Lewis closes Book I with a deliberately uncomfortable conclusion — and refuses to let us escape into easy comfort before we've faced the truth.

Discussion Questions

6 questions

1.Lewis says he has been 'putting the boot in' — deliberately making the reader feel the weight of the Moral Law's condemnation before offering any relief. Why does he think this sequence matters? What is wrong with offering comfort too soon?

2.He uses the analogy of a man in trouble with the police: Christianity doesn't make sense as 'good news' until you first understand the bad news. How has your own experience of the gospel been shaped — helped or hindered — by how clearly you've understood the 'bad news'?

3.Lewis summarizes what he's established in Book I: there is a Moral Law, we know it, and we break it. He says this puts humanity in a 'desperate position.' Do you feel the weight of that? Why or why not?

a.Is there a tendency in your own spirituality to rush past the bad news? What drives that tendency?

b.How does Lewis's approach compare to how Christianity is often presented in popular culture?

4.At the close of Book I, Lewis says he is deliberately stopping before moving into Christian answers — he wants the reader to sit with the problem. What is the spiritual and intellectual value of sitting with a problem before reaching for a solution?

5.Looking back over all five chapters of Book I, trace the arc of Lewis's argument from quarreling to God. How would you summarize it in three or four sentences?

+ 3 more questions in this week

Get all 176 questions across 29 weeks

Get Full Guide — $24.99