The Search for God

by C.S. Lewis

This volume of short essays and other pieces by C.S. Lewis is part of a larger collection, C.S. Lewis: Essay Collection and Other Short Pieces. In addition to his many books, letters, and poems, C.S. Lewis wrote a great number of essays and shorter pieces on various subjects. He wrote extensively on Christian theology and the defense of faith but also on ethical issues and the nature of literature and storytelling. Within these pages is a treasure trove of Lewis' reflections on diverse topics.

This volume includes:

"The Grand Miracle"
"Is Theology Poetry?"
"The Funeral of a Great Myth"
"God in the Dock"
"What Are We to Make of Jesus Christ?"
"The World's Last Night"
"Is Theism Important?"
"The Seeing Eye"
"Must Our Image of God Go?"

©1980 C.S. Lewis (P)2013 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

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

Audible Audio

First published January 1, 2013

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

[Shiloah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lately, I’ve been rereading C.S. Lewis again. I am extremely grateful for his conversion to Christianity and his excellence in reasoning and writing. What treasures all his works are.

[Elizabeth Meadows · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanted my first book of the year to be something uplifting and inspirational. This group of essays were great, but I think I digest C.S. Lewis's nonfiction best by reading it in print rather than on audio.
His writing is deep and philosophical and requires some thought and reflection to really appreciate it.

I found this collection of essays on Hoopla audio.

[Regina Mastrogiacomo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a philosophical book about the argument of God by the novelist C.S.Lewis. I thought I would breeze through this book but there are so many twist and turn about Lewis's argument about God that I am going to have to hear the book again. I thought I heard that Lewis was very religious but the book to me show he was more objective about the myth than a believer and his conclusion doesn't disapprove God but looks at it in a more realistic way. A very thoughtful look at the belief of God.

[Tim Goldsmith · Rating 4 out of 5]

C.S. Lewis is best known for his Narnia series. He ought to be equally heralded for his Space Trilogy, yet for me, I think I love his essays and other writings most of all. This short collection is made up of works, many of which appear in other places ("God in the Dock' and "On Fern Seeds and Elephants" being two big collections), combined here, because they share the same subject matter.
In his winsome & thoughtful style, Lewis mounts a defense against various objections to Christianity and/or God. God is by nature beyond the observable, theology is more than just a poetic explanation of life, We are not the Judges of God's existence, nor are we the ones who determine Jesus' value as a person, and so on.
Lewis really is one of the most quotable individuals to have existed. I enjoyed the audiobook, but had to stop on several occasions to mark some amazing quotes down.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

7/10

A lovely little collection of essay's from Lewis, who I've found myself resisting recently.

Not much new here if you've read God in dock or other collections of his, and yet he said something that struck me early on. "Only Christianity requires its adherents to believe in a miracle." I'll think more about it, but I think he might just be right. That's not something I've thought of. I'll always appreciate his tone, and will likely read this again at some point.

[Nicole Seipel · Rating 3 out of 5]

CS Lewis always has a way to make me think in ways I didn’t know I could think.

[Elin · Rating 5 out of 5]

”I believe in christianity as I believe the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”
- C.S. Lewis

[Josiah Richardson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good collection of essays from Lewis. There are several here that overlap with other collections, but there is no harm in rereading them whatsoever.

[DJNana · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing collection of essays from an incredibly intelligent and lucid writer, I don't feel qualified to review this.

I enjoyed the essays; a lot of them went over my head; some of them did not feel crucial, but others did.

I would need to re-read.

Would I re-read: yes.

[ValeReads Kyriosity · Rating 4 out of 5]

There seem to be innumerable volumes of Lewis's essays reshuffled into various collections. But since they all appear to be included in my Audible subscription, I don't mind the repetition. Some of these were familiar, some new. I'm not always smart enough to follow his arguments, and when I do, I sometimes disagree, but he's always worth a listen.

I just wish they'd gotten somebody other than Ralph Cosham to narrate them. He's the voice of the Ransom trilogy; it doesn't set right with me to have him reading the nonfiction, too.

[Kofi Opoku · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good. Some of the best arguments against Darwinian evolution included here. The book also contains the following Lewis quote, which I’ve always loved, “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”

[Roy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some of the essays are found in other C.S. Lewis works, but this is still a unique compilation. This one has some of his comments about how gospel truth envelopes all truth including science, while science can't realistically envelope its own truth because of how it verifies information. It also has the author explaining much more how he doesn't see himself as an example for either camp because he sees that he has received gifts from God while in both camps and has quite often been a poor example of each so is therefore not to be seen as an example. I myself see mostly the gifts that he has received and am grateful for his humble approach at trying to help whomever he could with his writing.

[Tim Wetzel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Certainly has some interesting points. Lewis has beautiful prose, and that almost makes up for his hot takes on “the mythology of evolution,” which he spends a significant portion of the book explaining. Would be very interesting to hear his point of view after sitting him through a biology class. I liked the last chapter, and while I don’t agree with his stances in much of the book, he certainly gets his points across well. The whole book adds a layer of depth to his fictional novels.

[Sean Durity · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short collection of previously published essays and sermons by CS Lewis. Always logically analytical without neglecting the realms of fiction, emotion, and tradition, Lewis shines here. He defends - or rather explains how belief in God (and Jesus) make sense even in the modern age. He lauds the myth of evolution and progress for its captivating power, though it fails miserably in evidence for truth. He shows how the central doctrine of incarnation makes all the rest of human experience make sense - like the central theme of a symphony. He makes a great case for the importance of the 2nd coming of Jesus. Overall, it is an insightful listen read by a fantastic reader.

[Veronica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not my favorite but certainly an excellent addition to Lewis's works on Christian theology. Some archaic terms for other ethnicities and religions that while reflective of the time period are nevertheless problematic.

[Ashley Mayhew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book really causes some deep reflection!

[Hannah Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing earth shattering for me, but I did appreciate the reasoning that was worked through.

[Lorna McBain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bro hates people and loves God.

I like the metaphor idea like a writer

[Chris R · Rating 5 out of 5]

Insightful and thought provoking.

[Laurelwreath]

A group of his essays, This volume includes 1. The Grand Miracle 2. Is Theology Poetry? 3. The Funeral of a Great Myth 4. God in the Dock 5. What Are We to Make of Jesus Christ? 6. The World’s Last Night 7. Is Theism Important? 8. The Seeing Eye 9. Must Our Image of God Go?

[Parker Samelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sometimes I felt like Lewis using philosophy to strike down scientific hypotheses was like trying to force a square peg into a circle hole. Other wise some high quality quotable commentary on life and faith.

[Tuomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think Mere Christianity was better

[Neil McGee · Rating 3 out of 5]

The literal Search for God, as in space .... !

[Ryan Russell]

Reviewing by chapter. For full disclosure, I am fairly critical of Lewis as his arguments tend to resonate with a receptive audience (e.g. young me) but fall flat with skeptics, unbelievers, and critical thinkers (e.g. current me).

1. The Grand Miracle
Lewis argues that Christianity is unique in being neither a nature or anti-nature religion. This is a relatively weak argument as the tension between the natural and spiritual is a fairly common characteristic among religions.

Lewis argues the lack of a "corn god" sacrifice to create new growth narrative being present in the region is evidence of Jesus resurrection being a true resurrection. First, whether this is true or not is inconsequential and does not affect the truth of the resurrection narrative. Second, there was significant exposure to other religions both local and distant and gods like the Egyptian Osiris embodied this archetype...note, this is the same Egypt the Christian scriptures claim Mary fled to with Jesus as an infant.

Lewis makes other comments in passing that are simply outdated at this point but are otherwise insubstantial such as stating that we may be in the only solar system with planets and that humans are the only rational species. These kinds of arguments only show that the world Lewis believed in possessed characteristics which would later be proved false, not whether or not his core arguments themselves were false.

2. Is Theology [merely] Poetry?
A relatively stronger essay that starts with a bit of logical ju jitsu in top form. The first half is worth listening to as a defense of perceived poetry (or lack thereof) as not being substantial in whether a theology is true. The second half falls back on Lewis' standard talking points which largely amount to Christianity being compelling if you already assume that Christianity is true, a kind of circular reasoning which Lewis will repeatedly argue is a privilege of Christians and not of naturalists.

3. The Funeral of a Great Myth
Pretentious title aside, there is a strand of good thinking here. Lewis argues that the common perception of evolution as some straight line of progression is not realistic and brings the potential for errors in judgment. That is where the value ends, as Lewis continues to attack this straw man version of evolutionary theory.

He also makes the argument that if the brain evolved then we can't trust our cognitive biases and therefore this mythology and related logical formulations are self defeating, repeatedly pointing out that scientists he spoke with did not comprehend why he was so hung up on the issue. Little did Lewis know, cognitive biases and logical errors would continue to be an area of research and humans suffer from these limitations whether they are evolved, created, or not.

One other argument presented is worth noting: he argues that if a theory was not a myth that the theory should predate those kinds of stories. Strangely enough, this is in direct contradiction to theologians who argue that parallels between Jesus and earlier mythologies are indications of special revelation, a kind of foreshadowing. This appears to be another opportunistic jab rather than something substantial, a kind of self-dealing and unexamined logic which does little but stroke the ego of a like-minded reader.

[Thomas Goddard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm always amused by how science has come to shape our thinking just as much as our thinking has created science. This whole balancing act.. Just quickly: the concept of the Christian God meant we viewed things as good and evil in a solid binary... the renaissance brought us to view the world via an emphasis on the power and capacity of the human being through action... psychoanalysis gifted us with a perspective warped by an interior landscape of the psyche... modernism with the idea that truth was something from outside and language was relational... postmodernism said truth was outside of us but it wasn't possible for us to capture it and meaning via language was imprecise... computers gave us an on off, yes no approach again... left wing ideology insisted that the spectrum was more important...

Today I definitely feel like older people are still mostly seeing the world via the digital binary and younger people are more likely to reject that in favour of nuances. Therein lies a partial explanation for the animosity.

So, yes, after that VERY dumb and not accurate approximation of history, we come to books like this. Book number 6836273 in my quest to try to access the faith of my youth. The certainty and peace of faith.

This book pairs the myth (not a word synonymous with the false) of evolution and thinking of things via that framework has resulted in consumerism and capitalism is thought sympathetically by some as an organic, survival of the fittest, entity.

That's just one essay. The rest deal with questions like; what are we to make of Jesus?

Certainly one of the best theological thinkers, I always end a book by him with this sense of taking a baby step towards peace.

C.S. Lewis is a rare voice but he isn't alone. Thomas Merton, an American Trappis, also has the same crisis of faith and speaks from a place of gentle understanding.

[George Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is less a single, cohesive argument than a collection of essays seeking to remove common misconceptions about Christianity and explore how the faith interacts with reason, philosophy, and the modern worldview of the time in which it was written.

C.S. Lewis writes with his characteristic clarity and intellectual honesty. His arguments are thoughtful, well constructed, and often persuasive. Some of the examples and appeals to contemporary knowledge inevitably feel dated, not because they were poor arguments when written, but because science and culture have continued to move on. It serves as a reminder that rational apologetics are often rooted in the intellectual landscape of their own era.

Several passages stood out to me. I particularly appreciated Lewis' analogy that if life is a play, we should not expect to find the director as a character within it, and his observation that religious experiences come and go, while faith is what allows us to remain anchored to what once seemed so vividly true during those moments of clarity. I found that insight especially compelling.

Curiously, I came away agreeing with much of what Lewis was saying while simultaneously questioning whether rational argument is the primary way people come to know God. Increasingly, I suspect that reason is better suited to removing obstacles than creating belief itself. The deeper journey seems to come through lived experience, personal transformation, and encountering faith embodied in the lives of others. In that sense, I see apologetics as preparing the ground rather than planting the seed.

This is a book I suspect deserves a second reading. Many of its ideas reward slow contemplation, and I imagine I would gain even more from returning to it with greater patience and attention.

[Aaron Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Is Theology Poetry?

The earliest stratum of the Old Testament contains many truths in a form which I take to be legendary, or even mythical - hanging in the clouds, but gradually the truth condenses, becomes more and more historical. From things like Noah's Ark or the sun standing still upon Ajalon, you come down to the court memoirs of King David. Finally you reach the New Testament and history reigns supreme, and the Truth is incarnate. And "incarnate" is here more than a metaphor:
It is not an accidental resemblance that what, from the point of view of being, is stated in the form "God became Man," should involve, from the point of view of human knowledge, the statement "Myth became Fact." The essential meaning of all things came down from the "heaven" of myth to the "earth" of history. In so doing, it partly emptied itself of its glory, as Christ emptied Himself of His glory to be Man. That is the real explanation of the fact that Theology, far from defeating its rivals by a superior poetry, is, in a superficial but quite real sense, less poetical than they. That is why the New Testament is, in the same sense, less poetical than the Old.




Christian theology can fit in science, art, morality, and the sub-Christian religions. The scientific point of view cannot fit in any of these things, not even science itself. I believe in Christianity as I believe that the Sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.

[Enock · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not a regular C. S. Lewis book. The Search for God is a collection of nine essays by the great C. S. Lewis. It is difficult to summarise the book as each chapter is a standalone essay. In Chapter 8, “The Seeing Eye,” Lewis makes a strong claim about the existence of God and God’s connection with His creation.
Although all the essays were equally informative, I found myself most drawn to the sixth essay, “The World’s Last Night.” This section is full of both warning and encouragement for people of faith. Below is my favourite paragraph from Chapter 6:

“I most solemnly assure you, you will not see Me approaching. If the householder had known at what time the burglar would arrive, he would have been ready for him. If the servant had known when his absent employer would come home, he would not have been found drunk in the kitchen. But they did not , nor will you.
Therefore you must be ready at all times. The point is surely simple enough. The schoolboy does not know which part of his Virgil lesson he will be made to translate; that is why he must be prepared to translate any passage. The sentry does not know at what time an enemy will attack, or an officer inspect his post; that is why he must keep awake all the time. The Return is wholly unpredictable. ”

In a nutshell, those of faith must remain spiritually alert, because the last day is unknown.

[Soooozie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good day,

Disclaimer (as stated on profile and on most of my reviews) I'm judging books by covers and titles to see what pique my interest. So more often than not, I do not know what the books are actually about in order. I do this because I usually put a book back down without giving it much of a chance based on descriptions (they either bore me or feel like the book is too predictable).

That being said, I'm also stating that I cannot give this book an honest review so I feel like a three is neutral. The reason why I can't give it a honest review is because of my own lack of education when it comes to theology and philosophical points of view.

Though the book was interesting to listen to and I was able to get some perspective of a philosophical/theological mind set as the author journeyed through his search for God, there was a lot of information I simply did not understand due to the fact that I never studied it or had an interest in it.

I don't want to discredit the book because of my lack of understanding so I feel like a 3 is where I'll leave it for now. If someone would want to reach out and chit-chat about the book, I'd be open to it so that I can get a better understanding and then give it another chance.

[Tyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a compilation of Lewis's essays that appears in various collections. The "Great Myth" arose multiple times in this book. That it, the great modern myth that human history is a journey of chaos to order. The widely-held belief in "the West" that things are going from the primitive (i.e. bad, retrograde, sexist/racist/classist/inequality, etc.) to more ration and advanced in a strictly positive manner (eceonimc, moral, and intellectual).

He traces how this myth began more than a hundred year before Darwin-- in fact, Darwin needed this myth (Wagner was an important story tell) to simplify and codify some of his own biological theories. Lewis looks at how this myth is certainly NOT based on Darwinian theory as biology shows frequent improvements and devolution. In fact, devolution is more common. He traces how societies build and decay again and again. Lewis talks about how antisupernaturalists need this myth to account for a world without any divine agency or influence.

Lewis talks in several essays about how he loved this great myth. One can see themself in the primitive ("I used to be so and so"), in the hopes for future ideals, and in the ultimate tragedy of the inevitable death of the universe. Lewis talks about how he grieved to let go of this powerful, compelling myth when he realized that it was deeply logically incoherent and not based on biological or cultural evidence. Nevertheless, he talked about its narrative beauty and charms. Lewis describes what alternative "myths" have to offer and discusses how to talk about this overmastering myth in our current age.

It is hard to beat Lewis's essays.