Made for Heaven: How the Christian Life Works

by C.S. Lewis

Two of Lewis's most famous and compelling sermons have not received the attention they deserve-- 'The Weight of Glory' and 'Transposition.' They are, in fact, grand reconceptualizations of the spiritual life. This book combines these two beautiful treatises, bringing their wisdom and insight into a whole new generation. An ideal book for those looking to go deeper after reading Mere Christianity.

Genres: Nonfiction, Christian, Theology, Religion, Philosophy, Christianity, Classics

112 pages, Hardcover

First published February 15, 2005

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Clive Staples Lewis was one of the intellectual giants of the twentieth century and arguably one of the most influential writers of his day. He was a Fellow and Tutor in English Literature at Oxford University until 1954. He was unanimously elected to the Chair of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Cambridge University, a position he held until his retirement. He wrote more than thirty books, allowing him to reach a vast audience, and his works continue to attract thousands of new readers every year. His most distinguished and popular accomplishments include Mere Christianity, Out of the Silent Planet, The Great Divorce, The Screwtape Letters, and the universally acknowledged classics The Chronicles of Narnia. To date, the Narnia books have sold over 100 million copies and been transformed into three major motion pictures.

Lewis was married to poet Joy Davidman.
W.H. Lewis was his elder brother]

Reviews

[VeNicia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love reading C.S. Lewis. I think he just may be my favorite writer. There is so much depth and honesty to his writing. I feel like it's a gift to be let into his thoughts. I'm so grateful he wrote and didn't just think during his lifetime! He just takes you on his train of thinking almost like you're in conversation. He makes no attempt to make himself look better than anyone else, rather he's open to saying things like this endearing phrase: "With that, a good deal of what I had been thinking all my life fell down like a house of cards". Which makes me smile. He's a truth seeker, an honest searcher, a critical consumer of knowledge, an observer and student of life--mortal and beyond. I love his humor sprinkled into his writing. I love his perspective of our relationship with our brothers & sisters here on earth, with God, and the powerful reminders of who we truly are. He gave me insight into some questions of my soul that I'm gathering info on to write in my own book someday. And he makes me wonder if God still makes men like this these days. Just one would do nicely.

[Mandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely a heavenly book! He should totally have been LDS! Lewis describes eternal progression, righteous desires, and even has some learning theory in there. Read it with a notebook and pen, because he'll get you thinking all kinds of lofty thoughts of your own. Very Quotable.

[Lisa Richards · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book contains excerpts from three of C.S. Lewis's books, The Weight of Glory, The Great Divorce and The Problem of Pain, two of which I hadn't yet read. His thoughts on Heaven, and why we are made for it, have opened my eyes and heart in many ways. It is so worth the reading.

[Shelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very short book, but just what my soul needed tonight.

[Terrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I struggle with his wordiness then bam a point hits home.

[Jasmine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. It was a short read, but not very easy to understand at times. After sharing about Heaven, Lewis comes to the conclusion that "tomorrow is (still) Monday," and we still have to take up our crosses and follow Jesus before we get to Heaven. He then reveals one of the benefits of "indulging" in the topic of Heaven. Here is a striking excerpt: "Meanwhile the cross comes before the crown and tomorrow is a Monday morning. A cleft has opened in the pitiless walls of the world, and we are invited to follow our great Captain inside. The following Him (Christ) is, of course, the central point. That being so, it may be asked what practical use there is in the speculations which I have been indulging. I can think of at least one such use. It may be possible for each to think too much of his own potential glory hereafter; it is hardly possible for him to think too often or too deeply about that of his neighbor. The load, or weight, or burden of my neighbor's glory should be laid on my back, a load so heavy only humility can carry it, and the backs of the proud will be broken. It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you say it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. It is in light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loved, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations cultures arts civilizations these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals who we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit-- immortal horrors or everlasting splendors. This does not mean that we are to be perpetually solemn. We must play. But our merriment must be of that kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exists between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously-- no flippancy, no superiority, no presumption. And our charity must be a real and costly love, with deep feeling for the sins in spite of which we love the sinner-- no mere tolerance, or indulgence which parodies love as flippancy parodies merriment. Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses. If he is your Christian neighbor, he is holy in almost the same way, for in him also Christ vere latitat-- the glorifier and the glorified, Glory Himself is truly hidden."

This excerpt reminds me of Romans 12:14-21 (MSG) which says, “Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath. Laugh with your happy friends when they’re happy; share tears when they’re down. Get along with each other; don’t be stuck-up. Make friends with nobodies; don’t be the great somebody.

Don’t hit back; discover beauty in everyone. If you’ve got it in you, get along with everybody. Don’t insist on getting even; that’s not for you to do. “I’ll do the judging,” says God. “I’ll take care of it.”

Our Scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that person lunch, or if he’s thirsty, get him a drink. Your generosity will surprise him with goodness. Don’t let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭12:14-21‬ ‭MSG
http://bible.com/97/rom.12.14-21.msg

[Brittany K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most of what CS Lewis says goes right over my head, but there are always little gems in his writing that make it worth the effort.

[David Randall · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am an atheist and I haven't read my CS Lewis since my Mormon days, but I was gifted this book based on a discussion and was struck by the writing and remembered how much I loved his philosophical approach. Lewis is plainspoken and thoughtful about how Christians should desire heaven rather than just trying not to be selfish, and he sees what he interprets as the innate human desire for heaven as a hint about where we we are destined to go.

"Though I do not believe (I wish I did) that my desire for Paradise proves that I shall enjoy it, I think it a pretty good indication that such a thing exists and that some men will. A man may love a woman and not win her; but it would be very odd if the phenomenon called 'falling in love' occured in a sexless world," he writes

I may disagree with his conclusions but I definitely like the idea that our emotions about the world we live in and our aching for perfection, are some of the best windows we have into what our human minds are built for.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd love to say that I adore reading CS Lewis. But I don't. I make no apology. I've read quite a lot of his books I guess, but it's always a real effort. I remember once reading a comment by DM Lloyd-Jones in which he said he couldn't understand why CS Lewis was almost regarded as the patron saint of evangelical Christianity, which eased my conscience. I felt less of a pleb.
Maybe it's just me. And maybe I'll "get it" at some point.
However, it was a joy (not even a surprising joy) to re-read 'The Weight of Glory' contained in this slim volume on Heaven. For me, this is perhaps the most helpful and encouraging essay/sermon that Lewis wrote, and his thoughts on heaven generally. For this, I am very grateful. I've quoted from it, in many a sermon. So there you go.

[Rosanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick read, excerpts from three of Lewis’s works (The Great Divorce, The Problem of Pain, Weight of Glory) focusing on Heaven.

The Great Divorce is one of my all time favorite books, so I loved that section. The excerpt from the Problem of Pain, I think came from the end of the book, and seemed like it might have been better read if one understood the base arguments made and referenced from the beginning of the book. I loved the passage from Weight of Glory. All in all, a good taste of deeper, honest thinking about Christianity and what it all means, and how we can be better. I love that the book ends with reminding us that people are the holiest things we come across.

[JournalsTLY]

"Heaven offers no thing that a mercenary soul can desire ... There are rewards that do not sully motives" (page 13). C S Lewis introduces love; including love for Greek poetry to illustrate this. Greek is sill greek to me but the love is well described.

These devotional essays removes cliche superficiality about heaven, and drive us to the heart of God; and our own hearts.

The book contains excerpts from books - "The Great Divorce", "The Problem of Pain" and "Weight of Glory" by C S Lewis.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Favorite quotes:

“Your place in heaven will seem to be made for you and you alone, because you were made for it—made for it stitch by stitch as a glove is made for a hand.”

“If all experienced God in the same way and returned Him an identical worship, the song of the Church triumphant would have no symphony, it would be like an orchestra in which all the instruments played the same note.”

“By ceasing for a moment to consider my own wants I have begun to learn better what I really wanted.”

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

My dad calls it "homesickness for heaven."
I call it deep longing for our "own far-off country."
Others have called it the human void.
This little book is a collection of C.S. Lewis writings on "the secret which hurts so much that you take your revenge on it by calling it names like Nostalgia....We cannot tell it because it is a desire for something that has never actually appeared in our experience."

[Brooke Bondley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dense as the bread I made this weekend - such intriguing ideas compacted in less than 100 pages. Not entirely sure if I agree with it all, but the points he makes emphasizing various glorious mysteries, that is, “the glorified and the glorified, Glory Himself, is truly hidden,” I found very interesting.

[Tina Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

A small little book with excerpts from The Problem of Pain and The Weight of Glory. These curated readings point us to the glory of what awaits. Lewis is brilliant at word pictures and bringing us along for the journey.

[Kris Donovan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Small excerpts from three of C. S. Lewis’s books. I loved this book. His writings about our lives today and beyond, are not typical Christian literature. His perspective gives me additional incite for living today in our physical and spiritual world all created by our Heavenly Father.

[Mandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excerpts from some of C.S. Lewis's books on why we feel there is somewhere else we belong.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great collection of CS Lewis' writings on the topic of heaven.

[Sonya Zoller · Rating 4 out of 5]

quick read

[Sean Brenon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don’t hate this book; I love Lewis. The low rating comes from the fact that someone cut out sections of Lewis’ work and pretended it was a new book.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

CS Lewis writes a very transformative book. Even though the book had a message to people at the time when it was written . It has a message for the people today.

[Luke Zwiener · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is short and sweet. It provides many compelling and truth bound pieces of CS Lewis’s work on Heaven and puts them in one place. Definitely worth the read.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short little book is full of profound and important truths from selections from C.S. Lewis's other writings (The Weight of Glory, The Great Divorce, and The Problem of Pain). The main idea is that we each long for heaven--our real home. :)

"You and I have need of the strongest spell that can be found to wake us from the evil enchantment of worldliness which has been laid upon us for nearly a hundred years. Almost our whole education has been directed to silencing this shy, persistent, inner voice; almost all our modern philosophies have been devised to convince us that the good of man is to be found in the earth. And yet it is a remarkable thing that such philosophies of Progress or Creative Evolution themselves bear reluctant witness to the truth that our real goal is elsewhere (p. 59)."

"It may be possible for each to think too much of his own potential glory hereafter; it is hardly possible for him to think too often or too deeply about that of his neighbor. The load, or weight, or burden of my neighbor's glory should be laid on my back, a load so heavy that only humility can carry it, and the backs of the proud will be broken. It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you say it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations--these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit--immortal horrors or everlasting splendours (p. 93)."

[Gene · Rating 4 out of 5]

C.S. Lewis shines in his prose when he reaches toward nearly poetic descriptions in order to give some glimpse of something that is hard to put into words. A concept of heaven is just such a thing, and this compilation of material from three sources all dealing with heaven or our appointed end is really a treat to read. Though it only took a short time to read it, since it is a tiny book, I didn't hurry through it. I read it slowly and with reflection, and it's one of those sorts of books worthy of that sort of treatment. We are often stuck in the mundane and don't reflect enough on what God has planned for those of us who love him. This book shook me out of my glazed-over outlook on the work-a-day world and reminded me of the little impulses inside my soul to some things in the world around me that hint to a desire for something I can't get my hands on here, but will be mine in eternity. Though it's obviously not a modern book, it isn't what one would expect from an older book on heaven. Not much reflection on mansions and pearly gates, but lots of reflection on submission, glory, being known by God, etc. I will certainly want to turn to this book again in times of doubt or depression, to remind myself of the eternal truths that get hidden in our temporal existence.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

"It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare."

This little book is a collection of short segments from three of Lewis' books, only one of which I have read before, that being The Great Divorce. The other two are The Problem of Pain and Weight of Glory.

Lewis often writes so deep and with such complexity that I am initially lost, especially if I am reading with any distraction. Numerous times his words awoke thoughts and feelings in me that began to clarify questions I have had.

A great concentration of Lewis' thoughts on heaven.

[Stacey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great litle book. It contains sections from C.S. Lewis' books "The Great Divorce," "The Problem of Pain," and "Weight of Glory and Other Addresses" that discuss matters of heaven. Here's one of my favorite quotes: "It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are in some degree, helping each other to one or the other of these destinations." It only took me about an hour to read the book; understanding all the concepts will take far longer.

[Chainsaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yet another outstanding, brief work by this author. Two quotes that particularly struck me regarding God's creation of so many unique individuals (souls) rather than a single one, or many that are identical:

"Your soul has a curious shape because it is a hollow made to fit a particular swelling in the infinite contours of the Divine substance, or a key to unlock one of the doors in the house with many mansions."

"If all experienced God in the same way and returned Him an identical worship, the song of the Church triumphant would have no symphony, it would be like an orchestra in which all the instruments played the same note."

As usual, highly recommended!

[Shawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

The "news from a far off country" that C.S. Lewis so skillfully delivers is encapsulated succinctly in this short book. It contains some of his meandering thoughts on heaven selected from three of his classics - The Great Divorce, The Problem of Pain, and the Weight of Glory. Lewis manages to describe this divine destination and articulate why everyone longs to be there in an extremely logical fashion.

This is a great coffee table addition that should spur the casual reader to delve further into the deep and stimulating works of Clive Staples Lewis.

[Chelsea Merkley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is full of so many wonderful ideals and Christian Symbols. C.S. Lewis writes eloquently regarding our true state. He speaks of Christ and the Deity as praising us, and thinking of us in the highest respect possible.
He theorizes and expounds on the belief that we are outside our abode here on earth. That we are from heaven, and we long, yearn and pine for the beauty and majesty of heaven. I loved reading this book. It is so full of beautiful truths regarding Christianity and Charityabd Love.

[Patsy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short book that summarizes C.S. Lewis' writings about why we mortals are not made for this earth, but for heaven. They saved the best for last in this compilation. It's the quote that states, while it is a serious thing to live among potential gods and goddesses, we have reason to feel joyful in our interactions, having proper respect for one another. "Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbour is the holiest object presented to your senses." Understanding that one concept has changed my life forever.