What was the original title of C.S. Lewis’s 1952 book based on his BBC talks?

The original title of C.S. Lewis’s 1952 book based on his BBC talks was Mere Christianity.

The book developed from radio broadcasts Lewis delivered during the Second World War. The talks were later issued in print in stages, including Broadcast Talks in 1942 and Christian Behaviour in 1943, before being combined and revised as Mere Christianity in 1952.

Lewis designed the material to explain what he saw as the shared core of Christian belief rather than to defend one particular denomination. His discussion includes moral law, human behavior, Christian doctrine, and the meaning of faith. The title “mere” means basic or common Christianity, not something insignificant.

Readers sometimes identify Broadcast Talks as the book’s original title because it was the first printed collection of the broadcasts. That title belongs to an earlier publication stage; the consolidated 1952 book is Mere Christianity.