Which C.S. Lewis book collects his BBC radio talks from the Second World War?

Mere Christianity collects C.S. Lewis’s BBC radio talks from the Second World War.

Lewis delivered the first series, originally called Broadcast Talks, in 1941. Further talks followed in 1942 and 1944, and the material was revised and assembled into book form. The broadcasts were intended for a broad wartime audience, not an academic theological readership.

The book presents a shared core of Christian belief before moving into specifically Christian claims. Its sections are titled “Right and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning of the Universe,” “What Christians Believe,” and “Christian Behaviour.”

A common mix-up is to treat Mere Christianity as a transcript of one uninterrupted radio series. It is better understood as a revised compilation of several broadcast groups. The title refers to “mere” Christianity in the sense of central, common doctrine rather than a minimal or casual form of belief.