Mere Christianity

I have been given the blessing of being Dr. G's class called The Life and Thought of C.S. Lewis! I have been waiting 3 years to take this course and I am finally able to dig into the literary brilliance that is C.S. Lewis! One of our assignments for each Lewis book we read is to write a 125 word max. response to particular things we read.

We just began reading Mere Christianity (MC)! I read MC when I was 15 and back then, I didn't really understand what Lewis was saying. 7 years later I am much more literate and a much brighter individual, and Lewis' words actually make sense to me. I thought it would be a great blogging venture if I shared each of my responses with the world as I make my way through the book. I will be posting my responses every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday (the days I have the C.S. Lewis class.) and I would love to hear your feedback on each post!

The first response was to write an alternative analogy to what C.S. Lewis called the "Hallway of the Church." In MC, Lewis says that the Christian church is like standing in a hallway filled with doors and each door leads to a different Christian denomination, the doorman being symbolizing the distinctive each denomination contains. The "Mere" Christian stands in this hall, with a world of choices ahead of him.

here is my alternative to the analogy of the Hallway:

I think the exploration of the church Lewis describes could also be described like a Billiards table. Every individual is holding a pool cue and given the choice of which pocket to shoot the ball into. Imagine each colored ball as a common practice held by all Christians (Eucharist, baptism, prayer, etc) and depending upon which pocket it rolls into determines how it is expressed. We have the decision to choose which pocket we will go into, and we always chose the one that is most accessible; the church that suits our preference. But what would happen if chose another ball and pocket? Would our faith still be the same? Is God still loved? Is Christ still the center?

Grace and Peace,

Jeremy