Note: These discussion questions are designed to be used in a small group or Sunday school setting in which the group members are reading through Mere Theology on their own. Ideally the group could meet the first week, pass out copies of the book, read the Introduction to the book and discuss the introductory questions. From there you may wish to read and discuss one chapter of Mere Theology every week, or as much as you think the group can handle each week.

1. How were you introduced to the work of C. S. Lewis? What Lewis books have you read?
2. Why do you think Lewis denied being a real theologian?
3. What do you think of Lewis's definition of theology as "the science of God"? Do you think theology is more like science or more like art? In what ways does Lewis approach theology like a science? In what ways does he treat theology as an art?
4. Do you agree with Lewis that theology is like a map? If so, is it a helpful map? Why or why not?
5. Do you agree with Lewis that the goal of theology should be practical?

1. Do you agree with the statement: We cannot prove the existence of God?Why or why not?
2. Have you experienced sehnsucht? If so, describe the experience. Do you think the experience of sehnsucht is an echo of our human longing for God?
3. Many people today say they do not believe in any kind of absolute right and wrong. Do you think this belief can be held consistently?
4. Do you think that some sort of belief in ultimate Reason is necessary to science or clear thinking in general? Why or why not?
5. What do you think of Lewis's evaluation of various world-views? Do you think they hold water, or are they too superficial?
6. What about Lewis's argument that Jesus was either a madman, something worse, or the Son of God? Is this argument credible? Are there any other options?
7. Which one of C. S. Lewis's arguments for the reasonableness of Christianity do you find most convincing? Least convincing? Why? Which argument do you want to think more about?

1. What do you make of Lewis's assertion that many of the stories in the Old Testament are mythical? (Be sure to remember Lewis's definition of myth before you answer this question.)
2. What do you think of Lewis's proposition, as a literary critic, that the Gospels are not legends?
3. Why does Lewis reject the idea of biblical inerrancy? Do you agree or disagree with him? Why?
4. What objections does Lewis have to modern biblical criticism? Why? Are you inclined to agree with him or not?
5. Despite Lewis's rejection of inerrancy he still believes that the Bible is the Word of God. Do you find Lewis's view consistent and credible? Why or why not?

3. The Three-Personal God

1. Do you think Norman Pittenger's criticism of Lewis's teaching on the Trinity was fair or not?
2. Does Lewis's explanation of how the doctrine of the Trinity developed seem reasonable?
3. Which one of Lewis's Trinitarian analogies best helps you to understand and embrace the Christian doctrine of the Trinity: the cube? the prayer closet? the books? the relationship between imagination, image and will? love? or the Great Dance? Why?
4. What do you think of the Trinitarian images in Lewis's fiction? Do these images make the Trinity more attractive or understandable to you?

4. God's Sovereignty and Human Responsibility

1. What do you think of Lewis's answer to the question: Why did God give free will to human beings?
2. What do you think Lewis means when he says in Perelandra that predestination and freedom are identical?
3. How does Lewis use the concept of God being outside of time to explain the apparent contradiction between predestination and free will? Is this explanation convincing to you? Why or why not?
4. Is Aslan an attractive portrait of God's sovereignty to you? Explain.
5. What do you make of Lewis's statement that the most deeply compelled action can also be the freest action?
6. What do you think of Lewis's assertion about his own conversion that he was decided upon?
7. How would you summarize Lewis's view of the relation between God's sovereignty and human free will?

1. If the creation story in Genesis was derived from earlier Semitic stories how does this affect your view of the creation story?
2. How does Lewis's illustration of creation ex nihilo in The Magician's Nephew affect you?
3. What do you think of Lewis's perspective on the purpose of human creation by God?
4. Do you agree or disagree with Lewis's view of Genesis 1 and Lewis's theistic evolutionary stance? Why?
5. What do you make of Lewis's view of science and scientism?
6. What do you think about the way Lewis rings the changes on the theory of evolution?

1. How does Lewis's view of the Fall story in Genesis 3 as myth affect your view of the doctrine of the Fall?
2. What do you think of Lewis's view that political equality is necessitated by the Fall?
3. How does Lewis's view of death as punishment, mercy and/or safety device impact you?
4. Do you agree or disagree with Lewis's arguments against total depravity? Why?
5. How did you appreciate Lewis's treatment of the Fall in Perelandra and The Magician's Nephew?

7. The Person and Work of Christ

1. Does Lewis's treatment of the doctrine of the Person of Christ introduce anything new to your thinking or deepen your understanding? If so, how?
2. Which of Lewis's analogies to the Incarnation do you find most illuminating? Why?
3. Do you find Lewis's defense of the doctrine of the Virgin Birth helpful? Why or why not?
4. What do you think of Lewis's treatment of the doctrine of the Atonement? Do you think theories about the Atonement are as optional for the Christian as Lewis makes them out to be? Why or why not?
5. Does Lewis make the reality of Christ's resurrection and/or ascension more believable to you? Why or why not?
6. How does Aslan enhance your picture of Christ?

1. Is the person and work of the Holy Spirit somewhat mysterious to you as it was to Lewis? Why or why not?
2. What do you think of Lewis's view that the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives is more important than the feeling of his presence?
3. Do you agree with Lewis about speaking in tongues? Why or why not?
4. Do you think God speaks to himself through us, as Lewis suggests in his interpretation of Romans 8:26?
5. Which way of God speaking to us do you think is the most important - Scripture, the church, friends, other books? Why?

1. Where are you in terms of "preparing for forgiveness"?
2. What do you think of the definition of forgiveness given in this chapter?
3. Has theoretical belief in God's forgiveness of your sins become a reality for you? Explain.
4. How are you doing at forgiving others? Do you find any of Lewis's suggestions helpful toward that end?
5. What are your thoughts about confessing sins to a spiritual director?

1. Do you agree or disagree with Lewis's view on works before faith? Why?
2. Have you moved from faith as intellectual assent on to faith as personal trust in Jesus Christ? If so, describe how that happened for you. What does trusting in Christ mean to you?
3. What do you think of what Lewis says about works after faith?
4. What do you make of Lewis's interpretation of the parable of the sheep and the goats? What do you think about the story of Emeth in The Last Battle? Does this raise any lingering questions for you? If so, what?

11. Satan and Temptation

1. Where do you see yourself on the following spectrum? Not believing in Satan ------- Having an unhealthy interest in Satan
2. How do you feel about Lewis's picture of our universe as one at war?
3. Which fictional treatment of temptation in Lewis's work do you find most spiritually helpful? The one in Screwtape? The Lion, the Witch and The Wardrobe? The Silver Chair? The Magician's Nephew? Or Perelandra?
4. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: The continued avoidance either of triumph or despair and the ever-renewed struggle against temptation is a great triumph of grace?
5. What do you think of the author's assessment of Lewis's achievement in writing on the topic of Satan and temptation?

1. Do you think it is possible for the Tao to ever be totally erased from a human conscience? Why or why not?
2. How do you think the church might be responsible for the moral collapse we see around us today?
3. Which concern of morality is more important: maintaining harmony and fair play between individuals or tidying up and harmonizing things within individuals? How are we to carry out both of these activities at the same time as Lewis suggests?
4. What do you think about what Lewis says about the relationship between morality and psychoanalysis?
5. How do you react to Lewis's statement that being a Christian is more like painting a portrait than it is like following a rule book?

1. What do you think of the way Lewis distinguishes Venus (sexual love) from Eros (falling in love)?
2. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: The society that tolerates sexual infidelity is a society adverse to women?
3. How do you respond to what Lewis says about the relationship between sex and the Fall?
4. Do you agree with Lewis that something has gone wrong with the sexual instinct? Why or why not?
5. How do you react to Lewis's view of contraception? How about his view of homosexuality? And what about resurrected sexuality-what do you think about that?

14. Marriage and Divorce

1. Do you think that falling in love is an adequate basis for marriage? Why or why not?
2. Do you agree with Lewis that whenever a man lies with a woman a transcendental relation is set up? Why or why not?
3. What do you make of Lewis's statement that if a couple doesn't believe in permanent marriage it is better for them to live together without marriage than to take vows they don't mean?
4. Lewis says that being in love is a good thing but not the best thing. What is the best thing? Do you agree or not? Why?
5. Do you think all people have a right to sexual happiness?
6. Who should be the leader in a marriage-the husband, the wife, or both? Why do you think this way?
7. Do you think Lewis's marriage to Joy Davidman contradicted his earlier views on marriage and divorce, or did his marriage complete and develop his views?

1. What do you make of Lewis's idea that gender is an even more fundamental reality than sex?
2. How are you impacted by Lewis's fictional treatment of this subject in That Hideous Strength?
3. Do you agree with Lewis on the subject of God language? How about women's ordination?
4. Why do you think the concept of hierarchy was so important to Lewis?
5. Do you think Lewis was a misogynist? Why or why not?

1. What do you think about Lewis's assertion that monarchy satisfies the human craving for inequality?
2. What does Lewis mean when he says that we have all been crowned and our coronation contains a tragic splendor? Do you agree? Why or why not?
3. How does the concept of monarchy affect you as it is fleshed out in The Chronicles of Narnia?
4. How do you react to Lewis's portrayals of servant-kingship in The Chronicles? Does this round out Lewis's emphasis on the importance of hierarchy and monarchy in his writings?

17. War and Peace

1. In what ways are Lewis's thoughts on war counterintuitive?
2. If war is raw material for Screwtape's work, is it also raw material for the Enemy? If so, how?
3. What do you make of Lewis's attitude toward the atomic bomb? Why do you think the possibility of atomic warfare was not a primary concern for Lewis? Do you agree with him? Why or why not?
4. What were Lewis's reasons for not being a pacifist? Do you find his line of reasoning convincing?

18. What's Love Got to Do with It?

1. Do you find Lewis's distinction between gift-love and need-love helpful? If so, how?
2. What do you think of what Lewis has to say about the potential perversions of affection?
3. Why do you think friendship, in Lewis's sense, is not more highly evident or valued in our time?
4. What do you think of Lewis's assertion that Eros is a foretaste of the love we must have toward everyone if Love himself is to guide us?
5. Do you agree with Lewis's contention that when God arrives (in the form of Charity) then half-gods (all the other loves) can remain and be fruitful?

19. The Church

1. To Lewis's mind why is participation in the church necessary to the Christian? Do you agree? Why or why not?
2. How does Lewis's teaching affect your view of church membership?
3. What did Lewis believe the purpose of the church to be? What do you think the church's purpose is?
4. What do you think of Lewis's view of the relationship between "mere Christianity" and the denominations? Is the existence of denominations a hindrance or a furtherance to the spread of Christianity?
5. How do you react to Screwtape's insights on the church?
6. What do you think of Lewis's views on the Church of Rome and reunion? Do you think Lewis would hold the same views if he were alive today? Why or why not?
7. How do you respond to Lewis's views on liturgy and church music?
8. Do you think church-going is in decline today? Does it matter?

1. Do you personally rely more on home-made or ready-made prayers? How do Lewis's thoughts stretch you on this point?
2. What do you think of prayers to and for the dead? Are such prayers inevitable? Are they heretical?
3. Do you find Lewis's thoughts on the when, where, why and what of prayer helpful? If so, how?
4. Is the Lord's Prayer important in your own devotional life? Do you find Lewis's festoons to the Lord's Prayer illuminating? If so, how?
5. How do you react to what Lewis says about different types of prayer: penitential, petitionary, intercessory, adoration and thanksgiving? Which type is most important to you? Why?
6. How do you respond to what Lewis has to say about the prayer of faith? How about what he says about difficulties in prayer?
7. What is the proper place of images in prayer? Is the use of images in prayer inevitable?
8. Is praying difficult or easy for you? Why do you suppose that is the case?

1. What is the meaning of the sacraments for you? Do you believe that the sacraments always effect God's grace? Are they simply ordinances? Or is your view somewhat in-between those two extremes, as was Lewis's view?
2. Lewis contends in The Pilgrim's Regress that to participate in the sacraments is to participate in a mythology. What do you think?
3. Which image of the sacraments in Lewis's fiction do you find most powerful? Why?
4. Does the concept of transposition help you to understand what is happening in the sacraments? Why or why not?
5. How do you react to Lewis's views on baptism, confirmation and confession?
6. Why do you think that Holy Communion was the most important sacrament to Lewis?
7. In Letters to Malcolm Lewis says about Holy Communion: "Here a hand from the hidden country touches not only my soul but my body." How do you respond to that statement?
8. How does Lewis's picture of Holy Communion in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader affect you?

1. What do you think of Lewis's definition of hell?
2. Do you agree with Lewis and MacDonald that hell is the shutting up of a creature within the dungeon of its own mind?
3. How do you react to Lewis's answers to objections against the doctrine of hell?
4. How do you respond to Lewis's leanings toward annihilationism, particularly in statements such as: Hell is the outer rim where being fades away into nonentity?
5. What do you think about Lewis's teaching on Christ's descent into hell?

1. How do the images of Purgatory in Lewis's fiction affect you? What about the images in his letters?
2. Do you think Lewis's belief in Purgatory made his grief over the death of his wife easier or harder to bear?
3. What do you think of the distinctions Lewis draws between various beliefs about Purgatory?
4. How does Lewis stretch your own thinking on this topic?

1. Do you think Heaven is a touchy subject in our day? If so, how?
2. What do you think of Lewis's definition of Heaven? How would you define Heaven?
3. How do you respond to the biblical images of Heaven? How do you respond to Lewis's images of Heaven as the place of the Great Dance, Heaven as eternal morning, and Heaven as the real world?
4. Do you desire Heaven? How does Lewis help you deal with your desire for Heaven, or lack of it?
5. What do you think of what Lewis has to say about the glory of Heaven? Worship in Heaven? Heaven as a place of perpetual giving? Pain in Heaven? Sex in Heaven? Sensory life in Heaven? Being fully human in Heaven? Having no morality in Heaven? Reunion in Heaven?
6. How do Lewis's thoughts on the resurrection of the body stretch or alter your understanding of that doctrine?
7. Why do you think Lewis wrote about Heaven more than any other subject? Does Lewis make you want to choose Heaven?

1. What do you think of Lewis's take on the delay of Christ's return? Have you chosen your side?
2. How are you affected by the way Lewis pictures the end of the old Narnia and the beginning of the new Narnia in The Last Battle?
3. How do you respond to Lewis's defense of the doctrine of the Second Coming of Christ in The World's Last Night?
4. If this present were the world's last night what would you do?

1. What do you think of the image of Lewis's work being like a cathedral? What is your favorite part of that cathedral?
2. Which chapter was your favorite in this book? Why?
3. What theological topic in Lewis's work was not adequately covered in this book that you would like to know more about?
4. What unanswered questions does this book raise for you?
5. After reading this book do you think C. S. Lewis was a "real" theologian?
6. Do you think it is possible to live out mere Christianity apart from a Christian denomination of some sort? Is it possible to hold to mere theology without denominational admixtures?