That is one of the rules common to the whole house.” 2 This admonition is in keeping with Paul’s in Romans 15:5–6: If they are wrong, they need your prayers all the more and if they are your enemies, then you are under orders to pray for them.

Lewis understood the biblical emphasis on unity within the true church, for he warns, “When you have reached your own room, be kind to those who have chosen different doors and to those who are still in the hall. The hall is a place to wait in, a place from which to try the various doors, not a place to live in.” In other words, he argues that all believers in Christ can share the hall, but eventually each must discern which community’s door he or she will enter. But it is in the rooms, not in the hall, that there are fires and chairs and meals. He explains, “If I can bring anyone into that hall, I shall have done what I attempted. Lewis introduces his work with an image of a hallway containing numerous doors leading into various rooms.

His Mere Christianity reflects the spirit of the famous statement: “In the essentials, unity in the nonessentials, diversity and in all things, charity.” 1 The Hallway of Doors Lewis seeks to delineate the beliefs that Christians share in common-the essentials of the faith. Lewis deals with basic, creedal orthodoxy-those essential elements revealed in Scripture and condensed in the great affirmations of the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed. The term implies that there are particular biblical doctrines that distinguish Christianity. These three works were combined later into the book Mere Christianity.īy the term “mere Christianity” Lewis was referring to the essence of Christianity rather than to its denominational manifestations … the beliefs that Christians share in common.īy the term “mere Christianity” Lewis was referring to the essence of Christianity rather than to its denominational manifestations. His first broadcasts, which aired in 1942–43, included The Case for Christianity and Christian Behavior. Lewis’s Mere Christianity was originally a series of radio messages aired by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) during World War II. See the first post for a list of 16 classics every Christian should know. In the series, we’re excerpting summaries Ken Boa has produced over the years on classic works of literature.

Mere christianity bible study