S&F-Mere Christianity: Welcome to The Hallway

Over the past few years I have learned about a number of people in the past who have lived their life through their faith. Some are Saints. Some are priests or even martyrs. Some are just normal people like you and I who do everyday things based on their belief in God.

I have a hard time picturing myself in their place. I would hope that given the opportunity should a situation arise I would react as one of those people who I admire for their convictions, but honestly you never know how you would react facing danger or persecution.

So I concentrate on learning. I learn about the people and I learn about my faith.

One person I have learned to admire is C.S. Lewis. If you don’t know him hopefully the name might sound familiar to you. He was a novelist from the 1st half of the 20th Century. His most famous writings are probably the fantasy series “The Chronicles of Narnia.”

But that’s not what I want to talk about here. Lewis spent a large portion of his life as an atheist. That is until he started discussing the faith with his friend, who also happens to be a famous writer, J.R.R Tolkien (Lord of the Rings should ring a bell). Tolkien was a well known Catholic. Tolkien was evidently also a good evangelist as well since C.S. Lewis became a Christian, converting to Anglicanism.

C.S. Lewis went on to write many Christian inspired works (apparently including Narnia). The one I like the most is called “Mere Christianity” where he explains and his faith.

Why am I, a Catholic, so interested in the thoughts of a Non-Catholic’s thoughts? He states he is just learning about his faith, just like I am. Rather than worry about the differences between the the different Christian religions he focuses on the basic core Christian beliefs we share.

He relates it to a hallway with a lot of doors leading to each of the Christian religions. The important part is getting people into the hallway of believers. Because you can’t find your door until you get into the hallway.

So over the next few weeks expect more posts about my thoughts based on C.S. Lewis and “Mere Christianity.” I invite you into the hallway with me and C.S. We can all talk.