Customer Reviews

God in the Dock: Essays on Theology

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This book is a collection of 48 out-of-print essays and letters dealing with general apologetics, ethics and morality, Christian philosophy and social commentary. This is a treasure for the Lewis fan. The title of the book refers to the dock, or defendants box, in a British courtroom, and might be rendered in our vernacular as God on Trial, a reference to the strong apologetic theme that runs throughout. This book has more unique and seminal ideas per page than any book I know, even others by Lewis. It is candy for the Mind of the Christian. For example, in "On the Reading Old Books" Lewis recommends old books as an antidote to the intellectual fads of our times (the zeitgeist). In "Dogma & the Universe," Lewis explains why we need not be concerned with the popular idea that Biblical Christianity is rendered irrelevant in a scientific age. In "The Humanitarian Theory of Punishment" we see clearly the critical importance of understanding why we punish criminals. Because of the diversity of ideas, this book is a little harder reading than some of his books--until one matures into Lewis's way of thinking--then it is a shear joy. I have read it 3-4 times and it blows me away every time.

There is no reason to buy this book. It is "God in the Dock - Essays on Theology and Ethics" with some of the essays left out.

If you are interested in Lewis's shorter works, my best advice is to get "Essay Collection and Other Short Pieces", which, as of the time of this writing, is available from Amazon UK but not Amazon US. That collection consists of about 130 short works by Lewis. The works in that collection are mostly, but not exclusively, Christian.

If your interest is restricted to Lewis' works on Christianity, and your budget or enthusiasm does not run to "Essay Collection and Other Short Pieces", then my second-best advice is to get any or all of the following (they don't overlap significantly, and between them they include most of Lewis's shorter Christian writings):

"God in the Dock - Essays on Theology and Ethics"*

"The World's Last Night and Other Essays"

"Christian Reflections"

"The Weight of Glory and Other Addresses"

* "God in the Dock - Essays on Theology and Ethics" was published in the UK under an additional title "Undeceptions - Essays on Theology and Ethics".