God in the Dock: Essays on Theology and Ethics [Paperback]

Product Details

Paperback: 346 pages
Publisher: Eerdmans Pub Co (October 1994)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0802808689
ISBN-13: 978-0802808684
Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

Customer Reviews

First, be aware that this collection was originally published in the UK under the title "Undeceptions - Essays on Theology and Ethics". Next, be aware that there is a UK Fontana paperback lurking about called "God in the Dock - Essays on Theology" that is substantially shorter than this collection. Caveat emptor (let the buyer beware).
Second, the reader should know that Lewis's shorter works were generally originally composed as speeches or as articles for periodicals. Various sets of them were collected and published in book form both during his life and after his death. Trying to determine what works are in what collections is difficult - most works appear in more than one collection, some works appear under more than one title, and some collections (including this one) appear under more than one title.
To aid readers, in this review I've listed the works in this collection, with notes indicating other collections they have appeared in. Where a work has appeared under more than one title, I give both titles separated by a slash.
Table of Contents:
"Answers to Questions on Christianity" (1), (2), (3)
"Before We Can Communicate" (3), (4)
"Behind the Scenes" (3), (5)
"Bulverism: or The Foundation of Twentieth Century Thought" (3), (4), (6)
"Christian Apologetics" (1), (2), (3), (6)
"Cross-Examination" / "I was Decided Upon" ; "Heaven, Earth and Outer Space" (1), (3), (5)
"Dangers of National Repentance" (1), (3), (5)
"Delinquents in the Snow" (3), (5)
"Dogma and the Universe" / "Dogma and the Universe" ; "Dogma and Science" (1), (3)
"Evil and God" (3), (5)
"First and Second Things" (3), (4), (6)
"God in the Dock" / "Difficulties in Presenting the Christian Faith to Unbelievers" (1), (3)
"'Horrid Red Things'" (1), (3), (4), (6)
"Is Progress Possible?"
"Is Theism Important?" (2), (3), (6)
"Man or Rabbit?" (1), (3)
"Meditation in a Toolshed" (3), (4), (6)
"Meditation on the Third Commandment" (3), (5)
"Miracles" (1), (3)
"Miserable Offenders: An Interpretation of Prayer Book Language" (3), (5)
"Modern Translations of the Bible" (1), (3), (4), (6)
"Must Our Image of God Go?" (3)
"Myth Became Fact" (1), (3)
"On the Reading of Old Books" (1), (3), (4)
"On the Transmission of Christianity" (3), (4)
"Priestesses in the Church" (3)
"Rejoinder to Dr. Pittenger" (2)
"Religion and Science" (1), (3)
"Religion Without Dogma?" / "A Christian Reply to Professor Price" (1), (2), (3), (6)
"Revival or Decay?" (3), (4)
"Scraps" (1), (3), (5)
"Some Thoughts" (1), (3), (4), (6)
"The Decline of Religion" (1), (3), (4), (6)
"The Founding of the Oxford Socratic Club" (2), (3)
"The Grand Miracle" (1), (3)
"The Humanitarian Theory of Punishment" (3), (4), (6)
"The Laws of Nature" (1), (3)
"The Pains of Animals" (2), (3)
"The Sermon and the Lunch" (1), (3), (4)
"'The Trouble With "X" ...'" (1), (3)
"Two Lectures" (3), (4)
"Two Ways With the Self" (1), (3), (5)
"Vivisection" (1), (3), (4), (6)
"We Have No 'Right to Happiness'" (3)
"What are We to Make of Jesus Christ?" (1), (3)
"What Christmas Means to Me" (1), (3), (5)
"Work and Prayer" (1), (3)
"XMas and Christmas: A Lost Chapter from Herodotus" (3), (4), (6)
Notes:
(1) also published in "The Grand Miracle, and Other Selected Essays on Theology and Ethics"
(2) also published in "Timeless at Heart: Essays on Theology"
(3) also published in "Essay Collection and Other Short Pieces"
(4) also published in "First and Second Things: Essays on Theology and Ethics"
(5) also published in "Christian Reunion and Other Essays"
(6) also published in "Compelling Reason"
Recommendations:
If you are interested in Lewis's shorter works, my best advice is to get "Essay Collection and Other Short Pieces", which, as of the time of this writing, is available from Amazon UK but not Amazon US. That collection consists of about 130 short works by Lewis. The works in that collection are mostly, but not exclusively, Christian.
If your interest in Lewis's shorter works is restricted to those on Christianity, and your budget or enthusiasm does not run to "Essay Collection and Other Short Pieces", then my second-best advice is to get any or all of the following (they don't overlap significantly, and between them they include most of Lewis's shorter Christian writings):
"God in the Dock - Essays on Theology and Ethics"
"The World's Last Night and Other Essays"
"Christian Reflections"
"The Weight of Glory and Other Addresses"

C.S. Lewis is known for being one of the best apologists (and amateur theologians) of our day. Primarily, Lewis is a writer; he knows how to use words to draw the reader in, and then humbly offers his insights on whatever topic is at hand. It is this humility that I think makes him so accessible - he talks about what he knows and doesn't presume to be an authority over anyone.
About GOD IN THE DOCK specifically, this is a collection of his letters, columns, and speeches. Most are short (4-10 pages) reflections on something he has encountered recently, from animal-rights protestations to dogma within the church to attempts to debunk myth to Christmas. Really, though, each one of these essays is about modernism. Modernism is the arch-enemy to Lewis - in its materialism, rationalism, statism and "groupism", it denies the validity of opposing systems of thought. Miracles are definitively ruled because they can't be reproduced in a lab (which Lewis argues is precisely why they are "miraculous" in the first place." Christian beliefs are discarded because they are similar to other "primitve" myths; Lewis argues that if God is real and we are made in His image, it makes sense that we would have common motifs in how we think about Him.
The essays in GOD IN THE DOCK are mostly designed to show the fallacies in people's thinking. They start with an observation, continue to describe the orthodox Christian point of view, point out something which the reader already knows to be true, and then shows that it makes more sense in the context of orthodox thought rather than modernist thought. What I found most interesting was that the same problems that Lewis wrestled with in his day are the same ones that Americans face today! I'm not sure if this proves that history repeats itself or if America is just 50 years behind England. Either way, Lewis' predictions for the future if his society continued to follow the modernist path were vindicated (if anything, he underestimated the degree to which society would degenerate).
In summary, C.S. Lewis was a humble and insightful man whose essays cover a wide gamut of topics. Each essay is short, about a 15 minute read, which is a comfortable way to wind down the day. I think that he very correctly evaluated the danger that modernism poses to humanity. Finally, his essay topics are very relevant to Americans whose country is now hashing outt he same issues that Lewis' nation did fifty years ago.