in that form of which Romans accused him.
And the real reason why I cannot be in communion with you is not my disagreement with this or that Roman doctrine, but that to accept your Church means, not to accept a given body of doctrine, but to accept in advance any doctrine your Church hereafter produces. It is like being asked to agree not only to what a man has said but to what he's going to say.
Those attitudes and practices to which we give the collective name of "religion" are themselves concerned with religion hardly at all.
Theocracy is the worst of all possible governments. All political power is at best a necessary evil: but it is least evil went sanctions are most modest and commonplace, when it claims no more than to be useful or convenient and sets itself strictly limited objectives.
All Christians know that they must forgive their enemies. But "my enemy" primarily means the man whom I am really tempted to hate and traduce.
There is on each of us a load which, if nothing is done about it, will in fact break us; will send us from this world to whatever happens afterwards, not as souls but as broken souls.
A serious attempt to repent and really to know one's own sins is in the long run a lightening and relieving process. Of course, there's bound to be at first dismay and often terror and later great pain, yet that is much less in the long run than the anguish of the mass of unrepented and unexamined sins, lurking in the background of our minds. It is the difference between the pain of the tooth about what you should go to the dentist, and the simple straightforward pain which you know is getting less and less every moment when you have had the tooth out.
"Go to all the world and tell the world that is quite right." The Gospel is something completely different. In fact, it is directly opposed to the world.
June 11, 2021
Christian Reunion
Lewis writes of the differences in Protestantism and Catholicism and of a “heavenly unity.” Probably the only work of Lewis’ that deals with the differences within the Christian creed.
Lilies that Fester
Deals with “faith in culture,” its effects on education and politics.
God and Evil
“Mechanism, like all materialist systems, breaks down at the problem of knowledge. If thought is the undesigned and irrelevant product of cerebral motions, what reason have we to trust it?”
Lewis defeats materialism, evolution and dualism in one short, simple essay.
Dangers of National Repentance
“…men fail so often to repent of their real sins that the occasional repentance of an imaginary sin might appear almost desirable.”
National repentance means attributing sins to the government when we don’t agree with them while avoiding any sort of personal repentance - especially appealing to the young who are least assimilated in the nation.
Short essays, but so clear, so true and so current.
Lewis writes of the differences in Protestantism and Catholicism and of a “heavenly unity.” Probably the only work of Lewis’ that deals with the differences within the Christian creed.
Lilies that Fester
Deals with “faith in culture,” its effects on education and politics.
God and Evil
“Mechanism, like all materialist systems, breaks down at the problem of knowledge. If thought is the undesigned and irrelevant product of cerebral motions, what reason have we to trust it?”
Lewis defeats materialism, evolution and dualism in one short, simple essay.
Dangers of National Repentance
“…men fail so often to repent of their real sins that the occasional repentance of an imaginary sin might appear almost desirable.”
National repentance means attributing sins to the government when we don’t agree with them while avoiding any sort of personal repentance - especially appealing to the young who are least assimilated in the nation.
Short essays, but so clear, so true and so current.
September 12, 2013
The style of the language was brilliant, and I really enjoyed reading those essays. Some ideas resonated very deeply with my beliefs.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews