Mere Christianity Critical Analysis Journal {A Review}

 

In the 1940's, C.S. Lewis had a series of radio talk shows in Great Britain. In 1952 those talk shows were published in a book known as Mere Christianity. Mere Christianity has long been a staple in the Christian home library. The book whittles down the faith to the must fundamental beliefs. The beliefs that are crucial in salvation through Jesus Christ. So often we get caught up in our personal preferences and (non-crucial) opinions that we fail to convey the most important facts to the unsaved.

For example, Mere Christianity would be:

• Salvation through Jesus Christ- believing He came down from heaven, lived a sinless life, died for my (and your) sins and rose again.
• There is a heaven and a hell and everyone on Earth will one day end up in one of those two places.
• Jesus is the only way to heaven, and we must be cleansed by His blood to get there.

Non-essential beliefs would be:

• Women can only wear skirts and are not allowed to cut their hair.
• There is only one way to worship God. (whether it be in a quite subdued manner or one of great noise)
• When people pray together, it should be silent.

Mere Christianity is a wonderful book for both newly saved believers and those who have been saved a lifetime. Stacy Farrell, founder of Home School Adventure Co., has just released a Critical Analysis Journal to accompany it.

What is a critical analysis journal? Well, it's kind of like a personal workbook to help you dig a bit deeper into the book and perhaps look a bit deeper into yourself. The journal provides 10-16 questions for each chapter.

I chose to use the journal in a group setting. Three girlfriends from church came over on a bi-weekly basis to go over what we had read and our answers to the questions. Two of the gals had previously read Mere Christianity and the other two had not. All four of us greatly enjoyed the Critical Analysis Journal.

After completing our mission to get through the book and journal together, I was able to get some statements from the girls:

"I thought that the journal was overall a nice companion to Mere Christianity. I would have liked to have seen a few more thought provoking questions that prompted more conversation than being able to simply pluck a sentence from the text. If the purpose of the journal is individual personal study it was perfect. If the purpose of the journal is group discussion, that is where I feel it might be lacking a little. The questions lead you all to the same answer and it is hard to discuss something if you all have identical answers. I loved spending time with the ladies that were in our group and appreciate the opportunity for a sneak peek at the journal."

-Cordially, Barbette Yingst

Like Barb said, we did frequently run into the problem of all having the same answer. However, there were some instances of being able to back our answers from the text with a past experience. Each of us giving our reasoning as to why we agreed or disagreed with the journal did add more depth to the conversations.

 

"I thought the journal did a good job of helping me to slow down and digest the material within "Mere Christianity." Lewis' works are "meaty" in nature and deserve time for reflection; the journal allowed this. Rather than a continuous reading straight through the book, the questions forced me to look back into the chapters and review the main details and themes. I enjoyed getting together and discussing the book with other ladies. However, I agree with (Barb) that many of our answers were the same. Only on a few did we have room for discussion. I believe this would be a great resource for individual study or for families with high school aged children to work through together."

-Mandy Lucero

 

A family setting is precisely how I would use this Critical Analysis Journal. Middle and high school aged children would be prime candidates for working through the journal with parents. 

 

"I really enjoyed doing the journal for Mere Christianity. I will agree that several of the questions were not terribly thought provoking, not requiring too much conversation. However, there were some questions that forced me to really think, and with those questions, I was curious to hear everyone else's thoughts as well. Overall, I rate the Mere Christianity Critical Analysis Journal highly."

-Sarah Kitchell

 

As you can see, well all enjoyed the journal (and the fellowship it provided!).

 

The print edition of the journal retails for $28.95 and the digital download is $18.95.

However, through January 31st, Home School Adventure Co. is running a 10% off special.