C.S. Lewis gave the BBC broadcasts that became Mere Christianity between 1941 and 1944.
The talks were delivered during the Second World War, when radio offered Lewis a way to address a broad audience in Britain. Their purpose was to explain shared Christian beliefs in accessible language rather than defend one denomination’s distinctive teachings.
Lewis revised the broadcasts for publication and assembled them into the book Mere Christianity. The work is divided into sections commonly known as Right and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning of the Universe, What Christians Believe, and Christian Behaviour.
The book was not delivered as one uninterrupted series in a single year. Its broadcast origins span 1941 to 1944, which is why that date range is more accurate than a single publication year.