The Seeing Eye and Other Selected Essays from Christian Reflections

by C.S. Lewis

C.S. Lewis presents an eloquent and colorful defense of Christianity for both devotees and critics . . . in a collection of essays composed over the last twenty years of his life.
* On Christianity and culture
* On religion -- is it reality or substitute?
* On ethics
* On the Psalms
* On the language of religion
* On petitionary prayer
* And more!
"An excellent introduction to the thought and personality of this engaging Christian writer." -- Christianity Today

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

256 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published February 12, 1986

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

[Mary Catelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of essays and addresses, mostly occasional.

They range from an address to seminarians on theology to an article on what space travel meant to religion. Several on language and literature in relationship with Christianity. The modern age, futility, the Psalms, and much more.

[Travis Span · Rating 5 out of 5]

C. S. Lewis is one of my favourite authors. Period.
Within the first paragraph of his first essay in "The Seeing Eye", I was struck full in the face with solid, clear sense. Reading C. S. Lewis is getting a mental breath of fresh air. Reading a new C. S. Lewis work is like walking in a new park. And when a C. S. Lewis work is comprised of a dozen stand-alone works...well, I leave that up to the readers imagination.
"The Seeing Eye" was fantastic. Sense is the clearest impression that I had imprinted in my mind when I walked away. The essays cut to the point (a few were, in my humble opinion, a little verbose but they were naturally the exceptions) and were filled with Lewisian wit, humour and spirit.
This collection of essays is one that I look forward to rereading.

[Kat Cav · Rating 4 out of 5]

Favorite essays:
Religion: Reality or Substitute?
De Futilitate
The Funeral of a Great Myth
The Poison of Subjectivism
Historicism
The Psalms
Modern Theology and Biblical Criticism
The Seeing Eye

Wonderful little set of essay by the great Christian apologist himself, C.S. Lewis. His humor and wit shine in a few of these essays. He is serious about his faith, but humble and never takes himself too seriously. Though I am not a religious person myself, reading Lewis always reaffirms my respect for Christianity.

[Eric Morrissey]

This is not one of Lewis’s most highly touted collections of essays, but I really enjoyed it. He seems very prophetic, a lot of what he wrote seems very applicable today. I especially enjoyed the Poison of Subjectivism. Everything he writes makes me feel at home. Only thing I didn’t enjoy about this one was a lot of untranslated Latin and Greek phrases. Footnotes would’ve been appreciated.

[Kathryne · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book of essays written by C.S. Lewis. Such subjects as Christianity and Literature; Chritianity and Culture; On Ethics; The Poison of Subjectivism; De Futilitate; The Seeing Eye; and so on. Lewis, whether he owned this label or not, was an existentialist of the greatest proportions. It would be wondrous to see him and Keirkegaard sit and have a conversation in heaven.

[J. Alfred · Rating 3 out of 5]

Certainly not Lewis's best, and not even his best collection of essays, this is nevertheless full of good things to think about, has an interesting forward from Hooper which contained some reminisces that I hadn't seen elsewhere, and is worth picking up if it's lying around nearby. The nominal essay, especially, is a good one.

[John Hancock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent as always.

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[Jonathan]

None

[RE de Leon]

Lower-cost anthology containing selected essays from a more extensive anthology, "Christian Reflections"

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

AWSOME like all of C S Lewis' books!

[Jessica Lowery · Rating 2 out of 5]

Did not care for this particular book, wouldn't recommend it.

[S.A. Klopfenstein · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not my favorite of Lewis's works. It's a collection of essays. Some of them are incredible, some of them are not as incredible. Still a good read.

[C.N. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Best essay: "The Funeral of a Great Myth" I also greatly enjoyed "The Psalms." Another good set of collected essays to read from Lewis.

[Monica]

I purchased and skimmed this book years ago. Now I'm taking another look at it...