God in the Dock

Essays on Theology and Ethics

By: C. S. Lewis

Narrated by: Ralph Cosham

Length: 10 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's summary

C. S. Lewis was a profound thinker with the rare ability to communicate the philosophical and theological rationale of Christianity in simple yet amazingly effective ways. God in the Dock contains 48 essays and 12 letters written by Lewis between 1940 and 1963 for a wide variety of publications. Ranging from popular newspaper pieces to learned defenses of the faith, these essays cover topics as varied as the logic of theism, good and evil, miracles, vivisection, the role of women in church polity, and ethics and politics. Many of these writings represent Lewis' first ventures into themes he would later treat in full-length books.

©1970 C.S. Lewis Pte Ltd. (P)2007 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"[Both Lewis'] searching mind and [his] poetic spirit are readily evident....Here the reader finds the tough-minded polemicist relishing the debate; here, too, the kindly teacher explaining the cosmic extraction by means of clarifying analogies." ( New York Times Book Review)

Life looks different for each of us.

Life is getting crazier the older that I get.

I truly believe that life is different for all of us, but then allow me to explain. I'm now 56 years old. And I have talked to, learned from and listened to a whole lot of people in my time, and I have discovered something amazing. Each of us see, hear, smell, taste, interpret and experience life uniquely! Say that you, me, that guy, some random lady and another person were going through the exact same thing together and yet as individual's. We were all strangers but in the same place at the very same time. Each person would explain what just happened a slightly different way. Yet we all together saw and experienced the 100% exact same thing. We wouldn't only tell slightly different stories, but would have done so uniquely and incredibly believing that the other's stories would go hand in hand with ours. But they wouldn't? Everything throughout our lives comes into play on how we perceived and what we perceived just transpire. If you are a male, female, rich, poor, black, white, shy, brave, short, tall, fat, skinny and so on would matter. It would be interpreted by each of us through the experiences and dealings that we've had in our lives up to that moment, and maybe even in those moments? It's crazy but each one of us would have taken in the same thing and yet digested it and regurgitated it to be a unique experience. And from this experience some of us might take something from it, same may have thoughts on it from time to time and some might never think about it again. And just in those facts that would change our lives and now we perceive things from this moment on. Do you see where I'm going with this? I'm starting to believe that religion and our experiences with it, and understandings of it may teach us a differently. Christian, Catholic, Mormon and so on. That brings me back to this book and how much I enjoyed it. It was so long that I had to break it up to get through it. And all of what I wrote above was going through my brain as I went throughout the page's and it's word's. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and have bought more by the same author. And I believe that it's worth your time and I hope that you yourself are as transfixed in it as I was. Have fun and make sure that you get out of it what best suits you and your past present and future. God bless and enjoy

Classic Lewis Insight Into Faith in a Secular Age

God in the Dock is a collection of C. S. Lewis' shorter writings, including some letters of interest, all to some degree or another pertaining to the Christian faith. I would say especially pertaining to Christian faith in the midst of Post-Christian society. As such it remains incredibly relevant today as western society has become even more Post-Christian, especially in much of Anglo-America, and the ideals of western society increasingly spread to varying degrees throughout the world (I certainly see it in my own context of urban Philippines and what my Korean friends here tell me about what is happening in their culture).

The "dock" in the title refers not to a boating dock but the dock where the accused sits in the trial. An idea that comes up in several of these essays is that for most of western culture(s)'s history, including when they were pagan, they were worried about what God (or the gods) thought of them. They felt they were the ones on trial. But for the past few hundred years people increasingly assess God as if He is the one on trial.

There are many different essays covering a variety of topics including education, defenses of the supernatural (with insights similar to his book Miracles), Christian pacifism, the role of experts in society, ordination (including female ordination), retributive justice, and more. All containing Lewis' classic charm, whit, and insight. I loved it. The only work that left a particularly bad taste in my mouth was a letter in which he was literally the old man complaining about kids on his lawn, but even that had insightful thoughts on differing philosophies of justice. Probably my favorite collection of Lewis' shorter writings.

I definitely recommend this to any fans of Lewis' nonfiction work - though it may be best if read after Miracles and The Problem of Pain as the book includes rebuttals to thoughtful critics of those works. I would recommend it as resource to most any Christian living out their faith in a secular culture.

Excellent for the C.S. Lewis fan

Would you listen to God in the Dock again? Why?

Yes, because C.S. Lewis is a great thinker and helps to elucidate different topics so well.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No. I never do that.

Any additional comments?

I wouldn't choose this as my first C.S. Lewis book, go to Mere Christianity, Chronicles of Narnia, Screwtape Letters and Weight of Glory first. This one is more for the fan who has read most of the other items and wants to continue to read more. Which describes me.

Wide variety of essays compiled posthumously

I have been on a Lewis kick over the last year. But I have definitely slowed down on my Lewis reading. God in the Dock was exactly what I needed to be inspired to pick more Lewis up again.

God in the Dock is a collection of 51 essays and a handful of additional letters. These are mostly on either ethics, apologetics (and really how and why of apologetics more than actual apologetics) and general theology.

With a collection like this, you can really see Lewis’ skill at speaking to his audience. A negative of this is that you see how Lewis covers similar topics with different audiences, so there is a decent amount of repetition, especially of his good one liners.

But mostly, I appreciated his skill. He gave a talk to a group at a textile mill about Christianity and then he also has a talk about apologetics to pastors and youth workers. In both he talks about apologetics and the role of sharing faith, but very differently. What impresses me is his willingness to not answer questions at times and what seems to be real humility of trying to only talk when he feels like he has something he can add.

It is this book that several of Lewis’ famous quotes are found, including his quote about reading old books, not because they are better, but because they are from a different time and place with different biases and blind spots. And that quote is true of reading this book. His thoughts on animal cruelty and the role of science and the decline of religion are interesting both because there are ways that they are still relevant today and because they are relevant in an odd way that feels like he is from a different culture.

Lewis seems to be both at his best and occasionally his worst because he is a man particularly writing to his own culture. So his essay on women as priests will sound quite dated to most. But still essentially has the main points that will seem right to many complementarians. But even as he is writing he is correctly predicting his argument will sound dated.

At other times it is easy to see how little our culture has changed from the culture of the 1950-60s in the UK. He complains of commercialism at Christmas, advocates for continuing to support new translations of the bible (but in other essays against modernization to hymns and the prayer book), speaks of the need of pastors to actually be a part of the people and not set apart, and many other topics that could have been written within the last few years.

This is not a book that I would pick up if you are new to Lewis. (Although it does give a fairly wide range of his writings.) But if you have read a lot of the standards, the Narnia books, the Space Trilogy, the Great Divorce, Mere Christianity, Surprised by Joy, etc., then this is a good next step.

(originally posted on my blog, Bookwi.se)

Very Insightful

This is a great intelectual dive into belief in Christianity. For those looking a at a very nuaunced view on Christianity, C.S. Lewis is a great writer worth reading.

God in the Dock is timeless, logical, & profound

A collection of various essays, talks, and correspondence regarding a vast array of prickly, deep, and timeless issues, God in the Dock remains gut-wrenchingly obvious and logical, while also like swimming in waves of water just over my head. The full comprehension, like the life preserver, troubling just past my fingertips.

I first read it when it was newly published, and some of what I read then has remained with me all these many years, deep in my conscious mind yet also at the tip of my tongue. The very concept of putting God in the Dock as the Accused, and having the gall to sit ourselves down in the Judge's chair, or even the jurists' box, will never leave me, and is an image I find increasingly en pointe as the Church is bombarded with demands that She follow the culture rather than the Creator, the tickling words of the created rather than the Word God breathed and had penned for us.

Issues of liturgy, the Canon, of saints, of capital punishment, of miracles... these and many more, are tackled with humility, brevity, and blinding clarity as Lewis applies the most obvious yet previously unseen logic, that I often find myself in the slack-jawed amazement of Peter and Susan Pevensie sitting in the office of Professor Kirk who asks pertinent questions, causing the children to realize the previously improbable, but now inescapable, answers. Meanwhile, the professor is shaking his head, muttering, "Goodness! What DO they teach the children in these schools!?"

God in the Dock is a staple in my re-read stack, right up there with Pilgrim's Progress and the Chronicles.

Overwhelming and Repetitive

Like “The Weight of Glory”, this is yet another editor collaborating with Lewis to create a compilation of his work. And, annoyingly like “Weight of Glory”, this audiobook has no chapter format to inform the reader of the contents. For your edification, I am writing them down here. These chapter titles begin with Chapter 2 as Chapter 1 is not a chapter but an introduction.

- Miracles
- Dogma and the Universe
- Answers to Questions on Christianity
- Myth Became Fact
- Horrid Red Things
- Religion and Science
- The Laws of Nature
- The Grand Miracle
- Christian Apologetics
- Work and Prayer
- Man or Rabbit
- On the Transmission of Christianity
- Miserable Offenders: An Interpretation of Prayerbook Language
- The Founding of the Oxford Socratic Club
- Religion without Dogma
- Some Thoughts
- The Trouble with “X”
- What are we to make of Jesus Christ?
- The Pains of Animals: A Problem in Theology (an open letter to C.S. Lewis by C.E.M. Jode and Lewis’ response)
- Is Theism Important?
- Rejoindre to Dr Pittinger (Lewis’ response to a literary critic)
- Must our Image of God Go?

Chapter 24 marks the beginning of Part 2 and, in the reading, Cosham begins numbering the chapters all over again instead of continuing on the audio layout. Chapter 24=Chapter 1 and so forth.

- The Dangers of National Repentance
- Two Ways with the Self
- Meditation on the 3rd Commandment
- On the Reading of Old Books
- Two Lectures
- Meditation in a Toolshed
- Scraps
- The Decline of Religion
- Vivisection
- Modern Translations of the Bible (An introduction to a book on the New Testament)
- Priestesses in the Church
- God in the Dock
- Behind the Scenes
- Revival or Decay
- Before we can Communicate
- Cross Examination (an interview with CS Lewis)

Part 3 begins with Chapter 40, starting the audio chapter count again.

- Bolverism: Or the Foundation of 21st Century Thought
- First and Second Things
- The Sermon and the Lunch
- The Humanitarian Theory of Punishment
- X-mas and Christmas: A Lost Chapter from Herodotus
- What Christmas Means to Me
- Delinquents in the Snow
- Is Progress Possible?
- We Have No Right to Happiness

Part 4, a collection of letters and correspondence, brings this book to a close.

This collection is fairly overwhelming. It contains letters, speeches, essays, verbal debates, and even introductions to other books. He mostly covers topics of contemporary apologetics such as science, miracles, morality, and the secularization of the world. There are even segments of debates he has with some of his peers which was highly beneficial. Because of the nature of this collection, much of the principles and specific content are repeated throughout. I most appreciated Lewis’ reflections on prayer, but he did slip fully into a level of free will with which I could not agree.

Overall, a decent read to learn the nature of debate and apologetics… but not highly enjoyable.

Very interesting book

Any additional comments?

This was my first introduction to Lewis, and I have to say it was enlightening. I have not read/listened to any of his books. This is a collection of essays/newspaper articles/speeches that Lewis gave over the years. It seems to really give a sense of Lewis's religious philosophy (and zealousness!) and his logical defense of Christianity. Not only that, it is written so well -- and with such a conscious intention to be accessible -- even when he was discussing topics that are either uninteresting to me or really dated, it still kept my attention. Let there be no doubt -- Lewis was a "true believer" of the truest believer clan. However, some of his defenses of Christianity have such a logical flavor and are so honest and straightforward in the issues and questions that he addresses, that I have to say that I was very impressed.. Who should read this? Let me go secular first and say writers who want to see someone take what could be complicated/boring material and make it really accessible (my bias: this is me) should just absorb the metaphors and analogies he uses to make points that you may think would otherwise be indefensible. For those interested in a defense of Christian dogma -- you'll find a lot of logical defenses here as well. I am sure they are more completely developed in his book-length treatments, but for me I thought this was well worth the listen.

A guide for the perplexed Theist in our day.

Many topics related to Christian faith in our age are tackled here. I find in him the ability to articulate things that I myself have felt but not been able to express, certainly the sign of a good writer speaking honestly and thoughtfully.

A guide for the perplexed Theist in our day.

Prescient and insightful

Lewis absolutely calls our present day (2021) struggle for freedom from the technocracy,the appearance of the false church and the worship of “science”. As always, it was a pleasure to hear his philologist musings on life, Christianity and culture.