The Bath Abbey Lent Book 2024
This year we have decided to revisit a widely cherished spiritual classic, as our Bath Abbey Study Book for Lent. “Mere Christianity” by CS Lewis is one of the most popular and beloved introductions to the concept of faith, ever written. It has sold millions of copies worldwide, and many of us at the Abbey have been profoundly helped (if perhaps many decades ago!) by this wonderfully lucid mind explaining what “mere” faith in Christ is, and why it makes glorious sense of life.
“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.”
It is now some 80 years since Lewis gave the broadcast talks that lie behind his book, and this Lent we will be tuning in with 21st century ears:
- Does his logic and vision still hold?
- Is this classic work still able to feed and inspire our Christian faith today?
- What might we want to add, or to subtract … or to apply directly with refreshed clarity, in our contemporary world?
You can get your fresh copy of this classic work from the Abbey Shop (… otherwise ask around, someone may well have a well-thumbed old edition you could borrow!). Then once you are up and reading, you are warmly invited to bring your thoughts and questions to our Mere Christianity Lent Course, hosted by the Abbey Clergy on Wednesday evenings (7pm to 8.30pm in the Abbey Learning Room) as follows :
- February 21 : Right and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning of the Universe
- February 28 : What Christians Believe
- March 6 : Christian Behaviour
- March 13 : Beyond Personality, Or First Steps in the Doctrine of the Trinity
The course follows the 4 sections of the book, in the order CS Lewis gives - and while it would be ideal to come on all four evenings, it is fine to attend as many sessions as you can make. The course will be for live discussion only (it will not be live-streamed), however there is no need to sign up to participate. The course will be preceded by our Ash Wednesday service on the previous Wednesday evening (14 Feb), and will lead appropriately into our Abbey performance of St. Matthew’s Passion, on the following Wednesday evening in Holy Week (March 20).
“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house ….“
I wish you an inspiring Lent this year – and I look forward hugely to sharing our own “mere” experience of Christianity (and God’s designer wisdom) together …
The Revd Canon Guy Bridgewater, Rector of Bath Abbey
