©2002, Free Press, 296 pp. in paperback

Does God exist? These two notable thinkers, whose earthly lives partially overlapped, gave much thought to this question. They arrived at opposite answers. Their answers to this question impacted their approach and answers given to the relevant social issues covered in this insightful, well-written work.

The author, in the opening pages of the book, notes many similarities in the early life of Lewis and Freud. Each had religious training: Lewis in a Protestantism and Freud in Judaism and Catholicism. Each rejected his training as he grew and became an atheist. As a youth each had a troubled relationship with his father. Emotional suffering was endured by each. Freud faced anti-Semitism throughout his life, even having to flee Germany for the safety of England in the 1930’s. Lewis ached due to his mother’s death and then was wounded on a World War I battlefield.

Freud remained an atheist until his death by euthanasia in 1939. He believed the concept of God arose from parental instruction as did moral law. Thus he could view himself as being as good as others since he had no recognized objective standard by which to measure himself. The author insightfully points out how Freud practiced marital faithfulness himself, yet saw no problem with unfaithfulness in the lives of others. As one might expect, Freud’s thinking centered on himself. He could not understand a reason to love others as one loves himself. To him a friendship was based on what the individual could obtain from the friend, not what he could give to that friend. Not surprisingly, Freud experienced many broken friendships during his adult years.

Lewis’ life was changed by his Christian conversion at the age of thirty-one. As a result of God’s saving grace his worldview completely changed.  Instead of seeing no meaning to life and being self-oriented, Lewis began to understand that even suffering had purpose and meaning. To him friendship was an opportunity to be other-oriented. He spent hours in these endeavors to the mutual benefit of his friends and himself.

Having a firm belief in the resurrection of Christ, Lewis, unlike Freud, approached death calmly because he believed the Christian’s life here was like dwelling in the shadowlands compared to life on death’s other side.

After his conversion, Lewis realized that happiness can only be had in a right relationship with God. Within this framework he could live in a fallen world. As a Christian, Lewis could begin to see his long-standing desire for fame as rooted in pride. He understood that he could not judge his own moral standing in relation to others. Instead it must be judged by God’s objective standard. He thus saw his continual need of Christ’s work.

Nicholi divides his book into two sections: “What Should We Believe?” and “How Should We Live?” Within this approach he underlines that our beliefs underlie the way we live. In the second part of the book the author examines his subjects’ writing on such topics as happiness, sex, love, and death. Throughout the book the author uses quotes from both thinkers that express their worldview in each examined topic.

The author is well-qualified to write this work as he has taught a course at Harvard College on Freud and Lewis for twenty-five years.

Christians who are not interested in Freud may still profitably read this work. To me, it magnified God’s grace. The change in Lewis was due to God’s work in his life. Freud’s thinking shows the thinking of one who remains aloof from God. The author notes that Freud wrote that he did not intend to give up his atheism. One can see where such thinking led Freud in his approach to life’s basic issues. I was reminded that my own thinking would be down Freud’s pathway to some degree but by God’s grace. This book can show the Christian the importance of evangelism and the need for God’s grace to be operative in the lives of the unsaved.  The multitude of Lewis’ quotes provide sound counsel and encouragement for Christians in the face of fighting personal selfishness, dismantling personal pride and confronting the certainty of suffering and death in this fallen world.

Review ©2009 Byron Snapp, Hampton, Virginia