From Library Journal
The late Lewis, Oxford professor, scholar, author, and Christian apologist, presents the listener with a case for orthodox Christianity. This is definitely not the shouting, stomping, sweating, spitting televangelist fare so often parodied; Lewis employs logical arguments that are eloquently expressed. He describes those doctrines that the four major denominations in Britain (Anglican, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Roman Catholic) would have in common, e.g., original sin, the transcendent Creator God, and the divinity of Jesus as well as his atonement and bodily resurrection. Geoffrey Howard reads both works, and his performance is superb; he is clear and unhurried, giving just the right emphasis and/or inflection. The volume on the Blackstone edition is recorded at a higher level than HarperAudio's. Otherwise there were no perceived differences in the recordings. If your institution can afford it, the Blackstone production would be preferred because of its sturdy case and the announcement of side changes. Whether or not one agrees with Lewis's arguments, it is a pleasure to hear such a skillful reading of an eloquent work. Public libraries as well as institutions that teach religion/theology or speech should consider. Michael T. Fein, Central Virginia Community Coll., Lynchburg Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From AudioFile
Considered a significant twentieth-century book by Christians of various traditions of faith, MERE CHRISTIANITY is well-suited to being read because the book is a revised version of some addresses given by Lewis, an Oxford literature professor, on the BBC in the early 1940s. Thus, the text, which makes an argument for Christianity, was written in an informal, conversational style. With his tenor voice, Howard sounds like a friendly academic and reads with appropriate pauses and emphasis. His subdued Oxbridge (the English accent of Oxford and Cambridge) accent is inviting and pleasant, showing none of the pretention one might expect from an Oxford don. M.L.C. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine


John Updike
"I read Lewis for comfort and pleasure many years ago, and a glance into the books revives my old admiration."


Anthony Burgess, New York Times Book Review
"C.S. Lewis is the ideal persuader for the half-convinced, for the good man who...finds his intellect getting in the way."


Books & Culture
"As we witness Lewis develop we find that these volumes are working as a kind of unconscious autobiography."

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"In 1943 England, when all hope was threatened by the inhumanity of war, C. S. Lewis was invited to give a series of radio lectures addressing the central issues of Christianity. First heard as informal radio broadcasts, the lectures were then published as three books and subsequently combined as Mere Christianity. C. S. Lewis proves that "at the center of each there is something, or a Someone, who against all divergences of belief, all differences of temperament, all memories of mutual persecution, speaks with the same voice," rejecting the boundaries that divide Christianity's many denominations."--BOOK JACKET.

FROM THE CRITICS

John Updike

I read Lewis for comfort and pleasure many years ago, and a glance into the books revives my old admiration.

Anthony Burgess - New York Times Book Review

C. S. Lewis is the ideal persuader for the half-convinced, for the good man who would like to be a Christian but finds his intellect getting in the way.

New Yorker

If wit, and wisdom, style and scholarship are requisites to passage through the pearly gates, Mr. Lewis will be among the angels.

Chad Walsh

Apparently this oxford don and Cambridge professor is going to be around for a long time; he calls himself a dinosaur but he seems to speak to people where they are. —The Washington Post Book World

Los Angeles Times