If we were to ask a large number of Americans which Christian figure over the past half-century they most admired, I would not be at all surprised if the results were a dead heat between Billy Graham and C. S. Lewis. Lewis has been dead for almost all of these past 50 years; nevertheless, there has been a continual outpouring of books, television stories, and movies about him and his writings. How can we account for this sustained interest? Perhaps our "Book of the Week" can provide some answers.

Mere Christians: Inspiring Stories of Encounters with C. S. Lewis contains more than 50 brief chapters written by individuals about their encounters with Lewis and his impact on their lives. Some of these are well-known figures; here is Charles Colson, who went to prison for his involvement in the Nixon Watergate affair but later established the Prison Fellowship Ministries. He tells how the words of Lewis "ripped through the protective armor in which I had unknowingly encased myself for forty-one years." Anne Rice, who once wrote vampire novels, completely changed the focus of her work after reading Lewis, saying: "'I would never go back, not even if they say, 'You will be financially ruined.' I would say no. I have no choice. I would be a fool for all eternity to turn my back on God like that."

Francis S. Collins, the physician and geneticist who directed the National Human Genome Research Institute, in his earlier years rejected religious belief. When some of his patients asked about his faith, he was too embarrassed to respond. A Methodist minister put Lewis's Mere Christianity in his hands, and Collins states, "I realized for the first time just how flawed a person I was," and it was the beginning of a new life for him. "I am still on that road-my faith has become the guiding light of my life."

Many of the stories are told by ordinary people. College professor Tony Applegate felt self-assured about his own life when he suffered a massive heart attack at age 39. With his wife's encouragement he read Mere Christianity and "discovered Lewis's notion of God as the hunter, 'pulling at the other end of the cord,' calling me to acknowledge how wrong I had been nearly all of my life." Daniel Bailey, now an agricultural chemist, was in college when he read Lewis's novel Perelandra and became enraptured by a personal quest for an intimate relationship with God. "Lewis modeled for me how living in the light of God's presence means stimulating emotion, not suppressing it or permitting it to be suppressed."

Reading this book may tempt you to explore some of C. S. Lewis's varied writings, and Mere Christianity has an excellent bibliography of the full scope of his work. We are indebted to Mary Anne Phemister and Andrew Lazo, both professionally involved in Lewis studies, for collecting and editing these delightful remembrances. Check this book out and see if you aren't drawn to read more of the works of Lewis, a Christian scholar who indeed does not fade away.