The Question of God

A great book. I hated it.

This isn't really a "debate;" it's a biography of three men: the pre-conversion Lewis, and the post-conversion Lewis, and Freud. Nicholi does a great job of portraying both Lewis and Freud, perhaps two of the greatest minds of the last century.

Could any two men have needed religion more than Freud and Lewis? Both experienced suffering, as do we all. Freud was a noted atheist his entire life, yet the question of God continued to preoccupy him. Lewis was an atheist for the first third of his life, and writes "I was very angry with God for not existing. I was also equally angry with Him for creating a world ... why should creatures have the burden of existence forced on them without their consent."

One embraced show more Christianity, the other did not. One died contented, the other remained forever trapped in misery, powerless to do anything about a world view that offered little hope of happiness, longing for death yet greatly fearful of it. Freud finally chose to end his life by morphine injection.

Lewis' conversion brought inner quietness and tranquility. The book's author, Dr. Nicholi, is apparently a Christian; subtle hints throughout the book make clear his approval of Lewis' conversion to Christianity. Yet, whether Nicholi grasps this or not, his is not a book about choosing belief or unbelief. Freud and Lewis were both well-versed in the Bible. Freud could no more have chosen to believe than Lewis could have chosen unbelief. Experience, disposition, and impeccable logic developed the world view of both men.

As many of you know, I am a "liberal Christian;" I can no longer take the stories and promises of the Bible literally. By the end of Nicholi's book, I had no idea whether to rail at God for the unfairness of life or sneer at Lewis for succumbing to a fairy tale so as to distract himself from life's suffering.

One thing is clear: Lewis was happy. show less

A comparison of the worldviews of C.S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud. A PBS series was based upon this book. This was great, it was fascinating to compare two of the great formative minds of the Post-Modern era. Was quite clearly biased towards Lewis (that is good), but the author is a psychologist and has a deep understanding of freud and apprecation of psychoanalysis. Quite a brilliant work of apology for the Christian faith as a possible solution to a thinking man's issues in life.

mooie samenvatting van Freuds en Lewis filosofische gedachtengoed. Heel veel citaten. Eenvoudig (niet simpel) en aanstekelijk geschreven (leerzaam). Het gedachtengoed van Freud wordt afgemaakt en soms wat te suggestief.

Renowned psychiatrist and educator Armand Nicholi here presents a fascinating comparison of the beliefs of Sigmund Freud and C. S. Lewis.

For all the variety of specific religious beliefs, there are fundamentally only two kinds of people: believers and nonbelievers. In the 20th century, no spokesman was more prominent for nonbelief than Sigmund Freud, and no one argued for belief more successfully than C. S. Lewis. From pain and suffering to love and sex, from God to morality, Lewis and Freud carefully argued opposing positions and even considered the chief objections to their positions.

An excellent overview of the opposing worldviews of 2 great thinkers -- one atheist and one deeply Christian. Both Freud and Lewis were eloquent speakers and writers for their points of view. This book does a really good job of comparing these and the effect these views had on their lives. I know which one I wish I could have known......

Some interesting ideas, if a bit over extended. The author is obviously very knowledgeable but also has a very clear bias; since I agree with the bias it only bothers me in the abstract.

You can find my full review here:

Excerpt: https://thebeerthrillers.com/2023/09/06/book-review-the-question-of-god-c-s-lewi....

"I will be blunt and frank right out of the gate on this one – I found myself greatly disappointed, not enjoying it, and not a fan overall. There is a clear and obvious bias from the beginning moving forward; and it also seems like this was written just to posit his own research and to lend credibility to his own “research on born again Christians”.

It is interesting to see that this is written by a professor and psychologist, and one who even met with Anna Freud; because it seems far from a scholarly piece of work. Nicholi never quite gets into his groove when he discusses these two men. Sometimes he show more switches back and forth between them with each paragraph, and sometimes he devotes whole long sections to one man, before ending it and moving on to another long section for the next. He constantly throws in quotes, but never really addresses, evaluates, or analyzes them enough for the reader — he should be using quotes to get a sense for who the man is, pointing out unique characteristics, distinctions in personality, inconsistencies in worldview… but so often he leaves the quote hanging there and moves on to another idea."
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My full review here: https://thebeerthrillers.com/2023/09/06/book-review-the-question-of-god-c-s-lewi.... show less