cover image Mere Theology: A Guide to the Thought of C.S. Lewis

Mere Theology: A Guide to the Thought of C.S. Lewis

Will Vaus. InterVarsity Press, $24 (266pp) ISBN 978-0-8308-2782-4

""Over the years I have met many Lewis enthusiasts who have wondered, 'What did Lewis believe about _____?' (You fill in the blank),"" writes Vaus. ""This book is written to answer those many questions about what Lewis believed."" Arranged topically, Vaus's book takes readers through Lewis's published thoughts on subjects such as creation, the Fall, Scripture, the Trinity, prayer, war, God's sovereignty, human free will and Satan. (There are also chapters on Venus, by which Lewis means sexual morality, and ""the Tao,"" a term that he--oddly enough--uses to refer to the Jewish understanding of the law.) Vaus's chapters are remarkably concise and even-handed. In the mind of Douglas Gresham, Lewis's stepson and the author of the foreword to this book, that accessibility may actually be a vice: Gresham fears that this guide ""may make the study of Jack's Lewis's theology almost too easy"" and drive students away from Lewis's corpus of theological writing. Despite such trepidations, most readers will agree with Gresham that Vaus has given us an exemplary introductory guide to Lewis's thought.