And no, I’m not talking about Harry Potter, although everyone should also read those.
One of the most surprising consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic has been my enhanced spirituality. I’m originally from upstate New York where Catholicism reigns supreme, but none of the Catholic traditions or viewpoints ever resonated with me in the slightest. In fact, they irked me.
When the pandemic first hit, We were all home alone – a lot. I had a scary amount of free time to introspect, and it dawned upon me that I hadn’t been reading as much as I probably should. So I picked up Ryan Holiday’s Daily Stoic, a book on Stoic philosophy that encourages you to read just one page a day. This was beyond manageable, and it helped me to reestablish the habit of reading on a daily basis. One day, the topic of Christianity came up in a passage. It got me thinking, “how odd that over 2 billion people globally identify as Christian. We’ve made so many scientific discoveries that clearly disprove all of the biblical stories! What a bunch of simpletons!”
Only now do I realize how absolutely ridiculous this reductionist perspective sounds. In David Perrell’s ‘The Book You Need To Read’ article, he says “so much of our worldview unconsciously rests on Christian ideas that I describe them as the dark matter of Western civilization.” Clearly, at some point, Christianity was resonating with a lot of people. 2 billion followers doesn’t happen overnight, and surely they aren’t all complete dummies. In order to satisfy my own intellectual curiosity, I set out to answer the question “how is this strange religion still so incredibly popular?”
Although I do recommend that you read Daily Stoic, this is not the book I am here to convince you to read. The book I am strongly suggesting to all history, philosophy, and psychology enthusiasts is Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis.
I can’t express enough how much value and insight I’ve gotten out of this book. Whether you are interested in Christianity for personal reasons or if you are simply interested in western civilization and culture, it is a must-read. Lewis originally broadcasted his Mere Christianity ideas in a series of radio talks shortly after serving in World War II, and then he published them as a book consisting of four parts:
- Book 1: Right And Wrong As A Clue To The Meaning Of The Universe
- Book 2: What Christians Believe
- Book 3: Christian Behavior
- Book 4: Beyond Personality
Based on the titles of the four parts of this book, you can imagine how it’s so appealing to people who are intrigued by the subjects of human behavior, philosophy, and spirituality in general. I urge you to check out Tyler Devries’ book summary of Mere Christianity to sample the ideas you can expect to find in the full book.
Since reading Mere Christianity, I have been absolutely fascinated with the subject. Over the past year, I’ve spent over 100+ hours reading books, listening to lectures, and reading articles about the values and history of Christianity and the biblical stories. It’s the best framework I’ve come across so far in my life to help me prioritize my values, improve my character, and structure my life. I will dig into my interpretation of this framework in a later article.
Again, if you are at all interested in Western civilization, world history, general spirituality, mythology, psychology, or human behavior — this is a must-read.
Amazon link to purchase Mere Christianity.