The Christian Commitment

Latter-day Saints are often surprised when they read C. S. Lewis. But it is the shock of delight and the pleasure of recognition which produces the surprise. Here is an Oxford professor who strikes home again and again on matters of doctrine which, in this age of rapid theological retreat, we have come to feel are uniquely “Mormon.” But Lewis insisted that he wrote only about those doctrines which were common to all Christians—mere Christianity— and sought to defend this common ground against all attack. The results, however, went far beyond defense.

“The Lewis who has cleared the ground by his controversial argument admits his readers to a mental world of great richness, great vigour and clarity, and in every corner illuminated by his Christian belief. You cannot read Lewis and tell yourself that Christianity has no important moral bearings, that it gives no coherence to the whole picture of existence, that it offers no criteria for the decision of human choices, that it is no source of strength or delight, no effective object of loyalty.”