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C.S. Lewis
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God In The Dock: Essays on Theology and Ethics Paperback – March 24 1972

4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 580 ratings
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Lewis struck me as the most thoroughly converted man I ever met, observes Walter Hooper in the preface to this collection of essays by C. S. Lewis. His whole vision of life was such that the natural and the supernatural seemed inseparably combined.

It is precisely this pervasive Christianity which is demonstrated in the forty-eight essays comprising God in the Dock. Here Lewis addresses himself both to theological questions and to those which Hooper terms semi-theological, or ethical. But whether he is discussing Evil and God, Miracles, The Decline of Religion, or The Humanitarian Theory of Punishment, his insight and observations are thoroughly and profoundly Christian.

Drawn from a variety of sources, the essays were designed to meet a variety of needs, and among other accomplishments they serve to illustrate the many different angles from which we are able to view the Christian religion. They range from relatively popular pieces written for newspapers to more learned defenses of the faith which first appeared in The Socratic Digest. Characterized by Lewiss honesty and realism, his insight and conviction, and above all his thoroughgoing commitments to Christianity, these essays make God in the Dock very much a book for our time.
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  1. Print length
    346 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
  4. Publication date
    March 24 1972
  5. Dimensions
    13.97 x 2.54 x 22.23 cm
  6. ISBN-10
    0802808689
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0802808684
  8. See all details
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  1. Whatever experiences we may have, we shall not regard them as miraculous if we already hold a philosophy which excludes the supernatural.
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  2. Love is not affectionate feeling, but a steady wish for the loved person’s ultimate good as far as it can be obtained.
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  3. If things can improve, this means that there must be some absolute standard of good above and outside the cosmic process to which that process can approximate.
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  4. Nothing is wonderful except the abnormal and nothing is abnormal until we have grasped the norm.
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  5. If thought is the undesigned and irrelevant product of cerebral motions, what reason have we to trust it?
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.; Reprint edition (March 24 1972)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 346 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0802808689
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0802808684
  • Item weight ‏ : ‎ 408 g
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 13.97 x 2.54 x 22.23 cm
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 580 ratings

About the author

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C.S. Lewis

C.S. Lewis

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CLIVE STAPLES LEWIS (1898-1963) was one of the intellectual giants of the twentieth century and arguably one of the most influential writers of his day. He was a fellow and tutor in English Literature at Oxford University until 1954 when he was unanimously elected to the Chair of Medieval and Renaissance English at Cambridge University, a position he held until his retirement. He wrote more than thirty books, allowing him to reach a vast audience, and his works continue to attract thousands of new readers every year. His most distinguished and popular accomplishments include Mere Christianity, Out of the Silent Planet, The Great Divorce, The Screwtape Letters, and the universally acknowledged classics, the Chronicles of Narnia. To date, the Narnia books have sold over 100 million copies and been transformed into three major motion pictures.

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
580 global ratings

Top reviews from Canada

John Veenstra
5.0 out of 5 stars find what you need on Amazon
Reviewed in Canada on May 13, 2020
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clean copy- used for reading - too expensive for toilet paper.
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Frank Trail
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in Canada on March 23, 2017
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Just what I was looking for!
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Greg Slade
5.0 out of 5 stars Essential Reading for Lewis Fans
Reviewed in Canada on February 10, 2010
God in the Dock is a collection of essays previously published in England under several titles. (One of those titles was also called God in the Dock, but the Eerdmans edition contains many essays not in that British title.) The topics of the essays vary wildly, touching on ethics, politics, and even science fiction. (Many people don't know that Lewis also wrote science fiction, most notably Out Of The Silent Planet, Perelandra, and That Hideous Strength.) I find it very interesting to read Lewis' essays, and then re-read his fiction. Each illuminates the other, as I discover that Lewis has worked his theological convictions into his fiction in quite subtle ways.

If you are a Lewis fan, then you can't be without this book. If you are only discovering his work, then these essays provide a series of bite-sized introductions to his thought.
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Siegfried
4.0 out of 5 stars Where Is God?
Reviewed in Canada on March 10, 2013
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I found the some of essays heavy on theological terminology. Not easy reading, but with a little effort the I found the book to be uplifting and comforting.
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hrairoo
5.0 out of 5 stars A profound, mind-blowing masterpeice of theology
Reviewed in Canada on January 6, 2003
After years of struggling with the modern church's lack of appetite for the intellectual, I finally found an author who wasn't afraid to ask the hard questions that plague Christians and non-Christians alike:
> Should we pray, and [why] does it work?
> Why would God want to bother with a tiny, insignificant planet in the universe?
> Has science negated God?
> Why should anyone go to church?
...and many more challenging topics in this complilation of essays written over CS Lewis's lifetime.
The amazing thing about this book is he doesn't just ask the hard questions--he has well thought out, mind-blowing answers as well, backed up by theologians, scientists, the Socratic method, and of course, the Bible. The essays may have been written in the 1940s and 50s, but they have lost none of their relevance or power in today's world.
As a Christian, this book has taken me to a whole new depth of understanding about what I believe. As a thinking person, it challenged me to look at my motivations for everything I do. For example: Why do I try to be a good person? Why is "good" better than "bad"?
I would recommend this book to any Christian with a thirst for deeper understanding of Christian theology. I would also recommend this book to anyone who is interested in what being a Christian REALLY means at the foundation, not what modern culture has tried to make it mean.
Some people may have trouble reading this book --it is definitely not light reading. Lewis was an English professor at Cambridge, and it shows in his dense writing and complex subject matter. He frequently quotes Latin and from sources and authors only a literature scholar would know of. However, the editor does a good job in translating and citing references where appropriate.
It is not enough to say that I have been profoundly moved and changed by this book. Definitely, definitely read it.
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bixodoido
5.0 out of 5 stars A great collection of essays by the master apologist
Reviewed in Canada on April 7, 2003
As always, CS Lewis is absolutely amazing as a Christian apologist. He seems to have all the answers and, what's more, knows how to explain them in language and in terms that everyone can understand. I consider him to be one of the best Christian apologists of the last few centuries, and my intense interest in 'all things Lewis' is what led me to buy this collection of essays (it should be noted that these essays do not deal exclusively with Christianity, but, as the subtitle implies, also treat the subject of ethics).

Lewis has never let me down with a work of his, and this proved no exception. The one small objection (not really an objection--more of a comment) I have is that many of these essays (and most of Lewis's ideas in them) can be found in other works of his in a much more refined and pleasant version. This, of course, is not Lewis's fault, nor the fault of Reverend Hooper, who compiled them. That much of this is old news to a longtime fan of Lewis is attributable simply to the fact that this is a compilation, and hence bound to include things found elsewhere. What is important is the content, and the content of these essays is unbelievably good.

Many of these essays sound surprisingly like other essays in the same collection, and for this reason I would not recommend this collection to just anybody. If you want a good introduction to Lewis's thinking, it will be better found in such works as Mere Christianity, Miracles, or the Problem of Pain. In fact, this collection would be best suited to a very dedicated fan of Lewis (like myself), who doesn't mind reading things he's already read and is willing to put up with seeing his subject bounce around from essay to essay. This is not a good starting place, but as I said, for some of us there just isn't enough CS Lewis, and it is here that this collection becomes indispensable.
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Top reviews from other countries

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Jesus
1.0 out of 5 stars Pésima calidad, parecen fotos de una copia
Reviewed in Mexico on September 3, 2023
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Eliminen esta versión, son fotos de copias. La otra versión si esta bien, aunque es más cara
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Fergus
5.0 out of 5 stars This edition is excellent - and contains all 48 essays
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 14, 2022
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Make sure you get the right edition of 'God in the Dock'!
I was trying to get hold of C S Lewis's essay 'The humanitarian theory of punishment'. I discovered online that it was published in a book called 'God in the dock', which I duly purchased second-hand. But much to my annoyance 'The humanitarian theory of punishment' wasn't in it! After further digging online it became clear that there were two entirely different books, both titled 'God in the dock', and both containing essays of Lewis.
Walter Hooper edited this (the right!) version way back in 1971; but its title then was 'Undeceptions.' It contains 48 essays or papers of C S Lewis along with some published letters. But then in 1979 for the Collins Fontana/Fount paperback series Hooper published 13 of these essays separately and called the book 'God in the Dock'.
For some reason, more recently, a publisher decided that 'God in the dock' would be a good title for remarketing the larger book, 'Undeceptions' - hence the confusion I experienced.
So, this is the full version of essays, now published by Eerdmans. It seems to be fully reset rather than just another printing of the original. It's a lovely book to handle and read. And I must say that I warm to C S Lewis's short pieces. Each one of these that I've read is highly stimulating and sets all sorts of hares running. Higly recommended.
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A Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent !
Reviewed in India on November 16, 2017
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Anything by C S Lewis is great and readable many times over !
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Kathy Ortiz
5.0 out of 5 stars Is There A God in Heaven?
Reviewed in the United States on February 7, 2009
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Prof Lewis lived in a time when the intelligentsia were daring to assert the idea that God perhaps did not exist. Now, religion is taught in our universities along the lines of " How and Why Did Mankind Feel the Need to Invent God?"

The question is still the same. If indeed we are a bundle of random cells, why does any of our rambling matter? What is the basis of declaring anything good or bad? Do what you want, and good luck to you.

No one will ever win this argument, but Prof. Lewis gave a marvelous try at showing belief in God to be a rational choice, though of course asserting that the matter is, in the end, one of heart belief.

If you love God, and love C.S.Lewis, you will enjoy this book. He does get carried away with his extremely erudite logical calisthenics replete with the Greek and Latin quotes to go with them, but after all, he did not deny it, but rather saw his hyperintellectualism as a liability in being a simple witness for Christ.But his erudition reveals what a truly classically educated person has access to in examining a matter. Would we all had access to that kind of education.

Don't start reading Lewis here. For prose, read Surprised by Joy or Mere Christianity. For fun, read Screwtape. Above all, read his Narnia tales, and his Space Trilogy.For a personal memoir of great pathos by someone who could not resist watching himself even at his greatest extremity, read A Grief Observed.

But if you are a college student, read God in the Dock as an antidote. The same if you have children or grandchildren in college. It's a brilliant and entertaining work.

His is a great body of work that revealed a brilliant, quirky, passionate and perpetually truthseeking man.
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Noah
5.0 out of 5 stars A stimulating range of essays
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 21, 2020
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This collection of essays are what you would expect from a philosopher like Lewis, reflecting moments and opportunities in life to shine light on that which is deep and meaningful. Most essays are 4, 5 or 6 pages, are written professionally and with insight. I am particularly fond of his potting shed musings - a simple concept about light and looking at it vs looking along it. I was also amazed how relevant to 2020 some of the subjects were which all go to prove that culture is cyclic and the same ideas keep coming back.
A worthwhile and helpful read that is capable of being absorbed in short bursts.
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