Steven Urban - Mere Christianity Study Guide: A Bible Study on the C.S. Lewis Book Mere Christianity

Mere Christianity Study Guide

A Bible Study on the C.S. Lewis Book Mere Christianity

A Study Course for a Thinking Faith

Copyright 2014 Steven Urban

ISBN-13: 978-1499568264

ISBN-10: 1499568266

To learn more about this Bible study visit www.MereChristianity.org.

To order additional copies of this resource visit www.CreateSpace.com.

All Rights Reserved.

No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted by the 1976 Copyright Act or in writing from the publisher.

Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible, Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.(www.Lockman.org)

Cover photo of C.S. Lewis used by permission of The Marion E. Wade Center, Wheaton College, Wheaton, IL.

Back cover artwork: The Apostle Paul by Rembrandt, 1657.

Version 2

ePub and Kindle created by Ravi R

The Author

S teven Urban graduated from the University of California with a degree in Psychobiology before going on to receive his medical doctorate at New York Medical College. He completed his residency training in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Johns Hopkins and was awarded an NIH Fellowship in Stroke Research at the University of Maryland. Today he is a double-board certified Physiatric Interventional Pain Specialist. He lives with his wife and son near Nashville, Tennessee.

Steve who is a native of Southern California, was not raised in a Christian home. While attending UCLA, his life was interrupted by a sensation he had never experienced before or even knew human beings could experience. Had that been the end of it, the sensation may have been dismissed as a mere fluke or some twist of the brain, but the sensation returned again and again. As a Psychobiology undergraduate student, he began to search out what caused these sensations. Along with his scientific inquires he also began to read histories, biographies, and treatises on psychology, world religions and theology. He even traveled overseas and spent time in a Tibetan monastery in Nepal. Eventually Steve read a book written by a man which would forever change his life.

The man was C.S. Lewis and in his Surprised by Joy, Steve discovered a person who experienced his same sensations, yet did not forsake the use of reason and rational inquiry. The book was the final instrument that led to Steves realization that Christ was who He claimed to be.

After the four years leading to his conversion, Steve sought out several people and sources to help him deepen his relationship with Christ. Here again C.S. Lewis proved to be an invaluable guide. In Mere Christianity, Steve found a wonderful expression of Romans 1-8 leading the believer from compatibility to intimacy with Christ.

Foreword

D uring World War II, C. S. Lewis delivered a series of radio broadcasts on the BBC in England. At the time of the broadcasts the outcome of the war was still very uncertain. People needed hope. Many tuned in to see what this Oxford scholar might have to say. Later the talks were published as the book Mere Christianity. Since its publication thousands of thoughtful people have found their way to a faith in Christ that makes sense. Included among these is Dr. Francis Collins, the scientist who broke the Genome, and also Charles Colson, President Nixons chief of staff, and later founder of Prison Fellowship. Mere Christianity is for the thinking person. But the book appeals to the heart as well. In fact, it appeals to the whole person. It is not a surprise that this should be so. In his literary criticism of his friend and fellow Inkling, Charles Williams Arthurian Poems, The Arthurian Torso, C. S. Lewis said, The first problem in life is how do you fit the stone [the Reason] and the shell [the Romantic longings of the heart]? Lewis himself came to believe that Christianity did this best. In fact, after his long spell as an atheist, Lewiss first Christian book was titled, The Pilgrims Regress: An Allegorical Apology for Christianity, Reason and Romanticism. He wrote to show that Christianity was a holistic faith that reconciled head and heart. This is because faith in Christ is a reconciling faith. It reconciles those estranged from God into a robust relationship with God. It gives the resources to make possible reconciliation of broken relationships with others. In fact, it provides the means to repair the ruins within ones own life. It sets the believer on the course of reconciling the soul and body as well as the head and the heart.

Lewis is known for his ability to open wardrobe doors into magical worlds where the themes of reconciliation are made accessible through childrens stories like the Narnian Chronicles; written for children but very readable for adults. So too, one is grateful when someone comes along and opens a wardrobe door into an enriched understanding of Lewiss books. This is what one encounters in Dr. Steven Urbans Mere Christianity Study Guide: A Bible Study on the C. S. Lewis Book Mere Christianity. With all of the diagnostic skill of a physician, Urban offers fresh insight on this Christian Classic making Lewiss thought all the more accessible for those who long to better understand Lewis and his ideas. Urban makes the book come alive with valuable applications for spiritual growth and maturity. In fact the book could be titled: C. S. Lewiss Spiritual Formation for Mere Christians. Urban is right to suggest that Lewiss book is not merely a work in Christian Apologetics and defense of the faith. Its themes are far richer than that. Lewis is concerned not only that the faith is defensible but it is also transformational. This fact is certainly developed by Dr. Urban.

Urban developed this study of Mere Christianity while teaching an adult Sunday school class. Over some time he developed the curriculum. Now, his treatment of Mere Christianity provides a valuable resource for the Church at large. All over the world Christians have studied Mere Christianity in Sunday schools and small groups around the globe. But never has such an in-depth study of the book been developed and made transferable for others to use while teaching from this classic text. Urban has served well all who want such an aid to enhance their own teaching. I have been studying C. S. Lewis for 44 years. I have taught Lewis courses and lectured about Lewis for 34 years at 58 university campuses in 11 different countries around the world. Urbans study of Mere Christianity is the best Ive seen. It pleases me to see he is making his own study of Lewis available to others. You see, Ive known Steve for over 35 years. My own grasp of Lewis was deeply influenced by things I learned from Steve while I was still in graduate school. It is high time others can have the privilege of gaining from his many years study of Lewis. I recommend the book for all who take their faith seriously and want to grow to be all they can be in Christ.