3 Views from C.S. Lewis’s Hallway

If you read the introduction of Mere Christianity you will quickly learn of C.S. Lewis’s goal of describing a core, the mere essence, the fundamental beliefs, associated with the Christian faith. His mission is laid bare in the very title of the book. Lewis wasn’t advocating a particular tradition. But he certainly wasn’t trying keep people from joining one.

Lewis writes, “The reader should be warned that I offer no help to anyone who is hesitating between two Christian “denominations.” You will not learn from me whether you ought to become Anglican, a Methodist, a Presbyterian, or a Roman Catholic. This omission is intentional.” But if you think Lewis considered Christian denominations insignificant, then you really haven’t understood him at all (or read very far beyond the opening paragraph of the introduction). I’ve heard Christian leaders criticize Mere Christianity for this very reason, showing they haven’t carefully considered Lewis’s argument.

Lewis didn’t present Mere Christiantity as ultimate Christianity. He used the word mere because it was a starting point. He never wanted anyone to end there. Consider his analogy of a hallway:

“It [Mere Christianity] is more like a hall out of which doors open into several rooms. If I can bring anyone into that hall I shall have done what I attempted. But it is in the rooms, not in the hall, that there are fires and chairs and meals. The hall is a place to wait in, not a place to live in.”

Lewis wanted to get people into the hallway, to introduce them to Christ. But he hoped for more for those who followed Jesus. Lewis pointed them to the rooms, the specific traditions, the denominations, if you will, for where they could engage in fellowship, warm themselves by the fire, and enjoy a meal.

Here’s the first observation: Don’t put a room where Lewis put a hallway. Second, don’t criticize the hallway after you’ve sat yourself down in a room. You wouldn’t have made it into your current location without first entering the hallway. One final observation, don’t be too quick to judge the rooms chosen by others. You’re not any better for having chosen a room than you are for having found your way into and now out of the hallway. Grace is required (and supplied) at every step and stop.