2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Fine Case for Lewis' Case, May 18, 2011
This review is from: C.S. Lewis' Case for the Christian Faith (Paperback)
"C. S. 'Jack' Lewis was merciless in debates. At Oxford University
Jack Lewis was much feared by opponents. Some feared him so much -
like the geneticist and avowed atheist J. B. S. Haldane - that they
fled an encounter with Jack. In fact he had a photographic memory, a
mind trained in logic that raced far ahead of his usual opposition and
a deep, booming voice. Jack's fights for truth were utterly sincere.
In his early days his only acceptable companions were those who could
give him a good scrap. They not only had to defend their opinions with
logic, but with feeling. Yet, even brilliant, passionate dialectics
was not enough; any who showed flippancy or cynicism Jack dismissed as
lightweights" (Wellman). And author Dr. Richard Purtill is no
lightweight! (Professor Emeritus in Philosophy at WWU is the author of
twenty books, including "J.R.R. Tolkien: Myth, Morality, and Religion"
and this gem: "C.S. Lewis' Case for the Christian Faith").
Dr. Purtill utilizes the work of C.S. Lewis' and delivers a vibrant
and wide-ranging exposition of Lewis' defense of Christian truth. He
surveys Lewis' theological and apologetic thought as he discusses God,
Jesus Christ, miracles, and the reality of death. "C.S. Lewis' Case
for the Christian Faith" is a winsome and enlightening overview of
Lewis' work.
Chapters include:
- Reasons for Lewis' success
- Reasons for belief in God
- Who is Christ?
- Miracles in history
- Faith and Reason
- Rivals of Christianity
- And more!
Purtill states: "I read a lot of C.S. Lewis' nonfiction and
apologetics before I read his well-known fantasies, The Chronicles of
Narnia. Somewhere along the line I read his science fiction trilogy."
He adds: "C.S. Lewis has been called "the apostle to the skeptics."
He's probably the best apologist of the twentieth century. He's a key
figure in apologetics, which means, showing people the rational basis
for Christianity, and that you don't need to simply say, `it's just a
matter of faith.'"
Dr. Purtill is a fine apologist, a cogent reviewer, and a compelling
writer of fantasy. He writes: "One thing we could say about the
possibility of the universe simply coming into existence from nothing
is to declare that "nothing comes from nothing." There is not just a
factual impossibility involved ... but a kind of logical impossibility."
I concur with C.S. Lewis' observation that "ancient man approached God
... as the accused person approaches his judge. For modern man the roles
are reversed. He is the judge: God is in the dock. ... The trial many
even end in God's acquittal. But the important thing is that man is on
the bench and God is in the dock." Moreover Lewis' observation that "I
believe in God as I believe in the Sun; not so much that I see the
Sun, it's more like without the Sun, I cannot see anything at all"
builds upon Augustine as he helps build my faith.
Dr. Purtill does some of his best work in demonstrating that
accounting for reason, ideas, and knowledge require a theistic view as
Lewis argues. I enjoy Purtill's work, and this may be one of his
finest efforts. If you are a fan of Lewis or Purtill, I encourage you
to purchase this volume.
"Unless thought is valid we have no reason to believe in the real
universe" (C.S. Lewis).
Truth, Knowledge and the Reason for God: The Defense of the Rational Assurance of Christianity
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Promising, but Somewhat Underdeveloped, December 24, 2004
This review is from: C.S. Lewis' Case for the Christian Faith (Paperback)
I have mixed feelings about this book: In one aspect, I enjoyed it greatly, but in other areas, I thought it was flat and niether appealed to academics, C.S. Lewis fans, or laymen. Ultimately, there are some great things and great writing, mixed with at times a flat presentation and underdeveloped presentation.
First, the book starts out very promising. The first two chapters are well presented, but the first chapter "Some Reasons fo Lewis' Success" is an example of the problem I had with this boo. It is written well, some nice insights, but is too shortand feels incomplete (to someone who has read many other works by Lewis and on Lewis, it is too short, whetehr someone reading this book as a first on Lewis would feel the same, I do not know).
Purtill dos do a fine job in showing the different writings of Lewis, both his fiction, non-fiction, and letters, and how they support his ideas in Christian theology. He does a great job in showing Lewis' thought on "mind and expierences" in accounting for how ideas, never expierenced, can be truthful. He does explain well Lewis' exposition on the Trinity(but Lewis' explaination fo the Trinity stands on its own; however, because of the chapters purpose, it was needed in this chapter).
On the chapter, "Who is Christ", Purtill's chapter is too small and does not do justice on Lewis' thoughts and ideas.While "Miracles and History" is a nice chapter, "death and Beyond" is hardly noticable both in length and impact.
All in all, the price is right so one cannot go wrong adding thsi to the C.S. Lewis section of teh home library, but the work is hardly exicting, nor completely boring. Just an average read.
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