The Question of God: C.S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud Debate God, Love, Sex, and the Meaning of Life

by Armand M. Nicholi Jr. and Jr. Nicholi, Armand M.

Book Overview

Throughout the ages, many of the world's greatest thinkers have wrestled with the concept of -- and belief in -- God. It may seem unlikely that any new arguments or insights could be raised, but the twentieth century managed to produce two brilliant men with two diametrically opposed views about the question of God: Sigmund Freud and C. S. Lewis. They never had an actual meeting, but in The Question of God, their arguments are placed side...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 074324785X
• ISBN13: 9780743247856
• Release Date: August 2003
• Publisher: Free Press
• Length: 295 Pages
• Weight: 0.64 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Brillant Book, Completely Engrossing

Professor of psycharity, Dr. Armand M. Nicholi, Jr's book is a brillant look into the ideas and life of two modern icons, Sigmund Freud and C.S. Lewis. Like the title suggests, the author compares the views and lives of these two men who have, in their own way, contriuted greatly to some of the most common and perplexing issues of all time.Nicholi takes great pains to remain objective as possible, while admitting his bias. His objectivity is largely intact as he accurately relates the theories and ideas of each person. One should not msitake his form of objectivity for impartiality, a claim he does not make.This book is very engrossing and reads very easily. The strength of his book is that the author explores how one views the world in relation to how one lives in the world. The author aviods broad brushing statements because he is largely focusing on these two men and not inducing that everyone falls into these catagories, however, as a guide, he does suggest that normally thier is a relation between ones beliefs and life. This is a prima facia position because it stands to reason taht ones views would effect ones practices.Chapters on hap[piness, sex, love and death are completely engrossing and the book picks up the pace as it towards the end. Further, in the last segenmnets as we read about the last days of Freud and Lewis, we feel for both characters, but we do so differently. Both have greatly influnced their field of study. Both reached beyound the cirles of their fields to have a great impact on other fields of study, and both discussed many of the same topics at length; i.e., sex, love, and death.In the end, however, one feels compassion for Freud and Lewis, but for Freud, the compassion is felt as loss for a man who left this world in a state of exestential agnst and for Lewis, the sense of loss is selfish, for we want more thoughts and ideas from him. But our compassion reminds the same, for his barriers for love were only opended towards the last years of his life.In the end, one found "joy" and purpose (Lewis), and the other pain and anguish (Freud). Both insightfully shared their lives with us.

Objective? Not Entirely...Factual? Absolutely!

The idea of paralleling Lewis' and Freud's thoughts and writings is intriguing, to say the least. I've long been a fan of C.S. Lewis' fiction, as well as his cerebral takes on the Christian message. I'm not as familiar with Freud, but his basic ideas and verbage are so much a part of our culture that his influence cannot be denied. (In fact, I did get to visit his home and office in Vienna. A visit well worth taking, if you ever have the chance.)Nicholi's knowledge of his subjects is considerable. He puts forth the arguments of both men in a readable and concise manner, never failing to deepen our own knowledge. His writing is bright and well conceived. If, however, you expect pure objectivism here (is such a thing possible?), you might be disappointed. Nicholi's own views come to the front, although he makes a game attempt to keep all material within the writings of his two debaters. Personally, I agree with Nicholi's convictions and, in this age of political correctness, admired his courage to make them apparent. He highlights good and bad in both men's lives, and contradictions in their own beliefs. Yes, he seems to lean toward Lewis' views on God and faith, but he never does so by berating or undermining Freud's teachings. If you, like myself, are looking for deeper understanding of either man's thoughts, you will find it here. Just be warned that Nicholi, after his many years of studying and teaching this subject, has come to his own convictions and makes them clear. I suppose we, even by reading this book, seek to strengthen or challenge or own convictions as well.I found the sections on love and sex particularly insightful, with deep insights from both Freud and Lewis. It's actually amazing how often their ideas overlap, with the difference being their belief in a moral or materialistic universe. I was prone to underline entire paragraphs at a time.Lewis vs. Freud. This is the match of the century. The tantalizing thought that these two giants may well have met before Freud's death is material for a worthy novelist. Meanwhile, we are left with Nicholi's non-fiction work...and it's a work worthy of its cover price.

Fascinating examination of two extraordinary thinkers

Nicholi's The Question of God illuminates in an extraordinary way how two of the great minds of recent history explored the most intriguing questions in life, perhaps the only ones that really matter. Nicholi sets up a fictional debate of sorts that pits Freud, espousing a secular worldview, against Lewis's spiritual one. The dialogue is riveting. Using excerpts from the volumes of written material the two men produced over their lifetimes, Nicholi skillfully culls passages that give insight into how each man struggled with the "great questions" of life and how each ultimately developed and then embraced his own definition of truth. It's interesting to note other reviews of this book as biased towards Lewis since Nicholi is widely known as being psychoanalytically trained. I found the book the well balanced with the author as adroit facilitator.

A Lively Debate

I really enjoyed reading this clearly-written, extensively documented book on two of the twentieth century's greatest thinkers. Sigmund Freud and C.S. Lewis have to be the most articulate representatives of their completely opposite world views. Who would have surmised that their writings and lives would parallel one another so closely in their search to understand God, love, sex, happiness, suffering, death (and the meaning of life as the title says!)? The author quotes extensively from both, using their works, letters, and the current literature to define, on the one hand Freud's empiricist, scientific view, and on the other C.S. Lewis' spiritual perspective. He devotes an entire chapter to Lewis' remarkable change from die-hard atheist to ardent believer. Through Freud's correspondence, we see the great psychoanalyst as human, struggling with the same issues as Lewis, but ultimately arriving at a completely different conclusion. Nicholi also brings in his own research as well as that of others to shed light on their world views, making them relevant in the here and now.If you're looking for a lively debate on some central topics, this book is for you!